Mona Minkara


Mona Samer Minkara is an American professor of bioengineering and computational biochemist whose work focuses on modeling pulmonary surfactant— an essential substance that enables breathing—using advanced molecular simulations to study protein dynamics, innate immune defense, and nanoscale drug delivery. She is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Northeastern University and affiliated faculty in the Chemistry and Chemical Biology. At Northeastern, she directs the Computational Modeling for Biointerface Engineering, which applies computational chemistry and biophysics to understand and engineer biological interfaces. Her research is supported by major grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, including the NIH MIRA and NSF CAREER Awards. She is also a blind scientist and a recognized leader in advancing accessibility in STEM.

Biography

Minkara was born in Maryland to parents who immigrated to the United States from Tripoli, Lebanon. Raised in a bilingual household speaking Arabic and English, she grew up in the greater Boston area and frequently visited Lebanon during her childhood, shaping her multicultural identity.
Diagnosed in early childhood with macular degeneration and cone-rod dystrophy, Minkara gradually lost her vision. Despite early discouragement about the feasibility of pursuing science as a blind person, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Middle Eastern Studies from Wellesley College in 2009. Her senior thesis focused on the design of HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors.
She received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Florida in 2015, conducting research at the , under the mentorship of Professors Kenneth M. Merz Jr. and Erik Deumens. Her dissertation contributed novel insights into the dynamics of urease inhibition in Helicobacter pylori.
Following her doctoral work, Minkara was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Minnesota’s under Professor J. Ilja Siepmann. There, she investigated surfactant interfaces using molecular simulations, supported by a Ford Foundation Fellowship from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. During this time, she also collaborated with Procter & Gamble on projects involving the interfacial behavior of surfactant formulations.
Dr. Minkara joined Northeastern University in 2019 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and later became affiliated with the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. At Northeastern, she directs the Minkara, mentoring students in computational biophysics.

Research

Minkara’s research explores the molecular mechanisms that sustain life at its smallest scales. Each breath we take depends on the expansion and contraction of millions of alveoli in the lungs—a process made possible by surfactant proteins at the air–liquid interface. Her lab uses high-resolution molecular dynamics simulations to investigate how key surfactant proteins enable respiratory function, support innate immune defense, and inform the design of molecular-scale therapeutics.
By bridging pulmonary biophysics, glycan recognition, and computational modeling, the Minkara seeks to understand and engineer the molecular interactions that underlie breathing, immunity, and drug delivery. Minkara’s group also develops multisensory approaches to make science accessible to blind and sighted scientists alike.
She has delivered invited research talks at institutions including Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and MIT, sharing both her scientific insights and her innovations in accessible computational science.

Accessibility and Multisensory Tools

Alongside her scientific work, Minkara develops multisensory resources—including tactile lithophanes and accessible molecular visualizations—with collaborators such as Bryan Shaw . These tools are part of the, a resource that makes molecular data accessible to both blind and sighted individuals. She also served as a planning member for the 2022 National Academies’ Summit Disrupting Ableism and Advancing STEM, a forum focused on fostering equity in science.

Advocacy

Minkara is recognized for her leadership in promoting accessibility in science. She co-founded   at Northeastern, a cross-campus initiative advancing accessibility through community. Since 2020, she has also led a weekly mentorship program for blind and disabled students in STEM, supporting individuals across six continents.
She has served on the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Committee on   and regularly consults with educators, publishers, and institutions on inclusive scientific practices. Her motto, "Vision is more than sight," captures her belief that scientific insight comes in many forms—eyesight is just one of many tools. We are all capable of vision.

Planes, Trains, and Canes

Minkara is the creator and host of the YouTube travel series , where she navigates global cities alone as a blind traveler using only public transportation. The series showcases how cities around the world accommodate people with disabilities. It has been screened at international festivals and used as an educational resource in accessibility training programs.

Awards and recognition

Minkara’s research and teaching have earned awards, including:
She has also received travel and leadership awards from the Protein Society, the American Chemical Society, and the National Academies. Her work has been featured in Nature, Science Advances, Acta Astronautica, and NPR’s All Things Considered.

Select publications

  • Li, D., & Minkara, M. S.. "Decoding SP-D and glycan binding mechanisms using a novel computational workflow." Biophysical Journal, 124, 1–9. .
  • Li, D., & Minkara, M. S.. "Elucidating the enhanced binding affinity of a double mutant SP-D with trimannose on the influenza A virus using molecular dynamics." Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 20, 4984–5000. .
  • Li, D., & Minkara, M. S.. "Benchmarking water models for simulating protein–glycan interactions: A molecular dynamics study of surfactant protein D." Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, 64, 302–314. .
  • Koone, J. C., Dashnaw, C. M., … Minkara, M. S., Shaw, B. F.. "Data for all: Tactile graphics that light up with picture-perfect resolution." Science Advances, 8, eabq2640. .
  • Minkara, M. S., & Merz, K. M. Jr.. "Inhibition mechanism of Helicobacter pylori urease: A QM/MM molecular dynamics study." Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, 12, 889–898. .
  • Minkara, M. S., & Siepmann, J. I.. "Interfacial behavior of pulmonary surfactant components: A molecular simulation study." Langmuir, 34, 7976–7985. .