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Scholarly Interest Report
         
José Onuchic
Professor
Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Chair of Physics; Professor of Chemistry; Professor of BioSciences
 
e-mail:jonuchic@rice.edu
 
  • B.S. Electrical Engineering (1980) Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Ph.D. Chemistry (1987) California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
  • M.S. Applied Physics (1982) Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • B.S. Physics (1981) Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil
 
Primary Department
   Department of Physics and Astronomy
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Department Affiliations
 
  • Department of BioSciences
  • Department of Chemistry
  • Department of Physics and Astronomy
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    Other Affiliations
     
  • Baylor College of Medicine
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    Websites
     Direct Coupling Analysis (DCA)
     SMOG: Structure-based Models for Biomolecules
     Rice University Physics Department website
     Rice Department of Chemistry website
     http://ctbp.rice.edu/
     
    Research Areas
     JOSE ONUCHIC has led the biological physics community as it attempts to devise an integrated picture of a variety of model biochemical and biological systems. His research has expanded across the scales of molecular-level interactions to cellular systems to organized multi-cellular structures. At Rice he will move this view towards medical applications focusing on cancer. In protein folding, he has introduced the concept of protein folding funnels as a mechanism for the folding of proteins. Convergent kinetic pathways, or folding funnels, guide folding to a unique, stable, native conformation. Energy landscape theory and the funnel concept provide the theoretical framework needed to pose and to address the questions of protein folding and function mechanisms. He also works on theory of chemical reactions in condensed matter with emphasis on biological electron transfer. He is also interested in stochastic effects in gene networks with connections to bacteria decision-making and cancer.
     
    Selected Publications
     Refereed articles
     

    B. Huang, M. Kumar Jolly, M. Lu1, Ilan Tsarfaty, E. Ben-Jacob, and J.N. Onuchic "Modeling the Transitions between Collective and Solitary Migration Phenotypes in Cancer Metastasis." Scientific Reports, 5 (2015) : art. no. 17379.

     
     

    C.H. Lipper, M.L. Paddock, R. Nechushtai, and P.A. Jennings "Cancer-Related NEET Proteins Transfer 2Fe-2S Clusters to Anamorsin, a Protein Required for Cytosolic Iron-Sulfur Cluster Biogenesis." PLoS One, 10 (2015) : art. no e0139699.

     
     

    E. Ben-Jacob, M. Lu, D. Schultz, and J.N. Onuchic "The physics of bacterial decision making." Front. Cell. Infec. Microb., 4 (2014) : art. no. 154.

     
     

    F. Bai, F. Morcos, Y.-S. Sohn, M. Darash-Yahana, C.O. Rezende, C.H. Lipper, M.L.Paddock, L Song, Y. Luo, S.H. Holt, S. Tamir, E.A. Theodorakis, P.A. Jennings, J.N. Onuchic, R. Mittler and R.Nechushtai "The Fe-S cluster-containing NEET proteins mitoNEET and NAF-1 as chemotherapeutic targets in breast cancer." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1122 (2015) : 3698-3703.

     
     

    H. Lammert, J. Noel, E. Haglund, A. Schug, and J. Onuchic "Constructing a folding model for protein S6 guided by native fluctuations deduced from NMR structures." J. Chem. Phys., 143 (2015) : art. no. 243141.

     
     

    K.M. Fisher, E, Haglund, J.K. Noel, K.L. Hailey, J.N. Onuchic, P.A. Jennings "Constructing a folding model for protein S6 guided by native fluctuations deduced from NMR structures." PLoS One, 10 (2015) : art. no. e0144067 .

     
     

    M. Boareto, M.K. Jolly, E. Ben-Jacob, and J.N. Onuchic "Jagged mediates differences in normal and tumor angiogenesis by affecting tip-stalk fate decision." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 112 (2015) : E3836-E3844.

     
     

    M. Boareto, M.K. Jolly, M. Lu, J.N. Onuchic, C. Clementi, E. Ben-Jacob "Jagged-Delta Asymmetry in Notch Signaling Can Give Rise to a Sender/Receiver Hybrid Phenotype." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 112 (2015) : E402-E409.

     
     

    M. G. van der Linden, D. C. Ferreira, L. C. de Oliveira, J.N. Onuchic and A. F. P. de Araujo. " Ab initio protein folding simulations using atomic burials as informational intermediates between sequence and structure." Prot. Struct. Func. Bioinf., 82 (2014) : 1186-1199 .

     
     

    M.K. Jolly, M. Boareto, B. Huang, D. Jia, MY. Lu, E. Ben-Jacob, J.N. Onuchic, and H. Levine "Implications of the Hybrid Epithelial/Mesenchymal Phenotype in Metastasis." Front. Oncol., 5 (2015) : art. no. 155.

     
     

    M.K. Jolly, M. Boareto, MY. Lu, J.N. Onuchic, C. Clementi and E. Ben-Jacob "Operating principles of Notch-Delta-Jagged module of cell-cell communication." New J. Phys., 17 (2015) : art. no. 055021.

     
     

    P.C. Whitford and J.N. Onuchic "What protein folding teaches us about biological function and molecular machines." Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol., 30 (2015) : 57-62.

