Biophysical Society Bulletin | December 2018

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December 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Future of Biophysics BurroughsWellcome Fund SymposiumSpeakers

Esther Braselmann

Otger Campas

Joshua Levitz

Kate White

The 2019 Future of Biophysics Burroughs Wellcome Fund Symposium will highlight the work of four exciting young researchers who are currently conducting cutting-edge research at the interface of the physical and life sciences. The speakers selected for the 2019 Symposium are Esther Braselmann , University of Colorado, Boulder; Otger Campas , University of California, Santa Barbara; Joshua Levitz , Weill Cornell Medical College; and Kate White , University of Southern California. The symposium, in its tenth year, will be held on Monday, March 4, 2019, at the Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland. Susan Marqusee and Andrej Sali , Program Co-Chairs for the 63rd Annual Meeting, will co-chair the symposium.

Inside Biophysicist in Profile

Samuel Safran Named Editor-in-Chief of The Biophysicist

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Public Affairs

Grants and Opportunities

Publications

At the November 3, 2018, meeting of Council, Samuel (Sam) Safran was selected to serve as the first editor-in-chief of The Biophysicist , a new journal of the Biophysical Society that will focus on education issues, teaching approaches, and empirical research. Safran is a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Physics at the Weizmann Institute, Israel. Continued on Page 7

Annual Meeting

BPS Congressional Fellow

Thematic Meeting 12 Member Corner & Important Dates 13 Student Spotlight 13 Communities 14 Career Development 18 Society Donors 19 Upcoming Events 20

Samuel (Sam) Safran

Last Call! Apply to be the 2019-2020 BPS Congressional Fellow!

Members who have obtained their PhD and are eligible to work in the United States may apply. Application deadline: December 22, 2018 Visit www.biophysics.org for additional information.

Biophysicist in Profile

Officers President Angela Gronenborn President-Elect David Piston Past-President Lukas Tamm Secretary Frances Separovic Treasurer Kalina Hristova Council

Connie Jeffery Areas of Research Protein structure, function, evolution, and folding, with an emphasis on moonlighting pro- teins and proteins involved in disease

could write a review article about multifunc- tional proteins. After they said yes, I scoured the literature for more examples and also made up the name “moonlighting proteins.” The article was published, the name stuck, and something I thought of as an interesting cu- riosity became a big part of my lab’s research program because these proteins gave us a lot to think about: how a structure can accom- modate multiple functional sites, mechanisms for switching function, how they evolved two functions, how we might use that information to design new proteins, how can we predict a protein’s function(s), etc.” Following her postdoc, she took a position in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to their work on moonlighting proteins, her lab has collaborations with other labs working on cancer and tuberculosis, and a project on how genetic mutations affect protein structure and function. She faced major challenges as she was setting up her lab. “I was assigned far too many com- mittees and service and other extra require- ments that filled up a lot of my time but didn’t really help anyone or do anything productive [She later learned this is a challenge faced especially by young women faculty]. At first, I lost a lot of valuable time to these things, but over the years I developed strategies to pro- tect time for research and writing,” she says. “For solving this and other challenges related to running a lab I read articles and books like Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty (from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and Howard Hughes Medical Institute) and At the Helm: Leading Your Laboratory by Kathy Barker , talked to colleagues in other depart- ments, and attended workshops. Jeffery was also painfully shy, and had a major fear of public speaking. She knew she would have to conquer it, so she went to workshops on giving presentations, read articles on the subject, and attended relevant webinars. “I had to force myself to give talks and get over the phobia. Teaching biochemistry to hundreds of undergraduates also improved my ability to give presentations and think on my feet,” she shares. “Now I still get nervous but also

excited to share science and my research with my students and colleagues.” Now she is working on ways to increase her lab size, because of the huge number of re- search ideas she hopes to follow. “In addition

Institution University of Illinois at Chicago

At-a-Glance

Zev Bryant Jane Clarke Linda Columbus Bertrand Garcia-Moreno Teresa Giraldez Ruben Gonzalez, Jr. Arthur Palmer Marina Ramirez-Alvarado Jennifer Ross David Stokes Joanna Swain Pernilla Wittung-Stafeshede Biophysical Journal Jane Dyson Editor-in-Chief Society Office Ro Kampman Executive Officer Newsletter Executive Editor Rosalba Kampman Managing Editor Beth Staehle Contributing Writers and Proofreaders Dorothy Chaconas Laura Phelan

Connie Jeffery grew up outside of Cleveland, Ohio, with a broad curiosity about science, math, art, music, literature, history, and languages. She was drawn more toward science as she grew up, and decided to pursue a career in science. During her postdoc, she wrote a literature review article about multifunctional proteins, coining the name “moonlighting proteins,” and starting down a path that shapes much of her research to this day.

Connie Jeffery

Connie Jeffery , associate professor in the Department of Bio- logical Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, loved math and science as a kid, but enjoyed all of her classes in school — except gym. She read books from the library about science projects, and even built a crystal radio when she was about eight. “We had toys like a chemistry kit and a micro- scope, and Mom and Dad gave us a lot of freedom to experi- ment with (messy) things like mixing vinegar and baking soda in test tubes or catching bugs in the backyard and putting them on microscope slides,” she says. Her mother was a den- tal hygienist who focused on being a homemaker after getting married, and her father owned an electronics shop until she was 12, and then worked as a technical support specialist. “He could fix anything electronic,” she says. “One summer when I was about 12, he put together a computer and I taught myself to program it in Basic.” As she got older she found herself drawn towards science and math, and decided to major in science in college. “Around the time I was in high school the idea of gene cloning was entering the mainstream news, and I saw it described in magazines like Time and Discover when I was working in the library at my high school,” she shares. “It seemed these were some breakthroughs that would open up incredible possibil- ities in science. I read that the research was being done at a place called MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology], so I decided I had to go there for college.” She did just that, earning her bachelor of science degree from MIT in 1987. “During my undergraduate years, two professors generously gave me the great opportunity to do projects in their labs: Bill Orme-Johnson in chemistry and Dave Raulet in immunology. But I was unsatisfied with working at the cellu- lar level, which at that time seemed like a black box with, for example, some cell lines behaving one way and others behav- ing another after the same treatment, and not really knowing what was going on inside them.”

