Seminar with Irina Kufareva, PhD (UC San Diego)
In person only | Hosted by Dr.Yinglong Miao
Research Summary: The Kufareva lab studies structural, molecular, and architectural principles of cell responses to stimuli and drugs via computational approaches. Our work is mostly focused on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). We use conventional and AI-powered molecular modeling to unlock the therapeutic potential of orphan and understudied GPCRs.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Irina Kufareva, PhD, Professor
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
UC San Diego
Education: S.c. laude M.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science (1994) from Tomsk State University, Russia; Ph.D. in Computer Science (2000) from Tomsk State University, Russia
Postdoctoral training: Computational Structural Biology (2004-2009), The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA
Selected Professional Experiences: Editorial Board member, npj Drug Discovery (2024-present), NIH DMPB study section standing member and alternate chair (2023-2025); NIH DDNS study section, standing member (2022); NIH BPNS study section, standing member (2021); co-organizer, community-wide GPCR Dock assessments (2010, 2013, 2021); ad hoc reviewer for NSF CLP PSD panel (2019) and NIH NCF study section (2017).
Selected Honors
- Recipient of the UC San Diego VCHS Excellence Award in Mentorship, Service and Research
- Invited presentations at the CHI Discovery On Target Conference, Boston, MA (2022), Gordon Research Conference on Mol. Pharmacology, Ventura, CA (2019), 256th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA (2018), 5th Hawaiian GPCR workshop, Kona, Hawaii (2017), ASCEPT-MPGPCR Joint Scientific Meeting, Melbourne, Australia (2016), and others.
- Work featured in Nature News & Views (2016), Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports (2016), Science Perspectives (2015), Biopolymers (2014), and UC San Diego HS Newsroom (on several occasions).