Biography
My name is Weiwei He, currently a Postdoctoral Associate in Computational Biophysics and AI for Science at New York University Abu Dhabi, affiliated with the Division of Science and the Chemistry Program since Summer 2023, and I am very fortunate to be advised by Prof. Serdal Kirmizialtin in the Kirmizialtin Lab. Before that, I received my Ph.D. in Biophysics from New York University, also under the guidance of Prof. Kirmizialtin, and earned my B.Sc. in Chemistry from Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) with Prof. Xin-Yuan Liu (刘心元).
My research integrates molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, machine learning, and enhanced sampling to understand the structure, dynamics, and interactions of nucleic acids (DNA/RNA). I focus on experimental data-driven MD for RNA/DNA structure determination and refinement, RNA force field optimization and development, DNA condensation and phase separation, RNA function control via chemical modifications, and multi-scale modeling of nucleic acid–vector assemblies for gene therapy. I collaborate internally with Prof. Panče Naumov at CSEM on biomaterials modeling, and more broadly with:
- Prof. Lois Pollack (Nucleic Acids Biophysics)
- Profs. Ting Wang & Jia Sheng (RNA Modifications and Photocontrol)
- Profs. Xiangyun Qiu & George Shubeita (Biopolymer Phase Transition)
- Prof. Mark E. Tuckerman (Biomolecular Dynamics)
🎖 Honors and Awards
- Sigma Xi Full Membership (2025)
- Postdoctoral Associate Conference Grant (2024)
- Poster Presentation Award – 14th European Biophysics Congress (2023)
- Summer Research Grant – NYU COVID-19 Antivirals Project (2022)
- Global PhD Fellowship – NYU (2018–2023)
- Universiade International Scholarship (2018)
- IKA Eminence Scholarship (2016)
Selected Talks and Posters
- APS March Meeting – Hong Kong, 2025 (Talk)
- Decrypting Complexity in Biological and Active Matter – Abu Dhabi, 2025 (Poster)
- Yongriver Forum – Ningbo, 2024 (Talk)
- ACS Regional MEA Conference – Abu Dhabi, 2024 (Poster)
- Fuzhou International Forum of Young Scholars – China, 2024 (Talk)
- 14th European Biophysics Congress – Stockholm, 2023 (Poster)
- Biophysical Society 67th Annual Meeting – San Diego, 2023 (Poster)
- ACS Fall 2022 National Meeting – Chicago, 2022 (Poster)
- Gordon Research Conference: Computational Chemistry – Barcelona, 2022 (Poster)
- 71st ACA Annual Meeting – New York, 2021 (Invited Talk)
- ACS Spring 2021 National Meeting – San Antonio, 2021 (Poster)
- Biophysical Society Meetings – 2020–2021 (Posters)
Community and Reviewing Service
- Postdoctoral Representative of Science Division, Postdoctoral Council Steering Committee (PCSC)
- Guest Editor for:
Biomolecules, Special Issue on “Nucleic Acid–Lipid Interactions: Bridging Molecular Insights with Therapeutic Applications” - Reviewer for:
Biology, Biomolecules, Condensed Matter, International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS), Mathematics, Processes, Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, Current Opinion in Structural Biology, Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids
🔥 News
- 2025.04: 🎉 Sara Mahmoud Elgengehi (RA, NYU Abu Dhabi, 2024–2025) has been admitted to the Ph.D. program at New York University. Sara worked with me on developing computational tools for predicting the Young’s modulus of biomaterials.
- 2024.05: 🎉 Yu Shen (Undergraduate, NYU Shanghai, 2022–2023) has been admitted to the Ph.D. program at New York University. Yu worked with me and contributed to DNA condensation projects during her research stay.
- 2023.05: 🎉 Marko Brnovic (Undergraduate & RA, NYU Abu Dhabi, 2022–2023) has been admitted to the Master’s program at the University of Waterloo. Marko worked with me on DNA assembly and phase transition.