Biophysical Society Bulletin | February 2019

February 2019

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

2019 New&Notable SymposiumSpeakers Announced

Four speakers have been selected for the 2019 New&Notable Symposium Tamir Gonen Scott Fraser Edward Egelman Syma Khalid The Annual Meeting Program Chairs were challenged in making the selections this year due to the many outstanding nominations submitted by Society members. The speakers will present their work in Baltimore, on Wednesday, March 6, 1:00 PM –3:00 PM. The New & Notable Symposium will feature exciting new discoveries across a wide range of biophysical research, including development and application of optical microscopy, electron microscopy, and molecular simulations. Susan Marqusee and Andrej Šali , Program Co-Chairs of the 63 rd Annual Meeting Program Committee, will co-chair the Symposium.

Inside Biophysicist in Profile

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Public Affairs

Grants and Opportunities

Going to the Annual Meeting? Pick up your button at the Society Booth.

Publications

Annual Meeting

Career Development 10 Member Corner & Important Dates 13 Student Spotlight 13 Communities 14 Upcoming Events 26

Connect with BPS

Follow Annual Meeting events on Facebook, Twitter, and the Biophysical Society Blog throughout the Annual Meeting with scientific session news, press releases, and attendee blog posts. Follow along using the hashtag #bps19

Biophysicist in Profile

DavidW. Piston Areas of Research Regulation of insulin and glucagon secretion from pancreatic islets

Institution Washington University in St. Louis

At-a-Glance

David W. Piston grew up with a dream of becoming a scientist, announcing as a young child that he was going to get a PhD in physics. He did just that, building a career that has led him to his cur- rent position as Edward J. Mallinckrodt, Jr. Professor and Head of Cell Biology and Physiology at Washington University School of Medicine. This March, at the 63 rd Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, he will begin his term as President of the Biophysical Society.

David W. Piston

Incoming Biophysical Society President David W. Piston , Edward J. Mallinckrodt, Jr. Professor and Head of Cell Biology and Physiology at Washington University School of Medicine, had his eye on a scientific career from an early age. When he was five years old, he told his parents’ bridge club that he was going to get a PhD in physics. “I always wanted to be a scien- tist, and I was fascinated by lasers as long as I can remember. I wanted to build lasers and use them to learn how matter was put together,” he shares. His father was an administrator at Fresno State, so he grew up around a lot of faculty families in Fresno, California. “It is the best place in the world to see in the rearview mirror on Friday afternoon. When I was there it was still a small town, but we were only a couple of hours from Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, the coast at Monterey or Santa Cruz, or the big city, San Fran- cisco,” he says. “I still love visiting, but there are way too many people there now.” He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Grinnell College in Iowa, and then his PhD in physics from University of Illinois, fulfilling his childhood dream. “When I was in graduate school, the Cold War was ending, and with that, funding for ultrafast studies of electronics got very tight. I was a teaching assistant for Enrico Gratton , and his lab was using ultrafast laser spectroscopy to look at membranes and proteins,” he says. “I didn’t know very much about biology, but I really liked the measurement approaches. Fortunately, there was a great cadre of biochemists in Gregorio Weber’s and Steve Sligar’s labs that really helped me out.” Following completion of his PhD, Piston undertook a post- doctoral position in applied physics at Cornell University, in the lab of Watt Webb . “I was lucky that my arrival coincided with the invention of two-photon excitation microscopy, which was a good fit for my skills,” he explains. “The collabo- rators I met through that approach really opened my eyes to the range of biological questions that could be addressed by combining genetic manipulations with quantitative measure- ments.”

He accepted a faculty position at Vanderbilt University in 1992. “When I started at Vanderbilt I had great measurement tools, and ideas for how to better optimize them for biology, and I was working with many biological model systems to find out what measurements were possible,” he shares. “My lab in biophysics was near a lot of diabetes-focused labs. It was Mark Magnuson who first suggested that we should start imaging pancreatic islets, and he and I remain collaborators to this day. When I was just getting started with that, though, I met Bernat Soria at the BPS Annual Meeting and he spent half a day with me going over the state of islet biophysics research.” For about 20 years, Piston’s lab focused on the question of how the syncytium of insulin-secreting beta cells works as a unit to optimally regulate blood sugar in an animal, and the mechanisms by which those cells know that they are part of the syncytium. “This is a simple concept, but layered with complexity given the multiple molecular pathways that all play a role,” he explains. “Over the last 10 years, we have turned our attention to the glucagon-secreting alpha cells, which require the normal islet milieu for correct function. Al- pha cells clearly require multiple regulatory pathways, so they have proven difficult to understand. We have made some progress using simultaneous imaging of multiple biosensors, and one of our currently funded projects is to develop hyper- spectral light sheet microscopy for fast imaging of up to six biosensors simultaneously.” In January 2015, he moved his lab to Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, where he now serves as Edward J. Mallinckrodt, Jr. Professor and Head of Cell Biology and Physiology. When asked about his favorite aspect of biophys- ics research, he said, “I like combining different approaches from genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, physics, and mathematics to solve problems. I also like the fact that our work can potentially be translated to patient care. While we are doing very basic biology experiments, many of the mole- cules we are working with are also being targeted by pharma as potential therapies. This can create synergy between the science and the application.”

