Professor Pengyu Ren has received the Moncrief Grand Challenge Faculty Award from The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES).
Pengyu Ren
Professor Pengyu Ren has received the Moncrief Grand Challenge Faculty Award from The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES).
The award will provide Dr. Ren with resources to work on research related to challenges in computational engineering and sciences that affect the competitiveness and international standing of the nation.
Dr. Ren will spend the fall semester conducting computational research on drug discovery based on molecular simulations of protein-ligand binding. Ren’s lab has successfully developed an energy model that accurately describes interactions of a protein target with ligands and environment. The Moncrief Grand Challenge Award will allow Ren to build on those findings and develop the next generation of simulation techniques for computational drug discovery, in collaboration with Dr. Ron Elber of ICES. Dr. Ren is working with Dr. Kevin Dalby from the College of Pharmacy to utilize the new simulation techniques in the search for novel kinase inhibitors for the potential treatments of cancer and other diseases.
“We are fortunate to have ICES at UT,” says Ren. “The interdisciplinary nature of ICES and this award allows researchers from UT to work together and to use computational engineering to address issues in all areas.”
Computational drug design can be more cost-effective and efficient compared to traditional methods of drug discovery, which rely heavily on trial and error testing of chemical substances. In addition to drug design, the Moncrief Grand Challenge awards are given in the areas of computational medicine and biomedicine, next-generation energy sources, water sustainability, modeling of rising seas, weather prediction, and national security among others.
