September 16-20, 2024, is National Postdoc Appreciation Week. Since 2009, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) has sponsored this annual celebration to recognize the significant contributions that postdoctoral scholars make to research and scientific discovery. Check out the NPA website to view the virtual and in-person events being held this week.
This week, BPS will be highlighting postdoc members on the blog. Today, read about Atreya Dey, University of California, San Francisco.
What is your current position?
Postdoc with Prof. Andrej Sali and Prof. Ignacia Echeverria in UCSF.
Please share a brief description of your research.
My current research involves integrated modelling of proteins and disease networks.
I am currently working on 3 projects. My first project attempts to refine computational protein binding predictions using deep mutational scanning data. My second project is to build a model of the surface protein environment of a breast cancer cell. Finally my third project aims to build a metamodel of tuberculosis infection by combining pre-existing models of tuberculosis at different stages of its life cycle.
Can you please provide a few potential applications of your research?
The protein binding prediction project can improve drug designing by improving our predictions of antibody antigen interactions. It will also provide a better physical understanding of protein binding interfaces.
The project on modelling surface protein neighbourhoods will inform us on how the HER2 protein coordinates its environment in breast cancer. This can potentially help us design better breast cancer drugs and detection strategies.
The metamodelling project on tuberculosis is fairly audacious. If successful, we will have a detailed understanding of the tuberculosis life cycle spanning over multiple timescales and length scales. This could help us determine molecular mechanisms behind why certain antibiotics are more effective than others. It will potentially help us contain the spread of tuberculosis.
How might your research be relevant to those who are not working in your specific field?
The results of my current research can be directly applied towards drug designing and disease prevention, especially for breast cancer and tuberculosis. Furthermore, by creating physical models of these systems spanning over multiple length scales and time scales we can have a better theoretical understanding of these diseases.
What is your favorite thing about biophysics?
My favourite thing about biophysics is the predictive power of physics in biological systems. I find it incredible that as physicists we can use reductionist thinking and still prepare a model that captures the details of a complex biological system. I believe this approach really teases out fundamental principles in life without getting overwhelmed by the complexity of biological systems.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I love doing nature photography, so I love hiking to locations where I can take photographs. I especially love photographing things that people don’t usually notice. So I love doing astrophotography and macrophotography.
Do you have a website where our readers can view your recent research and follow your career? Or want to share professional social media handles?
This is my website: https://atreyahome.wixsite.com/website
It is currently a work in progress.