Curriculum Vitae

Christopher Lockhart, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
School of Systems Biology
George Mason Unversity

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Languages: English (native), French (DELF B2)

Education

• PhD, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, George Mason University (2015)
• BS, Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech (2010)
• BS, Psychology, Virginia Tech (2010)

Professional Experience

• Research Assistant Professor, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University (May 2021 - Present)
• Affiliate Faculty, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University (April 2018 - May 2021)
• Manager, Data Science, Scratch Financial, Inc. (March 2020 - April 2021)
• Sr. Data Scientist, Scratch Financial, Inc. (April 2019 - March 2020)
• Data Scientist, Aspiration Partners, Inc. (April 2018 - April 2019)
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University (January 2016 - March 2018)
• Adjunct Instructor, George Mason University (January 2016 - March 2018)
• Graduate Research Assistant, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University (February 2011 - December 2015)

Publications

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Published Abstracts

• Lockhart, C., Delfing, B. M., Laracuente, X. E., Olson, A., Luo, X., Jeffries, W., Foreman, K. W., Petruncio, G., Lee, K.-H., Paige, M., Kehn-Hall, K., & Klimov, D. K. (2025) Understanding the molecular mechanism of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus inhibition. Biophys. J. 124(3): 220a.
• Ganji, V. & Lockhart, C. (2024) Screening aggregation breakers of Alzheimer’s disease Aβ protofibrils using AutoDock CrankPep. J. Stud.-Sci. Res. 6, 4283.
• Jain, S. & Lockhart, C. (2023) RexDash: A comprehensive dashboard for analyzing the technical performance of replica-exchange molecular dynamics simulations. J. Stud.-Sci. Res. 5, 3926.
• Chawla, M. & Lockhart, C. (2023) De novo drug design for a protein binding site. J. Stud.-Sci. Res. 5, 3925.
• Díaz Delgado, M. J. & Lockhart, C. (2023) Network analysis of replica exchange simulations. J. Stud.-Sci. Res. 5, 3924.
• Gohil, K. & Lockhart, C. (2023) Binding of indolicin to the DMPC bilayer using molecular dynamics simulations. J. Stud.-Sci. Res. 5. 3923.
• Goldberg, J. F., de Filippi, C. R., Lockhart, C., McNair, E. R., Sinha, S., Kong, H., Najjar, S. S., Lohmar, B. J., Tchoukina, I., Shah, K., Feller, E., Hsu, S., Rodrigo, M. E., Jang, M., Marboe, C., Berry, G. J., Valantine, H. A., Agbor-Enoh, S., Shah, P. (2023) Dysregulated circulating proteins in cellular and antibody-mediated rejection, on behalf of the GRAfT investigators. J. Heart Lung Transplant. 42(4): S67-S68.
• Gohil, K. & Lockhart, C. (2022) Evaluating reduced and oxidized Aβ peptides using machine learning. J. Stud.-Sci. Res. 4., 3366.
• Lockhart, C., Smith, A. K., & Klimov, D. K. (2020) Methionine oxidation alters the mechanism of Aβ interaction with DMPC bilayers. Biophys. J. 118(3): 61a.
• Lockhart, C. & Klimov, D. K. (2017) Probing the binding of Aβ peptides to lipid bilayers. Biophys. J. 112(3): 364a.
• Lockhart, C. & Klimov, D. K. (2015) Binding of Aβ monomer to DMPC bilayer using isobaric-isothermal replica-exchange molecular dynamics. Biophys. J. 108(2): 64a-65a.
• Lockhart, C. & Klimov, D. K. (2013) Binding of FDDNP biomarker to Alzheimer’s disease Aβ peptide. Biophys. J. 104(2): 360a.

Presentations

• Lockhart, C., Delfing, B. M., Laracuente, X. E., Olson, A., Luo, X., Jeffries, W., Foreman, K. W., Petruncio, G., Lee, K.-H., Paige, M., Kehn-Hall, K., & Klimov, D. K. “Understanding the molecular mechanism of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus inhibition.” Biophysical Society 69th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, February 2025. (Poster).
• Lockhart, C., Smith, A. K., & Klimov, D. K. “Methionine oxidation alters the mechanism of Aβ interaction with DMPC bilayers.” Biophysical Society 64th Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, February 2020. (Poster).
• Lockhart, C. & Klimov, D. K. “Probing the binding of Aβ peptides to lipid bilayers.” Biophysical Society 61st Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, February 2017. (Poster).
• Lockhart, C. & Klimov, D. K. “Binding of Aβ monomer to DMPC bilayer using isobaric-isothermal replica-exchange molecular dynamics.” Biophysical Society 59th Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, February 2015. (Poster).
• Lockhart. C. “Molecular dynamics simulations of peptides relevant to Alzheimer’s disease.” Colloquia of Computational Materials Science Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, October 2015. (Invited talk).
• Lockhart, C. & Klimov, D. K. “Binding of Aβ to DMPC bilayer.” Student Research Day, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, Manassas, VA, December 2014. (Oral presentation).
• Lockhart, C. & Klimov, D. K. “Binding of FDDNP biomarker to Alzheimer’s disease Aβ peptide.” Biophysical Society 57th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, February 2013. (Oral presentation).
• Lockhart, C. & Klimov, D. K. “Binding of FDDNP biomarker to Alzheimer’s disease Aβ peptide.” Student Research Day, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, Manassas, VA, December 2012. (Award-winning oral presentation).

Teaching Experience

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Mentoring

• PhD Dissertation Chair (4 current students)
• PhD Committee Member (8 current students; 1 graduated student)
• Masters Thesis/Project Chair (4 current students; 6 graduated students)
• Masters Committee Member (1 graduated student)
• ASSIP Mentor (6 previous interns)
• Course Director for Young Scholars Program

University Service

• Administers programming & math assessment for incoming Bioinformatics & Computational Biology graduate students, George Mason University, 2023-present
• Chair of College of Science Faculty Governance Nominations Committee, George Mason University, 2025-2026
• Member of School of Systems Biology Bylaws Committee, George Mason University, 2024-2026
• Member of College of Science Faculty Governance Nominations Committee, George Mason University, 2024-2025
• Developed Artificial Intellegence & Deep Learning in Bioinformatics (BINF 761), George Mason University, 2025
• Member of College of Science Dean’s Award Nominations Committee, George Mason University, 2023
• Developed Next Generation Sequencing Data Analysis (BINF 735), George Mason University, 2023
• Administered systems biology section of PhD comprehensive exam in the Bioinformatics & Computational Biology program, George Mason University, 2017-2021

Other Service

• Reviewer for NIH DMPB panel, 2023
• Reviewer for Biology Direct, Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Molecular Biology (Springer), and Nature Computational Science
• Contributor of programming expertise to the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT, 2020
• Blogger for Biophysical Society 61st Annual Meeting

Honors & Awards

• Dean’s Research Support Award, College of Science, George Mason University, December 5, 2022
• Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, May 11, 2016
• Impact Award, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, May 15, 2013
• Student Research Day Outstanding Oral Presentation, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, December 4, 2012
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Award for Outstanding Research Achievement in the Course of Doctoral Studies, School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, May 16, 2012
• Navachat Tongvichit Bioinformatics Memorial Award, School of Systems Biology, George Mason Univeristy, May 19, 2011