World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Chemistry
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
138
Citations
76376
World Ranking
223
National Ranking
105

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Chemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Chemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2013 - Nobel Prize for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems
  • 2012 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2009 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2003 - Tolman Award, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 1978 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Overview

Arieh Warshel is affiliated with the University of Southern California in the United States. Their research primarily centers on the domain of Biochemistry, Genetics, and Molecular Biology, with a notable emphasis on Molecular Biology. Additional subfields include Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Computational Theory and Mathematics, Infectious Diseases, and Organic Chemistry.

The main topics covered in Warshel's work involve:

  • Protein Structure and Dynamics
  • Receptor Mechanisms and Signaling
  • Computational Drug Discovery Methods
  • Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
  • SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
  • Enzyme Structure and Function
  • Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research

Frequent co-authors include Wen Jun Xie, Chen Bai, Arjun Saha, Aoxuan Zhang, and Mojgan Asadi. Warshel's publications have appeared repeatedly in prominent scientific journals such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ACS Catalysis, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, and Proteins Structure Function and Bioinformatics.

Selected recent papers demonstrate a focus on molecular mechanisms and computational modeling, including:

  • "Critical Differences between the Binding Features of the Spike Proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV" (2020), published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry B
  • "Exploring the Mechanism of Covalent Inhibition: Simulating the Binding Free Energy of α-Ketoamide Inhibitors of the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2" (2020), published in Biochemistry
  • "Predicting Mutational Effects on Receptor Binding of the Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 Variants" (2021), published in Journal of the American Chemical Society
  • "Enhancing computational enzyme design by a maximum entropy strategy" (2022), published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • "Harnessing generative AI to decode enzyme catalysis and evolution for enhanced engineering" (2023), published in National Science Review

Warshel has authored books published by World Scientific, including "From Kibbutz Fishponds to The Nobel Prize" (2021) and the forthcoming "Electrostatic Basis of Biological Actions" (2025).

Over the course of a scientific career, Warshel has been recognized through several awards, including the Nobel Prize in 2013 for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems. Other distinctions include election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012, membership in the National Academy of Sciences since 2009, the Tolman Award from the American Chemical Society in 2003, and fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1978.

Best Publications

  • Theoretical studies of enzymic reactions: Dielectric, electrostatic and steric stabilization of the carbonium ion in the reaction of lysozyme

    A. Warshel;A. Warshel;M. Levitt;M. Levitt

  • Advances in molecular quantum chemistry contained in the Q-Chem 4 program package

    Yihan Shao;Zhengting Gan;Evgeny Epifanovsky;Andrew T. B. Gilbert

  • Advances in methods and algorithms in a modern quantum chemistry program package

    Yihan Shao;Laszlo Fusti Molnar;Yousung Jung;Jörg Kussmann

  • Electrostatic Basis for Enzyme Catalysis

    Arieh Warshel;Pankaz K. Sharma;Mitsunori Kato;Yun Xiang

  • Calculations of electrostatic interactions in biological systems and in solutions.

    Arieh Warshel;Stephen T. Russell

  • Computer simulation of protein folding

    Michael Levitt;Arieh Warshel;Arieh Warshel

  • What are the dielectric “constants” of proteins and how to validate electrostatic models?

    Claudia N. Schutz;Arieh Warshel

  • AN EMPIRICAL VALENCE BOND APPROACH FOR COMPARING REACTIONS IN SOLUTIONS AND IN ENZYMES

    A. Warshel;R. M. Weiss

  • Computer Modeling of Chemical Reactions in Enzymes and Solutions

    Arieh Warshel

  • Calculation of ground and excited state potential surfaces of conjugated molecules. I. Formulation and parametrization

    A. Warshel;M. Karplus

  • Simulation of enzyme reactions using valence bond force fields and other hybrid quantum/classical approaches

    Johan Åqvist;Arieh Warshel

  • Frozen density functional approach for ab initio calculations of solvated molecules

    Tomasz Adam Wesolowski;Arieh Warshel

  • Dynamics of reactions in polar solvents. Semiclassical trajectory studies of electron-transfer and proton-transfer reactions

    Arieh Warshel

  • Consistent Force Field for Calculations of Conformations, Vibrational Spectra, and Enthalpies of Cycloalkane and n‐Alkane Molecules

    S. Lifson;A. Warshel

  • Electrostatic Origin of the Catalytic Power of Enzymes and the Role of Preorganized Active Sites

    Arieh Warshel

  • Bicycle-pedal model for the first step in the vision process.

    Arieh Warshel;Arieh Warshel;Arieh Warshel

  • Q-Chem 2.0: a high-performance ab initio electronic structure program package

    Jing Kong;Christopher A. White;Christopher A. White;Anna I. Krylov;Anna I. Krylov;David Sherrill;David Sherrill

  • Computer simulations of enzyme catalysis: methods, progress, and insights.

    Arieh Warshel

  • A surface constrained all‐atom solvent model for effective simulations of polar solutions

    Gregory King;Arieh Warshel

  • Microscopic and semimicroscopic calculations of electrostatic energies in proteins by the POLARIS and ENZYMIX programs

    Frederick S. Lee;Zhen Tao Chu;Arieh Warshel

  • Modeling electrostatic effects in proteins.

    Arieh Warshel;Pankaz K. Sharma;Mitsunori Kato;William W. Parson

Frequent Co-Authors

William W. Parson
William W. Parson University of Washington
Jan Florián
Jan Florián Loyola University Chicago
Johan Åqvist
Johan Åqvist Uppsala University
Martin Karplus
Martin Karplus Harvard University
Michael Levitt
Michael Levitt Stanford University
Dibyendu Mondal
Dibyendu Mondal Jain University
Myron F. Goodman
Myron F. Goodman University of Southern California
Philip J. Stephens
Philip J. Stephens University of Southern California
Ralf Langen
Ralf Langen University of Southern California
Tomasz Adam Wesolowski
Tomasz Adam Wesolowski University of Geneva

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