Jeffery then began graduate studies at University of Cali- fornia, Berkeley. She attended a talk in her first year by Dan Koshland , in which he described work on the aspartate recep- tor. “It was fascinating that we could know which molecule transferred information across the cell membrane and how parts of it actually worked,” she says. She joined Koshland’s lab. “Dozens of mutant proteins later — and an agonizing six months trying to get DNA sequencing to work reproducibly in which I almost quit science altogether — I still didn’t feel that I knew much about how the aspartate receptor worked,” she shares. “Then, members of our lab collaborated with a crystallography lab to get the X-ray crystal structure of the extracellular ligand binding domain. The difference between knowing the amino acid sequence and having a three-dimen- sional structure was immense. Still, I decided that to really understand how proteins worked, I needed to learn how to solve their structures myself.” With that goal, she undertook a postdoc with Greg Petsko and Dagmar Ringe at Brandeis University. “While there, I worked on several projects and proteins, but one that stood out was phosphoglucose isomerase. This was the last of the glycolytic enzymes to have its structure solved, so there were about a hundred years’ worth of papers about it in the literature. As we searched for all the papers about its catalytic mechanism, we found a few papers that seemed to be describing com- pletely different proteins — autocrine motility factor, neuro- leukin, differentiation and maturation mediator — extracellu- lar cytokines, but the proteins that did these other functions were identical to phosphoglucose isomerase,” Jeffery explains. “This seemed very strange because at that time the general model was that a gene evolved to encode a protein with one function. It was thought that a protein couldn’t have two different functions because there wasn’t a model for how evolution could select for the two different functions simul- taneously. But I’d heard of a few other examples, so I wrote to the editors of Trends in Biochemical Sciences and asked if I

to completing a lot more research, I’d like to use my knowledge and experiences, both good and bad, to help level the playing field for women and minorities,” she says. Jeffery currently serves on the Biophysical Society’s Committee for Professional Opportunities for Women and volunteers for the 1000 Girls, 1000 Futures and STEM Scholars programs through the New York Academy of Sciences. Advising young biophysicists, she says, “Find out what you are really interested in and go after it. If you come up with an idea, be bold enough to follow it. Also, don’t let anyone or anything inhibit your education or your career because you are a different color or gender or sex or religion or nationality or you come from a poor family or have a disability. Even though there might be some people who get in your way, there are far more people who want to help you succeed.” Jeffery still likes solving puzzles. Pictured here with husband, Chris Joerg (left), nephews Michael and Shawn, and sister-in-law, Debbie Valerga, after completing an escape room in Long Island, New York.

Dorian Russell Caitlin Simpson Elizabeth Vuong Sean Winkler Production

Ray Wolfe Catie Curry

The Biophysical Society Newsletter (ISSN 0006-3495) is published eleven times per year, January-December, by the Biophysical Society, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Distributed to USA members and other countries at no cost. Canadian GST No. 898477062. Postmaster: Send address changes to Biophysical Society, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110, Rockville, MD 20852. Copyright © 2018 by the Biophysical Society. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

December 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Public Affairs

a workshop where I was filmed explaining our research in a mock TV interview. The filming itself was uneventful. The hard part came after, when I watched the video and saw my presentation. I still blush to this day just thinking about it. Don’t get me wrong though — as tough as it was to watch, the experience held incredibly valuable lessons that reshaped my thinking and approach. Critiquing yourself on screen can be embarrassing and difficult, but I’m thankful I had the opportunity to learn from this experience, and even more thankful that I was surrounded by people who wanted to help me do better. When our journey started, neither Matt nor I had experience talking with the press or crafting a message for non-scientific audiences. But after everything calmed down, we realized the time and effort paid off. I was invited to speak at a TEDx conference by someone who had seen me give a recent talk. Matt got to flex his messaging skills when another of his projects (the physics of a zombie apocalypse!) went viral. It sounds obvious, but like any other muscle, effective com- munication is the product of exercise and practice. The only problem is that there are just too few opportunities to give these muscles a good workout with an experienced trainer. The Biophysical Society’s Public Affairs Committee is offering us all a chance to work out our communication muscles at the 2019 Annual Meeting. On Saturday, March 2, the AAAS will be running a workshop specifically designed to address the needs of our community when we’re asked to communicate scientific information in public or professional settings. If you’re interested, keep in mind the session will only be avail- able for those who register in advance (limit 100). AAAS has a great reputation when it comes to running these workshops, and regardless of your skill level, it’s always worth getting in a little extra practice to sharpen your communication skills. — Jesse L. Silverberg, PhD, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University; Department of Sys- tems Biology, Harvard Medical School; Advanced Sciences and Data Research Division, Multiscale Systems, Inc.; Biophysical Society, Public Affairs Committee Congress Still HasWork to Do on National Science Foundation Funding in Lame Duck Session For the first time in decades, Congress was able to clear its National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science funding packages before the start of Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. This represents a major break from Congress’s recent history of passing continuing resolutions (CR), which provide flat funding, but keep the government open and catch-all omnibus spending packages. This break in recent history has been largely praised by members of Con-

gress, federal agencies, and the research community. However, the National Sci- ence Foundation (NSF) did not receive its funding on- time and its final funding status is still up in the air, as Congress returns from its break for the midterm

BPS is a member of the Coalition for National Science Funding, which supports NSF through advocacy activities.

