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Dr. Masa Watanabe Will Collaborate with Scientists at Berkeley National Laboratory

(Leavenworth, Kan.)—»¨½·Ö±²¥ assistant professor of chemistry Dr. Masa Watanabe was selected to participate in the highly-competitive U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Visiting Faculty Program, utilizing computer simulations to reproduce the behavior of biomolecules using a mathematical model.

Dr. Watanabe and up to two »¨½·Ö±²¥ students will work alongside some of the world's top research scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in Berkeley, Calif. this summer to develop a novel computational method to simulate biomolecules more efficiently to solve many fundamental problems of theoretical and practical molecular biology and medicinal chemistry.

"I am very excited to be selected as one of the scholars at one of the top research laboratories in the world," said Dr. Watanabe. "However, there is even better news. One to two students from our small liberal arts college will gain a tremendous experience conducting research at a cutting-edge research facility, while also bringing a new perspective and more diversity into the research."

Since 2013, Dr. Watanabe has taught chemistry at »¨½·Ö±²¥. Along with his teaching, he's actively conducted research (oftentimes including USM students) in the areas of computer modeling of nanomaterials, protein folding and computational structural biology, and phylogenetic inference of ancestral protein sequences. Dr. Watanabe earned his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from West Virginia University and his Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.

For 10 weeks, Berkeley Lab will be home to Dr. Watanabe (and his student researcher[s]). Berkeley Lab is a multidisciplinary national laboratory sitting atop a hillside directly above the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. It is home to 13 Nobel prizes, with 70 lab scientists inducted into the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)—one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States. Thirteen of the lab's scientists have won the National Medal of Science—the nation's highest award for lifetime achievement in fields of scientific research. Toppled onto this, three of Berkeley Lab's scientists have been elected into the Institute of Medicine.

 

The »¨½·Ö±²¥ is a Catholic co-educational applied liberal arts university founded and sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. The University of »¨½·Ö±²¥ main campus is located at 4100 South 4th Street, Leavenworth, Kan. USM's Overland Park Campus at 4500 College Boulevard offers evening accelerated graduate and undergraduate degree-completion programs. The university also offers online programs. Visit stmary.edu for more information.