Charles L. Brooks

Charles L. Brooks is the Cyrus Levinthal Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry and Biophysics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He also serves as Director of the Biophysics Program and holds the Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professorship in Chemistry. Brooks earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University and completed postdoctoral research at Harvard University.

His research focuses on computational biophysics, molecular simulations, and drug discovery. Key areas include protein folding, enzyme catalysis, and the development of computational tools like the CHARMM software suite. Brooks' group investigates complex biological systems such as viruses, ribosomes, and molecular machines, leveraging high-performance computing and GPU-accelerated methods.

• Develops novel methods in statistical mechanics and quantum chemistry
• Leads projects in drug design, pH-dependent molecular processes, and enzyme engineering
• Pioneers machine learning approaches for protein design and ancestral sequence reconstruction

Brooks has authored over 300 publications and holds numerous awards, including the Hans Neurath Award and fellowships from the Biophysical Society and AAAS. His lab manages a computing cluster with 5,000 CPU cores and 300 GPUs.

Recent work includes studies on SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors, protein aggregation mechanisms, and the structural basis of enzyme catalysis. His team collaborates with experimentalists to bridge computational predictions with biochemical validation.