Trump Administration Signals Cuts for Federal Agencies in FY 2020

elections. Appropriators in the House of Representatives ap- proved $8.175 billion in funding for NSF earlier this year, while their Senate counterparts approved only $8.068 billion in funding. The House mark represents more than a five percent increase for NSF over FY 2018 levels, but falls well short of the research community’s call for $8.4 billion in NSF funding. NSF funding is contained within the larger Commerce- Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations package, which also funds the nations’ trade and economic agencies and justice programs. The CJS bill is expected to be less controversial than the pending congressional fight over the Department of Homeland Security funding package, which contains funding for President Trump’s proposed border wall. However, it is possible the CJS package will see its fair share of controversial amendments centered on climate change and the pending 2020 national census. Research advocates are hopeful the CJS package will pass quickly when Congress returns, but it remains to be seen if the package will escape political contro- versy. Biophysics Advocates

On October 17, the Trump Administration unveiled that its Office of Management and Budget will propose an across-the- board five percent discretionary spending cut across the federal government. Discretionary spending is federal spending im- plemented through an annual appropriations bill and includes spending on national defense, foreign aid, education, research, and transportation. Some analysts are raising alarm bells that this proposed pullback may cut much deeper than five percent, as spending reductions may not come from current spending

—which resulted from a 2018 bipartisan budget deal —but instead from sequester spending levels, which will take effect without a new budget deal in place. To date, Congress has mostly rejected both of the Trump Ad- ministration’s budget requests on a bipartisan basis. The Presi- dent’s budget request is mainly seen as a messaging document and the Administration is signaling to Congress that it would like to see spending cuts in Fiscal Year 2020.

Message Received: The Importance of Communications Training to Your Career

Join BPS for Its AAAS Communications Workshop at the Annual Meeting on Saturday, March 2.

A funny thing happened on the way to a PhD. There was a nagging idea for a project, but it wasn’t an obvious fit for tra- ditional physics research. So it sat in a back pocket for several years, more-or-less collecting dust. Either by luck or circum- stance, a day eventually came where gears clicked into place and things started happening. It began as an in-class project. Then snowballed into a nights-and-weekend collaboration. Before long, my friend and fellow graduate student Matt Bierbaum was working with me, and together, we were putting serious effort into the research. With the support of our advisors, Jim Sethna and Itai Cohen , we knocked heads, analyzed data, and ran simulations. Over the course of a year, we managed to get this idea — the physics of mosh pits at heavy metal concerts — into a fully formed manuscript. And then, something unexpected happened. I distinctly remember waking up the morning our work was available on the arXiv preprint server. Reporters from The Atlantic, National Geographic , and a handful of other outlets noticed the research and wanted to write about what we had found. Each interview seemed to beget three more. Our proverbial phones were ringing off the hook, and just like that,

On November 5, BPS Member Robert E. Dempski , Worcester Polytechnic Institute, published an opinion piece in the Telegram & Gazette titled “Keeping the Door Open to International Scientific Collaboration”. The piece shares the importance of interna- tional cooperation and the freedom of movement to continuing Massachusetts’s success in attracting federal biomedical research funding and creating biotech jobs. On November 9, BPS Member Aiyana Emigh’s piece titled “Scientists, the Public is Not Your Enemy” was published in the Davis Enterprise in California. She is a PhD student in biophysics and the University of California, Davis.

Jesse Silverberg TEDx Yale | 2015

our brief letter led to a flood of print, radio, and TV interviews. Over the course of a few months, we spoke countless times about our results and their implications, all the while laughing at ourselves and the sheer improbability of it all. Behind the scenes, however, the work didn’t stop. Our university’s public relations office took notice of the press attention we were receiving and gave us a crash course in media communications. They taught us how to build and use a message triangle. They taught us how to answer tough questions with short answers. They taught us how to man- age the tension of simultaneously communicating to general and technical audiences. In short, they professionalized our messaging while polishing our delivery. I’ll never forget the most useful, humbling, and fidget- inducing moment of this training. It happened early on during

Robert. E. Dempski

To read these articles, visit the BPS News- room at https:/www.biophysics.org/news- room/category/opinion. If you are interest- ed in participating in our opinion piece program, please visit our Advocacy Toolkit on www.biophysics.org. Aiyana Emigh

December 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Public Affairs

Publications

Know the Editor Wendy Shaw

Continued from Page 1 Samuel Safran Named Editor-in-Chief of The Biophysicist Safran, a member of the Biophysical Society since 2001, received his PhD in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His professional interests include theoretical physics of soft and biological matter; cooperative structure and dynamics with an emphasis on cell shapes, biological cell adhesion, cellular and nuclear mechanics and dynamics, self-assembly of amphiphiles (membranes, vesicles), and electrostatic interactions in soft and biological matter. He has a strong interest in interdisciplinary science education with an emphasis on the role of physics in the understanding of biology and materials science. Safran has served on the editorial boards of Soft Matter , Langmuir , and Current Opinion in Colloid Science , and has published numerous articles, books, and invited reviews. The Biophysicist is an online-only journal being developed by the Biophysical Society to publish high-quality, original peer-reviewed articles and invited reviews that are within the broad purview of teaching and learning biophysics at any edu- cational and professional level. Features of the journal will in- clude articles on generalized education, educational research, current topics in teaching, biophysics history and perspectives to the field, tutorial articles on specific topics in biophysics, software notes, technical developments, as well as laboratory methods. In additional to education topics, the journal will address the teaching of biophysics through written and video documentation. Safran presented a strong vision for the journal, including a target author and reader community that includes biophysi- cists as well as those who may identify as physicists, chem- ists, engineers, or biologists. “The needs of the biophysics community are unique since it includes students, educators, and researchers who often come to the field from different disciplinary backgrounds; what unifies them is the application of their expertise, conceptualization, and methods to prob- lems in the life sciences. The traditions of physics, chemistry, and engineering encourage the development and application of novel experimental approaches as well as the imaginative design of synthetic biophysical systems,” says Safran. Watch for news of the journal launch in 2019!

