Julien F Roche

Julien F Roche is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology at Iowa State University. His research focuses on understanding protein dynamics, folding mechanisms, and structural biology using advanced techniques like high-pressure NMR spectroscopy. He specializes in studying HIV protease dynamics, drug resistance mechanisms, and the structural basis of protein function in cellular processes such as transcriptional regulation and RNA-protein interactions.

Key research interests include: protein conformational landscapes under stress, intrinsic disorder in signaling proteins, and the interplay between protein structure and function in disease contexts such as neurodevelopmental disorders and viral pathogenesis.

His work integrates experimental biophysics with computational modeling, as seen in studies like the ScanFold approach for genome-wide RNA structural analysis (2018) and molecular dynamics simulations of DISC1 proteins (2019). Recent studies (2021-2025) highlight innovations in high-pressure NMR for detecting low-lying conformational states and elucidating the molecular mechanisms of enzyme activity regulation.

Roche's research spans from fundamental protein science to applied areas like antiviral drug design, with a focus on understanding how environmental pressures (e.g., high pressure, drug binding) reshape protein behavior and stability.