What's New

March '26.  Eleonora visits the Chemistry Department at Hunter College to present a seminar entitled "Proteins in Motion: Mapping Hidden Sites and Mechanisms". Thank you for inviting me!

March '26.  New award for lab members Amelie (presenter) & Kyle from LMSA – Best poster (3rd place) 

Ghirardo A, Tau K, Gianti E. Mapping Anti-Viral Targeting Regions in the SARS-CoV-2 nsp14/nsp10 Exonuclease Complex. Northeast LMSA Conference, 2026. Abstract accepted for publication in the International Journal of Medical Students (DOI forthcoming). 

Congratulations!

February '26.  Empire AI Supercomputer, Beta Program (GPU AI / HPC cluster)

The GiantiLab receives large allocation of computer time on Empire AI Supercomputer, Beta Program (GPU AI / HPC cluster) for molecular simulations / AI model training of complex biomolecular systems 

December '25.  Our MDFFr work is published! 

Pattis J, Elokely K & Gianti E. Chasing allosteric inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 PLpro via Molecular Dynamics Simulations with Flooding Fragments (MDFFr). J Comput Aided Mol Des 40, 25 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10822-025-00730-0

October '25.  FFPP Fellowship awarded to Eleonora!

Eleonora receives a prestigious 2026 Faculty Fellowship Publication Program (FFPP) award by the CUNY Office of Faculty Affairs for her project entitled: Mechanistic Insights into a Novel SARS-CoV-2 Exonuclease via Multiscale Modeling and AI. Congratulations!

September 15th '25.  Our MDFFr work is posted in Research Square! Check it out here! 

Pattis J, Elokely K, Gianti E."Chasing allosteric inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 PLpro via Molecular Dynamics Simulations with Flooding Fragments (MDFFr)" Preprint at Research Square. (https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7499914/v1)

September 19th '25.  Eleonora presents an invited talk at the "Cross Cutting Computational Research" session at the 3rd NanoBioNYC Symposium at the ASRC and the Graduate Center. Check out more info here. 

"Bridging Scales in Biomedicine: The Expanding Role of Molecular Dynamics" 

September 17th '25.  Kyle presents a poster at 3rd NanoBioNYC Symposium at the ASRC and the Graduate Center.  

Authors & Title: Tau K and Gianti E. "Conserved Proofreading by SARS-CoV-2 ExoN as a Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Target"

September 17th '25.  Eleonora introduces her research at the 2025 cohort of Chemistry & Biochemistry Graduate Students visiting Queens College.  

Authors & Title: Gianti E. "Harnessing Computation to Explore Biomolecular Drug Targets "

August '25.  Prestigeous Fellowship awarded to lab member Kyle Tau

Kyle receives a 2025 NanoBioNYC Fellowship from the CUNY Graduate Center and the Advanced Science and Research Center (ASRC) - Amazing job Kyle!

August '25.  Eleonora becomes a Mentor for the prestigious NSF sponsored NanoBioNYC Program, hosted at the CUNY Graduate Center and the Advanced Science and Research Center (ASRC) 

August '25.  Eleonora presents a talk at the American Chemical Society (ACS) COMP Conference. Authors & Title: Ghirardo A,  Aghelian A, Shabathian B, Tau K and Gianti E. "Conformational landscape and allosteric regulation of the SARS-CoV-2 “RdRp” polymerase revealed by molecular dynamics simulations" Great networking opportunity!

August '25.  Eleonora presents a poster at the American Chemical Society (ACS) COMP Conference. 

Authors & Title: Gibbs H, Moore PB and Gianti E. "Exploring viral RNA proofreading by the SARS-CoV-2 ExoN through evolutionary coupling and molecular dynamics simulations" Great networking opportunity!

May '25.  After completing his rotation,  Kyle Tau (Chemistry Program) joins the Lab for his PhD work.   We're thrilled to have you Kyle! 

May 23rd '25. The Lab members Ben, Avishai, Amelie and Kyle receive a prestigious recognition  as BEST POSTER AWARD for exemplary poster & presentation at the CUNY Undergraduate Research Celebration Day 2025!

Shabatian B; Ghirardo A; Aghelian A; Tau K; Gianti E. “Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Replication and Transcription Complexes via Structural and Evolutionary Approaches.” CUNY Undergraduate Research Symposium.

CONGRATULATIONS Ben, Amelie, Avishai and Kyle! 

Eleonora receives a certificate of appreciation from the CUNY Office of Research for Mentoring, Facilitating, Fostering, Guidance and Support in Student Research. Amazing, we're very grateful!

May 9th '25. Eleonora presents a poster at the FCBIS 2025 (https://www.fcbis.org/). 