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Editor, Proteins

Wendy Shaw

What are you currently working on that excites you? Two areas: the first is developing catalysts for renewable energies by mimicking functional features of enzymes. If we could achieve the performance of enzymes and also achieve stability, it would be a critical step to a carbon free energy economy. The second is understanding how nature uses pro- teins to form elegant hard tissues such as bones and teeth. Enamel and bone crystals are made of the same material but enamel crystals are 3,000 times longer than those of bone and form an intricate weaved pattern to (ideally) last a lifetime, in part due to the proteins present during formation. If we could understand that process and replicate it, it would expand our ability to make stronger, smarter, better materi- als. What have you read lately that you found really interest- ing or stimulating? (a paper, a book, science or not sci- ence). I recently read the thought-provoking book Blink , by Malcolm Gladwell . It discusses “gut feelings” and when you should trust them versus when you shouldn’t. As scientists, we have a lot of intuition about a scientific process and how a partic- ular line of questioning may give us new insight. We make snap judgments frequently based on hundreds of things we are observing in real time. Often these are right because our expertise allows our subconscious to rapidly process this information without having to bring it to the front of our mind. However, we also do this with people. As we are learning more and more, our snap judgments about people are caused by unsubstantiated bias that is directly affecting our workforce. Learning to understand snap judgments and knowing when to question them is essential as we move forward. Gladwell does a great job of laying this out in a way that allows you to identify your own biases, call them out, and decide which should be trusted and which shouldn’t.

A scene from the Brazilian election. Photo Credit: Angela Gronenborn

Fc-dependent Mechanisms of Antibody-mediated Killing (U01) Applications are invited from institutions and orga- nizations to conduct research focused on elucidating mechanisms of Fc-dependent, antibody-mediated killing of infected or aberrant cells, or antibody-medi- ated therapeutic ablation of cells implicated in immune pathologies, including autoimmune and allergic diseas- es. Studies are expected to define variables that affect efficiencies of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxic- ity (ADCC) and/or antibody-dependent cell-mediated phagocytosis (ADCP), both in vitro and in vivo. Deadline: February 1, 2019 Website: https:/grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/ RFA-AI-18-042.html On October 28, Jair Bolsonaro notched a decisive win in Brazil’s presidential elections, securing over 55 percent of the vote. For the past several years, Brazil was consumed by a corrup- tion inquiry into its former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and analysts have described Bolsonaro’s victory as a rejec- tion of the status quo. However, Bolsonaro has also stirred controversy having previously stated he was in favor of Brazil becoming a dictatorship and maligning disadvantaged groups throughout his campaign. Grants & Opportunities Around theWorld Jair Bolsonaro Scores ResoundingWin in Brazil’s Presidential Election

Prominent Scientists Fear a No-Deal Brexit

Twenty-nine Nobel Prize winning scientists and six winners of the Fields Medal wrote Prime Minister Theresa May on Oc- tober 22, describing their concerns over research funding and the free movement of people in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The British Government is facing an end-of-March deadline to finalize an exit agreement with the European Union, or risk a no-deal situation.

Lymphatics in Health and Disease in the Digestive System (R01) Applications are invited that investigate aspects of lymphatic vessel physiology, development, and patho- physiology related to health and diseases of the digestive system. Studies to understand the factors that control local lymphatic vessel functional anatomy and physiology and development during health or disease in this system and its organs, and the mechanisms by which alterations of lymphatic vessel function affect organ function, are of interest. However, studies with the major focus on im- mune mechanisms, role of lymphatics in cancer metasta- sis, and study of lymphatic vessels in organs other than those from the digestive system will not be considered. Deadline: February 21, 2019 Website: https:/grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/ RFA-DK-18-021.html

Numbers By the

BPS has supported 53 networking events in 14 different countries throughout the world.

December 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Annual Meeting

Theory and Experiment to the Cell and Back

Public Affairs Sessions Science CommunicationsWorkshop with AAAS Saturday, March 2, 2:00 PM–4:00 PM Science communication plays an increasingly important role in society. Communication skills are critical in educating the public on the importance of research and are valuable career advancement skills. The Public Affairs Committee’s Jesse Silverberg recently shared a blog post about his experiences giving a TED Talk, going viral, and why all scientists need to develop effective communication skills to advance personally and professionally (See page 4). At the Annual Meeting, the AAAS Center for Public Engage- ment will conduct a two-hour, interactive communications workshop. Limit 100 people. To register, please visit https:/ www.biophysics.org/2019meeting/program/profession- al-development-networking Brexit & Science: Consequences for Re- search Funding and Immigration Flows Sunday, March 3, 2:30 PM–4:00 PM In 2017, the United Kingdom surprised the world by voting to leave the European Union. But what does it mean for the UK and EU scientific communities? Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019, and we expect this session will be extremely timely, as the contours of a Brexit Deal should be established by that point. We will host a panel of experts and on-the-ground research- ers to discuss what Brexit means for the UK and EU science work force, research funding, and international scientific exchange. Panelists: Andrew Price , Head of Science & Innovation Net- work for the USA; Regional Manager, Americas, British Em- bassy, Washington, DC. Tony Watts , President, European Biophysical Societies’ Associ- ation; Biochemistry Department, University of Oxford. Speakers have been invited from: The EU Delegation to the United States; the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); and the Brookings Institute.