     
     

    R. Hayes, J.K. Noel, A. Mandic, P.C. Whitford, K.Y. Sanbonmatsu, U. Mohanti, and J.N. Onuchic "Generalized Manning Condensation Model Captures the RNA Ion Atmosphere." Phys. Rev. Let., 114 (2015) : art. no. 258105 .

     
     

    R.N. dos Santos, F. Morcos, A.D. Andricopulo, and J.N. Onuchic. J.N. Onuchic "Dimeric interactions and complex formation using direct coevolutionary couplings." Scientific Reports, 5 (2015) : art. no.13653.

     
     

    S. Kirmizialtin, S.P. Hennelly, A. Schug, J.N. Onuchic, and K.Y. Sanbonmatsu "ntegrating Molecular Dynamics Simulations with Chemical Probing Experiments Using SHAPE-FIT." Method. Enzymol., 553 (2015) : 215-234.

     
     

    S. Tamir, M.L. Paddock, M. Darash-Yahana-Baram, S.H. Holt, Y.S. Sohn, L. Agranat, D. Michaeli, J.T. Stofleth, C.H. Lipper, F. Morcos, I.Z. Cabantchik, J.N. Onuchic, P.A. Jennings, R. Mittler, and R. Nechushtai "Structure-function analysis of NEET proteins uncovers their role as key regulators of iron and ROS homeostasis in health and disease." BBA Mol. Cell Res., 1853 (2015) : 1294-1315.

     
     

    B. Huang, M. Lu, M.K. Jolly, I. Tsarfaty, J. Onuchic and E. Ben-Jacob "The three-way switch operation of Rac1/RhoA GTPase-based circuit controlling amoeboid-hybrid-mesenchymal transition." Scientific Reports (Nature), 4 (2014) : art. no. 06449.

     
     

    B. Jana, F. Morcos and J.N. Onuchic "From structure to function: the convergence of structure based models and co-evolutionary information." Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 16 (2014) : 6496-6507.

     
     

    E. Haglund, J.I. Sulkowska, J.K. Noel, H. Lammert, J.N. Onuchic and P.A. Jennings "Pierced lasso bundles are a new class of knot-like motifs." PLoS Comp. Biol., 10(6) (2014) : e1003613.

     
     

    F. Morcos, N.P. Schafer, R.R. Cheng, J.N. Onuchic, and P.G. Wolynes "Coevolutionary information, protein folding landscapes, and the thermodynamics of natural selection." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111 (2014) : 12408-12413.

     
     

    J. Zimmermann, R.L. Hayes, M. Basan, J.N. Onuchic, W.-J. Rappel and H. Levine "Intercellular Stress Reconstitution from Traction Force Data,." Biophys. J., 107 (2014) : 548-554.

     
     

    J.N. Onuchic "Physics transforming the Life Sciences." Phys. Biol., 11 (2014) : art. no. 053006.

     
     

    L. Sun, J.K. Noel, J.I.Sulkowska, H. Levine and J.N. Onuchic "Connecting thermal and mechanical protein (un)folding landscapes." Biophys. J., 107 (2014) : 2941-2952.

     
     

    M. Lu, B. Huang, S.M. Hanash, J.N. Onuchic and E. Ben-Jacob "Modeling putative therapeutic implications of exosome exchange between tumor and immune cells." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111 (2014) : E4165–E4174.

     
     

    M. Lu, J.N. Onuchic and E. Ben-Jacob "Construction of an effective landscape for multistate genetic switches." Phys. Rev. Lett., 113 (2014) : art. no. 078102.

     
     

    M. Lu, M.K. Jolly, J. Onuchic and E. Ben-Jacob "Towards decoding the principles of cancer metastasis circuits." Cancer Res., 74 (2014) : 4574-4587.

     
     

    R.L. Hayes,, J.K. Noel, P.C. Whitford, U. Mohanty, K.Y. Sanbonmatsu and J.N. Onuchic "Reduced Model Captures Mg2+-RNA Interaction Free Energy of Riboswitches." Biophys. J., 106 (2014) : 1508-1519.

     
     

    R.R. Cheng, F. Morcos, H. Levine and J.N. Onuchic "Toward rationally redesigning bacterial two-component signaling systems using coevolutionary information." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111 (2014) : E563-E571.

     
     

    S. Tamir, S. Rotem-Bamberger, C. Katz, F. Morcos, K.L. Hailey, J.A. Zuris, C. Wang, A.R. Conlan, C.H. LIpper, M.L. Paddock, R. Mittler, J.N. Onuchic, P.A. Jennings, A. Friedler and R. Nechushtai "Integrated strategy reveals the protein interface between cancer targets Bcl-2 and NAF-1." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111 (2014) : 5177-5182.

     
     

    X.C. Lin, N.R. Eddy, J.K.Noel, P.C. Whitford, Q.H. Wang, J. Ma, and J.N. Onuchic "Order and disorder control the functional rearrangement of influenza hemagglutinin." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111 (2014) : 12049-12054.