Authors & Title: Gianti E. "Viral RNA Proofreading by the SARS-CoV-2 NSP14 Exonuclease Revealed by Molecular Dynamics Simulations." Great networking opportunity!

May 6th '25. Eleonora delivers a guest lecture in Physical Biochemistry at at the CUNY Graduate Center, NY. Title: "Computing Life. An Introduction to Biomolecular Simulation."

April '25. Eleonora receives a Research Award from the Professional Staff Congress - City University of New York (PSC-CUNY)

April 22nd '25. Our poster at the CUNY Undergraduate Research Symposium was selected to be celebrated at a CUNY-wide event on May 23rd, 2025. Great opportunity!

April 11th '25. The first poster presentation of the Gianti Lab is here! Check it out below and great job everyone! 

Shabatian B; Ghirardo A; Aghelian A; Tau K; Gianti E. “Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Replication and Transcription Complexes via Structural and Evolutionary Approaches.” CUNY Undergraduate Research Symposium.

March 26th '25. Eleonora Eleonora present her Research at the Queens College Master of Arts in Behavioral Neuroscience (MABN) Colloquium. Title: "Sensing the world –From environmental stimuli to ion channels gating through the lens of computation."

March '25.  A new CUNY graduate student joins the Lab for a Biochemistry rotation. Welcome Sylvester Sakyi!

February '25.  A new CUNY graduate student joins the Lab for a Chemistry rotation. Welcome Kyle Tau!

March 12th '25. Eleonora presents her Research at the ASRC (https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/). 

Authors & Title: Gianti, E "Interplay of Key Enzymatic Functions in the Life Cycle of Emerging Viruses –A computational approach."

December '24. Amelie, Avishai and Ben give their first research talks at Fall '24 HMNS Student Research Seminar. Congrats!

October 15th '24. Eleonora is the invited Chair of the "Cross Cutting Computational Research" session at the 2nd NanoBioNYC Symposium at the ASRC and the Graduate Center. Check out the Program Schedule!

September 11th '24. Our first Lab Meeting of the Semester... We're thrilled to start (or continue) our research journey!

August '24. Amelie Ghirardo and Avishai Anghelian start their first research projects in computational biophysics. Congratulations!

August '24. We present our research at the Natural Science Poster Session at the CUNY Graduate Center. Title: Multiscale Modeling and Simulation of Replication/Transcription Complexes in Emerging Viruses. H Gibbs, B Shabtian, P Moore, E Gianti*

June '24. Ben  Shabtian works on his first research project in computational biophysics. Congratulations Ben!

May '24. Eleonora attend the 2024 NSF Chemistry Early Career Investigator Workshop is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Division of Chemistry in Alexandria, VA. Great experience! Thank you Prof. Giulia Palermo and Prof. Sarah Tasker for organizing the event, and NSF Chemistry Division for sponsoring. 

April '24. A new undergraduate student joins the Lab. Welcome Avishai Anghelian! Looking forward to having you full time in Fall '24!

April '24. Eleonora receives a Research Award from the Professional Staff Congress - City University of New York (PSC-CUNY)

April '24. A new undergraduate student joins the Lab. Welcome Ben Sabthian! Looking forward to having you full time in Summer '24!

April '24. Our Lab attend the 2024 William H Nichols Medal Ceremony in NYC. Congratulations Prof. Emily Carter!

March '24. We're presenting our research at the CUNY Graduate Center, Chemistry Program

March '24. First graduate student joins the Lab for a rotation. Welcome Fortunatus Ezebuo!

February '24. Check out our latest research on SARS-CoV-2 Proofreading ExoN (doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2023.11.1317)

February '24. Eleonora attend the Biophysical Society (BPS) Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Meet us at the event!

February '24. Eleonora is proud to serve as a Mentor in the One-on-One with a Mentor Program at the Biophysical Society (BPS) Meeting

November '23. First undergraduate student joins the Lab. Welcome Amelie Ghirardo! Looking forward to having you full time in Fall '24!

November '23. We're presenting our research at the CUNY College of Staten Island

October '23. We're presenting our research at the CUNY Graduate Center, Biochemistry Program

September '23. We're presenting our research at the CUNY Queens College, Biology Department

September '23. We're presenting our research at Drexel University, in Philadelphia PA

August '23. Eleonora receives a prestigeous Robert Bittman Fellowship from Queens College!

August '23. The Gianti Lab moves to CUNY Queens College, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department!

April '23. Our Book Chapter with Prof. Virgil Percec at UPenn on Complex Helical Self-Organizations and Functions is published! Check it out! (https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527834044.ch1)

Nov '22. Our paper with Prof. Tibor Rohacs at Rutgers on TRPM3 and TRPM8 is published. We predicted the location of a lipid binding site before an experimental structure was published from another lab. Check it out! (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.10254)