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Alex MacKerell

@alexmackerell.bsky.social

Computational chemistry and biophysics. Empirical force fields, CADD, RNA, carbohydrates, and methods developments including SILCS (site identification by ligand competitive saturation, See SilcsBio LLC) and enhanced-sampling GCMC. And I surf....

643 Followers  |  76 Following  |  24 Posts  |  Joined: 26.11.2023  |  2.0619

Latest posts by alexmackerell.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Faculty Recruitment

Please apply to our tenure-track faculty position at
@stanford-chemh.bsky.social! We are searching for a new colleague working at the interface between computation and molecular sciences. See post below and pls forward widely!
chemh.stanford.edu/opportunitie...

17.09.2025 17:54 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

We've been putting these tools to use. Worth checking out.

17.09.2025 02:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Welcome!

15.07.2025 21:55 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Journal of Computational Chemistry Click on the title to browse this journal

Honored to join the Editorial Board of the Journal of Computational Chemistry #compchem #compchemsky #chemsky onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1096...

07.07.2025 08:02 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

Take a look. The perspective includes examples of how MD simulations and the SILCS technology can be used to facilitate antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) development including regions of the mAb that have potential interactions with the drug warhead.

29.06.2025 19:46 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

VΓ€ldigt bra! I hope all is well!

20.05.2025 00:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Representative images on a journal cover of the different types of molecular movement pathways.

Representative images on a journal cover of the different types of molecular movement pathways.

Nice to get a JCIM cover! Check out the SILCS-based method for dissociation pathway identification, 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c01814, and the SILCS-Kinetics physics/ML method for rapid estimation (really fast...) of small molecule koff values was just accepted in JCTC.
@silcsbio

15.04.2025 20:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

While I've seen a bad FF or two, the system volume could be so far off that the water can't condense properly.

31.03.2025 21:05 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I have heard from a reliable source that the NIGMS council is rescheduled for sometime In April even though it isn’t posted yet. Not sure about other councils

14.03.2025 20:05 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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We are excited to have @alexmackerell.bsky.social this month for our Integrative Modeling in Biophysics e-series!! It’s all about polarizable force field next week. #drude

Tues March 11, 5:30 PM IST (2:00 CEST, 7:00 AM USET) For details about this series, visit: sites.google.com/view/mbu-inf...

08.03.2025 10:04 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Increasing the Accuracy and Robustness of the CHARMM General Force Field with an Expanded Training Set Small molecule empirical force fields (FFs), including the CHARMM General Force Field (CGenFF), are designed to have wide coverage of organic molecules and to rapidly assign parameters to molecules no...

For all the CGenFF fans out there, we've undertaken a significant expansion of the training set and extended the coverage to 4-membered rings.

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Access CGenFF at cgenff.com

04.03.2025 20:11 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

What they are doing is known to the art. Though the method may be more successful than previous attempts, people have been trying this for a long time with and range of methods and varying levels of success. Harold Scheraga would tell you all about it if he was still around!

03.03.2025 21:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Get to a physical therapist. I've had good outcomes and I continue to do regular exercises focused on my many issues. Getting old....

18.02.2025 00:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Postdoc position in computational structural biology Join our team and contribute to the development of HADDOCK, our integrative modelling software, as part of an exciting EU-India research collaboration.

I have two open postdoctoral researcher positions in my group. I am looking for applicants with interest and expertise in computational structural biology and research software development. These positions are part of GANANA, a collaborative European/Indian project Check www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

14.02.2025 18:01 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 20    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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πŸ€“Our new article investigates how refined parameters for the Drude polarizable force field perform in capturing complex biomolecular interactions with ions. Congratulations to the team! πŸ‘ #iamcals #hokies #utprosim #virginiatech #whyvt pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

11.02.2025 21:52 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

It's like they were just faking support for our communities all along.

