A High-Throughput Virtual Screening Approach to Identifying Novel SARS-CoV-2 Inhibitors

Dr. Chun Wu is a tenured associate professor with a joint appointment in the Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Biological Biomedical Sciences at Rowan University. He obtained his PhD from University of Delaware where he developed protein force fields and conducted molecular dynamics simulations of amyloidogenic peptides. He then trained at the University of California Davis and Santa Barbara as a postdoctoral researcher studying the modeling of oligomers of amyloidogenic peptides. At Rowan, using genomic datasets his lab is developing a novel evolution theory (near-neutral balanced selection theory/NNBST) not only to best explain the molecular evolution of SARS-COV-2 and other pathogens but also to accurately identify hotspots in their genome for developing first/next generation vaccines and drugs to treat these infectious diseases; using molecular docking, homology modeling and molecular dynamics simulations, his computer aided drug design (CADD) lab is investigating the binding interactions between various protein receptors and ligands toward novel drug design. Working collaboratively with experimental groups, the Wu lab aims to discover novel protein receptors and small molecules as potential anti-cancer agents, antiviral agents, anti-neural-disorder agents, and to optimize ionic liquids for protein and nucleic acid stabilization. With over 92 peer-reviewed publications, he has achieved a h-index of 35 and total citations of 8813+. His contributions to the field of computational biochemistry, molecular modeling and simulation and CADD are widely recognized by his peers. He has been invited to present at national and international meetings, and top Chinese institutes, and he was named the World Class Professor by the Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture in 2021.