REMINDER - Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering GRADUATE SEMINAR SERIES Prof. Sohail Murad, Head Chemical Engineering Department University of Illinois at Chicago "Fluid and Nanoparticle Transport in Lipid Bilayer Membranes Using Coarse Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations" Tuesday, September 4, 2012 9:00-10:15 a.m. FRNY G140 Reception at 8:30 a.m. in Henson Atrium Abstract: Membranes such as lipid bilayer are one of the major structural elements of biological membranes which play a key role as a protective barrier and substrate for other species such as proteins to function. We have carried out molecular dynamics simulations to study the transport of a range of gases in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and related bilayers with and without protein channels (e.g. OmpA). We have also looked at the transport of range of gold nanoparticles with and without ligands through lipid membranes. Liquids and ions that permeate the membrane along with the nanoparticles were monitored, as were the lipid flip-flops taking place during the permeation process. A coarse-grained model was used to provide direct insight into the dynamics of the permeation process not readily available experimentally (including transport in the fluid phase; entry into the lipid phase; transport within the lipid phase; and finally exit from the lipid phase into the fluid phase). Bio: Dr. Sohail Murad. Murad is Professor and Department Head of Chemical Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago, where he joined the faculty in 1979 after receiving a PhD from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. He spent 1981-82 at Exxon Research and Engineering Company at Florham Park, New Jersey, while on a leave of absence from the university. He was an ARO Research Fellow at the Ballistics Research Laboratory in 1985. He is the author of over 100 archival research publications and book chapters. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Computer Applications in Engineering Education, Scientific Journals International and Research Letters in Chemical Engineering. His research is focused on alternate energy and its efficient utilization, computational molecular modeling of fluids on membrane surfaces and pores and on heat and mass flows in nanosystems.