Our faculty presently consists of two associate professors, Cristian Micheletti (head) and Alessandro Laio (deputy head), one tenure-track scientist, Giovanni Bussi and one co-opted assistant professor, Alessandra Magistrato from CNR who is responsible for the Biophysics research line of the CNR-IOM Democritos Center for Atomistic Simulations in Trieste.


Main research lines in the Molecular and Statistical Biophysics Group are:


(1) Characterising the effect of spatial confinement on the structural, topological and mechanical properties of biopolymers, particularly DNA. (PI: Prof. C. Micheletti)

(2) Elucidating the relationship between structure and function in proteins and enzymes. (PI: Prof. C. Micheletti)

(3) Simulating rare events in biological systems (PI: Prof. A. Laio)

(4) Molecular Mechanisms of Diseases and Drugs (PI: Dr. A. Magistrato)

(5) Enzymatic and biomimetic catalysis (PI: Dr. A. Magistrato)

(6) Simulation of small ribonucleic acid (RNA) (PI: Dr. G. Bussi) Hide

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The goal of this research line is to study the folding and the conformational transitions of small ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules using advanced accelerated-sampling methods and developing new ad hoc techniques. Currently, in collaboration with Dr. Francesco Colizzi, we are studying small RNA motifs of increasing complexity (helices, hairpins and pseudoknots), providing information complementary to that directly obtainable from experiments, and using the experiments as a validating tool of our models and methodologies.



(7) PLUMED Development (PI: Dr. G. Bussi)