The Nuts and Bolts of Preparing Your NSF Grant Monday, March 4, 12:30 PM–2:00 PM The National Science Foundation’s Biological Sciences Direc- torate strongly supports biophysics researchers through its Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences. The division awarded over $160 million in funding to researchers in 41 states. At this session, program directors and officers with expertise in biophysics will be providing details on the 2019 NSF grant-making process, with a particular emphasis on grant writing and submission for new and early career investigators. Speaker: Engin Serpersu , Program Director, Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, NSF. Understanding the Congressional Budget Process: How Science is Funded Monday, March 4, 1:00 PM–2:30 PM This year, Congress approved a major budget deal that raised the discretionary spending caps for the first time since sequestration. However, when this budget deal expires in 2019, Congress will face a potential funding cliff. Which agencies fund scientific research and how does Congress negotiate their funding levels? How will the National Insti- tutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and other science-related agencies do under the next budget deal? Will Congress even pass a new budget deal? Continued on Next Page

Abstracts Programmed Following the regular abstract submission dead- line, members of the Program Committee and Council reviewed and sorted submitted abstracts, which were programmed into 20 symposia, 5 workshops, 64 platforms, and 111 poster ses- sions. Nearly 800 posters will be presented each day of the meeting.

Late Abstracts Deadline Deadline: January 28

Thank you to our sponsors: Asylum Research Alvéole Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Bruker Corporation Burroughs Wellcome Fund Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC Cell Press Chroma Technology FISBA US Hamamatsu Corporation Journal of Cell Science Journal of General Physiology Leica Microsystems LUMICKS Mad City Labs Molecular Devices Nanion Technologies Photonics Media Physics Today Sophion Bioscience A/S Wyatt Technology Corporation

Missed the early abstract submission deadline? There is still time to submit an abstract to present your research. All late abstracts will be posted online in a searchable format through the on- line desktop planner and the meeting app. Late abstracts will be programmed each day of the meeting and grouped by topic to correspond with the presentation of abstracts submitted by the October 1 deadline. Student Volunteers The Biophysical Society invites undergraduate and graduate students to volunteer time at the Annual Meeting in exchange for complimentary meeting registration. Volunteers must be Society members with registration fully paid and must be willing to volunteer six hours during the meeting. To apply, please send an email to meetings@biophysics.org by January 7, 2019, with the following informa- tion: full name, cell phone number, and complete list of dates/times available. Those selected will have their registration refunded after the meeting.

The Society would like to thank the Program Committee, Council, and the many other Society members who participate in the planning, review- ing, sorting, and programming each year. Their work ensures that the final program reflects the breadth of research areas in biophysics with as few programming conflicts as possible, given the volume and richness of the scientific program. The 2019 Annual Meeting Program Committee members are Susan Marqusee , Andrej Sali , Ruben Gonzalez , Joanna Swain , Michael Pusch , Anne Ken- worthy , and Francesca Marassi . Society members James Sellers , Teresa Giraldez , William Kobertz , Patricia Clark , Joe Mindell , Eric Sundberg , and Arnold Revzin also assisted with the programming this year. Left to right: 2019 Program Chairs Andre Sali and Susan Marqusee along with Society members Bill Kobertz, Teresa Giraldez, Joseph Mindell, James Sellers, Eric Sundberg, Patricia Clark, and Arnold Revzin finalize the programming of symposia and platform sessions for the 2019 Baltimore meeting.

Calling All Bloggers! Deadline to apply: January 15 Share Your Perspective on the Meeting

Attending the BPS Annual Meeting was an excel- lent opportunity to meet the leading scientists in my field and to hear about their current work. I also really enjoyed the networking events for graduate students since it allowed me to connect with young scientists from all over the world. — Andreas Arnold

Interested in sharing your experiences at the Annual Meeting? Enjoy writing or interested in expanding your writing experience? BPS is looking for five to ten bloggers to share their personal experiences at the meeting with the Society’s 3,500-plus blog readers. Blog posts could focus on meeting tips, can’t miss events, the best local eateries, how you are navigating the meeting, or what you have learned. You can review posts from the 2018 meeting at https:/www.biophys- ics.org/blog/category/annual-meeting-2018. To learn more and submit your application, visit https:/www.surveymonkey.com/r/W58FTG3.

Dont Wait, Reserve Your Hotel RoomToday! Deadline: February 14, 2019

biophysics.org/ 2019meeting

December 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Annual Meeting

BPS Congressional Fellow

Yasmeen Hussain Shares Her BPS Congressional Fellowship Experience

Join our panel of government and industry insiders as we explore how the congressional budget is developed, historical trends in science funding, and what the future may hold! Invited speakers include: • Hon. Barbara Mikulski , former US Senator, Maryland, and former Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Professor, Public Policy, Johns Hopkins University. • Hon. John Tierney , former US Representative, Massachu- setts. • Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI-2), House Committee on Appropriations. The Nuts and Bolts of Preparing Your NIH Grant Tuesday, March 5, 1:30 PM–3:00 PM The National Institutes of Health is the world’s largest funder of fundamental biomedical research. You have likely spent years training and are now ready to apply for a NIH grant. But where do you start? At this session, program directors and officers with exper- tise in biophysics will be providing details on the 2019 NIH

grant-making process, with a particular emphasis on grant writing and submission for new and early career investiga- tors. Organizer: Peter Preusch , Biophysics Branch Chief in the Divi- sion of Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences, NIH. Publications Session Virtual Biophysics: Virtual and Augmented Reality Meets Biophysics Monday, March 4, 2:15 PM–3:45 PM As virtual reality has become cheaper and more accessible, the research and educational applications of this technolo- gy have grown. Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR, AR, and MR) technologies offer immersive experiences by exposing human senses to computer-generated sounds, images, and haptic stimulations. This session will showcase to researchers, educators, and students how these technol- ogies are being applied in biophysics research and education and offer participants a chance to test out these new tools and experience the power and prospects of VR and AR in the classroom and the research lab.

