We carry out research on theoretical biological physics, currently focusing on understanding the mechanism for mechanical degradation of the cytoskeleton of neurons in late stages of Alzheimer’s disease, in self-assembly of proteins for possible applications to novel materials for energy or environmental applications, and in developing realistic models of neural networks that are damaged by neurodegenerative diseases. We have access to a GPU cluster for state of the art, fast molecular dynamics simulations, and receive support from the US NSF and UC Davis for our research.
News: 9/20/18 – Rachel Baarda, Tegan Mariunchuk, Michael Toney, and Daniel Cox have just gotten the paper “In silico Stress-Strain Measurements on Self-assembled Protein Lattices” published online in Soft Matter. Rachel Baarda prepared a figure that will be the cover art for the print edition of the journal!
News: 7/1/2018 – Dr. Cox is co-PI of US NSF MCB-1818219 “Dissecting molecular mechanisms of plant cytokinesis and cell plate development”, lead PI Prof. Georgia Drakakaki of UC Davis Plant Science. The work will focus on developing theoretical models of cell plate formation during plant cytokinesis.
News: 6/15/18 – Amanda Parker receives her PhD from UC Davis – dissertation title is: Molecular Dynamics Studies of the Mechanical Properties and
Self-Assembly of Beta-Solenoid Proteins– Dr Parker is now a postdoctoral researcher at Syracuse University in the Department of Physics
News: 8/10/17 – Amanda Parker, Krishna Ravikumar, and Daniel L Cox have just gotten the paper “Molecular Dynamics-Based Strength Estimates of Beta-Solenoid Proteins” accepted in Soft Matter
8/9/17 Aaron Chan, who has volunteered in the group for 2+ years, is off to graduate study in biophysics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign!
6/17-7/17 – Rachel Baarda and Amanda Parker have participated in the Cargese Summer School on Theoretical Biophysics!
