João M.C. Teixeira

Computational structural biologist modeling protein dynamics.

I am a structural biochemist with eight years of postdoctoral experience. I am passionate about the dynamics of multidomain proteins and flexible protein regions.

I have modeled the conformational space sampled by MMP-1 in the pre-collagenolytic steps and bound to a collagen analog using paramagnetic NMR and integrative computational tools (Ph.D.). Also, I have described protein-protein interactions in various systems, most relevantly the interaction between the intrinsically disordered Unique domains of SFK family members with their folded SH3 domains (postdoc U. Barcelona). Overall, I have ten years of experience solving structural biology unknowns related to protein dynamics and flexibility with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Also, I have always been responsible for preparing my samples using many heterologous expression and protein purification protocols. Therefore, I can bridge and optimize processes and human resources between sample preparation, data acquisition, and computational modeling.

Since 2018, I have been developing analysis and modeling software, focusing on computational optimization of numerical processes and software architecture in Python. While at Dr. Forman-Kay’s lab (Toronto), I have developed a software infrastructure to model and sample the conformational landscape of intrinsically disordered proteins (work in preparation). Now at Dr. Alexandre Bonvin’s group, I am leading the development of the HADDOCK 3 docking infrastructure, the successor of the HADDOCKv2 series - the world’s largest protein docking software with +26,000 users and +200,000 jobs run on the WeNMR/EGI grid since 2008. I am highly knowledgeable in open-source software and best practices for software distribution, maintenance, documentation, and integration with the community. I have mentored students since my early research years and participated in science-to-public outreach activities.

Finally, I am a decade-long passionate mountaineer, climber, caver, and scuba diver - activities that further solidified my capacity to lead, manage high-pressure and life-risk situations, and coordinate and collaborate in workgroups. You can find some of our outdoors activities in our family blog - viviendomochileros.com.