     
     

    B.T. Andrews, D.T. Capraro, J.I. Sulkowska, J.N. Onuchic, and P.A. Jennings "Hysteresis as a Marker for Complex, Overlapping Landscapes in Proteins." J. Phys. Chem. Let., 4 (2013) : 180-188.

     
     

    D. Schultz, M. Lu, T. Stavropoulos, J. Onuchic, and E. Ben-Jacob "Turning Oscillations into Opportunities: Lessons from a Bacterial Decision Gate." Scientific Reports (Nature), 3 (2013) : art. no.1668.

     
     

    D.T. Capraro, H. Lammert, D.K. Heidary,, M. Roy, L.A. Gross, J.N. Onuchic, and P.A. Jennings "Altered Backbone and Side-Chain Interactions Result in Route Heterogeneity during the Folding of Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta )." Biophys. J., 105 (2013) : 975-983.

     
     

    E.L. Baxter , J.A. Zuris , Charles Wang , H.L Axelrod , A.E Cohen , M.L. Paddock , R. Nechushtai , J.N. Onuchic, and P.A. Jennings "Allosteric control in a metalloprotein dramatically alters function." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110 (2013) : 948-953.

     
     

    F. Bai , Y. Xu , J. Chen , Q. Liu , J. Gu , X. Wang , J. Ma , H. Li , J.N. Onuchic, and H. Jiang "The free energy landscape of the binding process of HupA to TcAChE." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110 (2013) : 4273-4278.

     
     

    F. Morcos, B. Jana, T. Hwa, and J.N. Onuchic. "Evolutionary footprints across protein lineages help capture multiple protein conformations." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110 (2013) : 20533-20538.

     
     

    J.I. Sulkowska, J.K. Noel, C.A. Ramirez-Sarmiento, E.J. Rawdon, K.C. Millett, and J.N. Onuchic. "Knotting pathways in proteins." Biochem. Soc. Trans., 41 (2013) : 523-527.

     
     

    J.K. Noel, J.N. Onuchic and J.I. Sulkowska "Knotting a protein in explicit solvent." J. Phys. Chem. Let., 4 (2013) : 3570-3573.

     
     

    J.N. Onuchic, P.A. Jennings, and E. Ben-Jacob "Learning from Cancer how to Defeat Bacteria." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110 (2013) : 3212.

     
     

    M. G. van der Linden, D. C. Ferreira, L. C. de Oliveira, J.N. Onuchic and A. F. P. de Araujo "Ab initio protein folding simulations using atomic burials as informational intermediates betweensequence and structure,." Prot.: Struct. Func. Bioinf.,, 82 (2014) : 1186-1199.

     
     

    M. Lu, M. Jolly, R. Gomoto, B. Huang, J. Onuchic and E. Ben-Jacob "Tristability in Cancer Associated miRNA-TF Chimera Toggle Switch." J. Phys. Chem. B, 117 (2013) : 13164-13174.

     
     

    M. Lu, M.K. Jolly, H. Levine, J.N. Onuchic and E. Ben-Jacob "MicroRNA-based regulation of epithelialhybridmesenchymal fate determination." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110 (2013) : 18144-18149.

     
     

    Y.-S. Sohn, S. Tamir, L. Song, D. Michaeli, I. Matouk, A.R. Conlan, Y. Harir, S.H. Holt, Vladimir S., M.L. Paddock, A. Hochberg, I.Z. Cabanchick, J.N. Onuchic, P.A. Jennings and R.Nechushtai "NAF-1 and mitoNEET are central to human breast cancer proliferation by maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis and promoting tumor growth." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110 (2013) : 14676-14681.

     
     

    B. Jana, C. Hyeon and J.N. Onuchic "The origin of minus-end directionality and mechanochemistry of Ncd motors." PLoS Comp. Biol., 8(11) (2012) : e1002783.

     
     

    D. Schultz, J.N. Onuchic, and E. Ben-Jacob "Turning death into creative force during biofilm engineering." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109 (2012) : 18633-18634.

     
     

    D. T. Capraro, S. Gosavi, M. Roy, J.N. Onuchic, and P.A. Jennings "Folding Circular Permutants of IL-1 beta: Route Selection Driven by Functional Frustration." PLoS ONE, 7(6) (2012) : e38512.

     
     

    D.T. Capraro, M. Roy, J.N. Onuchic, S. Gosavi, and P.A. Jennings "Beta-Bulge triggers route-switching on the functional landscape of interleukin-1 beta." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109 (2012) : 1490-1493.

     
     

    E. Haglund, J.I. Sulkowska , Z. He, G.-S. Feng, J.N. Onuchic and P. Jennings "The Unique Cysteine Knot Regulates the Pleotropic Hormone Leptin." PLoS ONE, 7(9) (2012) : e45654.

     
     

    E.L. Baxter, P.A. Jennings and J.N. Onuchic "Strand swapping regulates the iron-sulfur cluster in the diabetes drug target mitoNEET." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109 (2012) : 1955-1960.

     
     

    H. Lammert, J.K. Noel and J.N. Onuchic "The dominant folding route minimizes backbone distortion in SH3." PLoS Comp. Biol., 8(11) (2012) : e1002776.