11.02.2025 05:11 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

Check out the SILCS v2025 Release Webinar

Key Highlights being covered:
- Precise docking w/ water inclusion
- Improved ML-based hotspot ranking
- Streamlined multi-cofactor simulations

πŸ“… Feb 13, 2025, 12 PM ET
Register: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/214c66...

10.02.2025 20:28 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Sounds like the decision making process we use during force field optimization....

06.02.2025 23:15 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Queer Voices in Computational Biology: The 1st ISCB LGBTQI+ Symposium Abstract. The 1st ISCB LGBTQI+ Symposium, held during Pride month in 2024, marked a significant milestone by the International Society for Computational Bi

The article on the 1st Int'l Society for Computational Biology LGBTQI+ Symposium is out. Many thanks to @gonzaparra.bsky.social for organizing & putting the article together & to @iscb.bsky.social for sponsoring & hosting the online symposium. We won't give in to the hate. tinyurl.com/2v7mn6j5

06.02.2025 20:34 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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FDA Approves Novel Non-Opioid Treatment for Moderate to Severe Acute Pain The FDA approved Journavx (suzetrigine) 50 mg oral tablets, a first-in-class non-opioid analgesic to treat moderate to severe acute pain in adults.

The FDA approved a non-opioid painkiller for the first time in what seems like forever. What do I find COOL and what COOLS my expectations? A thread.
www.fda.gov/news-events/...

04.02.2025 16:57 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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a man with glasses and a black shirt says " it 's a small step that really goes a long way " ALT: a man with glasses and a black shirt says " it 's a small step that really goes a long way "

SOME GOOD NEWS ABOUT NIH FUNDING

Closed sessions of institute and center Advisory Counsel meetings are now permitted. This is where grant applications are discussed and approved for potential funding.

Open sessions where there are public presentations and discussions are still not allowed.

03.02.2025 18:35 β€” πŸ‘ 249    πŸ” 81    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 7

The Eagles people are winning.

26.01.2025 22:49 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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I am not in the mood for MDPI today.

24.01.2025 18:39 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

It was an honor to put the obituary together for Martin with the help of Charlie Brooks, Carol Post, Lennart Nilsson and Benoit Roux as well as the Nature staff writer. Nature only allows a single author on these articles.

25.01.2025 17:56 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Martin Karplus, Chemist Who Made Early Computers a Tool, Dies at 94 (Gift Article) Proving skeptics wrong, he shared a Nobel Prize in 2013 for using computers to better understand chemical reactions and biological processes.

Obituary for computational chemistry pioneer Martin Karplus in the New York Times (gift link).
#CompChem #ChemSky πŸ§ͺ
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/s...

14.01.2025 02:57 β€” πŸ‘ 140    πŸ” 48    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
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Sales Manager - SilcsBio - Baltimore, MD 21230 - Indeed.com Early Charm, LLC

Silcsbio is hiring. Be the driving force behind our revenue growth, responsible for connecting researchers and pharmaceutical innovators with our advanced molecular modeling tools and services based on the SILCS technology.

www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=a...

13.01.2025 17:03 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

We've worked collaboratively targeting protein translation.

doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

11.01.2025 22:08 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Speaking with Martin Karplus on the occasion of an award to him from the Government of Austria, August 15, 2024.

Speaking with Martin Karplus on the occasion of an award to him from the Government of Austria, August 15, 2024.

Martin Karplus portrait

Martin Karplus portrait

Martin Karplus receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, December 2013

Martin Karplus receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, December 2013

Martin Karplus died on Saturday, Dec 28 at age 94. Martin was my freshman Chem 10 professor, my undergraduate research advisor, and my PhD advisor. I will always be grateful for his true kindness to me as a mentor through some difficult times in my life. cen.acs.org/people/obitu...

03.01.2025 17:39 β€” πŸ‘ 105    πŸ” 18    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 3

Thank you. Hi to Dan and have a good new year!

31.12.2024 21:14 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yes, Martin died peacefully at home in his sleep Saturday evening. His impact was large and on many levels for those of us that had the opportunity to work with him.

31.12.2024 19:08 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

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