Bioengineering’s Jianpeng Ma elected APS fellow

CONTACT: Jade Boyd
PHONE: 713-348-6778
E-MAIL: jadeboyd@rice.edu

Rice
University’s Jianpeng Ma has been elected as a fellow of the American
Physical Society (APS) — one of the highest academic achievements in
physics. No more than one-half of one percent of APS members can be
elected to fellowship.

JIANPENG MA

In electing Ma, APS cited his “outstanding contributions to the field
of biophysics in developing novel computational methods that have
substantially expanded one’s ability to simulate, model and refine
flexible biomolecular systems based on experimental data at low to
intermediate resolutions. He is one of the pioneers and leading experts
in the field.”

Ma,
associate professor of bioengineering at Rice and associate professor
of biochemistry and molecular biology at Baylor College of Medicine,
conducts groundbreaking research at the frontier of modern
computational biophysics and structural biology.

Ma’s research
centers upon the relationship between structure and function in
biological molecules, and he specializes in using computers to simulate
and to explore these relationships. The research is focused in three
directions: algorithmic development for computer simulation of
supermolecular complexes,  computer-aided drug design and structural
refinement for experimental methods such as x-ray crystallography and
electron microscopy reconstruction.

Among Ma’s previous honors
are the Welch Foundation’s Norman Hackerman Award for Chemical
Research, 2004; the NSF CAREER Award, 2003-2008; and the Award for
Chinese Distinguished Young Scholars Abroad, 2003-2005.

The names and fellowship citations of all those elected this year will be published in the March 2008 issue of APS News.