Biophysical Society Bulletin | April 2024

Council Update

BPS Council Looks Ahead to Future Meetings, New Committees

This year’s committee will be chaired by Valeria Vasquez and includes members Syma Khalid , Kumiko Hayashi , Kresten Lin dorff-Larsen , Cheung, and ex officio member Ha. The Friday session concluded with recognition of outgoing Council members Hayashi, Henry Colecraft , Susan Marqusee (in absentia), Kandice Tanner , and Past-President Gail Robertson . Saturday Joint Council included a deep dive into the 2024 An nual Meeting with Program Chairs Ibrahim Cissé and Elizabeth Villa . They shared their experience creating the program and excitement to see how it would unfold in the following days. Dorothy Chaconas , BPS Director of Meetings & Exhibits, pro vided feedback about the implementation of the new Symp Select Talks, the Platform Flash Talks, and the opportunity for Platform speakers to also present a poster. While some adjustments will be made for BPS2025, the feedback to that point was very positive. Lukas Tamm , Thematic Meeting Committee Chair, presented two proposals for new Thematic Meetings, which Council ap proved, and shared that a third proposal may come to Council at their spring meeting pending some further development of the program. Council also reviewed reports from the two BPS Conferences that occurred in 2023, the Proton Reactions Conference in Tahoe, California and the Membrane Fusion and Budding Conference in Estes Park, Colorado, and approved both to reoccur in 2025. Other Saturday agenda items included a review of the 2025 Annual Meeting program, the addition of two new members to the Annual Meeting Program Committee for 2025–2027, a review of the Subgroup report card, and approval of the agenda for the annual BPS Business Meeting occurring the following Tuesday. When New Council convened on Wednesday morning, the lead topic was once again the ongoing 2024 Annual Meeting, where Cissé and Villa provided final insights and feedback they received over the previous few days. Overall, the pro gram changes were well received, and the goal of creating a diverse and inclusive program showcasing early career researchers was achieved. Christopher Yip , Program Co-Chair with Sudha Chakrapani for BPS2025, provided a revised program for the 2025 BPS An nual Meeting, which incorporated feedback received from the Subgroup Chairs at their meeting the day before and included a fifth workshop focused on techniques. Council discussed the

We joyfully wore ourselves out in Philadelphia at the 68th BPS An nual Meeting: between meeting with colleagues, attending back

to-back outstanding scientific sessions and great committee programs, and, of course, the ex uberant return to the dance floor after Monday night’s excellent awards ceremony and BPS Lecturer Carolyn Bertozzi ’s fantastic talk! Bookending the excitement, Council had three busy, produc tive meetings during the Annual Meeting. Joint Council was held Friday evening on February 9 and then again Saturday morning on February 10. New Council met on Wednesday morning, February 14. The Friday Joint Council meeting opened with a proposal from then-President Taekjip Ha for BPS to stand up a new com mittee to review nomination packages for the Outstanding Doctoral Research in Biophysics Award, which will be award ed to two recent PhD recipients. With the strong student population in BPS, we are hoping for a high number of nomi nations, and Council agreed that the current Awards Commit tee, chaired by Linda Columbus , would have its hands full with the other three new awards in addition to previously existing awards. The new committee will be called the Dissertation Award Review Committee and will be chaired by Ha for the first three years. The other members of the new committee will be Rommie Amaro , Kandice Levental , Takanari Inoue , Erdinc Sezgin , and Georg Pabst . Council then reviewed the Treasurer’s Report and received an update on BPS reserves from Director of Finance and Opera tions Harris Povich . He shared that, after an extensive request for proposals process, we contracted with Protech as part the strategic technology investment approved at Joint Council in San Diego at BPS2023. Protech is an association man agement software vendor whose system, once launched for BPS, will connect data, people, and processes with business applications to support all of our activities and programs, with room to grow. Margaret Cheung , Council member and Nominating Committee Chair, presented the slate for the 2024 election, which Council approved enthusiastically and unanimously. The election will open June 1 and includes candidates for President-Elect, Councilor, and Treasurer. Teresa Giraldez , BPS Secretary, facilitated selection of the 2024 Nominating Committee. Gabriela K. Popescu

April 2024

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