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Faculty Member

Dr. Elena Laricheva

Biography

EDUCATION
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, MI, USA
PhD, Department of Chemistry, Bowling Green State University, OH, USA
Graduate Certificate in Bioinformatics, University of Toledo, OH, USA
MSc & BSc, Department of Chemistry, St Petersburg State University, Russia

TEACHING
At UVU, I teach General Chemistry I and II, Physical Chemistry (I-III: thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, and statistical mechanics), and Biomolecular Modeling & Simulations.

RESEARCH
I use machine learning/deep learning and quantum-chemical calculations to develop predictive models for the properties of 2D materials. Additionally, I employ molecular dynamics simulations and molecular docking techniques to investigate the interactions of proteins with other proteins and drug molecules. My most recent research projects include:

1. Matthew A. Williams and Elena N. Laricheva. Improving protein-ligand docking predictions using molecular dynamics simulations and k-means clustering. American Chemical Society National Meeting, Spring 2024, New Orleans & National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Spring 2024, Long Beach.

2. Minh N. Nguyen, Stella G. Lima, and Elena N. Laricheva. Exploring the effect of heteroatom doping on the optoelectronic properties of nanographynes vs. nanographenes. National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Spring 2024, Long Beach.

3. Joshua Thomson and Elena N. Laricheva. Predicting the bandgaps of graphene and similar nanostructures using quantum-chemical calculations and machine learning. American Chemical Society National Meeting, Fall 2022, Chicago.

4. Benjamin Smith, Joshua Thomson, Michelle A. Chicas Aslett, Adam Cluff, Mitchell Asper, Lance Jagerson, Elena N. Laricheva, Investigating the effect of structural changes on the optoelectronic properties of benzenoids and their boron-nitrogen analogs. Utah Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, Spring 2022, Provo.

Teaching

CHEM 3300

Biomolecular Modeling and Simulations, Spring 2025

CHEM 1220

Principles of Chemistry II PP, Spring 2025

CHEM 1220

Principles of Chemistry II PP, Spring 2025

CHEM 489R

Undergraduate Research in Chemistry, Spring 2025

Presentations

Black, Tessa C, Fisher, Aldrin , Laricheva, Elena N, Thulin, Craig D, The Protein Society 39th Annual Symposium, "Tyrosinase as a possible catalyst of xanthommatin synthesis in Pseudomonas", San Francisco, CA. (June, 2025)
Leung, Eugene , Forbes, Williams , Daynes, Sydney , Salazar, Dragui , Laricheva, Elena N, 2025 Spring American Chemical Society National Meeting, "HOMO-LUMO energy gap prediction of polyaromatic carbon materials via machine learning", ACS, San Diego, CA. (March, 2025)
Williams, Matthew A, Laricheva, Elena N, 2024 Spring National Conference on Undergraduate Research, "Enhancing binding free energy prediction by integrating molecular dynamics and k-means clustering into protein-ligand docking", NCUR, Long Beach, CA. (April, 2024)
Nguyen, Minh , Lima, Stella , Laricheva, Elena N, 2024 Spring National Conference on Undergraduate Research, "Exploring the effect of heteroatom doping on optoelectronic properties of nanographynes vs nanographenes", NCUR, Long Beach, CA. (April, 2024)
Williams, Matthew A, Laricheva, Elena N, 2024 Spring American Chemical Society National Meeting, "Improving protein-ligand docking predictions using molecular dynamics simulations and k-means clustering", ACS, New Orleans, LA . (March, 2024)
Thomson, Joshua , Laricheva, Elena N, 2022 Fall American Chemical Society National Meeting, "Predicting the bandgaps of graphene and similar nanostructures using quantum-chemical calculations and machine learning.", ACS, Chicago, IL . (August, 2022)

Scholarly/Creative Works

Laricheva, Elena N, Ilikchyan, Armen , (2023) "Exploring the Effect of Virtual Reality on Learning in General Chemistry Students with Low Visual-Spatial Skills" (vol. 100). J. Chem. Educ. . https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00732
Laricheva, Elena N, Goh, Garrett B, Dickson, Alex , Brooks, III, Charles L, (2015) "pH-dependent transient conformational states control optical properties in cyan fluorescent protein" (Issue: 8, vol. 137). J. Am. Chem. Soc. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja509233r
Goh, Garrett , Laricheva, Elena N, Brooks, III, Charles L, (2014) "Uncovering pH-dependent transient states of proteins with buried ionizable residues" (Issue: 24, vol. 136). J. Am. Chem. Soc. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja5012564
Laricheva, Elena N, Arora, Karunesh , Knight, Jennifer L, Brooks, III, Charles L, (2013) "Deconstructing activation events in rhodopsin" (Issue: 30, vol. 135). J. Am. Chem. Soc. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja4042687
Laricheva, Elena N, Gozem, Samer , Rinaldi, Silvia , Melaccio, Federico , Valentini, Alessio , Olivuci, Massimo , (2012) "Origin of fluorescence in 11-cis locked bovine rhodopsin" (vol. 8). J. Chem. Theory Comput. https://doi.org/10.1021/ct3002514
Grilj, Jakob , Laricheva, Elena N, Olivucci, Massimo , Vauthey, Eric , (2011) "Fluorescence of radical ions in liquid solutions_ Wurster’s Blue as a case study" (vol. 50). Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201100015