1. Molecular mechanics and additive protein force fields; UMass Chem 586 Statistical Mechanics
   • Feb 2020, Instructor: Dr. Jianhan Chen
2. (Guest moderator) Student-led discussion on AlphaFold2 Nature paper; Amherst College Biophysics Seminar
   • Mar 2023, Instructor: Dr. Ashley Carter
3. 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.

Some Highlights:

Molecular mechanics: The purpose was to motivate a month-long research project to end the course, which would require the use of molecular dynamics simulations of liquids or other simple systems and make some use of statistical mechanics to analyze their trajectories. One important aspect of the lecture, when discussing the purpose and design of an MD force field, is the relationship between interaction terms and the physical properties (and experimental data) which that term models.

AF2: It’s tough to guide a discussion amongst people who you’ve just met. I felt I did a good job of keeping people engaged, and Dr. Carter commented that I did a good job asking thought-provoking questions. I think I’m still learning how to help get everyone involved.

CADD: I enjoyed the lecture, although at times I felt I rambled. In hindsight, I can say that I certainly accomplished engaging my audience. I stopped to ask several questions, both quick and a few tougher ones. It seemed that everyone was thinking, and different people answered each time. At times throughout when I paused for questions, there were several, also from various people. I’ve learned from experience that isn’t always the case. I really needed to prepare more carefully for this to avoid rambling or speaking poorly at topics not in my expertise.