2011 – 2015        Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2008 – 2011        Postdoctoral Fellow, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

2003 – 2008        Ph.D. in Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

1998 – 2002        B.S. in Chemistry, Peking University

2007         Best Poster Award, 3rd Asian-Pacific Conference of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry

2006         Best Speech, 12th Symposium of Hong Kong Chemistry Postgraduate Research

2000         Wusi Scholarship for Top-tier Academic Performance, Peking University

1999         GuangHua Scholarship for Top-tier Academic Performance, Peking University

1998         Outstanding Freshman Scholarship, Peking University

 

All cellular activities are at the root of protein structure changes arising in many vital processes such as protein folding/misfolding, protein-protein interactions, and protein self-assembly. The research of Han’s group is focused on developing and applying cutting-edge computational simulation methods to elucidate the atomic details of structural changes during these processes. The goal of their research is to provide, through computer simulations, atomic insights into the molecular basis of protein function and malfunction, with the ultimate goal of aiding experimentalists in designing novel approaches to modulate protein conformational dynamics for biomedical applications. 
 

1. Han, W.; Schulten, K. (2014) “Fibril elongation by Aβ(17-42): Kinetic network analysis of hybrid-resolution molecular dynamics simulations” Journal of the American Chemical Society 136, 12450.
2. Han, W.; Cheng, R. C.; Maduke, M. C.; Tajkhorshid, E. (2014) “Water access points and hydration pathways in CLC H⁺/Cl^–transporters” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 111, 1819 (see the highlight at PNAS 2014, 111, 1668).
3. Sothiselvam, S.; Liu, B.; Han, W.; Ramu, H.; Klepacki, D.; Atkinson, G.; Brauer, A.; Remm, M.; Tenson, T.; Schulten, K.; Vazquez-Laslop, N.; Mankin, A. S. (2014) “Macrolide antibiotics predispose the ribosome for programmed translation arrest of regulatory peptides” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 111, 9804.
4. Han, W.; Schulten, K. (2012) “Further optimization of a hybrid united-atom and coarse-grained force field for folding simulations: improved backbone hydration and interactions between charged side chains” Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 8, 4413.
5. Han, W.; Wan, C.-K.; Jiang, F.; Wu, Y.-D. (2010) “PACE force field for protein simulations. 1. Full parameterization of version 1 and verification” Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 6, 3373.
6. Wu, Y.-D.; Han, W.; Wang, D.P.; Gao, Y.; Zhao, Y.L. (2008) “Theoretical analysis of secondary structures of β-peptides” Account of Chemical Research 41, 1418.
7. Han, W.; Wu, Y.-D. (2007) “Coarse-grained protein model coupled with a coarse-grained water model: Molecular dynamics study of polyalanine-based peptides” Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 3, 2146 (co-corresponding author).
8. Han, W.; Wu, Y.-D. (2005) “A strand-loop-strand structure is a possible intermediate in fibril elongation: Long-time simulations of amyloid-β peptide (10-35)” Journal of the American Chemical Society 127, 15408.