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Biophysicist in Profile

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

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 Jennifer Pesanelli Executive Officer Newsletter

Piston at the beach with his wife Adrienne and his daughters Casey and Elena.

The most challenging aspect of the research endeavor, on the other hand, is its endless possibilities. “Biology is not deterministic. While we have never seen any mechanism that doesn’t follow physical rules, there is likely an infinite set of combinations that could lead to the observed result,” he explains. “So, the trick is you have to figure out what is happening, not just what could be happening. This is challenging and makes it easy to go down the wrong path at times.” When he’s not working, he spends much of his time with his family. “I spend quite a bit of time taxiing my daughters to their activities (music lessons, gymnastics, ballet). My wife, Adrienne, and I love going to the symphony, theater, and dance,” he shares. “I enjoy choral singing, and am always looking for opportuni- ties to do challenging music.” Piston will begin his year-long term as Presi- dent of the Biophysical Society during the 63rd Annual Meeting in Baltimore in March 2019. The Society’s meetings have been important in his career as a venue to catch up on advanc- es in the broader field outside of his area of specialization. “I have met several new col- laborators at the meeting,” he shares. “I have also met most of the students who eventually joined my lab as postdocs through the Society one way or another.”

Serving as President of the Society is one way for Piston to help lift up young biophysicists of all backgrounds. “At this point in my career, I am more interested in helping the next generation of scientists make an impact,” he says. “I am working to level the playing field for everyone who wants to work in research. The combination of intelligence, creativity, and grit needed to make an impact as a researcher can come from any background or gender. The problems we are working on are hard, and we need to leverage all of the talent available.” His advice to those just starting out in their careers is to always make time to think deeply about their research questions. “Life has a way of getting frenetic, and there is so much pressure to get grants and publish and teach and serve on committees and… It is important to think and find what others are missing,” he says. “Sometimes, the answer is right in front of you, but you are too busy doing things to realize what you are seeing. Also, be fearless in learning and applying new techniques. It is easy to rely on the approaches you know, but those aren’t always the best way to answer your research questions.”

Executive Editor Jennifer Pesanelli Managing Editor Beth Staehle Contributing Writers and Proofreaders Dorothy Chaconas Laura Phelan

Caitlin Simpson Elizabeth Vuong Sean Winkler

Production Catie Curry Ray Wolfe

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 © 2019 by the Biophysical Society. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

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Public Affairs

Science Coalition: 80 Percent of Voters Approve of Federal Research Spending

The Science Coalition, a non-profit, non-partisan group of universities, released a poll on December 4, 2018, that showed that 80 percent of voters approve of federal spending on scientific research. This was true across partisan preferences. However, when asked to rank their federal spending priorities,

scientific research fell behind spending on education, defense, infrastructure, welfare, and energy development. Nearly all respondents indicated that it is important for the United States to maintain its global leadership in science and technology.

Senate Health Panel Chairman Lamar Alexander Announces Retirement

Save the Date – Rally for Medical Research Hill Day!

On December 17, 2018, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced his inten- tion to not seek reelection in 2020. Sen. Alexander, 78, is the first senator whose term is up in 2020 to announce that they won’t seek reelection; he has been in the Senate since 2003. He is the current Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which maintains jurisdiction over the issues important to

We request that you save the date for the 7th Annual Rally for Medical Research Hill Day, which will take place on Septem- ber 19, 2019 . As some of you may know, the rally began in 2013 when the medical research community brought over 200 organizations and institutions together to call on our nation’s policymakers to make medical research a national priority. The Rally for Medical Research, which shut down the streets in DC with more than 10,000 people in atten- dance, raised awareness to increase investment in the NIH to improve health, spur more progress, inspire more hope, and save more lives. BPS is an annual sponsor of the event and will cover travel costs for BPS members interested in participating. To get involved, please contact Sean Winkler at swinkler@biophysics. org.

