Giacomo Fiorin, Ph.D.

Giacomo Fiorin headshot
Staff Scientist
Address
Basic Neurosciences Program

BG 35A RM 3D995
35A CONVENT DR
BETHESDA MD 20892

Contact
301-451-8886
giacomo.fiorin@nih.gov

Dr. Giacomo Fiorin is a computational membrane biophysicist in the NINDS intramural program. Giacomo received a M.S. in physics from the University of Padua and a Ph.D. in biophysics from the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste (Italy). Since then, he has been a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University with Dr. Michael Klein. He was later promoted to assistant professor of research in 2011, and to associate professor or research in 2015. Following multiple years as an external collaborator of the NIH, in 2020 Giacomo was hired as a staff scientist, associated with the labs of Dr. Lucy Forrest and Dr. José Faraldo-Gómez (NHLBI).

Giacomo's research uses atomically detailed simulations to understand how lipids and proteins govern the mechanics and morphology of a cell's membrane. He also develops, together with several collaborators, the widely used collective variables (Colvars) software library for enhanced sampling simulations. Lastly, Giacomo is tasked with the maintenance of computational resources for the Forrest and Faraldo-Gómez labs, and routinely advises his colleagues on leveraging high-performance computing in their research projects.

Selected publications:

  1. “Membrane free-energy landscapes derived from atomistic dynamics explain nonuniversal cholesterol-induced stiffening.” Fiorin G, Forrest LR, Faraldo-Gómez JD. PNAS Nexus. 2023 Aug 17;2(8):pgad269. DOI:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad269
  2. “Direct Derivation of Free Energies of Membrane Deformation and Other Solvent Density Variations From Enhanced Sampling Molecular Dynamics.” Fiorin G, Marinelli F, Faraldo-Gómez JD. J Comput Chem. 2020 Feb 15;41(5):449-459. DOI:10.1002/jcc.2607
  3. “Coexistence of Lipid Phases Stabilizes Interstitial Water in the Outer Layer of Mammalian Skin.” MacDermaid CM, Hall KW, DeVane RH, Klein ML, Fiorin G. Biophys J. 2020 Apr 7;118(7):1588-1601. DOI:10.1016/j.bpj.2020.01.044
  4. “Large-scale state-dependent membrane remodeling by a transporter protein.” Zhou W, Fiorin G, Anselmi C, Karimi-Varzaneh HA, Poblete H, Forrest LR, Faraldo-Gómez JD. eLife. 2019 Dec 19;8:e50576. DOI:10.7554/eLife.50576
  5. “Using collective variables to drive molecular dynamics simulations.” Fiorin G, Klein ML, Hénin J. Mol. Phys. 2013 22-23:3345-3362 DOI:10.1080/00268976.2013.813594

PubMed search: 
          https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=giacomo+fiorin%5Bau%5D&sort=date

Link to Google Scholar profile: 
          https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-Z0e2xoAAAAJ