Professor Syma Khalid MChem PhD
Professor of Computational Biophysics, Head of Physical Chemistry Teaching
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Professor Syma Khalid is Professor of Computational Biophysics within Chemistry at the University of Southampton.
" Our research interests are focussed on multiscale modelling and simulations of bacterial membrane and cell wall components." We are working towards developing the ‘virtual bacterial cell envelope’
Syma graduated with a first class degree in Chemistry from the University of Warwick in 2000. She remained at Warwick to read for a PhD under the supervision of Professor P Mark Rodger. After obtaining her PhD in 2003, she moved to the University of Oxford as a postdoc in Professor Mark Sansom's lab, to study the structure-function relationship of bacterial membrane proteins. In 2007, she was appointed as RCUK fellow in Chemistry at the University of Southampton, in 2010 was appointed to full lectureship. In 2016 she was promoted to full professor She has ~15 years of experience in the development and application of molecular dynamics simulations to the study of biological molecules. Her research interests are centred around the dynamics of biomolecules in and around biological membranes. Her formal training as a chemist combined with her interest in the biological relevance of the systems she studies enables her to adopt a truly multi-disciplinary approach; collaborators include Bert van den Berg (Newcastle), Ben Luisi (Cambridge) Colin Kleanthous (Oxford). Syma's international reputation is reflected in the invitations she receives to speak at national and international meetings each year.
Syma has authored over 50 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and is on the editorial board of Scientific Reports. From November 2018 she will take over as chair of HECBiosim. She serves on the management group that leads CCPBiosim and on the management committee of the British Biophysical Society.