Lamar Alexander

BPS members like biomedical research and development and graduate student labor regulations. Sen. Alexander was seen as a bipartisan dealmaker that maintained channels to both Republican and Democratic leadership and follows a recent string of retirements by former GOP Chairmen.

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Public Affairs

Around theWorld Hungarian Government MayWithhold Science Academy Funding According to a story in Nature , researchers in Hungary are concerned about how they will keep the lights on from Jan- uary, after the Ministry for Innovation and Technology said in December that it would withhold their running costs for at least three months. The Hungarian government passed a decree in July 2018 ordering a complete restricting of how academic research is organized and funded – changes mainly aimed at the 44 basic research institutes run by the Hungar- ian Academy of Sciences. However, the government has still not agreed on how to implement the decree and now Hungar- ian researchers are stuck in limbo. International Scientific Pressure Builds on Iran to Release Environmentalists More than 300 conservationists, including Jane Goodall, are appealing to Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to free a group of environmentalists who have been charged with spying after they used cameras to monitor an endangered cheetah. The group has been detained for over nine months. In Iran, the charge of spying carries a possible death penalty. Several of the detained environmentalists work for the Per- sian Wildlife Heritage Foundation and another, Iranian-Cana-

dian Seyed Emami , passed away while imprisoned. The Iranian regime is in a difficult predicament as it seeks to appease both its upper-middle classes – who support education and scientific research – and its religious leaders who are suspi- cious of scientific research. YellowVest Protests in France Cause Chaos, Force Government to Backpedal In early December, while world leaders were meeting in Argentina for the G-20 summit, protesters wearing yellow vests stormed the streets of Paris, causing the worst damage the city has seen since the 1960s. The ”Yellow Vest” protest- ers mobilized over rising gas prices mainly caused by a new tax on diesel fuel, which increased fuel prices by 16 percent in 2018. President Emmanuel Macron ’s government initially defended the tax, citing the environmental benefits of the policy, but on December 6, the government released a state- ment saying, “the President and the Prime Minister [ Edouard Philippe ] have expressed the wish that the increase in the carbon tax…be removed.”(Le Monde). It is too early to tell what the “Yellow Vests” may mean for the future of Macron’s government, but as of press time, the protests continue to rage on, showcasing France’s working class discontent over the direction of the country.

BiophysicsWeek T-Shirt NowAvailable Online for Purchase Explore the Official BiophysicsWeek Schedule, and locate an Affilate Event Near You at biophysics.org/biophysicsweek

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Publications

Virtual and Augmented Reality Meets Biophysics Don’t miss this session at the BPS Annual Meeting in Baltimore! Monday, March 4, 2019, 2:15-3:45 PM As virtual reality has become cheaper and more accessible, the research and educational applications of this technology have grown. Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR, AR, & 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 technologies 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.

Grants & Opportunities Lymphatics in Health and Disease in the Digestive System (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Applications are invited that investigate aspects of lym- phatic vessel physiology, development, and pathophys- iology related to health and diseases of the digestive system. Studies to understand the factors that control local lymphatic vessel functional anatomy, physiolo- gy, and development during health or disease in this system and its organs are of interest. Also of interest are studies that look at the mechanisms by which alterations of lymphatic vessel function affect organ function. Deadline: February 21 Website: https:/grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/ rfa-dk-18-021.html

DARPA: Panacea Human physiology is a limiting factor in the operational readiness of the United States Department of Defense. When the human body is damaged or a physiological system is not functioning optimally, interventions are required to help mend the injury or support continued performance. DARPA seeks to develop new technological approaches in medicinal chemistry and systems pharma- cology to expand the druggable proteome and discover new therapeutic tools in the areas of soft tissue pain/in- flammation and metabolic stress that limit physiological function. Deadline: February 22 Website: https:/www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&- mode=form&id=09d21e8933de69b90507c26b405d- c856&tab=core&_cview=0

