Victor Muñoz

Victor Muñoz is a Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, Merced. His research focuses on protein biophysics, structural biology, and synthetic molecular biology with applications in bionanotechnology, biosensor design, and drug delivery systems. He leads the Muñoz Lab, which investigates mechanisms of protein folding, binding, and functional dynamics using experimental and computational approaches.

Research interests include: protein folding kinetics, allosteric macromolecular assemblies, single-molecule spectroscopy, and engineering ultrafast biosensors. Key projects involve developing diagnostic tools for HIV and SARS-CoV-2 using engineered proteins, studying transcription factor-DNA interactions, and exploring the role of conformational disorder in gene regulation.

Publications span biophysics journals and cover topics like molecular simulations of intrinsically disordered proteins, ultrafast folding dynamics under mechanical force, and the design of genetically encoded calcium sensors. His work bridges experimental biophysics with computational modeling to address fundamental questions in molecular biology and engineering.

Victor Muñoz is also involved in journal leadership, serving as a founder of Biophysica, an open-access journal for interdisciplinary biophysical research.