Polyglot Poly group plots protein project
A group of professors and students from the departments of chemical and biological sciences, and computer and information science was recently awarded a $15,000 grant for an interdisciplinary computational protein design project titled, “Machine Learning Algorithms for Artificial Protein Design.”
A group of professors and students from the departments of chemical and biological sciences, and computer and information science was recently awarded a $15,000 grant for an interdisciplinary computational protein design project titled, “Machine Learning Algorithms for Artificial Protein Design.”
The research team consists of undergraduate students Man Xia Lee (B.S. in biomolecular science expected May 2008) and Aye Moe (B.S. in computer engineering expected May 2008); and faculty members Jin K. Montclare (Chemical and Biological Sciences), Phyllis Frankl and Lisa Hellerstein (Computer and Information Science).
“This grant is an excellent fit with Poly's initiatives in undergraduate research and multidisciplinary research,” said Frankl. “The team is using computational techniques to learn which modifications to a protein are most beneficial for increasing the protein's activity.”
The grant was awarded by the Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research. CRA-W gave the award as part of a program called Multidisciplinary Research Opportunities for Women. MRO-W designed to engage women undergraduates in computer science more fully in the research process by allowing them to investigate applications of computer science to other areas in which they may have an interest, and to serve as a catalyst for forming new multidisciplinary partnerships with cyber-infrastructure expertise.