     
     

    H. Lammert, P.G. Wolynes, and J.N. Onuchic. "The Role of Atomic Level Steric Effects and Attractive Forces in Protein Folding." Prot.: Struct. Func. Bioinf., 80 (2012) : 362-373.

     
     

    J. Singh, P. Whitford, N. Hayre, J.N. Onuchic, and D. Cox "Large-Scale Conformational Change in the Mammalian Prion Protein." Prot.: Struct. Func. Bioinf., 80 (2012) : 1299-1307.

     
     

    J. Wang, R.J. Oliveira, X. Chua, P.C. Whitford, J. Chahine, W. Han, E. Wang, J.N. Onuchic and V.B.P. Leite "Topography of funneled landscapes determines the thermodynamics and kinetics of protein folding." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109 (2012) : 15763-15768.

     
     

    J.I. Sulkowska , E.J. Rawdon , K.C. Millett , J.N. Onuchic, and A. Stasiak "Conservation of complex knotting and slipknotting patterns in proteins." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109 (2012) : E1715-E1723.

     
     

    J.I. Sulkowska, F. Morcos, M. Weigt, T. Hwa and J.N. Onuchic "Genomics-aided structure prediction." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109 (2012) : 10340-10345.

     
     

    J.I. Sulkowska, J.K. Noel, and J.N. Onuchic "Energy landscape of knotted protein folding." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109 (2012) : 17783-17788.

     
     

    J.K. Noel, A. Schug, A. Verma, W. Wenzel, A.E. Garcia, and J.N. Onuchic "Mirror Images as Naturally Competing Conformations in Protein Folding." J. Phys. Chem. B, 116 (2012) : 6880-6888.

     
     

    J.K. Noel, P.C. Whitford and J.N. Onuchic. "The Shadow Map: A General Contact Definition for Capturing the Dynamics of Biomolecular Folding and Function." J. Phys. Chem. B, 116 (2012) : 8692-8702 .

     
     

    M.A. Jamros, L.C. Oliveira, P.C. Whitford, J.N. Onuchic, J.A. Adams, P. Jennings "Substrate-Specific Reorganization of the Conformational Ensemble of CSK Implicates Novel Modes of Kinase Function." PLoS Comp. Biol., 8(9) (2012) : e1002695.

     
     

    P.C. Whitford, K.Y. Sanbonmatsu, and J.N. Onuchic "Biomolecular dynamics: order-disorder transitions and energy landscapes." Rep. Prog. Phys., 75 (2012) : 076601.

     
     

    R. Hayes, J. Noel, U. Mohanty, P. Whitford, S. Hennelly, J. Onuchic and K. Sanbonmatsu "Magnesium Fluctuations Modulate RNA Dynamics in the SAM-I Riboswitch." J. Am. Chem. Soc., 134 (2012) : 12043-12053.

     
     

    C. Hyeon and J.N.Onuchic "A Structural Perspective on the Dynamics of Kinesin Motors." Biophys. J., 101 (2011) : 2749-2759.

     
     

    E.B. Baxter, P.A. Jennings, and J.N. Onuchic "Interdomain communication revealed in the diabetes drug target mitoNEET." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 108 (2011) : 5266-5271.

     
     

    F. Morcos , A. Pagnani , Br. Lunt , A. Bertolino , D. Marks , C. Sander, R. Zecchina , J.N. Onuchic, T. Hwa and Ma. Weigt "Direct-coupling analysis of residue co-evolution captures native contacts across many protein families." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 108 (2011) : E1293-E1301.

     
     

    F.M. Ferreira, L.C. Oliveira, G.G. Germino, J.N. Onuchic, and L.F.Onuchic "The Macromolecular Assembly of Polycystin-2 Intracytosolic C-Terminal Domain." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 108 (2011) : 9833-9828.

     
     

    J.A. Zuris, Y. Harir, A.R. Conlan, M. Shvartsman, S. Tamir, M.L. Paddock, J.N. Onuchic, R. Mittler, Z.I. Cabantchik, P.A. Jennings, and R. Nechushtai "Facile transfer of [2Fe-2S] clusters from the diabetes drug target, MitoNEET, to an apoacceptor protein." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 108 (2011) : 13047-13052.

     
     

    P. C. Whitford, Y. Yu, S. Hennely, A. Ahmed, F. Tama, C. Spahn, J. N. Onuchic, and K. Y. Sanbonmatsu "Excited states of ribosome translocation revealed through integrative molecular modeling." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 108 (2011) : 18943-18948.

     
     

    R. Nechushtai , H. Lammert , D. Michaeli , Y. Eisenberg-Domovich , J. Zuris , M. Luca , D. Capraro , A. Fish , O. Shimshon , M. Roy , A. Schug , P. Whitford , O. Livnah , J.N. Onuchic, and P.A. Jennings "Allostery in the ferredoxin protein motif does not involve a conformational switch." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 108 (2011) : 2240-2245.

     
     

    Y. Suzuki, J.K. Noel, and J.N. Onuchic "A semi-analytical description of protein folding that incorporates detailed geometrical information." J. Chem. Phys., 134 (2011) : 245101.

