Taras Pogorelov

Taras Pogorelov is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, with additional affiliations at the Beckman Institute, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), and School of Chemical Sciences. He specializes in computational biophysics, focusing on membrane dynamics, protein folding, and cellular signaling. His work integrates molecular dynamics, quantum chemistry, and machine learning to address challenges in cellular environments.

Education:

• Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Diploma in Biomedical Engineering, 1995)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (M.S. Mathematics, 1996; Ph.D. Chemical Physics, 2006)

Research Interests:

• Molecular mechanisms of cell signaling
• Membrane-associated phenomena (lipid-protein interactions, functional lipids)
• In-silico modeling of cytoplasmic environments
• Protein folding dynamics and osmolyte effects

Recent Article Trends: Focus on membrane interactions (antimicrobial peptides, bromoform toxicity), enzyme dynamics in crowded cytoplasmic environments, and structural biology of antifungal agents. His computational workflows bridge experimental data (e.g., NMR, FRET) with high-resolution simulations.

Grants & Collaborations: Lead PI on NIH grants (e.g., GM141298) and co-PI on NSF projects. Collaborates with experimental groups (Gruebele, Rienstra, Hristova) to validate computational findings. Supervises a lab with PhD students researching topics like lipid signaling, cytoplasmic metabolon complexes, and drug design.

Labs/Teams: Directs the Pogorelov Lab, which develops computational tools like the HMMM membrane model and integrates data sonification for protein dynamics visualization.