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Publications

Meet the People behind the Publications Are you going to the BPS Annual Meeting in Baltimore? While you’re there you will probably do plenty of talking about your research and that of your colleagues. But hopefully your research will result in data for you to publish, so why not spend some time talking about publishing? On Monday, March 4, take a few minutes to visit Booth 609 (Cell Press) between 1:45PM and 3:00PM to meet Biophysical Journal Editor-in-Chief Jane Dyson as well as many of the journal’s Associate Editors. This is an opportunity to talk about pub- lishing your research, get advice on how to submit a paper worthy of publication, discuss peer review best practices, or just talk publishing! On Tuesday, March 5, stop by the BPS Society Booth just outside the Exhibit Hall between 1:45 PM and 3:00 PM to meet The Biophysicist Editor-in-Chief Sam Safran . This exciting new journal from the Biophysical Society will launch in 2019 with a focus on biophysics education. Come discuss your ideas for material you would like to publish, or what you would want to read in this online-only publication. And on either of those days, visit Booth 601 (IOP) or the Society booth to learn about the BPS ebook program and enter a drawing to win a copy of Physics of Cancer , the inaugural release from this new ebooks program. Have an idea for a much needed biophysics book? Ask for Jessica Fricchione in Booth 601 and she will be happy to talk with you about your thoughts and suggestions for future contributions to the ebook library to define biophysics.

BiophysicalSocietyseries Physics of Cancer Interplaybetweentumorbiology, inflammationandcellmechanics

BiophysicalSocietyseries Physics of Cancer Cellularandmicroenvironmentale ects

ClaudiaTanjaMierke

ClaudiaTanjaMierke

VOLUME ONE

SECOND EDITION

VOLUME TWO

SECOND EDITION

BiophysicalSociety

BiophysicalSociety

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Annual Meeting

What You Should KnowBefore Heading to the Annual Meeting Registration

Thank you to our sponsors: ACS Omega Asylum Research Alvéole Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Bruker Corporation Burroughs Wellcome Fund Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC Chroma Technology ELEMENTS SRL FISBA US Hamamatsu Corporation HORIBA Scientific IonOptix Journal of Cell Science Journal of General Physiology Leica Microsystems LUMICKS Mad City Labs Mizar Imaging Molecular Devices Nanion Technologies NanoSurface Biomedical Photonics Media Physics Today Smart Ephys Sophion Bioscience A/S Sutter Instrument The Journal of Physical Chemistry Wyatt Technology Corporation

Poster Printing Service/Poster Pick-Up Presenting a scientific poster and want to avoid the hassle of transporting it to the meeting? Have it printed by Tray, Inc., and ready for pick-up in the Baltimore Convention Center. Options include a smooth matte vinyl or polyester fabric. Place your order before 12:00 PM Central Time (USA) on Wednesday, February 27, to receive discounted rates. After February 27, rush orders for posters must be submitted at least 48 hours prior to your presentation. RUSH posters submitted will be produced on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tray, Inc. will notify you ASAP via email if they cannot produce your poster on time. Typically, orders submitted on the Friday before the Annual Meeting will not be ready until Monday afternoon.

Look for your registration confirmation with a QR code that will be sent by email, Monday, February 25. Print this confirmation and bring it with you to speed up the process of picking up your badge and meeting materials. Don’t worry if you don’t have your QR code, you can still pick up your badge and materials at the Express Check-In counters using your name. Registration, badge pick-up, scientific sessions, and posters are all located in the Balti- more Convention Center, Charles Street Lobby. Onsite Registration Hours Friday, March 1

3:00 PM–5:00 PM Saturday, March 2 8:00 AM–6:30 PM Sunday, March 3–Tuesday, March 5 7:30 AM–5:00 PM

Housing Confirmation If you booked your hotel reservation through the official BPS housing bureau, CHP Housing, you should have received your confirmation via email. If you have not, contact the housing bureau toll free at 1-800-274-9481. Outside the United States, please call 1-415-813-6088 and select option 4. Art of Science Image Contest The 11 finalist images will be on display in the Exhibit Hall. Remember to stop by and vote for your two favorite images. Voting will be open until 12:00 PM on Tuesday, March 5. Ballots will be distributed with your badge at the onsite registra- tion desks.

Visit the Society Booth located in the Baltimore Convention Center Charles Street Lobby to purchase an Annual Meeting T-Shirt as well as other Society merchandise.

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Annual Meeting

Theory and Experiment to the Cell and Back

Undergraduate Student Lounge Need a quick place to relax or catch up on coursework while at the Annual Meeting? Visit the Undergraduate Student Lounge in Room 304 on the third level of the Baltimore Convention Center. Special Events OpeningMixer Saturday, March 2, 5:00 PM – Ballroom Foyer Presentation of Awards and Biophysical Society Lecture, delivered by Carol V. Robinson Monday, March 4, 8:00 PM – Ballrooms I – IV Reception/Dance Monday, March 4, 9:30 PM – Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, Peale A/C Social Media and Official Meeting Hashtag Please follow us on Twitter @BiophysicalSoc and share your experiences with others with the official meeting hashtag #bps19. Be courteous and remember no videotaping is al- lowed in session rooms. Plan, Sync, Connect with theMobile App and Desktop Planner

