Biophysical Society Bulletin | January 2018

Publications

Know the Editor Wilma Olson Rutgers University

BJ Paper of the Year Award

The Biophysical Journal has announced that the recipient of the 2017 Paper of the Year Award is Daniela Kraft , at the Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Kraft works on the physics and self-organization of soft matter systems. The award is being given for her paper “Micropar-

Editor, Nucleic Acids and Genome Biophysics

Daniela Kraft

Wilma Olson

ticle Assembly Pathways on Lipid Membranes,” which she coauthored with Casper van der Wel and Doris Heinrich , also of Leiden University. The paper was published in the September 5, 2017, issue of Biophysical Journal . Kraft will give a short talk at the 2018 BPS Annual Meeting in San Francisco, during the Award Symposium, Tuesday, February 20, where she will also receive a plaque and a check for $1,000. Journal Welcomes New Editorial BoardMembers The 2018 BJ Editorial Board has been finalized and the Journal is pleased to welcome the following new members to the Board: Heping (Peace) Cheng , State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University Margaret Cheung , Department of Physics, University of Houston Tim Cross , Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University Alemayehu (Alex) Gorfe , Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Alan Grossfield , Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Rochester Medical Center Kevin Janes , Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia Cynthia Reinhart-King , Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University Anne Kenworthy , Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, has also joined the Board as an Associate Editor, replacing David Piston who stepped down to serve the Society as President-Elect.

What are you currently working on? Our research focuses on developing and using theory and computation to understand the large-scale structures and properties of DNA and RNA in the context of their chemical make-up and associations with proteins and other molecules. We are taking advantage of new capabilities in the analy- sis of nucleic acid structures, developed in conjunction with Xiang-Jun Lu , Columbia University, to characterize the geom- etries and structural context of non-canonical base pairs in high-resolution RNA-containing structures. In the case of DNA we are examining connections between sequence-de- pendent spatial and energetic information encoded in the lo- cal double-helical structure and mesoscale features, such as protein-mediated DNA looping, that take place in chains with hundreds to thousands of base pairs. We are also looking, with Vasily Studitsky , Fox Chase Cancer Center, at the effects of nucleosome structure, composition, and positioning on long-range communication between regulatory elements on well-defined chromatin constructs. How do you stay on top of all the latest developments in your field? One of the best ways is to attend workshops and meetings like those offered by the Biophysical Society. I benefit greatly from discussions with colleagues I meet through these ven- ues and through seminars at my own institution. If unable to travel, I read the abstracts of a meeting and discuss talks of possible interest with colleagues who can attend. I also learn many new and interesting things through service as a peer reviewer. Finally, I receive alerts of papers covering specific topics and I look regularly through the hard copies of several high-profile journals. I point out papers of possible interest to my students and collaborators and, in turn, receive recom- mendations of articles that they find valuable.

January 2018

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