We develop computational methods at Scripps Research to apply them to therapeutically relevant targets and unravel new biology for drug design.

Our methods aim at predicting and analyzing the interactions of small organic molecules (either synthetic or from natural sources) with biological macromolecular structures such as proteins and DNA/RNA.

To model such interactions, we need to understand the physical components that orchestrate them: from the large-scale breathing movements that protein structures show in solution, down to the key role that a single water molecule can play in modulating the binding affinity of a potential drug candidate. Therefore, our research requires multi-disciplinary skills that combine computer science and chemistry, physics and biology, mathematics and medicinal chemistry. Beside docking, we use MD simulations, pharmacophores, and mesoscale modeling tools, and make extensive use of Python, as well as C++.

For more information and to find out our past and current projects, check out our Research page and take a look at our published work.

Interested in joining our multi-disciplinary environment? We are always interested in post-docs, grad students, and research programmers.
Check the Positions page for more information.

The Forli lab is one of the members of the Center for Computational Structural Biology (CCSB).