Bhavya Mishra
Research Associate
Profile
Biography
Dr Bhavya Mishra is a Research Associate in the Department of Mathematics at the University of York, where she works under the mentorship of Professor Reidun Twarock. Her academic journey is rooted in theoretical physics, with a research focus on statistical mechanics and soft matter physics theory. Specifically, she investigates exclusion processes, protein assembly, using numerical simulations to better understand biological systems like viruses and chemical networks.
Prior to her current role, Dr. Mishra completed postdocs at the University of California, Merced (2021–2024) and Johns Hopkins University (2019–2021). She earned her PhD in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 2019, where her thesis explored the traffic congestion of molecular motors on nucleic acid strands.
Beyond her research, Dr. Mishra is deeply committed to science outreach and education. She has served as a co-organiser for numerous "One dollar microscope" workshops and "Science of viruses" programs, bringing complex scientific concepts to primary, middle, and high school students.
Research
Projects
In this project, we investigate the complex assembly process of the HIV-1 conically-shaped capsid using coarse-grained computational models derived from Cryo-ET structures. By representing the CA protein through its hexamer, dimer, and trimer interfaces, the study addresses the open question of whether "trimers of dimers" serve as preferred intermediate units over complete hexamers during capsid formation. Through phase space analysis, we demonstrate that the specific assembly pathway—whether dominated by hexamers or trimers of dimers—is critically dependent on the reaction rate at the trimer interface and the binding strengths at the dimer interface. Ultimately, the findings show that strong inter-dimer interactions favor the trimer-of-dimer pathway, providing theoretical support for observations previously noted in experimental studies.
Publications
Selected publications
- Speed limits of protein assembly with reversible membrane localization,
Bhavya Mishra, and Margaret E. Johnson
The Journal of Chemical Physics, 154, 19 (2021) - Temporal control by co-factors prevents kinetic trapping in retroviral Gag lat-tice assembly,
Yian Qian, Daniel Evans, Bhavya Mishra, Yiben Fu, Zixiu Liu, Si-Kao Guo, Margaret E. Johnson
Biophysical Journal, 122, 15, 3173-3190 (2023) - Competitive binding of cleavage factors facilitates the translocation of an intact
HIV-1 capsid through the nuclear pore complex,
Bhavya Mishra, Roya Zandi and Ajay Gopinathan.
Under review, 2025
Full publications list
- Competitive binding of cleavage factors facilitates the translocation of an intact
HIV-1 capsid through the nuclear pore complex,
Bhavya Mishra, Roya Zandi and Ajay Gopinathan.
Under review, 2025 - Temporal control by co-factors prevents kinetic trapping in retroviral Gag lat-tice assembly,
Yian Qian, Daniel Evans, Bhavya Mishra, Yiben Fu, Zixiu Liu, Si-Kao Guo, Margaret E. Johnson
Biophysical Journal, 122, 15, 3173-3190 (2023) - Speed limits of protein assembly with reversible membrane localization,
Bhavya Mishra, and Margaret E. Johnson
The Journal of Chemical Physics, 154, 19 (2021) - Interference of two codirectional exclusion processes in the presence of a static
bottleneck: A biologically motivated model,
Bhavya Mishra, Debashish Chowdhury
Physical Review E, 95, 6, 062117 (2017)