Group Members

Mortaza received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry with a focus on computational chemistry from Colorado state university. His Ph.D. research focused on using computational methods to understand the role of resins in the aggregation of asphaltenes. He is a huge fan of nature and outdoor activities such as hiking, running, skiing. He also enjoys reading, and baking exotic breads.

Research Interests:

• Activation dynamics of mutated corona virus variants

Adithya Polasa is Fifth year Ph.D. student at University of Arkansas. His doctoral research investigates structure, function, and the mechanism of proteins, as well as molecular dynamics simulation of interactions between metal ions and protein/nucleic acid, and computer aided drug-protein interaction study. His simple pleasures in life include hiking, camping or a run.

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Ugochi Isu obtained her Bsc in biochemistry from Federal university of technology, Owerri, Nigeria. She enjoys spending time with her family, baking and watching movies.

Research Interests:

• Chemo-mechanical couplings in the activation process of selected G-protein coupled receptors using molecular dynamics simulation
•  Localization and effect of cholesterol binding changes in different ratios of cholesterol to POPC lipids in Metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1)

Matthew Brownd is currently a second-year graduate student. He recieved his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from John Brown University in 2019, and has an interest in studying drug binding activities, specifically as it relates to anxiolytics or antidepressants. Outside of work, he is fascinated by the realms of science fiction and technology, which he enjoys exploring through games, movies, books, or tinkering with the latest gadgets.

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Shadi A Badiee is a second year PhD student in Cell and Molecular Biology. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology - Genetics from University of Yazd, Iran (Class of 2015), and her Master's degree in Molecular Biotechnology and Bioinformatics from University of Milan, Italy (Class of 2020). Shadi’s Master’s thesis was “Improving the Efficiency of Metadynamic Metainference Simulations”. She enjoys traveling, playing basketball and spending time with her family.

Research Interests:

Ehsaneh received a B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree in Plant Breeding from the University of Tabriz, Iran, as well as a Ph.D. degree in Biotechnology. Also, she conducted a research period in the Field Omics Research Unit at the National Institute of Crop Science, NARO, in Japan, to work on proteomic analysis of abiotic sensitive and tolerant plants. Prior to joining Prof. Moradi's group to pursue a Ph.D. degree, she gained three years of experience in proteome changes in the bacterial response to antibiotics at the Drug Applied Research Center in Tabriz, Iran. Ehsaneh enjoys reading, jogging, and spending time with her friends/family

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Steph is a current first year Ph.D. student in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Arkansas. She received her B.S. in biochemistry from St. Lawrence University (Class of 2022). Steph enjoys working out, cooking, and spending time outdoors.

Research Interests:

Joseph Williamson is a second-year graduate student pursuing a PhD in cell and molecular biology at the University of Arkansas where he previously received his BS degree in chemistry. He is ambitious and always open to learning new skills for enhancing his abilities as a computational scientist. His current focus is in improving the understanding of the structure and function of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using molecular dynamics (MD) based sampling techniques with comparative single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) data.

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Dylan Ogden, current third year graduate student, received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (emphasis in Biochemistry) from the University of Arkansas in Spring of 2017. He enjoys spending time with friends and family and refining his grilling/bbq skills.

Research Interests:

• Lipid Modulation of Membrane Protein Function
• ABC Transporters

Curtis is an avid reader and explorer. His interests are wide and varied but his work in computational chemistry has ranged from developing new force fields for water to simulating large protein systems. Currently he is finishing a PhD focusing on theoretical utilization of Markov Models while working as a DevOps engineer at a major tech company.

Research Interests:

• Protein Conformational Landscapes
• Deep Learning

Will is an undergraduate at the University of Arkansas, pursuing a B.S. degree with a major in Biology while also minoring in Psychology and Medical Humanities. For the past two summers, Will has worked as a pharmacy technician in Little Rock, Arkansas. He loves attending Razorback sports events, and enjoys playing basketball in his free time

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