     
     Articles
     

    W.A. Eaton, M. Gruebele, V. Lubchenko and J.N. Onuchic "Tribute to Peter G. Wolynes." J. Phys. Chem. B, 117 (2013) : 12669-12671.

     
     

    D.N. Beratan and J.N. Onuchic "Redox redux." PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS , 40 (2012) : 13728-13728.

     
     Book chapters
     

    J.K. Noel and J.N. Onuchic "The many faces of structure-based potentials: from protein folding landscapes to structural characterization of complex biomolecules." Computational Modeling of Biological Systems: From Molecules to Pathways (2012) : 31-54.

     
    Creative Works
     Other - 2011-2014 Chair of the Advisory Council of the Biology Directorate of the NSF
     
     
     Other - Extensive participation in chairing and being a member of national and international committees (e.g. NAS, NSF, NIH, APS and IUPAP).
     Organized many national and international conferences. Extensive editorial positions (e.g. PNAS and Biophs. J.). Many other activities not listed due to space limitation.,
     
     Other - 2012 Chair of the Committee of Visitors of the Physics Division of the NSF
     
     
    Presentations
     Invited Talks
     

    "Building toy models of proteins using co-evolutionary information,." Spring 2015 American Chemical Society National Meeting, Denver, Colorado. (25 March 2015) With Ryan Cheng

     
     

    "Decision making at the cell level: From microorganisms to possibly cancer,." Conference on Symmetry and Dynamics in Biology: From experimental analysis to mathematical modeling, UNIFESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil. (3-17 April 2015)

     
     

    "From structure to function: The convergence of structure base models and co-evolutionary information,." Institute Lecture, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel. (21 May 2015)

     
     

    "From structure to function: The convergence of structure base models and co-evolutionary information,." 2015 IPolS Annual Meeting, The Westin Arlington Gateway, Arlington, Virginia. (17-20 July 2015)

     
     

    "Onuchic Minicourse on Energy Landscapes in Biophysics,." Instituto de Fisica Teorica and South American Institute for Fundamental Research,, Sao Paulo, Brazil. (08 March 2015)

     
     

    "The Energy Landscape for Folding and Function,." American Physical Society March Meeting, Focus Session: Physics of Proteins, San Antonio, Texas. (03 March 2015)

     
     

    "Biomolecular Machines of Life,." The First Symposium on Current Topics in Molecular Biophysics, Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP),, Sao Paulo, Brazil. (21-23 May 2014)

     
     

    "Decision making at the cell level: from microorganisms to possibly cancer." Cell Physics 2014, Saarbrucken, Germany,. (23-26 September 2014)

     
     

    "Decision making at the cell level: from microorganisms to possibly cancer." Workshop on Systems Biology, Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research, Beijing, China. (7-9 September 2014)

     
     

    "From Protein Folding to Molecular Machines in Biology." 2014 Annual Conference: The Computational Revolution in Medicine, Engineering & Science, The Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science (TAMEST), Hyatt Lost Pines Resort, Lost Pines, Texas. (16-17 January 2014)

     
     

    "From Protein Folding to Molecular Machines in Biology." Symposium on Protein Folding, Misfolding, Aggregation and Diseases, The 8th IUPAP International Conference in Biological Physics,, Beijing, China. (18-22 June 2014)

     
     

    "From protein folding to biomolecular machines." Session "Tracing Pathways in Biomolecular Simulation,'' Division of Computers in Chemistry,, 247th ACS National Meeting, Dallas, Texas . (16-20 March 2014)

     
     

    "How the Wonderful Biomolecular Machines Work." The Rice Science Cafe, The Wiess School of Natural Sciences, Rice University, The Black Labrador Pub, Houston, Texas. (6 May 2014)

     
     

    "Knotting a protein in the computer - From simple models to explicit solvent simulations." Significance of Knotted Structures for Function of Proteins and Nucleic Acids, Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting, Warsaw, Poland. (17-21 September 2014)

     
     

    "Molecular Machines." Program in Macromolecular Dynamics: Structure, Function and Diseases, The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China (KITPC) and the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ITP-CAS), Beijing, China. (23 June 2014)

     
     

    "The Genetics and Biophysics of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT): Can Theory Help Cancer Biology?." Symposium on Physics of Cancer, The 8th IUPAP International Conference in Biological Physics,, Beijing, China. (18-22 June 2014)

     
     

    "The Genetics and Biophysics of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT): Can Theory Help Cancer Biology?." Quantitative Biology: From Genes, Cells to Networks, Cold Spring Harbor Asia Conference, Suzhou, China,. (13-17 October 2014)

     
     

    " Exploring the landscape for protein folding: from function to molecular machines." American Physical Society March Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland. (19 March 2013)

     
     

    " Frontier of the Emergence of Biological Matter." 2013 Annual Institute for Complex and Adaptive Matter (ICAM) Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (17-20 April 2013)

     
     

    " The folding mechanism of knotted proteins." Computations and Theoretical Biology Symposium, Rice University, Houston, Texas. (6-7 December 2013)

     
     

