George Stan

George Stan is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati's College of Arts and Sciences. He specializes in computational biophysical chemistry, focusing on protein folding, degradation, and the mechanisms of biological nanomachines like Clp ATPases and chaperonins. Stan received his B.Sc. (1994) from the University of Bucharest and his Ph.D. (1999) from Pennsylvania State University. His postdoctoral work at the University of Maryland and NIH explored protein folding assisted by chaperonins.

Research Interests: Stan's work combines molecular dynamics simulations and bioinformatics to study protein-unfolding pathways, substrate recognition by chaperonins, and the dynamics of AAA+ nanomachines. His recent studies investigate how primary sequence and topology influence protein degradation, with applications to knotted proteins and disease-related misfolding.

Key Achievements: Stan has secured over $8 million in NSF grants, including a CAREER award for computational modeling of biological nanomachines. His team develops multiscale models of protein translocation and employs machine learning to study allosteric communication in ClpP peptidases. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and reviews.

• Notable Grants: NSF-BSF (2021-2025), NIH (2024-2029), and multiple XSEDE allocations
• Service: Co-chaired the 'Molecular Machines' focus session at APS March Meetings (2022-2024)
• Teaching: Advanced Computational Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Big Data in Chemistry

Labs/Teams: Leads the Computational Biophysics group at UC, collaborating with Ruxandra Dima and Pietro Strobbia on interdisciplinary projects. Mentors over 20 graduate and undergraduate students since 2006.