The scientific legacy of Martin Karplus from the perspective of his collaborators

Ioan Andricioaei; Robert B. Best; Robert R. Birge; Stefan Boresch; Axel Brunger; Bernard R. Brooks; Matthias Buck; Rafael Brüschweiler; Amedeo Caflisch; David A. Case; Qiang Cui; Annick Dejaegere; Aaron R. Dinner; Ron Elber; Jeffrey D. Evanseck; Jiali Gao; Hong Guo; Roderick E. Hubbard; John Kuriyan; Diane Joseph-McCarthy; Ronald M. Levy; Lennart Nilsson; Carla Mattos; Alexander D. MacKerell; J. Andrew McCammon; Stephen W. Michnick; Adrian Mulholland; Markus Meuwly; Richard W. Pastor; Nathalie Reuter; Benoît Roux; Andrej Sali; Tamar Schlick; Jeremy C. Smith; Roland H. Stote; John E. Straub; Antoine Taly; Arjan van der Vaart; Shunzhou Wan; Michael A. Weiss; Wei Yang; Darrin M. York; Yaoqi Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2026.03.050

The scientific legacy of Martin Karplus from the perspective of his collaborators

Ioan Andricioaei, Robert B. Best, Robert R. Birge, Stefan Boresch, Axel Brunger, Bernard R. Brooks, Matthias Buck, Rafael Brüschweiler, Amedeo Caflisch, David A. Case, Qiang Cui, Annick Dejaegere, Aaron R. Dinner, Ron Elber, Jeffrey D. Evanseck, Jiali Gao, Hong Guo, Roderick E. Hubbard, John Kuriyan, Diane Joseph-McCarthyRonald M. Levy, Lennart Nilsson, Carla Mattos, Alexander D. MacKerell, J. Andrew McCammon, Stephen W. Michnick, Adrian Mulholland, Markus Meuwly, Richard W. Pastor, Nathalie Reuter, Benoît Roux, Andrej Sali, Tamar Schlick, Jeremy C. Smith^*, Roland H. Stote, John E. Straub, Antoine Taly, Arjan van der Vaart, Shunzhou Wan, Michael A. Weiss, Wei Yang, Darrin M. York, Yaoqi Zhou

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Abstract

The work of Martin Karplus, who passed away on Dec 28 2024, was at the forefront of computational chemistry and molecular biophysics for a period of more than sixty years. His career started with a PhD in theoretical chemistry at Caltech with Linus Pauling in 1953 . After performing leading research in molecular quantum chemistry for two decades, in the 1970s he began to incorporate work on biological systems, and his work was instrumental in creating modern computational molecular biophysics. In 2013, he was awarded the Nobel Prize together with Arieh Warshel and Michael Levitt “for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems”. This article aims at briefly reviewing the main achievements of the research performed in the Karplus lab from the point of view of the people working under his unique mentorship.

Original language	English
Number of pages	45
Journal	Biophysical Journal
Early online date	1 Apr 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2026.03.050
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 1 Apr 2026

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

10.1016/j.bpj.2026.03.050

Handle.net

Persistent link

Cite this

Andricioaei, I., Best, R. B., Birge, R. R., Boresch, S., Brunger, A., Brooks, B. R., Buck, M., Brüschweiler, R., Caflisch, A., Case, D. A., Cui, Q., Dejaegere, A., Dinner, A. R., Elber, R., Evanseck, J. D., Gao, J., Guo, H., Hubbard, R. E., Kuriyan, J., ... Zhou, Y. (2026). The scientific legacy of Martin Karplus from the perspective of his collaborators. Biophysical Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2026.03.050

@article{2bf0f3a15d1a42898398123ae75255ab,

title = "The scientific legacy of Martin Karplus from the perspective of his collaborators",

abstract = "The work of Martin Karplus, who passed away on Dec 28 2024, was at the forefront of computational chemistry and molecular biophysics for a period of more than sixty years. His career started with a PhD in theoretical chemistry at Caltech with Linus Pauling in 1953 . After performing leading research in molecular quantum chemistry for two decades, in the 1970s he began to incorporate work on biological systems, and his work was instrumental in creating modern computational molecular biophysics. In 2013, he was awarded the Nobel Prize together with Arieh Warshel and Michael Levitt “for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems”. This article aims at briefly reviewing the main achievements of the research performed in the Karplus lab from the point of view of the people working under his unique mentorship.",

