(63c) Leveraging Diverse Computational Tools and Approaches to Advance Molecular Understanding of Infectious and Neurological Diseases

In the Rationally Designed Immunotherapeutics and Interfaces (RDI) Lab, we leverage a wide array of computational tools and approaches to drive advancements at the intersection of computational biology, immunology, virology, and neurodegenerative disease research. By integrating bioinformatics and deep learning techniques with mathematical, evolutionary, and atomistic-level modeling, our aim is to unravel the complex molecular mechanisms underlying disease pathology. Harnessing these molecular-level insights, our ultimate objective is to develop innovative, clinically translatable immunotherapies for treating infectious and neurological diseases. This talk will highlight our recent efforts to investigate a phenomenon known as viral tropism switching and to engineer novel vaccine formulations in the context of HIV. Furthermore, it will briefly describe our preliminary investigations into the role of key protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions in Alzheimer’s disease, offering insights that may inform novel treatment strategies.