Education

Undergraduate Courses @ University of Kansas

“Introduction to Biochemistry” (BIOL 600)

This course is designed to offer the essentials of the chemistry of the constituents of living organisms and the changes these constituents undergo (during life processes) in the human body and other living forms. Dr. Miao teaches Protein Structures, Techniques & Methods in Biochemistry, Enzymes, Enzyme Kinetics, Enzyme Inhibitors, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Signal Transduction, Glycolysis, Introduction to Metabolism, etc.

Graduate Courses @ University of Kansas

“Computational Biology Core Course I” (BINF 701/BIOL 952)

BINF 701/ BIOL952 is the Computational Biology core course developed at the KU Center for Computational Biology. The course is designed to introduce the most important and basic concepts, methods, and tools used in computational biology and molecular modeling. Topics include (but are not limited to) biophysics, bioinformatics databases, sequence and structure alignment, protein structure prediction, protein folding, protein-protein interaction, computer aided drug design, and machine learning. Emphasis will be put on the understanding and utilization of these concepts and algorithms. BIOL952 students will not be required to complete programming assignments. We also discuss in detail the application of these algorithms to interesting problems in evolution, macromolecular self-assembly, and drug design. Hands-on laboratory sessions will introduce students to the practical use of databases and structural modeling software. The objective is to help the students to rapidly reach the frontier of computational biology and be able to use the computational tools to solve problems in their own research.

Dr. Miao teaches “Molecular Dynamics” and “Computer-Aided Drug Design” in the BINF701 / BIOL 952 course.

“Computational Biology Core Course II” (BINF 702)

BINF 702 is the second Computational Biology core course developed at the KU Center for Computational Biology. The course is designed to introduce the most important and basic concepts, methods, and tools used in computational biology and molecular modeling. Topics include (but are not limited to) biophysics, bioinformatics databases, sequence and structure alignment, protein structure prediction, protein folding, protein-protein interaction, computer aided drug design, and machine learning. Emphasis will be put on the understanding and utilization of these concepts and algorithms. We also discuss in detail the application of these algorithms to interesting problems in macromolecular self-assembly and dynamical systems biology. The objective is to help the students to rapidly reach the frontier of computational biology and be able to use the computational tools to solve problems in their own research.

Dr. Miao teaches “Advanced Molecular Dynamics” and “Computer-Aided Drug Design” in the BINF702 course.

“Chemistry of Drug Action-I” (MDCM 710)

This course provides an overview of physiological mechanisms and disease processes as well as the basic principles of contemporary drug design. Modulation of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion; drug-like properties; conformational constraint; structure-based drug design; library generation; HTS hit optimization, prodrugs; bioisosteres; Kcat inhibitors; active site directed reversible and irreversible inhibitors; quantitative SAR; molecular dissection; rigid analogs; pharmacophores; etc., will be treated. Dr. Miao teaches “Introduction to Molecular Modeling” in the MDCM 710 course.