Biophysical Society Bulletin | September 2020

Biophysicist in Profile

Syma Khalid Areas of Research Molecular-level modeling and simulation of bacterial cell envelopes

Institution University of Southampton

At-a-Glance

Syma Khalid , professor of computational biophysics at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom, found her place in biophysics as a graduate student, and has enjoyed the fast pace of the field ever since. She shares, “Technological and methodological advancements that we have seen, for example, the resolution revolution in structural biology and the system sizes and times- cales now accessible to molecular dynamics simulations, are keeping us all on our toes.”

Syma Khalid

Syma Khalid grew up in Wolverhampton, in the Midlands region of England. Her parents are first-generation immigrants to England from Pakistan. When she was growing up, her father worked as a bus driver and her mother worked on-and-off as a seamstress. Khalid wanted to be a writer or footballer [soccer player] when she grew up, but ended up as the first person in her family to attend university. She graduated from the University of Warwick with her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2000, then stayed at the university to pursue her PhD in the lab of P. Mark Rodger . “My scientific interests were always at the interfaces of the ‘core’ sciences, although of course I didn’t know that’s what it was at the time,” she shares. “I was award- ed a PhD opportunity at the University of Warwick to undertake a project in any area of computational chemistry—a project on DNA major groove binders really appealed. After that it was always going to be computational biophysics for me.” In 2003, she joined the group of Mark Sansom in the Depart- ment of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford as a post- doctoral fellow. She studied molecular simulations of bacte- rial membrane proteins. “This is where my love of bacterial systems started and that has been the foundation of my own group,” she says. She cites Sansom as being an inspirational mentor and a good friend. Following this postdoc position, she started an independent fellowship at the School of Chemistry, University of Southamp- ton, which then led to an associate professor position in the same department. Since 2016 she has been a full professor of computational biophysics at Southampton, her research focusing on modeling and simulations of biological systems. “The main theme to the research in my group is the use of computational techniques to explore the structure-function re- lationships of a range of biological molecules and systems. We are interested in a wide range of biological molecules including membrane proteins and peptides, DNA, lipids, and carbohy- drates,” Khalid says. “A key aspect of our work is developing new models of bacterial membranes which incorporate their

inherent complexity allowing us to bridge some of the divide that currently exists between model systems and real biology.” The most difficult challenge thus far in her career was a period without funding, shortly after her first grant finished. “The imposter syndrome grew particularly strong during this time and became an almost constant companion— still pops up to say ‘hi’ once in a while,” she shares. “My colleagues at South- ampton, collaborators, and mentors provided a great support network during this time. It took a bit longer to accept the help of friends and family, as I kept thinking, ‘They don’t really un- derstand’ and ‘Obviously they will say nice things.’ After a while I realized that this is a ridiculous standpoint, and that they are there and are supportive is enough. That realization has since made coping with the inevitable downs of academia easier.” Sarah Rouse , Imperial College London, was a PhD student in Sansom’s lab when Khalid joined as a postdoc. “We are cur- rently working together on a project with Oxford Nanopores Technologies Ltd. who use membrane proteins as molecular machines for DNA sequencing,” she says. “Syma is extreme- ly supportive and is one of the people who makes you want to stay in academic research. [Also memorable is] her daily changing hair color.” The two have continued to collaborate now that each is an independent researcher. “We worked on a joint project recently with Carol Robinson ’s group in Oxford, where we used molecular simulations to help inform a new technique they are pioneering using native mass spectrometry of mem- brane vesicles,” Rouse adds. Robinson, Doctor Lee’s Professor of Chemistry at the Univer- sity of Oxford, has been a mentor to Khalid. She shares, “We have worked together on a number of projects trying to under- stand the relationship between membrane proteins and their lipid surroundings. Syma relishes working on new ideas and her enthusiasm is infectious. I know that when I have a new project, or need a new approach, I will enjoy working with her. She is happy to bat ideas back and forth until we find accepable solutions.”

September 2020

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