My group explores cellular processes using multiscale computer simulations. Our broad goal is to connect molecular interactions to cellular-scale form and function.

More specifically, we investigate how molecular interactions give rise to the organisation, shape and mechanical behaviour of biological membranes, and how these properties influence cellular function. We combine statistical physics, molecular dynamics and mesoscale simulations, working closely with experimental collaborators to study protein clustering, membrane remodelling and membrane repair, and the organisation of organelle membranes, such as mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. A central interest is the interplay between membrane shape and molecular organisation: how interactions among lipids and proteins drive cellular organisation, and how membrane shape and fluctuations, in turn, influence their collective behaviour.

My group also develops computational methods and open-source software that connect molecular detail with larger cellular structures. These include:

• FreeDTS, for mesoscale membrane simulations and for physics-based and data-driven (experimental imaging data) mesoscale membrane simulations (HMFF).  Pezeshkian et al. Nat. Commun. 15, 548 (2024).

• TS2CG, for constructing molecular membrane models from complex geometries, including those derived from experimental imaging, and for backmapping mesoscale simulation models to molecular-scale models. Pezeshkian, et al., Nat. Commun. 11, 2296 (2020).

  Projects are available at the graduate and PhD levels. 

  More reads about my group research:
  1) Bimodal Mechanical Response of Membrane Necks: Implications for the Nuclear Envelope. ACS Nano, 20, 225-239 (2026)
  2) Mesoscale simulation of biomembranes with FreeDTS; Nature Communications 15 548 (2024).
  3) Simulating Realistic Membrane Shapes, Current Opinion in Cell Biology 71, 103-111 (2021).
  4) Backmapping triangulated surfaces to coarse-grained membrane models; Nature Communications, 11, 2296 (2020).
  5) Integrative Molecular Dynamics Simulations .. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 64, e202417804 (2025).
  
  For PhD, write me an email and see  https://pgapp.ch.cam.ac.uk/how-apply