Yumeng Zhang
Computational Biophysics · Molecular Simulation · Machine Learning
I am a Postdoctoral Associate in Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with Prof. Bin Zhang. I received my Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I worked with Prof. Jianhan Chen.
My research develops physics-based and machine-learning-integrated molecular models to understand how biomolecular sequence, structure, and dynamics give rise to biological function. I am particularly interested in intrinsically disordered proteins, dynamic protein interactions, and biomolecular condensates.
Research Focus: Mechanistic Biophysics
Disease-Relevant Biophysics
Understanding molecular mechanisms that shape health and disease.
- Neurodegeneration
- Cancer-associated proteins
- Post-translational modification
- Immune and cellular regulation
Protein Dynamics & Interactions
Connecting dynamic molecular interactions to biological function.
- Protein-protein interactions
- Biomolecular condensates
- Enzymatic regulation
- Multivalent protein assembly
Multiscale Molecular Modeling
Developing physical models across molecular scales.
- Atomistic and coarse-grained MD
- Force-field development
- Enhanced sampling
- Statistical and polymer theory
MD + ML
Building data-driven models grounded in molecular physics.
- Explainable models
- Trustworthy predictive models
- Generative molecular models
- Multimodal learning
Current Interests
- Biomolecular condensates and phase separation
- Intrinsically disordered proteins and sequence–ensemble–function relationships
- Network biology and systems-level biomolecular organization
- Predictive modeling and molecular design for peptides and small molecules
I welcome conversations about my research and opportunities for scientific collaboration. Please feel free to contact me.