Oliver Crook
MRC Career Development Fellow, Todd-Bird Junior Research Fellow
Contact
oliver.crook@chem.ox.ac.uk
01865 613200
Research group
Crook Group
Our group employs multiscale methods for discovering new interactions and deciphering the molecular details of complex biological processes. Currently, we are primarily interested in applications to molecular parasitology and our main goal is to understand which red-blood cell proteins and protein complexes are manipulated by the malaria parasite. To understand the structural details of this hijacking process, we employ a combination of experimental and computational biophysics approaches. Using cutting-edge approaches, we are able to understand how protein conformations are manipulated by the parasite leading to new insights about the disease process.
Protein functions are increasingly being studied through the lens of artificial intelligence. We focus on AI methods for protein design, engineering and function as a vessel for understanding protein biochemistry. By studying the biases and asking “what do these models know”, we seek to discover new principles that govern the evolutionary, physico-chemical and conformational constraints on proteins.