Hello, fellow BPS members! I can’t believe my year as the Biophysical Society AAAS Congressional Fellow has come to an end. I learned a lot about how the federal government works and how to advocate effec- tively, and I wanted to share a few tips with you: Know your audience This may sound cliché but is often forgotten. A congressional staffer

Making policy is often a long game Bills often don’t advance through committee and the odds of a bill being enacted into law are lower than biomedical research grant proposal success rates. So approach your advocacy with optimism and patience for a system that isn’t designed for expediency. Are you interested in becoming more involved in science policy? Depending on your career stage, you might consider these on-campus activities: Take a class from your universi- ty’s school of public policy, or classes in other departments on communication, leadership, ethics, or other topics of interest to you. Participate in campus “lobby days” to state government, and in BPS or other professional society advo- cacy activities. Get involved in student government and other academic policy bodies — some schools require student or postdoc representation on boards and faculty councils. Facili- tate career exploration seminars. Or you might engage in these off-campus activities: Partici- pate in outreach activities, communicate with public audienc- es in person or through writing, and be generally involved in your community. Advocate directly to your representatives in Congress and in your state’s government, through visits to their offices or invitations to your workspace. Write an op-ed or public science communication piece. Serve on a local government advisory board or on public affairs committees. Apply for a science policy fellowship. VOTE. You don’t have to quit your research job in order to be a great advocate for science. Some of the most powerful voices for research that I heard from this year were researchers like you who have scientific experience and credentials and also take the time to visit congressional offices to tell the stories of the broader impacts of their work and the stories of how their work is impacted by federal policy. But if you’re finding yourself more drawn to policy than ever, consider applying for the Biophysical Society Congressional Fellowship! BPS Congressional Fellow Members of have obtained their PhD and are eligible to work in the United States may apply. Application deadline: December 22, 2018 Visit www.biophysics.org for additional content.

may not know the famous lab in your field or get much out of a detailed description of your methodology. They will more likely be interested in why you’re working on what you’re working on, the potential impact of your work, and how you can inform federal policy or how you’re affected by it. Meet- ings with congressional staff last a maximum of 30 minutes, so get right to your message. Be courteous Congressional staff don’t usually have PhDs, but should be treated with the same respect afforded to any professional colleague. Unprofessional behavior like down-talking, miss- ing handshakes, eye-rolling, or saying “you look very young” doesn’t help an advocate’s case. Bring brief, clear materials A one-page document outlining your main messages and any legislation you’re discussing at your meeting can be helpful. The best business cards are simple, standard size, and are made of material that can be written on by the recipient. Do some research Before going into a meeting with or contacting the staff of a member of Congress, find relevant information like the position that the member has previously taken on the topic you want to discuss, what institutions or organizations in the member’s district may be affected, or the status of the bills or appropriations you’re hoping to discuss. Common mistakes include asking the member to sign on to a letter that has already been sent, co-sponsor a bill that has been passed, or make an appropriations request after the Appropriations Committee deadlines.

GET INVOLVED! The fourth annual Biophysics Week will take place March 25–29, 2019. We invite you to participate in this highly successful event which has grown each year as the field of biophysics expands and awareness of bio- physics increases. Join this global celebration by planning an affiliate event. The Biophysical Society is committed to helping you celebrate by providing resources such as lesson plans, flyers, brochures, and profiles of biophysicists. Register your activity by January 15, 2019 , and you will receive a customized e-poster to help you advertise your event. Visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/5WBN26Z.

December 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Thematic Meeting

Member Corner

Members in the News

Have You Renewed Your Membership for 2019? Renew your membership today to remain connected with your peers and continue to access resources that can help you advance your career. View full benefits and renew your membership online today at biophysics.org/ renew

Ken Dill , State University of New York, Stony Brook, and Society member since 1979, received the Max Delbruck Prize, awarded by the Division of Bio- logical Physics of the American Physical Society, to recognize and encourage outstanding achieve- ment in biological physics research.

Ken Dill

Jose Rodriguez , University of California, Los Ange- les, and Society member since 2008, was named one of the 12 Rising Stars in Chemistry 2018 by Chemical Engineering News.

Attendees from across the globe met at Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine to discuss and share their research.

