Ran Friedman

Ran Friedman is a professor of chemistry at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, Sweden, where he works in the Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences within the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. His research focuses on computational chemistry and biochemistry, using molecular dynamics simulations, quantum chemistry, and stochastic modelling to examine the molecular basis of diseases. He is affiliated with the Linnaeus University Centre for Biomaterials Chemistry, one of the university’s principal research environments. A 2018 grant from the Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden) of SEK 1.8 million, spread over three years at SEK 600,000 per year, funded his group’s investigation of drug resistance in chronic and acute myeloid leukemia.

Key facts

  • Occupation: researcher
  • Employer: Linnaeus University

Academic background

Before joining Linnaeus University, Friedman conducted research at the Laser Laboratory for Fast Reactions in Biology, housed in the Department of Biochemistry at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel. There he collaborated with Esther Nachliel and Menachem Gutman on the molecular dynamics of protein surfaces. Work from that period, published in Biophysical Journal in 2005 (volume 89, pages 768–781), accumulated 88 citations and established his grounding in Israeli biophysics. A later paper from his Zurich period, ‘Discovery of plasmepsin inhibitors by fragment-based docking and consensus scoring,’ co-authored with Caflisch and published in ChemMedChem in 2009, went on to accumulate 83 citations.

Research at Linnaeus University

Friedman’s group at Linnaeus University applies molecular dynamics simulations, quantum chemistry, and stochastic modelling to study how diseases work at the molecular level. He also teaches medicinal and physical chemistry across several courses at the university.

Cancer drug resistance is a central concern of the group. Computational models have been developed to investigate potential drug rotation strategies for combating resistance in acute myeloid leukemia, including work on the specific drugs quizartinib and pexidartinib. In January 2025, Friedman described the development of a computational data model designed to help determine which drugs work best for individual patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia.

His collaborators at Linnaeus University include professor Alf Mansson, with whom he co-authored a 2022 study on actomyosin energy transduction, and Bjorn C. G. Karlsson, co-author of a widely discussed 2017 paper on whisky dilution.

Selected publications

In 2013, Friedman published ‘Molecular modelling and simulations in cancer research’ in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Reviews on Cancer (volume 1836, pages 1–14), co-authored with Kjetil Boye and Kjersti Flatmark. The paper surveyed computational approaches to understanding cancer at the molecular level.

On 17 August 2017, Friedman and Bjorn C. G. Karlsson published ‘Dilution of whisky – the molecular perspective’ in Scientific Reports (volume 7, article number 6489). The study used molecular dynamics simulations to examine how guaiacol, an aromatic compound, distributes itself in water-alcohol mixtures, providing a molecular account of how dilution affects whisky aroma.

On 5 August 2022, a paper titled ‘Multistep orthophosphate release tunes actomyosin energy transduction’ appeared in Nature Communications (volume 13, article number 4575), co-authored with Moretto, Usaj, Matusovsky, Rassier, and Mansson. In November 2024, Friedman was a lead contributor on ‘Beyond IC50—A computational dynamic model of drug resistance in enzyme inhibition treatment,’ published in PLOS Computational Biology (volume 20, article e1012570). His listed contributions to that paper included conceptualization, methodology, resources, and supervision.

Research keywords

Friedman’s Google Scholar profile lists his research keywords as molecular modelling, quantum chemistry, protein-ion interactions, cancer modelling, and molecular dynamics. These span the interface between chemistry, biology, and medicine, with an emphasis on computational methods applied to clinical problems.

Did you know

  • The 2017 whisky dilution paper by Karlsson and Friedman attracted wide media attention as it offered a molecular explanation for why adding water enhances certain whisky aromas. Guaiacol was found to be driven away from the liquid surface at ethanol concentrations above 59 vol-%. (sciencedaily.com)
  • Friedman’s paper ‘Discovery of plasmepsin inhibitors by fragment-based docking and consensus scoring,’ co-authored with Caflisch and published in ChemMedChem in 2009, accumulated 83 citations, making it one of his most-cited works from his Zurich period. (scholar.google.com)
  • The 2024 paper ‘Beyond IC50’ introduced the concept of ‘inhibitory reduction prowess’ as a better indicator of drug resistance than standard IC50 fold-values, challenging established methods of drug selection for chronic myeloid leukemia patients. (journals.plos.org)
  • An author correction to the whisky dilution paper was published on 1 November 2018 in Scientific Reports (article number 16448), fixing errors in Figure 4 regarding the representation of ideal densities of ethanol and water in mixtures. Pascal Hebbeker of Aachen University was acknowledged for his help. (nature.com)
  • Friedman’s research on the molecular dynamics of a protein surface, published in Biophysical Journal in 2005 with Nachliel and Gutman (volume 89, pages 768–781), accumulated 88 citations, predating his arrival at Linnaeus University and reflecting his roots in Israeli biophysics research. (scholar.google.com)

Data sources

Data updated: 2026-10-31