    "Biomolecular Machines of Life." 17rh Simposio Brasileiro de Quımica Teorica,, Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (24-28 November 2013)

     
     

    "Energy landscape theory and funnels: from protein folding to molecular machines." Computational Biology: Then and Now, Research Workshop of the Israel Science Foundation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. (6-9 May 2013)

     
     

    "From protein folding to bimolecular machines of life." Conference on Multiscale Motility of Molecular Motors, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Postdam-Golm, Germany. (23-25 September 2013)

     
     

    "Integrated Molecular and Cellular Approach to Bacterial Decision Making." Cell Decision Making Workshop sponsored by The National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia. (9-11 June 2013)

     
     

    "Knotting proteins in implicit Solvent." Entanglement in biology; how nature controls the topology of proteins and DNA, Banff, Canada. (17-22 November 2013)

     
     

    "A structural perspective on the dynamics of Kinesin motors.." 7th International Symposium on Advanced Materials and Nanostructures, Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. (20-23 May 2012)

     
     

    "Biomolecular Machines - the Kinesin Story.." II University of Sao Paulo Conference in Nanotechnology, Itirapina, Sao Paulo, Brazil. (6-9 December 2012)

     
     

    "Decision making at the cell level: From microorganisms to possibly cancer.." Symposium in Honor of Andy McCammon, Division of Computers in Chemistry, 243rd ACS National Meeting, San Diego, California. (25-29 March 2012)

     
     

    "Exploring the landscape for protein folding: From function to molecular machines.." Theory Meets Experiment, Division of Physical Chemistry, 243rd ACS National Meeting, San Diego, California. (25-29 March 2012)

     
     

    "Exploring the landscape for protein folding: from function to molecular machines." Biological and Soft Matter Physics Seminar, Center for Biological Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. (8 February 2012)

     
     

    "Exploring the landscape for protein folding: from function to molecular machines.." School on Dynamics of Biomolecular Processes: From Atomistic Representations to Coarse-Grained Models, Nordita, Stockholm, Sweden. (11-16 March 2012)

     
     

    "Exploring the landscape for proteins and the ribosome: connecting simple models and detailed simulations.." The Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China. (01 August 2012)

     
     

    "Exploring the landscape for proteins and the ribosome: connecting simple models and detailed simulations.." SCBMB Sponsored Seminars, Graduate Program in Structural and Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. (17 August 2012)

     
     

    "Exploring the landscape for proteins and the ribosome: connecting simple models and detailed simulations.." Symposium on Modeling of Biomolecular Systems at Multi-resolution, Division of Computers in Chemistry, 244th ACS National Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (19-23 August 2012)

     
     

    "Exploring the landscape for proteins and the ribosome: connecting simple models and detailed simulations.." Allosteric Regulation of Cell Signaling, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), Madrid, Spain. (17-19 September 2012)

     
     

    "From Rice to SIMM: A New Horizon for Drug Development.." Drug Design and Discovery Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. (28 July 2012)

     
     

    "Integrating Genomics and Molecular Dynamics in Protein Folding.." Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. (2 May 2012)

     
     

    "Protein folding and function, electron transfer and principles of molecular motors.." 5th School in Biological Physics of Protein Folding and Conformational Diseases, I2CAM, FAPERJ, and CeBEM, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (30 September to 6 October, 2012)

     
     

    "The energy landscape for protein folding and molecular machines.." Workshop on Protein Folding and Dynamics: From Experiment to Theory, Telluride Science Research Center, Telluride, Colorado. (17-21 June 2012)

     
     

    "The energy landscape for protein folding and molecular machines.." Physics, Chemistry, and Biology of Membrane Proteins, Fiesta Resort Conference Center, Tempe, Arizona. (16 May 2012)

     
     

    "Exploring the landscape for protein folding: From function to molecular machines.   ." 9th annual 2011 Computational and Theoretical Biology Symposium at Rice, Rice University, Houston, Texas. (9-10 December 2011)

     
     

    "Genomics-aided Protein Folding.   ." Protein and RNA Structure Prediction Conference 2011, Xcaret, Mexico. (3-7 December 2011)

     
     

    "Decision Making at the Cell Level: From Microorganisms to Possibly Cancer." University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles. (October 13, 2011)

     
     

    "Decision Making at the Cell Level: From Microorganisms to Possibly Cancer." First Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. (August 4, 2011)

     
     

    "Exploring the Landscape for Protein Folding: from Function to MolecularMachines." Department of Bioengineering , University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California. (March 2, 2011)

     
     

    "Exploring the landscape for protein folding: from function to molecular machines." 1st KIAS Conference on Subcellular Dynamics, Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Seoul, Korea. (July 25-28, 2011)

     
     

    "Machines of Life: From Small Proteins to Large Biomolecular Machines." Conferencia Magna, XIX Semana da Quimica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (May 6, 2011)

     
     

    "Qual sera o papel do Brasil no novo quadro mundial da ciencia e tecnologia." Conselho Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia, Brasilia, Brazil. (July 4, 2011)

     
     

    "Sharing the Energy Landscape for Folding and Function: From Small Proteins to Large
    Machines." Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. (January 25, 2011)