The Heart by Numbers: Integrating Theory, Computation, and Experiment to Advance Cardiology Berlin, Germany | September 4–7, 2018 The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin hosted the Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting The Heart by Numbers: Integrating Theory, Computation, and Experiment to Advance Cardiology September 4–7, 2018, with more than 120 participants. The spirit of the meeting is captured by both its title and the name of the hosting institute. The geneticist Timoféeff-Ressovsky and the physicist Delbrück collaborated in the conduction and analysis of experiments on spontaneous and radiation induced mutations. Their quantitative analysis of the experiments was inspired by ideas on the interaction of radiation and molecules emerging from quantum phys- ics, which was taking shape at that time, and the theory of stochastic processes. This interdisciplinarity led to valuable conclusions on the molecular nature of the gene. Cardiac research has always been a major part of the re- search represented by the Biophysical Society. It also has a long tradition of quantitative approaches and interdisciplinary research practice, which might be in part due to the mechan- ical function of the organ, but goes far beyond that (1,2). The meeting in Berlin illustrated that quantitative research and interdisciplinarity remain a characteristic of the field while the scientific focus and the specific challenges change. The degree of maturity reached by biophysical mathematical modelling in cardiology has been illustrated most impressive- ly by talks in basic research and in translational applications. Basic research uses experimental and theoretical results on an equal footing to conclude on mechanisms, structures, and components of pathways. Personalized virtual-heart simula- tions guide the ablation of infarct-related ventricular tachy- cardia and modelling results guide defibrillation strategies. Next to those traditional approaches to current questions, new methods and new angles of view have entered the

field. The recent, game changing expansion in the abilities of imaging and omics data allow for another level of model quantification merely by access to data, but also put param- eterisation into a new perspective. Both imaging as well as omics data demonstrate cell-to-cell variability. This has been picked up by modelling already. Living up to the time of high through-put single-cell measurements and omics data, mod- elling presented in several talks revealed that the unique set of parameter values for cell modelling does not exist, rather a whole population of functional models accommodates mea- sured variability. The Biophysical Journal sponsored four awards for outstanding poster presentations by students and postdocs (see Novem- ber 2018 BPS Bulletin ). The Thematic Meeting in Berlin leaves us with the impression that cardiac research will be quantitative and interdisciplinary in the coming developments toward clinical applications of modelling, basic research, and integration of new data and methods. In this aspect, the field might become an inspiring model for other areas in the Biophysical Society. The meeting was organized by James Weiss , University of California, Los Angeles; Zhilin Qu , University of California, Los Angeles; Karin Sipido , The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven; Gernot Plank , Medical University of Graz; and Martin Falcke , Max Delbrück Center Berlin; and supported by the Biophysi- cal Society, the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (FA350/14-1), the German Center for Cardiovascular Research DZHK, the Berlin Institute of Health BIH, and the Center for the Study of Com- plex Chemical Systems Berlin. 1. Wiener N , Rosenblueth A (1946.) The mathematical formulation of the problem of conduction of impulses in a network of connected excitable elements, specifically in cardiac muscle. Archivos del Instituto de Cardiolo- gia de Mexico 16(3):205–265 (in English). 2. Rosenblueth A , Wiener N (1945.) The role of models in science. Philosophy of Science 12(4):316–321.

Jose Rodriguez

Important Dates BPS Thematic Meetings 63 rd BPS Annual Meeting March 2–6, 2019, Baltimore, Maryland Late Abstract Submission and Registration Deadline: January 28, 2019 Multiscale Modeling of Chromatin: Bridging Experiment with Theory March 31–April 5, 2019, Les Houches, France Abstract Submission & Registration Deadline: December 1, 2018

Quantitative Aspects of Membrane Fusion and Fission May 6–10, 2019, Padova, Italy Abstract Submission Deadline: January 14, 2019 Early Registration Deadline: February 1, 2019 Revisiting the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology at the Single-Molecule Level July 15–18, 2019, Lima, Peru Abstract Submission Deadline: March 8, 2019 Early Registration Deadline: April 5, 2019

Student Spotlight Shannon Esswein

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology As you move forward in science, what type of research do you see yourself doing? Why?

Shannon Esswein

I plan to focus my research on understanding molecular mechanisms of disease and designing novel proteins for disease detection and delivery of therapeutics. By utilizing a combination of tools in chemical biology, structural biology, and drug discovery, I aim to design innovative strategies to identify new thera- peutic targets and improve treatment options.

December 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Communities

Biological Fluorescence The Biological Fluorescence Subgroup will have its annual meeting on March 2, 2019, from 1:00 PM to 5:30 PM as part of the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society in Baltimore, MD. We have an exciting program this year with invited speakers Alessandra Cambi , Radboud University, The Netherlands; Luke Lavis , Janelia Research Campus, USA; Bin Wu , Johns Hopkins University, USA; Ralf Jungmann , Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried Germany; Don Lamb , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany; and Elizabeth Hillman , Columbia University, USA. Our invited speakers will be presenting on a wide range of topics, includ- ing new fluorescence dyes, applications of superresolution fluorescence microscopy, 3D single-molecule tracking in living cells, rapid 3D fluorescence imaging in vivo, and other novel applications of fluorescence methodologies. The session will also feature rapid-fire poster highlight talks by promising young researchers in the field. We will conclude the subgroup session with the announcements and presentations for the Young Fluorescence Investigator Award and the Gregorio We- ber Award. Note that links to these awards with information on eligibility and nomination requirements can be found at the subgroup website at https:/www.biophysics.org/subgroups/ biological-fluorescence-1. December 31, 2018, is the deadline for nominations to be submitted. The subgroup session is open to any member of the Biophys- ical Society who is registered for the Annual Meeting; how- ever, we encourage you to join the subgroup through the Bio- physical Society website as membership fees are essential for paying for the costs of the venue and associated audiovisual fees. The link for membership is: https:/www.biophysics.org/ become-a-member and remember to select membership in the Biological Fluorescence subgroup during the process. We look forward to seeing you for our exciting Saturday after- noon session at the 63rd Annual Meeting in Baltimore. — Paul Wiseman , Chair Cell Biophysics Are you a biophysicist interested in probing the inner work- ing of cells? Are you a cell biologist longing for quantitative biophysical measurements of cellular processes? Or are you a physicist fascinated by the intricacy but overwhelmed by the complexity of cells? If any of these descriptions fits you, join the Cell Biophysics Subgroup to find like-minded colleagues. The Cell Biophysics Subgroup was established in 2018 to create a community just for you! The successful inaugural subgroup meeting was held this past February in San Francis- co, and our Second Annual Subgroup Symposium will be held

