Ram Samudrala

Ram Samudrala is a Professor and Chief of the Division of Bioinformatics at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. His research focuses on multiscale computational biology, integrating protein structure prediction, drug discovery, and translational science to address medical challenges. He leads the development of the CANDO platform for therapeutic drug discovery and co-directs the Informatics Core at the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute.

• PhD in Computational Biology (University of Maryland, 1997)
• BA in Computing Science and Genetics (Ohio Wesleyan University, 1993)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship in Protein Folding (Stanford University, 1997-2001)

His work spans structural biology, genomics, and computational drug design, with applications in dentistry, infectious diseases, and cancer. He has received prestigious awards including the NIH Director's Pioneer Award (2010) and multiple Wiki Science Prizes. Samudrala's group collaborates globally, emphasizing in silico methods followed by in vitro and in vivo validation. Key grants include $1.22M NIH NCATS ASPIRE Reduction-to-Practice Award and $4.5M NIH/NLM BRIGHT Training Grant.

• 2023 Finalist, Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute Clinical Research Achievement Awards
• 2016 MacArthur Foundation 100&Change Top 50
• 2008 Alberta Heritage Foundation Visiting Scientist Award
• 2005 NSF CAREER Award

He directs the BRIGHT Short-Term Training Program and serves on multiple editorial boards and review panels. Samudrala's group maintains a Protinfo web server for structural predictions and the Bioverse framework for systems-level analyses.