     
     

    "Sharing the energy landscape for folding and function: From small proteins to large biomolecular machines." Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Arrhenius Laboratories for Natural Sciences Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. (May 12, 2011)

     
     

    "Sharing the energy landscape for folding and function: From small proteins to large biomolecular machines." Symposium in Computational Biochemistry and Biophysics. Annual meeting of the Brazilian Society in Biochemistry (SBBq), Brazil. (May 3, 2011)

     
     

    "The energy landscape for proteins: from folding to biomolecular machines." The 11th SocBiN Conference, Helsinki, Finland. (May 11, 2011)

     
     

    "Theory of Protein Folding." Escola S˜ao Paulo de Ciencia Avancada, New Developments in the Field of Synchrotron Radiation, LNLS, Campinas, Brazil. (January 17-18, 2011)

     
     

    "Vibration Assistance/Coupling in Electron Transfer." The Thirteenth International Symposium on Electroanalytical Chemistry (13th ISEAC), Changchun, China. (August 20, 2011)

     
     Keynote Speaker
     

    "From structure to function: The convergence of structure base models and co-evolutionary information,." The Osamu Hayaishi Lecture, The 23rd IUBMB Congress and \& SBBq Annual Meeting, Foz de Iguacu, Brazil. (24-28 August 2015)

     
     

    "From structure to function: The convergence of structure base models and co-evolutionary information,." '4th International Workshop: Frontiers in Protein Folding, Evolution and Function, Oaxaca, Mexico. (03-06 November 2015)

     
     

    "The Energy Landscape for Protein Folding and Biomolecular Machines,." Distinguished Seminar, Institute of Biological Chemistry (IBC), Taipei, Taiwan. (10 December 2015)

     
     

    "Exploring the energy landscape for protein folding to biomolecular machines of life." Physics of Biomolecular Folding and Assembly: Theory meets Experiment, 552nd Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Seminar 2014, Bad Honnef, Germany. (2-6 February 2014)

     
     

    "Theoretical physics at the interface of cell and molecular biology." Workshop "At the Interface between Physics and Biology,'' Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo ( FAPESP), Sao Paulo, Brazil. (15 April 2014)

     
     

    " Decision making by bacteria." STEM Research Symposium for Undergraduate and Graduate Students, Rice University, Houston, Texas. (9 November 2013)

     
     

    " Decision-making at the cell: from microorganisms to possibly cancer." Fourth Annual Advances in Oncology: from Clinical Science to Clinical Practice, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, UTHealth Medical School, Houston Texas. (11 October 2013)

     
     

    "The funnel energy landscape for proteins and molecular machines." International Symposium on Physical Principles and Underlying Mechanisms of Bio-molecules and Materials, in honor of Jose Onuchic and Peter Wolynes, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. (3-4 August 2013)

     
     

    "The Energy Landscape for Folding and Function: From Small Proteins to Molecular Machines.." Protein Folding Dynamics Gordon Conference, Ventura, California. (8-13 January 2012)

     
     

    "Molecular Machines of Life: From Proteins to Large Biomolecular Machines." Symposium celebrating 20 years of the Program in Molecular Sciences, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. (June 29, 2011)

     
     

    "Qual sera o papel do Brasil no novo quadro mundial da ciencia e tecnologia." Ceremony Launching the Nuclei for Research Support at the Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil,. (June 30, 2011)

     
     Other
     

    "20 Years of Tunneling Pathways." American Chemical Society National Meeting, Anaheim, California. (March 27-31, 2011)

     
     Seminar Speaker
     

    "Biomolecular Machines of Life,." Computational and Systems Biology Program, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. (31 March 2015)

     
     

    "From structure to function in proteins: the convergence of structure based models and co-evolutionary information,." Ken Kennedy Institute Member Luncheon, Rice University, Houston, Texas. (01 May 2015)

     
     

    "From structure to function: The convergence of structure base models and co-evolutionary information,." Genomics and Systems Biology graduate program at National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. (09 December 2015)

     
     

    "From structure to function: The convergence of structure base models and co-evolutionary information,." School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. (6 July 2015)

     
     

    "From structure to function: The convergence of structure base models and co-evolutionary information,." Shanghai Institute for Materia Medica (SIMM), Shanghai, China. (3 July 2015)

     
     

    "Biomolecular Machines of Life." Physics Colloquium, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts. (27 March 2014)

     
     

    "Decision Making at the Cell Level: From microorganisms to possibly cancer." The College of Science and Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts. (26 March 2014)

     
     

    "From Protein Folding to Molecular Machines in Biology." Institute of Physics, University of Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas, Brazil. (13 February 2014)

     
     

    "From protein folding to biomolecular machines." The Dr. George W. Raiziss Seminar Series, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ( 3 April 2014)

     
     

    "The Energy Landscape for Protein Folding and Bimolecular Machines." Biochemistry and Biophysics Center Guest Speaker Seminar Series, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland. (12 February 2014)

     
     

    "The energy landscape for protein folding, binding and molecular machines,." Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt, Germany. (22 September 2014)

     
     

