Dr. Eric C. Dykeman   Lecturer Mathematics

Eric Dykeman is a computational biophysicist who develops novel compuational algorithms and software for examining complex problems in mathematical/physical biology and applies these tools to study viral self-assembly, evolution and life-cycle dynamics. His expertise ranges over a variety of biophysical modeling techniques including molecular dynamics, normal mode analysis, stochastic simulation algorithms, and the development of specialized computational tools for bioinformatics techniques. His research is focused on studying the self-assembly processes in the class of viruses which store their genetic information in the form of single-stranded RNA. These viruses co-assemble their protective capsids around their cognate RNA genomes using a co-assembly process where RNA directly assists in the assembly process. In addition to self-assembly in viral systems, he is also interested in the biochemistry of RNA, viral evolution and viral life cycles, and bioinformatics techniques for the alignment of viral RNA genomes and protein sequences. Education: Ph.D. Physics - Arizona State University Thesis: Atomistic Normal Mode Analysis of Large Biomolecular Systems: Theory and Applications B.S. Physics - South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Teaching: Numerical Techniques for Modeling Biological Systems Group Theory in Virology

Selected Publications: Dykeman E.C. (2017) A Model for Viral Assembly around an Explicit RNA Sequence Generates an Implicit Fitness Landscape. Biophysical Journal 113, 506-516. Shakeel, S., Dykeman, E.C., White, S.J., Ora, A., Cockburn, J.J.B., Butcher, S.J., Stockley, P.G. & Twarock, R. (2017) Genomic RNA folding mediates assembly of human parechovirus. Nature Communications 8, 5. Dykeman E.C. (2015) An implementation of the Gillespie algorithm for RNA kinetics with logarithmic time update. Nucleic Acids Research 43, 5708-5715. Dykeman E.C., Stockley P.G., Twarock R. (2014) Solving a Levinthal's paradox for virus assembly identifies a unique antiviral strategy. Proc. Nat. Acad. of Sciences USA 111, 5361-5366. Dykeman E.C. and Sankey O.F. (2010) Normal mode analysis and applications in biological physics. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 22, 423202.

Office: RCH/325 Phone: +44 1904 32 5366 Email: eric.dykeman@york.ac.uk

Eric Charles Dykeman - York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis - The Ron Cooke Hub - University of York - York - YO10 5GE - United Kingdom