Haim J. Wolfson
Papers
11
Total Citations
390
H-Index
7
About
Haim J. Wolfson is a pioneering researcher whose work sits at the fascinating intersection of computer vision, robotics, and structural bioinformatics. Best known for his groundbreaking contributions to molecular docking and biomolecular recognition, Wolfson has fundamentally advanced the field of rational drug design by developing algorithms that account for protein flexibility — a notoriously difficult challenge in computational biology. His landmark 1998 paper on flexible docking with induced fit, garnering 120 citations, introduced an elegant approach that mimics real-world molecular recognition by allowing hinge-bending domain movements while avoiding exhaustive conformational space searches. This work, complemented by related studies on flexible structural comparison and biomolecular docking algorithms, established him as a leading voice in structure-based drug discovery. What makes Wolfson's trajectory particularly remarkable is his intellectual range: early in his career he applied combinatorial optimization and computer vision to solve jigsaw puzzles robotically, earning 65 citations for that creative work. More recently, his PinaColada algorithm (2016) tackled the design of peptide inhibitors for protein-protein interactions, demonstrating sustained innovation across decades. His research continues to inspire computational biologists and structural bioinformaticians worldwide.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Solving jigsaw puzzles by a robot65 citations · 1989
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- 4
- 5Flexible structural comparison allowing hinge-bending, swiveling motions39 citations · 1999
- 6PinaColada: peptide–inhibitor ant colony ad-hoc design algorithm31 citations · 2016
- 7Docking of conformationally flexible proteins8 citations · 1996
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- 9
- 10Partial matching of 3-D objects in CAD/CAM systems4 citations · 2002