Rob D Coalson

Rob D Coalson is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh's Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on theoretical and computational studies of biological and synthetic nanopores, including the Nuclear Pore Complex (NPC), smart polymer-particle composites, and ion channels. He leads the Coalson Group, which develops coarse-grained models and simulations to understand structure-function relationships in these systems.

Key research areas include NPC transport mechanisms, nanoparticle-controlled polymer brushes for size-selective sieving, and ion permeation in channels like CLC and Claudin. His work integrates molecular dynamics, statistical mechanics, and electrostatic models. He has pioneered computational methods for analyzing nanopore dynamics and ion transport, with applications in biophysics and materials science.

• Received NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1986-91)
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow (1989-91)
• Camille & Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar (1990-94)
• Fellow of the American Physical Society (1999)

His lab's software repository hosts tools for modeling nanopore systems. Current projects explore nanoparticle-controlled brushes, ion channel gating, and universal ion transport principles. He collaborates on experimental validations of computational predictions, such as water permeability in aquaporins.