author = "Ioan Andricioaei and Best, \{Robert B.\} and Birge, \{Robert R.\} and Stefan Boresch and Axel Brunger and Brooks, \{Bernard R.\} and Matthias Buck and Rafael Br{\"u}schweiler and Amedeo Caflisch and Case, \{David A.\} and Qiang Cui and Annick Dejaegere and Dinner, \{Aaron R.\} and Ron Elber and Evanseck, \{Jeffrey D.\} and Jiali Gao and Hong Guo and Hubbard, \{Roderick E.\} and John Kuriyan and Diane Joseph-McCarthy and Levy, \{Ronald M.\} and Lennart Nilsson and Carla Mattos and MacKerell, \{Alexander D.\} and McCammon, \{J. Andrew\} and Michnick, \{Stephen W.\} and Adrian Mulholland and Markus Meuwly and Pastor, \{Richard W.\} and Nathalie Reuter and Beno{\^i}t Roux and Andrej Sali and Tamar Schlick and Smith, \{Jeremy C.\} and Stote, \{Roland H.\} and Straub, \{John E.\} and Antoine Taly and \{van der Vaart\}, Arjan and Shunzhou Wan and Weiss, \{Michael A.\} and Wei Yang and York, \{Darrin M.\} and Yaoqi Zhou",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2026 Published by Elsevier Inc. ",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.bpj.2026.03.050",

language = "English",

journal = "Biophysical Journal",

issn = "0006-3495",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

}

Andricioaei, I, Best, RB, Birge, RR, Boresch, S, Brunger, A, Brooks, BR, Buck, M, Brüschweiler, R, Caflisch, A, Case, DA, Cui, Q, Dejaegere, A, Dinner, AR, Elber, R, Evanseck, JD, Gao, J, Guo, H, Hubbard, RE, Kuriyan, J, Joseph-McCarthy, D, Levy, RM, Nilsson, L, Mattos, C, MacKerell, AD, McCammon, JA, Michnick, SW, Mulholland, A, Meuwly, M, Pastor, RW, Reuter, N, Roux, B, Sali, A, Schlick, T, Smith, JC, Stote, RH, Straub, JE, Taly, A, van der Vaart, A, Wan, S, Weiss, MA, Yang, W, York, DM & Zhou, Y 2026, 'The scientific legacy of Martin Karplus from the perspective of his collaborators', Biophysical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2026.03.050

TY - JOUR

T1 - The scientific legacy of Martin Karplus from the perspective of his collaborators

AU - Andricioaei, Ioan

AU - Best, Robert B.

AU - Birge, Robert R.

AU - Boresch, Stefan

AU - Brunger, Axel

AU - Brooks, Bernard R.

AU - Buck, Matthias

AU - Brüschweiler, Rafael

AU - Caflisch, Amedeo

AU - Case, David A.

AU - Cui, Qiang

AU - Dejaegere, Annick

AU - Dinner, Aaron R.

AU - Elber, Ron

AU - Evanseck, Jeffrey D.

AU - Gao, Jiali

AU - Guo, Hong

AU - Hubbard, Roderick E.

AU - Kuriyan, John

AU - Joseph-McCarthy, Diane

AU - Levy, Ronald M.

AU - Nilsson, Lennart

AU - Mattos, Carla

AU - MacKerell, Alexander D.

AU - McCammon, J. Andrew

AU - Michnick, Stephen W.

AU - Mulholland, Adrian

AU - Meuwly, Markus

AU - Pastor, Richard W.

AU - Reuter, Nathalie

AU - Roux, Benoît

AU - Sali, Andrej

AU - Schlick, Tamar

AU - Smith, Jeremy C.

AU - Stote, Roland H.

AU - Straub, John E.

AU - Taly, Antoine

AU - van der Vaart, Arjan

AU - Wan, Shunzhou

AU - Weiss, Michael A.

AU - Yang, Wei

AU - York, Darrin M.

AU - Zhou, Yaoqi

PY - 2026/4/1

Y1 - 2026/4/1

N2 - The work of Martin Karplus, who passed away on Dec 28 2024, was at the forefront of computational chemistry and molecular biophysics for a period of more than sixty years. His career started with a PhD in theoretical chemistry at Caltech with Linus Pauling in 1953 . After performing leading research in molecular quantum chemistry for two decades, in the 1970s he began to incorporate work on biological systems, and his work was instrumental in creating modern computational molecular biophysics. In 2013, he was awarded the Nobel Prize together with Arieh Warshel and Michael Levitt “for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems”. This article aims at briefly reviewing the main achievements of the research performed in the Karplus lab from the point of view of the people working under his unique mentorship.

AB - The work of Martin Karplus, who passed away on Dec 28 2024, was at the forefront of computational chemistry and molecular biophysics for a period of more than sixty years. His career started with a PhD in theoretical chemistry at Caltech with Linus Pauling in 1953 . After performing leading research in molecular quantum chemistry for two decades, in the 1970s he began to incorporate work on biological systems, and his work was instrumental in creating modern computational molecular biophysics. In 2013, he was awarded the Nobel Prize together with Arieh Warshel and Michael Levitt “for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems”. This article aims at briefly reviewing the main achievements of the research performed in the Karplus lab from the point of view of the people working under his unique mentorship.

U2 - 10.1016/j.bpj.2026.03.050

DO - 10.1016/j.bpj.2026.03.050

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 41928473

SN - 0006-3495

JO - Biophysical Journal

JF - Biophysical Journal

ER -

The scientific legacy of Martin Karplus from the perspective of his collaborators

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Cite this