Green Cards for Scientific Researchers: How toWin Your EB-1A/NIWCase, with Getson & Schatz Brian Getson is a leading US immigration lawyer who rep- resents scientific researchers applying for green cards in the EB-1A, EB-1B, and NIW categories. Learn about the US im- migration process and how to maximize your chances of im- migration success during his workshop on Sunday, March 3, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM. He will answer questions and provide free legal consultations after the presentation and throughout the Annual Meeting in the Career Development Center. First-Timer at theMeeting? On Saturday, be sure to attend the “First-Time Attendee Drop By,” 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM in the Ballroom Foyer of the Balti- more Convention Center. Learn tips on how to navigate the meeting and get the most out of your time. Society staff and committee members will be on hand to answer questions and to help you make your time at the BPS 2019 Annual Meeting a memorable one. Annual Meeting ProgramBook If you purchased a program book by January 28, please bring your program book ticket distributed with your badge to the Program Book Pick-Up Booth located in the Charles Street Lobby.

The meeting gives me the best opportunity to catch up with the frontiers of biophysics in a broad way, from single-particle cryo-EM to single-mole- cule FRET, frommolecular dynamics to molecular evolution. Because almost everybody in biophysics attends, it is also a wonderful time to catch up with old friends and colleagues. — Da-Neng Wang , New York University School of Medicine

Visit www.biophysics.org/2019meeting for more information on the Biophysical Society Events Desktop Planner and Events App. Search keyword “BPS Events” in the app stores below.

biophysics.org/ 2019meeting

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Career Development

Surviving and SucceedingWhen Under-Represented in Academic Science Dear Molly Cule,

How do you make friends? Ask people to go to lunch. Invite them to your house for dinner. Invite them out for drinks or dessert after work. Go to the gym with them. Assemble a group to see a movie. I know it feels weird to make friends as an adult, but you need to do it. Also, remember that people are busy, just as you are busy. If you don’t get a response or get a no, you have to try again. Spending time with friends outside of work helps you identify your shared values as scientists, researchers, teachers, and even parents or mem- bers of the community or town. Having shared values builds trust, which is essential for sharing difficult or embarrassing situations where you might need help. Have mentors. Some departments have assigned mentors and you might hit it off – that is great. Much like you should not have only one set of friends, you should also not have only one set of mentors. You also need to make sure your mentors are many different types of people (diversity!). They can be peer mentors at or away from your institution, senior faculty in or out of your department, and even deans and provosts. You need to be able to trust them, and that might mean being friends with them (see above). The principles of cultivating mentors are similar to those for friendships. The main difference is that you should come with questions and be comfortable asking for help. Ask for help. You will have to swallow your pride and ask for help about embarrassing situations. Asking for help may feel like a risk, but if someone is truly a mentor or friend, they will want to help you. Another amazing side-effect of asking for help is that when people help you, they have a vested interest in your success. It’s true! When a mentor spends time and effort on helping you, they will want you to succeed even more because they already have invested themselves in your success. Further, when you ask someone for help, it shows you trust them, and they feel obliged to retain that trust. Asking for help may feel risky, but it is actually the best way to build and maintain relationships. Identify when you are being marginalized because of your identity. When you are a woman and/or a minority in a majority white-male world, you will be treated differently because of your status sometimes. We all want the world to be fair, but honestly, it just isn’t always unbiased. Some peo- ple are mean. Many people are unconsciously biased. It will happen, so how do you identify it, so that you know what is “normal” for all scientists and what is related to your identity?

I am a minority, woman junior faculty member. I often receive vibes that I do not belong, and I can’t find many role models. Most of these issues are not

