Wen Ma

Wen Ma is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Vermont (UVM), part of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. He holds a PhD in Biophysics and Computational Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BS in Physics from Peking University. His research focuses on Computational and Theoretical Biophysics, with an emphasis on understanding biomolecular machines such as molecular motors, myosin, and helicases through computational modeling and simulations.

Dr. Ma’s work spans diverse areas including the molecular mechanisms of cardiac myosin dysfunction in heart disease, kinase regulation in Parkinson’s-associated proteins (e.g., LRRK2), and RNA-DNA interactions in telomere biology. His lab employs advanced techniques like cryo-EM, molecular dynamics simulations, and AlphaFold-based modeling to dissect structural and functional relationships in biomolecules.

• Awards: 2024 Early Career Research Award from CVRI ($10,000), Martin M. LeWinter Early Career Investigator Award
• Key Contributions: Published over 20 peer-reviewed articles since 2010, including studies on dynein regulation, SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase activation, and engineered helicases for DNA amplification.

His lab (Ma Lab) integrates theoretical and experimental approaches to address questions at the interface of physics, biology, and medicine. Current projects include developing fluorogenic protease reporters for apoptosis imaging and elucidating conformational switches in helicases.