Congratulations to Dr. Yisel on Her Graduation!

We are delighted to celebrate Dr. Yisel’s successful completion of her PhD and graduation last summer. During her time in the Perez Lab, Yisel conducted research at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and computational science, with a particular focus on understanding and designing peptide and protein systems.

Her research combined computational chemistry, molecular simulation, and data-driven approaches to investigate challenging problems in peptide and protein modeling. She developed computational workflows for parameterizing and modeling non-canonical residues in macrocyclic peptides, enabling more accurate computational studies of complex peptide systems. She also investigated the conformational ensembles and dynamics of intrinsically disordered peptides, providing insight into the diverse structural states accessible to these highly flexible molecules.

In addition, Yisel explored emerging generative and structure-prediction approaches for peptide binder design, bringing together physics-based molecular modeling and modern computational methods for molecular discovery. Her work exemplifies the interdisciplinary research approach of the Perez Lab, connecting fundamental molecular science with computational and data-driven techniques.

We are grateful for Yisel’s contributions to the lab and proud of the scientific work she accomplished during her PhD. We congratulate Dr. Yisel on this significant milestone and wish her every success in her future research and career!