The central aim of my current research is to understand the mechanical basis of protein function, that is, the collective motions and the forces that guide these motions, enabling the conformational and energetic changes required for functional transitions.
Structural biology has dramatically changed our understanding of the molecular processes underlying life. But, we still do not understand how and why molecular machines work the way they do in terms of their motions, energetics, and excited states. The central aim of my current research is to understand the mechanical basis of protein function, that is, the collective motions and the forces that guide these motions, enabling the conformational and energetic changes required for functional transitions. In addition, my long-term interest is in understanding how these mechanical properties originate in the evolutionary process, and how they, in turn, guide future evolution.