JUL 28, 2021
A Recipe for a Short Course in Molecular Simulations as Part of Special Topics in Biological Chemistry
The Biological Chemistry II course at University of Connecticut is a team taught course covering special topics in the field biological chemistry. This talk will cover a first attempt to introduce students, pursuing a biological chemistry track within their PhD program, with the essentials of biomolecular simulations. The course covers the basic theory underlying current molecular simulation methods and provides a hands-on experience on the use of software for computational chemistry applications, from small molecules to proteins. This has been made possible only recently by the ability to stream specialized software via virtual machine platforms, without the need of special hardware requirements and software installation.
Our Speaker
José A. Gascón
University of Connecticut
José A. Gascón received a BSc degree (Licenciado) in Physics from the Faculty of Mathematics, Astronomy and Physics (FAMAF) at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina. In 1998, he moved to Louisiana State University to pursue a PhD in Chemistry to study electronic and structural properties of rare gas cation clusters with Prof. Randy Hall. In 2002, he began a postdoctoral work under the supervision of Victor S. Batista at Yale University working on QM/MM studies of biomacromolecules, including the study of photochemical reactions in rhodopsin and structural and electronic properties of the oxygen-evolving complex in photosystem II. In 2006, he started his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Connecticut, obtaining a Hewlett Packard Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, a Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, and an NSF Career Award. In 2018, he was promoted to Full Professor. His current research is centered in understanding structural and dynamical properties of biomolecules and biomaterials.