apparent and outright racism or sexism, but I can’t always tell why things seem so hard for me. What can I do to navigate my way to be successful in science as a member of an under- represented minority group? First, let me start off by saying that the Biophysical Society truly welcomes you and would like you to feel supported here. If there are things we can be doing to help you feel more com- fortable in the Society, please let anyone at the Society know! That being said, it is a fact that we all must face: when you are a minority in a field, it is hard to tell if the problems you face are “normal” for the career path or due to your minority status. By making an effort to see if the issues you face are widespread in the field, or related specifically to your minority status, you can avoid being labeled as a whiney minority who wants special treatment. While not a solution to the larger societal problems your questions lay bare, here are some strategies to help you to survive, cope, and succeed in science. Make friends. Many minority scientists feel isolated be- cause they don’t make friends at work. Even if you are a total introvert and are rejuvenated by being alone, I still advocate making friends. If you are a minority-status person and there are other mi- nority-status people around, creating a community with them may be helpful. There might be issues or events that you can’t talk about with majority-status people. We all need to have people we can relate to who can help us work through how to fix issues we notice. People with a similar background may have faced similar problems and may be able to help you or just listen. You also need friends who are majority-status people. Why? Because these people may be able to help you elucidate if what you are seeing and feeling is racism, sexism, or strug- gles of any career in science more generally. It may be helpful for you to know how a white male would deal with the same situations you are dealing with, and if they say, “I’ve honestly never had that happen,” then you know that what you are dealing with might really be specific to your minority status. Talking to them about it may help you to come up with new solutions to these problems, as well as making them aware of the issues faced by scientists who do not look like them.

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Career Development

First, you need to talk to people about what happened. Talk to your friends and your mentors. Phrase it so that you are asking for help with the situation and ask them how they would deal with it if something similar happened to them. If the situation is commonly encountered by scientists in your position, they should have useful advice for you. How can you tell if the situation is caused by bias? One way is to rephrase the situation by switching the roles. For instance, when a woman says that she was told she cannot go for pro- motion early and was asked, “Why should you get promoted before your male colleagues?” that might not seem weird because she may in fact be the only woman at the associate professor level. But, if you change that scenario, and think of the personnel committee chair asking a male associate pro- fessor, “Why should you go up for full [professor] before your female colleagues?” you realize that it is ultimately a sexist question and that her promotion should have nothing to do with her colleagues – no matter what their gender. If the situation is caused by unfairness, work out a plan to help you cope or fix the problem. You can talk through with other people if the problem is a systemic one. Perhaps there are new rules or systematic changes that can be made to help solve the problem. Is it a personal issue between two people? Maybe there are ways to get conflict resolution with the on-campus ombudsperson. Most universities and scien- tific societies don’t want their students, faculty, and staff to feel marginalized, since that ultimately leads to low morale and productivity. At the end of the day, you might decide not to pursue change at all, which is fine, but that might adversely affect the people to come after you. If you are able to work with your colleagues by asking for help and working to fix prob- lems, particularly if they are systemic, your extra work will go a long way to help others as well. Ultimately, the choice needs to be yours. You made it this far, and you should have confidence in your personal choice and what is right for you. If the pursuit for change weighs too heavily on you, focus on helping yourself so you can make your career what you want.

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Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting

Thismeeting will focus on how recent discoveries by single-moleculemanipulation and nanoscale imaging enablemolecular level understanding of biophysics with emphasis on replication, transcription, protein synthesis, chaperone-mediated protein folding/degradation, andmolecular motors. In addition, the goal is to feature the latest cutting-edge developments in singlemolecule instrumentation and nanoscale visualization, steeredmolecular dynamics simulations, and single-molecule applications for the study of pathogens and infectious diseases. The research done at the single-molecule level is inherently interdisciplinary, taking place at the interface of cell biology, physics, bioengineering, biochemistry, and computational biology. Thismeeting will bring together researchers with a wide range of expertise and interests who use single-molecule tools to address problems in each of these fields. Thismeeting will feature keynote speakers, selected talks from the submitted abstracts, discussion sessions, and poster presentations. Together, these events will provide the attendees—particularly students and junior researchers—multiple ways to interact with the leaders in the field, stimulate the exchange of ideas, and foster collaborations among them. Furthermore, thismeeting will provide a platform for scientists in other fields to get interested in single-molecule approaches and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. Revisiting the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology at the Single-Molecule Level July 18–21, 2019 | UTEC - Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología Lima, Peru

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Carlos Bustamante , University of California at Berkeley, United States Daniel Guerra , Cayetano Heredia University, Peru Victoria Guixé , University of Chile, Chile RodrigoMaillard , Georgetown University, United States EdwardMálaga-Trillo , Cayetano Heredia University, Peru Lía Pietrasanta , University of Buenos Aires, Argentina Piere Rodriguez Aliaga , Stanford University, United States Julio Valdivia , Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC), Peru Christian A.M. Wilson , University of Chile, Chile Francisco Barrantes , Pontifical University of Argentina, Argentina Carlos Bustamante , University of California, Berkeley, United States Olga Dudko , University of California at San Diego, United States Ruben Gonzalez , Columbia University, United States Tomas Kirchhausen, Harvard University, United States Melike Lakadamyali , Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States Rodrigo Maillard , Georgetown University, United States Matthias Rief , Technische Universität München, Germany Piere Rodriguez-Aliaga , Stanford University, United States Simon Scheuring , Weill Cornell Medical College, United States MichelleWang , Cornell University, United States Christian A.M. Wilson , University of Chile, Chile Gijs Wuite , Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands Jie Xiao , Johns Hopkins University, United States Xiaowei Zhuang , Harvard University, United States SPEAKERS Mauricio Baez , University of Chile, Chile

