Dr Jochem Nelen

Postdoctoral Researcher

About Me

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher supporting the OpenBind consortium, working with Prof. Charlotte Deane and Dr. Fergus Imrie. OpenBind aims to generate new large-scale experimental data on protein–ligand interactions to improve AI-driven drug discovery, and I will support the project through computational techniques and analysis. I completed my PhD at the Universidad Católica de Murcia (UCAM) in the BIO-HPC group in October 2025, where I investigated how combining different virtual screening strategies can improve the enrichment of active compounds. My background is in Biochemistry and Biotechnology, earning both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Antwerp. I am also committed to open-source research, contributing tools and resources that support transparent and accessible computational science.

Research Interests

My research interests lie in computational drug discovery, with a particular focus on virtual screening, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics to understand and predict protein–ligand interactions. I work on combining physics-based and machine-learning approaches to improve the identification and prioritisation of active compounds. I am also strongly committed to open-source research, developing and contributing computational tools that support reproducible and accessible molecular modelling and AI-driven drug discovery.

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