Chemical Engineering Fall 2026 Seminar Series – Ratul Chowdhury, PhD

Details

Speaker: Ratul Chowdhury, PhD, Building A World of Difference Faculty Fellow, Assistant Professor
Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University

Talk title: “Understanding and engineering metal interactions with biomolecules”

Abstract:
Metal-binding biomolecules provide a powerful platform for understanding and engineering molecular recognition across biological and materials systems. Our research integrates molecular biophysics, computational modeling, experimental testing and machine learning, to uncover how proteins (such as lanmodulin) selectively coordinate metal ions through precisely organized carboxylate networks, and translates these principles into engineered biomaterials including carboxylate-functionalized nanocellulose. By combining molecular dynamics, structural biology, machine learning, and quantitative binding assays, we establish transferable design rules governing biomolecular metal interactions. We are applying these rules to study a broad portfolio of projects, for sustainable critical mineral recovery, elucidating the roles of metal-mediated methanogenesis from cattle, and dissecting the biophysical principles of metalloenzyme function linked to human metal-imbalance disorders.

Bio:
I am an assistant professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Iowa State. My research group –Structural Protein Biology and Engineering Lab – https://chowdhurylab.github.io/ focuses on designing novel selective metal-binding proteins/ peptides/ other ligands using structural biology and AI/optimization models. We are invested in projects on: Critical Mineral Recovery, Metalloenzyme Engineering (anti-methanogenesis molecule design), and understanding Viral Infections (animals, humans, plants), and Image Processing. Our research has been funded by NSF, DOE, Global Methane Hub, Iowa Energy, and biotechnology companies.
I received my PhD in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University, in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Costas D. Maranas. During my PhD, I developed optimization tools for redesign of different classes of proteins. Next, I was a postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Peter Sorger in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. I devised a large language model and machine learning strategies to accurately predict the structure of voltage gated ion channels and kinases and docking a library of drugs to discern non-opioid drug binding modalities with implications in pain and cancer, respectively.