Newswise — STONY BROOK, NY, June 27, 2013 – Kevin Hauser, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University, has been selected to attend the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany, from June 30 through July 5. He is among a select group of undergraduate and postgraduate students from around the world to gather for an exchange of knowledge, to inspire new ideas and to foster connections. The focus of this year’s meeting is chemistry – particularly green chemistry, chemical energy conversion and storage, as well as biochemical processes and structures. Hauser will be posting regular updates about his adventure in Germany through a blog based on the University website entitled, “My Nobel Experience.

At Stony Brook, Hauser is conducting his research at the Laufer Center under the direction of Carlos Simmerling, a Professor of Chemistry and Associate Director of the Laufer Center. Hauser grew up in Riviera Beach, Florida where, at an early age, he sought to understand DNA and chemistry as he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy limb girdle, a mild genetic disease. He pursued his B.Sc. in Chemistry at the University of Florida where he worked in Dr. Adrian Roitberg's lab as an undergraduate student and later worked in Dr. Rodney J. Bartlett's lab as a post-baccalaureate student. Hauser joined the Simmerling Lab at Stony Brook in 2009, and since then has secured three fellowships. His most recent fellowship, a NIH National Research Service Award, funds his current project which seeks to understand how the information in DNA is controlled by researching the mechanism of protein-DNA binding and recognition using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. On track to receive his PhD in 2014, Hauser’s ultimate goal is to develop and apply enhanced sampling techniques, more accurate force fields, and computer science machinery while collaborating across fields to solve important biological, biomedical and chemical problems. ###