Join the CQB on Friday, March 21, 2025 from 3-4:00 pm in Wilkinson 021 as we hear from our next guest speaker, Dr. Ron Dror, Professor of Computer Science at Sanford University as he will be discussing, ” Discovering Safe, Effective Drugs via Machine Learning and Simulation of 3D Structure.”
Bio: Ron Dror is the Cheriton Family Professor of Computer Science in the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab and a professor, by courtesy, of Structural Biology and of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at the Stanford School of Medicine. He leads a research group that uses molecular simulation and machine learning to elucidate biomolecular structure, dynamics, and function, and to guide the development of more effective medicines. He collaborates extensively with experimentalists in both academia and industry. Before moving to Stanford, he served as second-in-command of D. E. Shaw Research, a hundred-person company, having joined as its first hire. Dr. Dror earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and an MPhil in Biological Sciences as a Churchill Scholar at the University of Cambridge.
Abstract: Recent years have seen dramatic advances in both experimental determination and computational prediction of macromolecular structures. These structures hold great promise for the discovery of highly effective drugs with minimal side effects, but structure-based design of such drugs remains challenging. I will describe recent progress toward this goal, using both atomic-level molecular simulations and machine learning on three-dimensional structures.
