Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry

Dr. George Papadantonakis  is the Assistant Head of the Department of Chemistry at UIC, and is the Director of General Chemistry. Dr. Papadantonakis also carries out a research program focusing on the mechanisms by which DNA is damaged by radiation or chemical interactions, which result in DNA lesions and ultimately cancerous tumor growth. Students working with Dr. Papadantonakis will use computational methods to investigate these processes at the molecular level. A fundamental question under investigation is to understand how the DNA molecule gives up electrons, which is one of the key initial steps leading to DNA damage and mutation. These interactions also play a key role in cancer chemotherapy.

To read more about Dr. Papadantonakis’s work, see his research group’s page.

Dr. Petr Král is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UIC and also uses computational tools to study nanoscale systems and their chemical, physical and biological origins, and how to apply their unique properties to applications as new materials and medicines. Students working with Dr. Král may work on a number of different problems including simulations of bio-related systems, such as peptide drug design for SARS-CoV2 or various nanoparticles coupled to bimolecular complexes, and modeling of self-assembling nanoparticles from the molecular to the macroscopic scale.

For more information on Dr. Král’s research, go to his research group’s page.

Dr. Papadantonakis and Dr. Král will be collaborating closely in the supervision of undergraduate research within the ERTC, so students will be able to gain experience with a number of different types of computational techniques for understanding the behavior of large biological molecules and systems.