Roland L. Dunbrack

Papers

Total Citations

539

H-Index

About

Roland L. Dunbrack is a leading computational structural biologist whose work has fundamentally advanced protein structure prediction and modeling. His primary research areas include protein loop modeling, side-chain prediction, and the development of rotamer libraries—critical tools for understanding protein folding and function. Dunbrack is best known for introducing the cyclic coordinate descent (CCD) algorithm for protein loop closure, a groundbreaking robotics-inspired method that efficiently adjusts protein segments to connect fixed structural regions. Published in 2003, this work has garnered over 539 citations and remains a cornerstone technique in homology modeling and ab initio structure prediction. Beyond CCD, Dunbrack has made lasting contributions through his widely used backbone-dependent rotamer libraries, which enable accurate side-chain conformation prediction and have become essential resources in structural biology. His research has been instrumental in bridging computational algorithms with experimental structural data, empowering scientists to model proteins with greater precision. With a career marked by high-impact publications and tools that are standard in the field, Dunbrack continues to shape how researchers approach protein structure determination and design.