Anna Tarakanova

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

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Education

Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2017)

Research Focus

Our research focuses on advancing molecular and multiscale modeling methods to study the structure, function and mechanics of biological systems and biological and bioinspired materials. We develop computational methods for the design and characterization of novel functional materials from the nanoscale for medical and engineering applications, drawing inspiration from natural design principles. We also investigate new characterization approaches for highly disordered molecules and associated self-assembly principles, related functions and implications for health and disease. Our work aims to expose disease mechanisms from a fundamental scale into structural and functional hierarchies associated with complex biological systems.

Publications

DL Barreiro, J Yeo, A Tarakanova, FJ Martin-Martinez, MJ Buehler. Multiscale Modeling of Silk and Silk-Based Biomaterials — A Review. Macromolecular Bioscience, 2018, 1800253 View PDF»

A Tarakanova, GC Yeo, C Baldock, AS Weiss, MJ Buehler. Tropoelastin is a flexible molecule that retains its canonical shape. Macromolecular Bioscience, 2018, 1800250 View PDF»

A Tarakanova, GC Yeo, C Baldock, AS Weiss, MJ Buehler. Molecular model of human tropoelastin and implications of associated mutations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018, 115 (28), 7338-7343 View PDF»

J Yeo, GS Jung, A Tarakanova, FJ Martín-Martínez, Z Qin, Y Cheng, YW Zhang, MJ Buehler. Multiscale modeling of keratin, collagen, elastin and related human diseases: Perspectives from atomistic to coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 2018, 20, 112-124 View PDF»

J Yeo, W Huang, A Tarakanova, YW Zhang, DL Kaplan, MJ Buehler. Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of thermo-responsive properties of silk-elastin-like proteins by integrating multiscale modeling and experiment. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2018, 6 (22), 3727-3734 View PDF»

A Tarakanova, W Huang, AS Weiss, DL Kaplan, MJ Buehler. Computational smart polymer design based on elastin protein mutability. Biomaterials, 2017, 127, 49-60 View PDF»

A Tarakanova, W Huang, Z Qin, DL Kaplan, MJ Buehler. Modeling and Experiment Reveal Structure and Nanomechanics across the Inverse Temperature Transition in B. mori Silk-Elastin-like Protein Polymers. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 2017, 3 (11), 2889-2899 View PDF»

W Huang, D Ebrahimi, N Dinjaski, A Tarakanova, Markus J Buehler, JY Wong, DL Kaplan. Synergistic Integration of Experimental and Simulation Approaches for the de Novo Design of Silk-Based Materials. Accounts of Chemical Research, 2017, 50 (4), 866-876 View PDF»

W Huang, A Tarakanova, N Dinjaski, Q Wang, X Xia, Y Chen, JY Wong, MJ Buehler, DL Kaplan. Design of Multistimuli Responsive Hydrogels Using Integrated Modeling and Genetically Engineered Silk–Elastin‐Like Proteins. Advanced Functional Materials, 2016, 26 (23), 4113-4123 View PDF»

GC Yeo, A Tarakanova, C Baldock, SG Wise, MJ Buehler, AS Weiss. Subtle balance of tropoelastin molecular shape and flexibility regulates dynamics and hierarchical assembly. Science Advances, 2016, 2 (2), e1501145 View PDF»