I'm an AI+Science postdoctoral fellow of the Data Science Institute and a fellow of the Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Chicago. I study biophysical systems using theoretical and computational approaches, focusing on areas such as soft active matter, chemical reaction networks, and biomolecular coding. I'm generally interested in understanding how information is stored and processed in cells using heterogeneous molecular networks, as well as how this information is used to guide useful mechanical processes. Please see my Google Scholar page for my works on these topics, my github, and my CV down below.
At UChicago I work in the groups of Suri Vaikuntanathan and Aaron Dinner. Before coming to Chicago, I received a Ph.D. in Biophysics at the University of Maryland where I worked in the groups of Garyk Papoian and Chris Jarzynski, studying the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of cytoskeletal networks using large-scale simulations and statistical mechanics. While at Maryland I helped to develop the software package MEDYAN to study filamentous active matter systems.
Selected publications
Floyd, C., Dinner, A., Murugan, A., Vaikuntanathan, S., "Limits on the computational expressivity of non-equilibrium biophysical processes," Nature Communications, 2025. [article]
Floyd, C., Dinner, A., Vaikuntanathan, S., "Tailoring interactions between active nematic defects with reinforcement learning," Soft Matter, 2025. [article]
Floyd C., Dinner, A., Vaikuntanathan, S., "Pattern formation in odd viscoelastic fluids," Physical Review Research, 2024. [article]
Floyd, C., Molines, A., Lei, X., Honts, J., Chang, F., Elting, M., Vaikuntanathan, S., Dinner, A., Bhamla, S., "A unified model for the dynamics of ATP-independent ultrafast contraction," PNAS, 2023. (Journal cover) [article]
Floyd C., Ni, H., Gunaratne, R., Erban, R., Papoian, G., "On stretching, bending, shearing, and twisting of actin filaments I: Variational models," JCTC, 2022. [article]
Floyd, C., Levine, H., Jarzynski, C., Papoian, G., "Understanding cytoskeletal avalanches using mechanical stability analysis," PNAS, 202. [article]
Floyd, C., Papoian, G., Jarzynski, C., "Quantifying dissipation in actomyosin networks," Interface focus, 2019. (Journal cover) [article]
Curriculum vitae