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Jens Meiler

Department of Chemistry
Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology (CSB)
Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology (VICB)
Molecular Biophysics Training Program
Department of Pharmacology
Department of Biomedical Informatics (BMI)


Research in our laboratory seeks to fuse computational and experimental efforts to investigate proteins, the fundamental molecules of biology, and their interactions with small molecule substrates, therapeutics, or probes. We develop computational methods with three major ambitions in mind. A) To enable protein structure elucidation of membrane proteins the primary target of most therapeutics and large macromolecular complexes such as viruses; B) Design proteins with novel structure and/or function to explore novel approaches to protein therapeutics and deepen our understanding of protein folding pathways. C) Understand the relation between chemical structure and biological activity quantitatively in order to design more efficient and more specific drugs. Crucial for our success is the experimental validation of our computational approaches which we pursue in our laboratory or in collaboration with other scientists.

Research in our laboratory seeks to fuse computational and experimental efforts to investigate proteins, the fundamental molecules of biology, and their interactions with small molecule substrates, therapeutics, or probes. We develop computational methods with three major ambitions in mind. A) To enable protein structure elucidation of membrane proteins the primary target of most therapeutics and large macromolecular complexes such as viruses; B) Design proteins with novel structure and/or function to explore novel approaches to protein therapeutics and deepen our understanding of protein folding pathways. C) Understand the relation between chemical structure and biological activity quantitatively in order to design more efficient and more specific drugs. Crucial for our success is the experimental validation of our computational approaches which we pursue in our laboratory or in collaboration with other scientists.

Keywords: Computational Biology , Molecular Biology , Structural Biology , Chemical Biology , Protein Design

Research Area: Structural Biology , Drug Design , Computational and Systems Biology , Chemical Biology