Acting Assistant Professor, Bioengineering
Office: SLU Campus Room S171
Email:  mcc7fb@uw.edu

Matthew Childers

Lab Website

How I am inventing the future of medicine

I use molecular simulation to model disease mechanisms and engineer precision therapeutics at the atomic scale.

Familial and acquired diseases of contractile elements in cardiac and skeletal muscle arise from molecular scale changes in muscle and these diseases reduce lifespans and the quality of life. I use molecular simulations to understand the mechanisms that drive muscle function, to understand how disease pathologies disrupt contraction, and to guide therapeutic design. Because muscle is inherently dynamic, capturing time-dependent behavior is essential. By modeling muscle protein dynamics, I have uncovered how mutations alter force generation by myosin and proposed new ways to modulate muscle contractility.

PhD – University of Washington Bioengineering 2019 Mentor: Valerie Daggett PhD
BS – University of Virginia Biomedical Engineering, Applied Mathematics 2013

Michael Regnier Lab, University of Washington 2019-2024

• Best Poster Presentation, Madison Myofilament Meeting, Madison, WI 2024
• Best Oral Presentation, Madison Myofilament Meeting, Madison, WI, 2022
• Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, UW Office of Undergraduate Research, Seattle, WA, 2019
• K99 HL 173646 NIH – NHLBI A multiscale computational and experimental platform to investigate cardiomyopathies and targeted therapeutics

1. Kao, K.Y., M.C. Childers, D. Pathak, R.R. Goluguri, K.M. Ruppel, J.A. Spudich, and M. Regnier. The G256E HCM mutation prolongs relaxation via altered nucleotide handling. 2025 Communications Chemistry
2. Robeson, K.Z., M.C. Childers, K.J. Fruebis, R. Soriano, J. Davis, and M. Regnier. 2026. Conformational State of Myosin’s Disordered Loop 2 Structure Mediates Actomyosin Association During Crossbridge Formation. Protein Science 35 (2) e70473.
3. Childers, M.C., M.A. Geeves, and M. Regnier. 2024. Interacting myosin head dynamics and their modification by 2?-deoxy-ADP. Biophys. J. 123:3997–4008.
4. Childers, M.C., and V. Daggett. 2018. Validating Molecular Dynamics Simulations against Experimental Observables in Light of Underlying Conformational Ensembles. J Phys Chem B. 122:6673–6689.

In the News

An epicenter of computational biology

September 29th, 2026|Comments Off on An epicenter of computational biology

NIH-funded project will expand Smoldyn software to simulate the complex interactions by which cells divide, move, and engulf other materials. Computer modeling is an important tool in modern cell biology, but it typically requires [...]

Becoming the Engineer in the Room

September 29th, 2026|Comments Off on Becoming the Engineer in the Room

UW Bioengineering alumnus Savannah Bifulco has really built a career for herself. Literally. She was the first therapy development scientist to be part of the electrophysiology division, helping to define a new way of [...]

Alumnus leverages PharBE degree to advance at Merck

September 10th, 2026|Comments Off on Alumnus leverages PharBE degree to advance at Merck

Darienny Stover expanded her skills through the online master’s program, advancing her career at one of the largest pharmaceutical production facilities in the world. As an undergraduate in Brazil, Darienny Stover knew she “wanted [...]

2026 Hoffman Lecture – Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic

September 2nd, 2026|Comments Off on 2026 Hoffman Lecture – Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING ALLAN S. HOFFMAN LECTURE PRESENTS: Prof. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD “Translational Studies of Engineered Human Tissues” Thursday, October 8, 2026 4:00pm – 5:00pm Foege South Auditorium & Zoom Webinar [...]

Berndt to build redox sensors with NIH grant

September 2nd, 2026|Comments Off on Berndt to build redox sensors with NIH grant

UW Bioengineering’s Professor Andre Berndt and his team will develop a new generation of biosensors with a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health. These multiplexed, protein-based sensors will monitor [...]

New award, led by UW BioE’s Patrick Stayton, to support inhaled antibiotic treatment that will help avoid drug resistance

September 2nd, 2026|Comments Off on New award, led by UW BioE’s Patrick Stayton, to support inhaled antibiotic treatment that will help avoid drug resistance

UW Bioengineering’s Professor Patrick Stayton and clinical colleagues Professors Eoin West and Shawn Skerrett in the UW School of Medicine are developing a new means of treating pneumonia. If successful, the inhaled drug would [...]