in Baltimore on the first day of the Annual Meeting, Saturday, March 2, 2019. A social networking event for subgroup mem- bers will follow the symposium. The symposium features a list of exciting topics including cell-environment interactions, cellular multi-resolution dynamics, systems cell biophysics, single-molecule manipu- lations in single cells, and more. Speakers include Haw Yang , Princeton University, USA; Kandice Tanner , National Institutes of Health, USA; Liedewij Laan , Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands; Christine Payne , Duke University, USA; Johan Elf , Uppsala University, Sweden; Jung-chi Liao , Academia Sinica IAMS, Taiwan; and David Rueda , Imperial College School of Medicine, UK. Additionally, the symposium will feature talks selected from abstracts submitted by subgroup members. We anticipate that the symposium will provide a platform for cell biophysicists to share scientific ideas, discuss research results, forge new collaborations, and together, push the frontiers of knowledge in cell biophysics. Every BPS member is welcome to attend the symposium. We do, however, ask you to please show your support by register- ing as a member of the subgroup. Your membership fees will allow us to cover the cost of the annual subgroup symposium and the fun social event that follows. Your commitment and continuous support are crucial to the success of the subgroup and the scientific community. Starting this year, one subgroup membership is includ- ed in your BPS dues; you can select to support additional subgroups for $20 each. So please join the Cell Biophysics Subgroup when you renew your BPS membership, when you register for the BPS meeting, or at any other time! Please visit https:/www.biophysics.org/subgroups/cell-biophysics. We look forward to seeing you in Baltimore! Jie Xiao , Chair (2018–2019) Julie Biteen , Chair-elect (2019–2020) David Rueda , Secretary-Treasurer (2019–2021) Exocytosis/Endocytosis The 2019 Exocytosis/Endocytosis Subgroup Symposium is scheduled for Saturday, March 2, at the Baltimore Convention Center as part of the 63rd Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. The theme for this year’s symposium is, From Molecule to Mechanism: New Insights into the Dynamics of Vesicle Fusion and Recycling . Antoine van Oijen , Program Chair (2019) Keng-hui Lin , Program Chair-elect (2020)

Featured speakers are: Nils Brose , Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine. Dynamic Control of Vesicle Priming in Synaptic Short-term Plasticity Ira Milosevic , European Neuroscience Institute, Goettingen Regulation of Vesicle Acidification at the Neuronal Synapse Justin Taraska , National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/NIH Imaging the Nanoscale Structure of Endocytosis and Exocy- tosis with Light and Electron Microscopy In addition, several short talks from trainees will be select- ed from the abstracts submitted for the Annual Meeting. A closing banquet dinner will be held at Eat Bertha’s Mussels, 734 S. Broadway, Baltimore, and will allow for plenty of net- working and scientific interactions after the symposium. The organizers invite all members of the Biophysical Society to join us for what promises to be an outstanding day of cut- ting-edge science and comradery. — Amy Lee , Chair Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Proteins and protein regions that lack tertiary stability under normal conditions, known as intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), have diverse biological roles and are known to exert regulatory control over many key aspects of human develop- ment, aging, and disease. An example is the quality control shuttle proteins called ubiquilins. Like many IDPs, ubiquilins undergo liquid-liquid phase separation at physiological con- ditions. The Castañeda lab, Syracuse University, has shown that protein-protein interactions and disease mutations of ubiquiliins modulate phase separation in vitro and in vivo. Many groups are involved in efforts to determine the physical properties that control phase separation. For example, the Fawzi lab, Brown University, has shown recently that both disease-related mutations and post-translational modifica- tions affect the phase separation of hnRNPA2, a protein that helps to manage cell proliferation and differentiation. Addi- tionally, the Musselman lab, University of Iowa, has shown that the intrinsically disordered tail of the histone H3, import- ant for chromatin regulation, remains dynamic while interact- ing with nucleosomal DNA. 2019 Sir Bernard Katz Award Keynote Lecture Ed Chapman , University of Wisconsin/HHMI Diverse Functions of the Synaptotagmins

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If you are interested in the biophysics of intrinsically disor- dered proteins, please consider joining the IDP Subgroup as a member and attending the IDP Subgroup Symposium at the Annual Meeting in Baltimore. The subgroup symposium talks will be held on Saturday, March 2, and will present new results on the mechanisms that control liquid-liquid phase separation, fibril formation, and binding specificity involv- ing disordered proteins. If you are interested in joining the subgroup for dinner following the symposium, please contact Loren Hough (hough@colorado.edu) The IDP Subgroup Business Meeting will be held at 10:30 AM on March 2, preceding the subgroup symposium. If you would like to become involved in subgroup organization or leader- ship, please join us. We encourage all subgroup members to become involved in our community. — Loren Hough , Secretary-Treasurer — Steven Whitten , Secretary-Treasurer Elect Membrane Biophysics The 47th Annual Membrane Biophysics Subgroup Sympo- sium Integration in Dendrites and other Membranes , will be held from 1:00 PM to 5:30 PM on Saturday March 2, 2019, in the Baltimore Convention Center. The symposium will be followed by the Kenneth S. Cole Award ceremony and dinner, 6:30 PM–9:30 PM, at Westminster Hall, 519 W Fayette St, Baltimore. As always, any member of the Society is welcome to join us. But if you attend the symposium, why not consider joining the subgroup? The membership fees are essential to allow us to keep programming exciting symposia. They cover the costs of audio/visual equipment, the venue itself, and our coffee

December 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

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