Teodoro awarded Autrey Fellowship for drug design research

May 4, 2001 -- Miguel Teodoro, a graduate student in the Physical Computing group, has received the Nettie S. Autrey Memorial Fellowship in Science in recognition of his Protein Dynamics and Flexible Drug Design project. The Autrey Fellowship is awarded to a Rice graduate student with high academic records and strong qualifications.

"Miguel is combining his advanced training in biology and computer science in an amazing way," said Computer Science Associate Professor Lydia Kavraki, who co-advises Teodoro with George N. Phillips Jr. of the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. "The field of bioinformatics is exploding today, and Miguel's work provides an excellent example of the exciting challenges of that field." In response to this rising demand for specialists in bioinformatics, beginning in fall 2001 the Department of Computer Science is offering a new Master of Computer Science degree with a concentration in bioinformatics.

In his research, Teodoro is working on the problem of improving rational drug design methodology. Current programs used for database screening are prone to error, mainly because current rational drug design methods assume that the protein is a rigid body that does not undergo deformation during the binding process. Unfortunately, this approximation is only valid for some systems.

"In my research project I am developing techniques which will allow for the inclusion of protein flexibility in the drug design process in an efficient manner," Teodoro explains. Additionally, he is developing a new framework that will solve the problem of docking a flexible ligand into a flexible receptor protein.

"Miguel is working on one of the most difficult problems in computer-aided drug design. I expect that his Ph.D. work will lead to a completely new methodology for taking into account the flexibility of the receptor in docking studies. The Autrey Fellowship is a very well deserved distinction," Kavraki said.

Additional information on other Physical Computing group research projects is available at http://www.cs.rice.edu/CS/Robotics/research.html.