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UID:20250515T115649EDT-2259kVvVcj@132.216.98.100
DTSTAMP:20250515T155649Z
DESCRIPTION:Abstract:\n\nThe brain is a molecular computer. How the brain c
 omputes\, and feels and learns and remembers remain great mysteries. Neuro
 biologists have\, however\, identified some key protein actors in the mech
 anisms of learning and memory. I will describe some theoretical and comput
 ational efforts in understanding some of the molecular aspects of 1) Hebbi
 an learning through the regulatable assembly of the actin cytoskeleton in 
 dendritic spines\, 2) the hypothesis that long-term memory involves a func
 tional prion protein and 3) some aspects of the physical chemistry of aggr
 egation processes that are involved in the pathogenesis of Huntington’s di
 sease and Alzheimer’s disease.\n\n \n\nBio:\n\nPeter G. Wolynes was born i
 n Chicago\, Illinois in 1953. He completed his undergraduate studies at In
 diana University\, receiving an A.B. degree in 1971. He then took up the s
 tudy of statistical mechanics at Harvard University\, where he received hi
 s Ph.D. in chemical physics in 1976. After a brief postdoctoral study with
  John Deutch at MIT\, Wolynes returned to Harvard as an assistant professo
 r in 1976. During the next four years at Harvard\, Wolynes worked on the d
 ynamical theory of electrolyte solutions\, as well as on the then-nascent 
 theoretical study of molecular dynamics of proteins. His early work on the
  theory of chemical reaction rates in condensed phases paved the way for t
 he explosion of theoretical developments in this area throughout the 1980’
 s. In 1980\, Wolynes moved to the University of Illinois\, Urbana-Champaig
 n\, where he progressed to be the Eiszner Professor of Chemistry and a Cen
 ter for Advanced Study Professor of Chemistry\, Physics and Biophysics. Du
 ring the years he spent at Illinois\, Wolynes worked on a wide range of th
 eoretical problems in chemical physics\, including the theory of the glass
  transition (now called the Random First Order Transition theory) and the 
 development of new techniques for studying quantum dynamics in condensed p
 hases based on path integrals. He developed\, in 1981\, the quantum mechan
 ical version of Kramers' celebrated 1940 theory of chemical reaction rates
  in solution. He later extended these ideas to study nonadiabatic reaction
 s\, such as biological electron transfer. In addition\, Wolynes provided a
  new picture of how energy flows quantum mechanically in moderate-sized mo
 lecules through a network of Fermi resonances. Wolynes's interest in apply
 ing statistical mechanics to biology grew while he was at Illinois. He int
 roduced energy landscape ideas to the field of protein folding\, providing
  a statistical mechanical framework to understand how a one-dimensional se
 quence of amino acids folds to its native structure on a biologically rele
 vant timescale. These ideas have led to what has been termed the 'New View
 ' of protein folding kinetics. Energy landscapes have also proved useful i
 n developing algorithms to predict protein structure from sequence and are
  the basis for recent advances in protein structure prediction. Wolynes's 
 scientific contributions have been acknowledged in many ways. He received 
 from the ACS\, its Award in Pure Chemistry in 1986\, the Fresenius Award i
 n 1988\, the Peter Debye Award for Physical Chemistry in 2000 and its Awar
 d in Theoretical Chemistry in 2012. He received the Biological Physics Pri
 ze of the American Physical Society in 2004 (now called the Delbrück prize
 ) and the Founders Award from the Biophysical Society (2008). Among other 
 external appointments\, he has been the Hinshelwood lecturer at Oxford in 
 1997\, Linnett Professor at Cambridge in 2011\, and Fogarty Scholar-in-Res
 idence at the National Institutes of Health starting in 1994. He was elect
 ed in 1991 to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of
  Arts & Sciences. Wolynes was elected to the American Philosophical Societ
 y (2006)\, the German Academy of Sciences\, “LeopoIdina” (2007) and as a F
 oreign Member to the Royal Society (2007) and the Indian National Science 
 Academy (2016). In 2000\, Wolynes moved to University of California\, San 
 Diego\, where he held the Francis Crick Chair in the Physical Sciences. In
  addition to continuing his work on many body chemical physics and protein
  folding\, he is now using energy landscape ideas to explore problems in c
 ell biology ranging from chromosome dynamics to the mechanism of long-term
  memory. In 2011\, Wolynes moved to Rice University in Houston\, Texas whe
 re he is the D.R. Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science. He was na
 med Co-Director of the NSF Center for Theoretical Biological Physics at Ri
 ce University in 2019.\n\n \n
DTSTART:20230314T170000Z
DTEND:20230314T183000Z
LOCATION:Room 10\, Maass Chemistry Building\, CA\, QC\, Montreal\, H3A 0B8\
 , 801 rue Sherbrooke Ouest
SUMMARY:Chemical Society Seminar:  -  Peter Wolynes: Protein Dynamics and t
 he Brain
URL:/chemistry/channels/event/chemical-society-seminar
 -peter-wolynes-protein-dynamics-and-brain-340128
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