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UMB Ramp Lunch & Learn
I volunteered at the UMB RAMP program’s May Lunch & Learn activity, where a UMB researcher meets with a small group of high school students to discuss their researhc, career development and trajectory, and then give a demonstration with a hands-on activity. The students played a short game of Monte Carlo pi estimation in person, then we wrote some python code to do the same thing. While not directly related to molecular simulation, it relates a few key ideas, like how seemingly “random” events can converge on a stable value, or how useful computers can be to iterate over a simple, repeatable arithmetic task. Read more
Best of Biophysical Journal 2023!
My paper on hydrophobic dewetting, published with Jianhan and Zhiguang, was selected as one of twenty articles in the Best of Biophysical Journal 2023! This is a big honor, and feels immensely gratifying! This was essentially my first attempt to guide the direction of a research project more directly, although Jianhan of course provided many mission-critical suggestions and corrections at every phase of the project. The honor came as a surprise since none of us knew about the honor until seeing the issue in print after the BPS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Check it out! Read more
PhD Dissertation Defense
I gave my final PhD dissertation defense on Monday, June 5th 2023. This was a very special day, and week, to reflect on the work I’ve done and the progress I’ve made as a scientist, and to share that progress with my family, friends, and the academic community here in Amherst. It’s been a wonderful and challenging expeirence. Read more
Postdoc at UMB
I have accepted a position at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, in Alex MacKerell’s lab in the School of Pharmacy. In addition, I have been awarded funding through the Cancer Biology T-32 training grant. I will utilize simulation techniques devleoped by Alex’s group to identify drug-like small molecules for targeting ion channels (BK in particular) in cancer cells. 
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1st class done!
My first class, a first-year seminar called “Order and Chaos, Reconciling atomic randomness and the human world” was a big success. Some of the final projects students designed, carried out and presented:
- Gas permeation through a eggshell-like membrane (pictured below)
- Irreversibility of an explosion simulation
- Thermal equilibration and planet formation
- Equilibration of plucked strings
ResearchFest Presentation
For my recent presentation at the UMass Chemistry ResearchFest, I was awarded the second-place award, a great honor and a generous monetary prize. I was among 4 student speakers selected for the highly-competitive presentations each year. One senior student per lab can be nominated. I was following in the tradition of the great Xiaorong Liu, who spoke at my first ResearchFest in 2018. Read more
Eureka! girls science camp
CNS Teaching Fellowship
The UMass College of Natural Sciences offers a First-year seminar to CNS-declared majors under the broad umbrella “Think like a Scientist”. Graduate students interested in a teaching career are encouraged to apply. Each FYS is unqiue to the person teaching it, which gave me the opportunity to build a (mini) cirriculum and practice some skills I learned abstractly by taking CIRTL online training courses. Read more
Introduction to Evidence-based Teaching
This online course (through the edX platform and CIRTL) introduced me to the kinds of challenges facing an ‘expert’ in a field who is trying to reach a collection of students with various skills, previous knowledge, and emotions. In fact, the growth-mindset and iterative, active learning priciples I hope to implement are the same I need to use to learn how to teach. 
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The Inclusive STEM Teaching Project Course
This online course (through the edX platform) used embodied case study videos and self-reflection prompts to train grad students, postdocs and current faculty to approach education through personal and inclusive strategies backed by the latest educational reserach. 
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Erik and Zoes wedding
Erik and Zoe got married in Eagle, ID. We met a the College of Idaho in Caldwell, ID. 
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Awarded CBI Fellowship
The Chemistry Biology Interface (CBI) is a competitive NIH-funded fellowship designed “to train students with diverse scientific backgrounds for productive research at the interface between chemistry and biology” at UMass.” 
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Website built
My labmate Xiping Gong and I learned that one can host a free website at username.github.io using a special repo with that name. He then found the awesome template academicpages.github.io, which I immediately forked and started using. Since then, many Chen lab members have followed suit: Read more
hobbies
Lincoln Addresses (excerpts)
we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain Read more
Piano
I’m learning to play!
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Podcasts/YouTube
I listen to some podcasts and YouTube channels Read more
Swimming
I really enjoy swimming! 
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Tennyson (Ulysses, excerpt)
that which we are, we are Read more
people
Erik Nordquist
This website, eriknordquist.com, is my website. Read more
Zoe Nordquist
I am Zoe. Check out my art and music! Read more
publications
research
Computational design of cancer drugs with SILCS
PROTACs are powerful ways to expand the druggable proteome, critical in cancer and other challenging diseases, but their design is often slow and expensive. Hence, CADD is useful!
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Hydrophobic Dewetting in protein ion channels and model nanopores
Hydrophobic dewetting forms a vapor barrier and closes BK Channel; how do mutations or drug-like molecules (de-)stabilize this delicate liquid-vapor interplay?
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Biophysics and Machine Learning
It is often useful to leverage computational biophysical data and machine learning to fill gaps in experiments. I’ve used this approach with the chaperone Hsp70, BK channel, and to predict druggable sites. 
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Molecular dynamics simulations
Using Newton’s laws to simulate molecular motion, like these wiggling waters:
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Computer-aided drug discovery
Using simulations of proteins and small molecules to identify new drug candidates
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talks
teaching
Undergraduate Research Mentoring
I have mentored a few undergraduate students at UMass Amherst (2019-2021). I hope to continue this in my own teaching career, through small projects, independent studies, and research projects integrated into courses.
Read moreTraining Courses
I have taken several courses associated with CIRTL on the online learning platform edX, including:
Read moreScientific Storytelling
Effective scientific storytelling is similar to telling a fairy-tale.
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Natural Sciences First-Year Seminar
The goal of the FYS is to welcome first-year CNS students and prepare them for college and for a major in the sciences. Read more
Guest lectures
- Molecular mechanics and additive protein force fields; UMass Chem 586 Statistical Mechanics
- Feb 2020, Instructor: Dr. Jianhan Chen
- (Guest moderator) Student-led discussion on AlphaFold2 Nature paper; Amherst College Biophysics Seminar
- Mar 2023, Instructor: Dr. Ashley Carter
- Drug design and CADD in Cancer Biology; UMB Grad. Program in Life Science 665 Cancer Biology: From Basic Research to the Clinic
- Sep 2023, Instructor: Dr. Rena Lapidus.