Maral Aminpour, PhD
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alberta.
My research interests are primarily in computational biomedical engineering, with a focus on developing novel methods and techniques for drug discovery using multi-scale molecular modelling and artificial intelligence (AI). My highly interdisciplinary background combines biophysics, nanotechnology, computational material science, and data science, allowing me to conduct high-impact research addressing global challenges in multiple areas of health and medicine, including (1) in silico drug discovery for cancer chemotherapy and precision medicine, (2) repurposing of drugs for COVID-19 considering the risks of repurposing and the stratification of patients, (3) developing novel AI-based methods for protein characterization and classification that will culminate in tools for predicting protein–protein and protein–ligand interactions, and (4) target identification and in silico virtual screening of lead drugs for neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease). Furthermore, I am interested in the design of smart nanobiomaterials with biotechnology applications.