Abstract Submission Deadline: March 8, 2019

Registration Deadline: April 5, 2019

For more information, visit www.biophysics.org/2019lima

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Member Corner

Important Dates 63 rd BPS Annual Meeting March 2–6, 2019, Baltimore, Maryland BPS Thematic Meetings Multiscale Modeling of Chromatin: Bridging Experiment with Theory March 31–April 5, 2019, Les Houches, France

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 Nidhi Kundu

Department of Biological Sciences Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali (IISER Mohali)

As you move forward in science, what type of research do you see yourself doing? Why?

Nidhi Kundu

I have always been fascinated about the remarkable “conformational switches” proteins adapt to perform nearly all processes of life. With the zeal of understanding protein structures to unravel their distinct cellu- lar functions, I aim to develop myself as a structural biochemist.

Members in the News

Do you know of a colleague who has recieved an award? Let BPS know at society@biophysics.org.

Two BPS members have been named Fellows of the American Crystallographic Society: Wladek Minor , University of Virginia, and Society member since 2017; and Janet Smith , University of Michigan, and Society member since 1989.

Wladek Minor

Janet Smith

Frances Separovic , University of Melbourne, and Society member since 1985, was awarded a life membership to the Australian Society for Biophysics in recognition of her service.

17 BPS members were elected AAAS Fellows for 2018. Numbers By the

Frances Separovic

Mibel Aguilar , Monash University, and Society member since 2015, received the McAuley-Hope Prize from the Australia Society for Biophysics for developing new techniques to study model cell membranes.

Mibel Aguilar

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Communities

Exocytosis/Endocytosis The 2019 Exocytosis/Endocytosis Subgroup Symposium is scheduled for Saturday, March 2, at the Baltimore Convention Center as part of the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. The theme for this year’s symposium is “From Molecule to Mechanism: New Insights into the Dynam- ics of Vesicle Fusion and Recycling.” 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 (NHLBI/NIH) Imaging the Nanoscale Structure of Endocytosis and Exocytosis with Light and Electron Microscopy 2019 Sir Bernard Katz Award Keynote Lecture Ed Chapman (University of Wisconsin/HHMI) Diverse Functions of the Synaptotagmins In addition, several short talks from trainees will be selected from the abstracts submitted for the annual meeting. A closing banquet dinner will be held at Lee’s Pint & Shell, 2844 Hudson St, Baltimore, MD, and will allow for plenty of networking 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 , Exocytosis/Endocytosis Subgroup Chair

Intrinsically Disordered Proteins The Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDP) Subgroup will hold its annual symposium on March 2, 2019, from 1:00 to 6:15 PM in conjunction with the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Bio- physical Society in Baltimore. As always, everybody is wel- come to attend the symposium. The program co-chairs Hue Sun Chan , University of Toronto, and Nicholas Fawzi , Brown University, have prepared an exciting, multidisciplinary pro- gram that will showcase recent notable work in the IDP field. If you are interested in joining the subgroup for dinner fol- lowing the symposium, please contact Loren Hough (hough@ colorado.edu). If you do join us, please consider joining the IDP Subgroup as a member and attending the IDP Subgroup Business Meeting from 10:30 to 11:30 AM, also on Saturday, March 2, 2019. We encourage all subgroup members to become involved in subgroup organization or leadership. Please nominate your- self or your colleagues for subgroup leadership. — Tanja Mittag , IDP Subgroup Chair Allen Institute for Cell Science at Biophysical Society 2019 Find us at booth #602 in the exhibitor hall to: • Speak with Allen Institute scientists about their presentations and posters at BPS 2019 • Learn about the Institute and how to access our cell lines, analysis tools and data on allencell.org • Experience a VR demonstration of our cell images • Learn about our newest tools, including label-free imaging and the Allen Cell Structure Segmenter

