Stefano Forli

Stefano Forli is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). He leads the Forli Lab, which focuses on computational methods for drug design and structural biology. Key initiatives include the AutoDock suite development and the FightAIDS@Home project in collaboration with IBM's World Community Grid. His research combines molecular dynamics, docking, and high-throughput screening to identify novel therapeutic molecules, particularly targeting HIV and other pathogens.

Dr. Forli earned his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Modelling from Università degli Studi di Siena (2006). He has held roles at TSRI since 2008, progressing from Research Associate to Assistant Professor (2015–2021) and his current rank. His work bridges computer science, chemistry, and biology, emphasizing covalent ligand discovery and proteome-wide profiling.

Research interests span computational drug design, viral protein modeling, and the development of open-source tools like AutoDock. Notable achievements include the NIH R01 Early Stage Investigator Award (2016) and the IBM Open Pandemics Award (2020). Collaborations include the Center for Computational Structural Biology (CCSB) and the Resource for Structure-based Computational Drug Discovery and Design (RSCD3).

His lab’s projects address challenges such as HIV capsid stabilization, antiviral drug discovery, and integrative modeling of viral complexes. Recent advances include the 'OpenPandemics' initiative for SARS-CoV-2 research and the 'Ringtail' tool for virtual screening management.