Dr. Ashley McDonald
Professor
ProfessorSpecialty
Theoretical and Computational Chemistry
Education
B.S. Chemistry, Mississippi College 2004
Ph.D. Georgia Institute of Technology 2009
Post-doctoral School of Pharmacy, U of Maryland, Baltimore 2009-11
Office: Frost Center - Bldg 181 - 409
Phone: (805) 756-7536
E-Mail: armcdona@calpoly.edu
Research Website: armcdona.github.io
Research Interests
- Using computational chemistry to study noncovalent interactions in complex biophysical systems, particularly nucleic acids
- Studying the effects of pi stacking between bases in nucleic acids
- Developing computational tools (computer programming) to examine the effects of geometry on pi stacking in nucleic acids
- Computational analysis of naphthalquinoline geometries to understand their binding affinity and specificity for triplex DNA
- Calculating interaction energies between DNA aptamers and ligands, to understand mechanisms for riboswitches and potential nucleic acid therapeutics
- Broad interest in computational drug design
