Maria Kurnikova

Maria Kurnikova is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research focuses on biophysical, theoretical, and computational approaches to understanding structure-function relationships in proteins. She utilizes high-performance computing for molecular modeling and computational chemistry to predict the behavior and energetics of biological macromolecules. Kurnikova is also affiliated with the Joint Carnegie Mellon-University of Pittsburgh Graduate Program in Computational Biology and serves as Co-Director of the Molecular Biophysics & Structural Biology (MBSB) Graduate Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Her work includes developing models for membrane proteins and ion channels, as well as in silico drug design methods.

Maria Kurnikova is a Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in computational modeling of proteins, ion channel biophysics, free energy MD, and in silico drug design. Her research focuses on understanding ion transport through biological channels using Poisson-Nernst-Planck theory and dynamic lattice Monte Carlo simulations. She investigates the structural and electrostatic mechanisms governing ion channel function, including the role of dielectric barriers and membrane electrostatics. Her work also explores the structural bases of drug interactions with ionotropic glutamate receptors and the mechanisms of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Kurnikova's research contributes to the development of computational tools for drug design and the elucidation of molecular dynamics in biological systems.