Nikolay V. Dokholyan

Nikolay V. Dokholyan is the G. Thomas Passananti Professor of Pharmacology and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State College of Medicine. His research integrates computational and experimental approaches to study molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases (ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's) and cancer. He leads the Dokholyan Laboratory, affiliated with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, focusing on protein and RNA structure prediction, allosteric regulation, and nano-biocomputing agents for disease intervention.

• Education: Directly inferred from his academic leadership and publications, though formal education details are not explicitly stated in the text.

Research Highlights:

• Decoding protein allostery and RNA folding to control biological function
• Developing quantum machine learning tools for protein classification and drug discovery
• Designing RNA/protein nanocomputing agents for programmable cellular behavior
• Elucidating SOD1 trimer toxicity in ALS progression
• Engineering light-inducible enzymes for optogenetic control
• Mapping miRNA dysregulation in ALS for liquid biopsy biomarkers

Recent Scientific Awards:

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow (2019)

Grants and Collaborations:

• National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for quantum AI in drug discovery (2022)
• Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) pilot funding recipient
• Collaborations with Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State Cancer Institute, and interdisciplinary teams

Advising: Mentors numerous PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in computational biology, structural biophysics, and nanobiotechnology. His lab emphasizes cross-disciplinary training in biochemistry, bioinformatics, and synthetic biology.