    " Exploring the landscape for protein folding and function: from small proteins to molecular

    machines." Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tex University, Lubbock, Texas. (3 April 2013)

     
     

    " From Protein Folding to Biomolecular Machines of Life." Physical Chemistry Seminar, University of Illinois at Urbana and Champaign, Urbana, Illinois. (23 January 2013)

     
     

    " From protein folding to molecular machines of life." Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York. (16 September 2013)

     
     

    "Biomolecular Machines of Life." Chemical Engineering Seminar, COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (29 November 2013)

     
     

    "From protein folding to bimolecular machines of life." Molecular Life Sciences Seminar Series, The Biochemistry Program, Ohio State University. Columbus, Ohio. (15 October 2013)

     
     

    "Integrated Molecular and Cellular Approach to Bacterial Decision Making,." Physics Colloquium, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. (3 December 2013)

     
     Session Chair
     

    "Protein Folding: Outlook and Challenges Ahead." Protein Folding Dynamics Gordon Conference, Galveston, Texas. (5-10 January 2014)

     
     Workshops
     

    "Protein Folding and Function,” RNA and Protein Folding and Beyond: A Vision for the Next
    Decade." National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia. (September 12-13, 2011)

     
    Editorial Positions
     Associate Editor, Reports on Progress of Physics. Institute of Physics. (2015 - 2015)

     Member of the Editorial Board, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. (2007 - 2010)

     Member of the Editorial Board, Reports on Progress of Physics. Institute of Physics. (2007 - 2015)

    Supervised Theses & Dissertations
     Nathan Eddy, Master Functional rearrangement of hemagglutinin. (2015) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Xingcheng Lin, Master Order and disorder control the functional rearrangement of influenza . (2015) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Mohit Raghunathan, Master Constructing sequence-dependent protein models using coevolutionary information. (2015) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Ryan Hayes, Ph.D. Towards a Simplified model of the RNA Free Energy Landscape and its Mg2+ Dependence . (2015) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Bin Huang, PhD Gene networks in cancer - theoretical modeling. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Mohit Raghunathan, PhD protein folding- SMOG. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Nathan Eddy, PhD Protein folding and function. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Li Sun, PhD Protein folding - force denaturation. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Ryan Hayes, PhD Physics of Riboswitches. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Xingcheng Lin, PhD Protein folding and function. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

    Awards, Prizes, & Fellowships
     The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) Medal, International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) (August 2015)

     Diaspora Prize, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Industrial Development and Foreign Trade, Brazil (2014)

     International Symposium on Physical Principles and Underlying Mechanisms of Bio-molecules and Materials, in honor of Jose Onuchic and Peter Wolynes, (3-4 August 2013)

     Fellow of the Biophysical Society , (2012)

     Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences-Academia Brasileira de Ciencias , (2009)

     Fellow the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , (2009)

     Member of the National Academy of Sciences , (2006)

     Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award , (2002)

     Fellow of the San Diego Supercomputer Center SDSC , (1997)

     Fellow of the American Physical Society , (1995)

     CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research , (2011)

     Associate Member of the Academia de Ciências do Estado de Sao Paulo, (1991)

     International Centre for Theoretical Physics Prize in Honor of Prof. Werner Heisenberg, Trieste Italy , (1998)

     Engineering Institute Prize, Sao Paulo, (1980)

     2012 Fellow of the Biophysical Society, (2012)

     Einstein Professorship of the Chinese Academy of Sciences , CAS (2011)

     Member of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas , (2011)

     Beckman Young Investigator , (1992)

    Residencies & Summer Festivals
     Summer Festival
     International Conference on Biological Physics (ICBP). , La Jolla, CA. (June 2011)
    Positions Held
     Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Chair of Physics, Rice University. (2011 - 2013)

     member, Editorial Board of the Reports on the Progress of Physics,. (2007 - 2013)

     Professor, University of California, San Diego. (1995 - 2011)

     Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego. (1990 - 1992)

     Assistant Professor, Instituto de Fisica e Quimica de Sao Carlos, Universidade de Sao Paulo. (1987 - 1990)

     Chair of the Committee of Visitors (CoV) - Physics Division, National Science Foundation. (2012 - 2012)

     Co-organizer, IUPAP. (2011 - 2011)

     Professor, Rice University. (2011 - 2013)

     Professor, Rice University. (2011 - 2013)

     Biological Sciences Directorate Advisory Committee (MPSAC), National Science Foundation. (2011 - 2014)

     Co-Director, Center for Theoretical Biological Physics . (2002 - 2014)

     Professor, Rice University. (2011 - 2013)

     Member, National Academy of Science, Board of Physics and Astronomy. (2005 - 2011)

     Councillor to the Division of Biological Physics (DBIO), American Physical Society. (2012 - 2016)

     Coordinator of the Rice/USP Blue Gene High Performance Computer, Universidade de São Paulo, Rice University. (2012 - 2016)

     Senior Investigator of International Workshop of Protein Folding and Drug Design, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica - Chinese Academy of Sciences. (2012 - 2016)

     Emeritus Professor, University of California, San Diego. (2012 - 2016)

     Associate Professor, University of California, San Diego. (1992 - 1995)