Biophysical Society 2020 Annual Meeting

Career Development Center Workshop Demystifying the Academic Job Search I: Understanding the Search Process from the Perspective of Search Committees and Decoding

Exploring Careers in Biophysics Day 11:15 am - 3:00 pm, Room 28CDE

S U N D A Y

This free day for San Diego area high school and college students at the BPS 64th Annual Meeting kicks off with an Undergraduate Student Pizza “Breakfast” where participants will have an opportunity to network with their peers and members of the Biophysical Society’s Education Commit- tee in a fun and relaxed environment. The Breakfast will include a panel discussion on academic and career paths in biophysics, with times for questions and answers from the audience. Come prepared to find out about the course of study that aspiring biophysicists undertake, what it means to be a biophysicist, and how biophysicists make important discoveries. Attendees will be permitted to attend any of the meeting’s open sessions and activities for the full day, including the Education & Career Opportunities Fair where they can meet with representatives of, and learn about, opportunities from around the world. In addition, there will be some fun, interactive demos for students to learn about ground- breaking techniques in the field. Pre-registration was required. Undergraduate Student Pizza “Breakfast” 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Room 28CDE This “breakfast” for undergraduate students offers a valuable network- ing and social opportunity to meet other students, Biophysical Society Committee members, and scientists at all career levels to discuss aca- demic goals and questions, and to develop a biophysics career path. The Breakfast will include a panel discussion on academic and career paths in biophysics, with opportunities for questions and answers from the audi- ence - come prepared to find out about the course of study that aspiring biophysicists undertake, what it means to be a biophysicist, and how biophysicists make important discoveries. Space for this session is limited to the first 100 attendees. Career Panel Angel Payan, University of California, San Diego Maria Colorado, Stanford Heath Care Annette Medina, Gilead Sciences Career Talk Carmilia Jimenez, Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services Exhibitor Presentation Recreating the Extracellular Matrix in a Dish Cells in the body use a variety of cues (e.g. structural, mechanical, electrical, and chemical) from the extracellular matrix (ECM) to develop and mature physiologically. These influential cues help regulate a broad spectrum of processes such as cell signaling, division, and differentiation. Many in vitro platforms seek to incorporate these cues into the cell’s microenvironment, but often fail, suffering from lack of reproducibility and incompatibility with other well-established end-point assays. Here, we demonstrate biomimetic in vitro platforms capable of reliably repro- ducing these essential ECM cues. These platforms markedly improve the structural and functional development of a variety of cell types, including stem cells, cardiomyocytes, muscle cells, and many more. Specifically, we show how NanoSurface Plates and Cytostretcher Cell-stretching Instru- ments can be utilized individually or collectively to study various model systems. The effects of cell-nanotopography interactions on adhesion, signaling, polarity, and migration across many applications such as hu- man epithelia, cardiovascular function, and cancer biology are high- lighted. Further, we describe how the differentiation of stem cells can be enhanced by providing a more biomimetic culture environment, with a particular focus on iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and skeletal muscle cells. Speaker Hamed Ghazizadeh, Product Manager, NanoSurface Biomedical NanoSurface Biomedical 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Room 33A

Job Announcements 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, Room 26A

What goes on inside search committees; the “black box” of the academic job search process? How are they constituted, what are their processes, and what do they look for when assessing applicants? Answers to these and other questions presented by Andrew Green, PhD a veteran of the academic job search and numerous search committees. Public Affairs Committee Meeting 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm, Room 30D BPS/IOP Advisory Board Meeting

12:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Room 32B Exhibitor Presentation Sutter Instrument 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm, Room 33C

Scientists Empowering Scientists For over 45 years, Sutter Instrument has been collaborating with research- ers.  During this period, there have been many technological evolutions in patch clamp electrophysiology, and Sutter has introduced many new product families, including pipette pullers, manipulators, light sources, wavelength switchers, specialized microscopes and, most recently, fully integrated patch clamp amplifier systems.   At this presentation, we will teach techniques, tips and tricks, and showcase new features, such as dynamic clamp capability. The IPA ® , Double IPA ®  and new dPatch ®  Ultra-fast, Low-noise Integrated Patch Clamp Amplifiers and SutterPatch ®  Software are being used for a variety of common experiments, including characterization of ionic current and record- ing synaptic events in tissue slices. We will demonstrate how the SutterPatch Software’s online measurements and sophisticated control of experimental workflow can be used to aid real-time decision-making and eventually sim- plify analysis. Town Hall for Community Input on the National Academies Decadal Survey of Biological Physics 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm, Room 31ABC The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is undertak- ing a decadal survey of biophysics to look at how the approaches and tools of physics can help to answer important questions about living systems. A com- mittee of experts will evaluate the current state of the field, identify impor- tant future research directions, and assess workforce and education needs. This study is funded by the National Science Foundation, and will serve as a guide for federal agencies and academic leadership as they make decisions regarding the future of biophysics. Community input for this study is critical— particularly given the interdisciplinary nature of the field—and this town hall will serve as an opportunity for members of the BPS community to express their thoughts directly to the committee members who are conducting the study. This town hall is open to all members of the BPS community, and we encourage your participation. Speakers William Bialek, Priceton University Christopher Jones, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Steven Moss, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

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