Hi, I'm Fanina — I study proteins in motion.
Computational biophysicist working at the intersection of molecular dynamics and machine learning — simulating light-harvesting complexes, membrane proteins and photosystems to understand how structure shapes function.
Theofani Iosifina Sousani
I'm a PhD candidate in Computational Biophysics with a strong background in bioinformatics and molecular modelling. My work centres on molecular dynamics simulations of protein systems — light-harvesting complexes (FCP), permeases and Photosystem II — combined with machine learning methods such as Markov State Models (MSM) and VAMPNet to uncover how conformational dynamics drive biological function.
I enjoy turning large, messy trajectory data into clear structural stories, and I care about writing analysis code that's reusable, well-documented and easy for collaborators to build on.
Research & teaching experience
PhD Candidate — Computational Biophysics
2024 — Present- Molecular dynamics simulations of protein systems (FCP light-harvesting complexes, permeases, Photosystem II).
- Trajectory analysis using RMSD, RMSF, clustering, PCA and structural comparison.
- Development of Python scripts and computational workflows for data analysis and visualization.
- Applied machine learning: k-means, Markov State Models (MSM) and VAMPNet.
- Study of protein–lipid interactions and photoprotective mechanisms in diatoms.
Teaching Assistant — Computational Methods & Physics Labs
Feb 2024 – Jun 2024 · Oct 2024 – Jan 2025- Supported programming labs in Fortran and computational methods coursework.
- Guided students in code development and data analysis/interpretation.
Private Tutor — Mathematics, Physics & Chemistry
2018 — 2024Education
PhD, Computational Biophysics
MSc, Bioinformatics & Neuroinformatics
BSc, Physics
Publications
Selected journal articles from my research on protein structure and dynamics.
Conformational Plasticity Enables Functional Switching in Diatom Light-Harvesting Complexes
doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01774-xRole of Small Membrane Proteins in the Green Sulfur Bacterial Reaction Center
doi.org/10.1021/acsphyschemau.5c00142Structural Insights into an Engineered Feruloyl Esterase with Improved MHET-Degrading Properties
doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.70322Skills & methods
Molecular Simulation
Machine Learning
Bioinformatics
Programming & Tools
Systems & Office
Languages
Let's talk research
Open to collaboration, questions about my work, or opportunities in computational biophysics.