Dr Juan R. Perilla
Dr. Perilla is a biophysicist and currently an Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Delaware. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2011 at Johns Hopkins University, researching transition state theory applied to large conformational changes in proteins. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied entire viruses under physiological conditions. Prof. Perilla develops physical and chemical-based methodologies for understanding biological processes related to life and disease. In particular, his research spans from quantum-mechanical calculations to mesoscale simulations and leverages the computational power of petascale supercomputers. Prof. Perilla’s group also developed full-scale molecular simulations of viral components, which has driven the development of a robust statistical analysis framework. Prof. Perilla has authored 50 peer-reviewed articles, 11 journal covers, and three book chapters. Dr. Perilla enjoys sports like squash, golf, and long-distance road cycling, as well as playing chess and the violin.
Dr Anna Pavlova
Dr. Pavlova is a biochemist and currently a Research Scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the School of Physics. She obtained her Ph.D. in 2013 at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where she studied the role of water in chemical reactions employing ab initio molecular dynamics. After graduation, she started her position at Georgia Tech as a postdoctoral fellow. During her time as a postdoctoral fellow, she has worked on simulating macrolide antibiotics in the ribosome, developed standard practices for parametrization of small molecules with the Force-field Tool Kit, and studying early assembly intermediates of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) capsid. In 2019 she was promoted to Research Scientist. After the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, she has used molecular simulations to study several proteins important for its viral lifecycle. Her present work is focused on understanding how small molecules can alter the assembly of capsids and developing novel compounds to inhibit HBV by targeting its capsid assembly. Dr. Pavlova has authored 24 peer-reviewed articles and frequently presents her research at international conferences.