Cover Letters Are Annoying, but Here’s How You Write Them March 27, 2019, 2:00 PM Eastern Presented by Alaina G. Levine Work-Life Balance: It Can Be Done, You Can Have Fun (In Both Worlds) June 19, 2019, 2:00 PM Eastern Presented by Alaina G. Levine

allencell.org

@alleninstitute

To view presentation and poster information visit alleninstitute.org/bps19

Register Today at biophysics.org/webinars

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Communities

Education Committee The BPS Bulletin is running a series highlighting the Society’s committees to help members learn more about them and

the kinds of things committee members do on behalf of BPS. The Education Committee is dedicated to providing materials and ideas for promoting biophysics to the general public and particularly to students. The committee provides resources and educational programs at the BPS Annual Meeting. In con- junction with the BPS subgroups, the committee organizes and supports the Undergraduate Student Poster Festival and the Student Research Achievement Award. To serve students who may someday be inspired to pursue biophysics careers and promote public understanding of biophysics, the committee organizes a wide variety of events and outreach activities. Target audiences include primary and secondary school students, undergraduate students interest- ed in science majors relevant to biophysics, and instructors who serve these categories of students. At the BPS Annual Meeting, the committee serves students with a variety of opportunities to learn about and prepare for a career in biophysics. The Undergraduate Student Pizza “Breakfast” offers college students the opportunity to network, discuss academic goals, and hear inspirational talks from BPS members. Undergraduates also gain valuable research presentation experience through the committee’s Undergraduate Student Poster Festival, which includes a poster competition and prizes. Specific to each meeting loca- tion, local students in the host city community are invited to participate in Exploring Careers in Biophysics Day, focused on providing free entry and activities at the meeting. The committee offers training opportunities at the annual meeting for instructors, with session topics that vary year- to-year. This year, the committee is offering specific support to instructors at primarily undergraduate institutions in the workshop Founding, Establishing, and Maintaining a Research Laboratory at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions. Additional training will be offered in the sessions Biophysics 101 and Teaching Science Like We Do Science to educate attendees on the fundamentals of biophysics techniques and provide best practices in assessing the efficacy of teaching programs. These opportunities serve to better equip instructors in bio- physics with the tools to inspire student careers in biophysics. Relevant to students and their instructors alike is the Speed Networking Reception, supported in step with other BPS committees. At this reception, mid- and senior-career sci- entists in academia and industry discuss career advice with students and early career scientists in an exciting mixer where mentor-mentee partnerships swap several times over, allow- ing students the opportunity to network with a large number

of biophysicists in a small amount of time. Outreach beyond the annual meeting includes the creation and sharing of accessible biophysics lesson plans with instructors across the globe (recent biophysics educational programming has occurred in the United States, India, and Colombia), as well as the support of the international BPS Student Chapter program. The Student Chapter program includes direct outreach with college campuses and helps to support students interested in biophysics to network with peers, gain information on biophysics, and perform their own science outreach activities as a united group. The committee is made up of volunteer members who serve staggered three-year terms, renewable once. The current chair is Gina MacDonald of James Madison University. The committee meets in person at the BPS Annual Meeting and via conference call in late summer each year to plan activities and evaluate their success.

HAMAMATSUCAMERAS.COM

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Biophysical Society

5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110 Rockville, Maryland 20852

February 2019

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

Upcoming Events

March March 17–22

April April 15–17 Physics of Excitable Membranes Bad Honnef, Germany

May May 12–14 Cell Symposia: Regulatory RNAs Berlin, Germany http:/www.cell-symposia. com/rnas-2019/default.asp May 13–15 NIMBioS Investigative Work- shop: Scientific Collaboration Enabled by High Performance Computing Knoxville, TN http:/www.nimbios.org/ workshops/WS_hpc

May 31–June 8 The 54th Course of Interna- tional School of Crystallogra- phy on the topic of 3D CryoEM image analysis Sicily, Italy https:/ crystalerice. org/2019/ June June 3–7 NIMBioS Tutorial: The Search for Selection Knoxville, TN http:/www.nimbios.org/tu- torials/selection2

Gordon Research Conference on Mitochondrial Dynamics & Signaling Ventura Beach, CA www.grc.org/mitochon- dria-in-health-and-dis- ease-conference/2019/ March 17–22 EMBL Course: Genome Engineering: CRISPR/Cas Heidelberg, Germany https:/www.embl.de/train- ing/events/2019/GEE19-01/

http:/med-bio.physik.tu-dort- mund.de/cms/en/Home/in- dex.html April 28–May 1 Chemical Tools for Complex Biological Systems II Ashburn, VA https:/www.janelia.org/ you-janelia/conferences/ chemical-tools-for-com- plex-biological-systems-ii

Please visit www.biophysics.org for a complete list of upcoming events.