RAPID: Undergraduate Research in Modeling and Computation for Discovery of Molecular Probes for SARS-CoV-2 Proteins

REU Site奖授予位于马萨诸塞州波士顿的东北大学，将在2020年夏天为6名学生提供为期10周的培训。由于正在流行的新冠肺炎和保持社交距离的建议，学生们实际上将为专注于新冠肺炎的计算研究项目做出贡献。东北大学的REU网站将总共招收6名学生，他们主要来自研究机会有限的大学，或者来自代表人数不足的群体，接受该项目的培训。学生将学习研究是如何进行的，许多人将在未来的科学会议上展示他们的工作成果。将通过SALG Urssa在线工具对该方案进行评估。项目结束后，将对学生进行跟踪，以确定他们的职业道路。这一本科研究课程的主要重点将是让学生学习和使用计算技术，这些技术将应用于围绕SARS-CoV-2蛋白质的功能和控制机制的紧迫研究问题。每个学生将接受以下技能的培训：分子建模、配体对接、分子动力学模拟、生物分子静电学和量子力学电子结构计算。学生们将分析SARS-CoV-2蛋白质，并筛选能够与这些蛋白质结合并控制这些蛋白质的小分子文库。他们将由东北大学化学、化学、生物和生物工程系的三名教职员工和六名研究生指导。他们将提供有关病毒蛋白如何发挥功能以及它们的功能可能如何调节的关键新知识。这些学生还将接受研究道德、科学写作、研究生院申请程序和简历写作等领域的专业发展培训。参与者将由私人投资机构根据由大学成绩单、个人陈述和推荐信组成的申请来选择。被另一个REU项目录取的学生将被优先考虑，该项目后来因疫情而被取消。有关该计划的更多信息，请联系PI Mary Jo Ondrechen博士(mjo@neu.edu)或共同PI Steven Lopez博士(s.lopez@northeastern.edu)和Mona Minkara博士(m.minkara@northeastern.edu)。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This REU Site award to Northeastern University, located in Boston, MA, will support the training of six students for 10 weeks during the summer of 2020. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the recommendation to maintain social distancing, students will virtually contribute to computational research projects focused on COVID-19. The Northeastern University REU Site will recruit a total of six students, primarily from colleges with limited research opportunities or who are from an under-represented group, to be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted and many will present the results of their work at future scientific conferences. Assessment of the program will be done through the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. The primary focus of this undergraduate research program will be for the students to learn about and use computational techniques that will be applied to urgent research questions surrounding the functions and control mechanisms of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Each student will be trained in some of the following skills: molecular modeling, ligand docking, molecular dynamics simulations, biomolecular electrostatics, and quantum mechanical electronic structure calculations. Students will analyze SARS-CoV-2 proteins and screen libraries of small molecules that can bind to and control these proteins. They will be mentored by three faculty members and six graduate students from the departments of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Bioengineering at Northeastern University. They will contribute critical new knowledge about how the viral proteins function and how their function may be modulated. The students will also receive professional development training in areas such as research ethics, scientific writing, the graduate school application process, and resume writing. Participants will be selected by the PIs, based on applications consisting of college transcripts, personal statements, and letters of reference. Preference will be given to students who were accepted by another REU program that was subsequently cancelled because of the pandemic. More information about the program is available by contacting PI Dr. Mary Jo Ondrechen (mjo@neu.edu) or co-PIs Dr. Steven Lopez (s.lopez@northeastern.edu) and Dr. Mona Minkara (m.minkara@northeastern.edu).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.