Biophysical Society Bulletin | February 2020

February 2020

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

2020 New&Notable SymposiumSpeakers Announced

2020 Annual Meeting Co-Chairs Patricia Clark and William Kobertz have arranged for exciting presentations from four innovative researchers. Gheorghe Chistol , Stanford University Single-Molecule Trainspotting: Studies of Eukaryotic Genome Maintenance Dorit Hanein , Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute Coupling Molecular Activation and Its Functional Output through Multiscale Imaging Peter Kasson , University of Virginia How Influenza Hemagglutinin Acts within Membranes to Drive Membrane Fusion Alexey S. Ladokhin , University of Kansas Medical Center Lipids and Cations as Coupled Regulators of Membrane Protein Insertion and Folding Hear more about their groundbreaking work onWednesday, February 19, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm in Ballroom20A of the San Diego Convention Center.

Gheorghe Chistol

Dorit Hanein

Peter Kasson

Alexey S. Ladokhin

Inside

Going to the Annual Meeting? Our volunteers make it possible! Their impact is immeasurable and has a profound effect on science communities around the world. Ask one of our volunteers wearing this button about how you can get involved with BPS. If you are not attending the Annual Meeting but would like to get involved with BPS, please visit www.biophysics.org/get-involved.

President’s Message

2 3 4 6 7 8 9

Biophysics Week

Biophysicist in Profile

Public Affairs

Grants and Opportunities

Publications

Member Corner & Important Dates

10 12 13 14 16

Annual Meeting

Career Development

Communities & Outreach

Student Chapters Upcoming Events

Nominations are Open for 2021 Society Awards Nominations are now being accepted for 2021 awardees

through May 1, 2020. All awards will be presented at the 2021 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. For information and to submit a nomination, visit www.biophysics.org/awards.

President’s Message

Coming to Terms with Sexual Harassment in the Biophysical Society

It is hard for me to believe that this is my final column as President of the Biophysical Society. My term will conclude with the Annual Meet- ing in San Diego where Cathy Royer will take the gavel from me and Frances Separovic will become Presi- dent-elect. The Society is definitely

The Society has scheduled a special symposium on Sunday, February 16, at 6:15 pm to discuss what we all can do to combat sexual harassment. The symposium will include pre- sentations from Sharona Gordon , Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education at the University of Washington, and Billy Williams from the American Geophysical Union and a contributor on the NASEM report. I will describe the policies and actions that the Society has undertaken in this area, and Gabriella Popescu , Chair of our Committee on Professional Opportunities for Women (CPOW), will moderate the discussion. We hope that you will join us for this next step toward creating an environ- ment that is free of inappropriate behavior and harassment by or toward all attendees and participants of Society events. This year, we have focused on sexual harassment in the Society, prompted by the work of the National Academies. However, gender bias is only one way that the Society fails to be inclusive — the climate and culture of academic societies can be even more oppressive for other under-represented groups. I remain hopeful that BPS will become a model for diversity and inclusion, and continue to attract and serve a broader constituency. Towards this latter goal, we must all work together to increase the numbers of colleagues from under-represented groups in biophysics, and promote them as leaders in the field and in the Society. My term as BPS President will be ending, but I know that future leaders of the Society will continue the commitment to inclusion for all of our members. I am heartened by the willingness of the Society membership to acknowledge these problems and work to fix them. Doing so will only strengthen biophysics as a science and a profes- sion, and I for one look forward to helping turn this hope into reality. I send my best wishes to all of you for 2020, and I look forward to seeing you in San Diego for our 64th Annual Meeting! — David W. Piston , President

David. W. Piston

in good hands! It has been an exciting and challenging year for the Society, and I continue to be in awe of the exceptional effort and dedication that I’ve seen every day from our staff and volunteers. I thank every one of you for your help and support. As I wrote in my first column of the year the Biophysical Society has made progress in many areas of inclusion, such as attracting international members, diversifying speakers, and providing family rooms at the meeting. However, we still face many challenges of unconscious and conscious bias, and we need to focus more effort on building a diverse pipeline of future biophysicists. Recently, the US National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) released a report on the climate and culture facing women in sciences, engineering, and medicine, which included a detailed accounting of the consequences of sexual harassment in these fields. While the focus of this report was the academic environment, many of the issues described involve scientific societies and meetings. We would be naïve to believe that we are excepted from such unwanted behaviors and actions at the Biophysical Society. One piece of evidence that suggests a problem is that the percentage of female members of the Society has remained constant at ap- proximately 30 percent, although close to 50 percent of stu- dent members are female. There is no single reason for this. Anecdotally, each female scientist who has left the profession has a unique story of the challenges that drove her away. Many of these reasons have a broad range of underpinnings from belittling to being passed over for growth opportunities to sexual assault. There is no single action we can take to eliminate the climate and culture that is driving talent away from our field. Rather, this will require a process of continu- ous change. We need to recognize and call out unconscious bias, we need peer pressure showing that bad behaviors are not acceptable, and we need to listen carefully to those who feel disenfranchised. This will not happen overnight, so it is important to pay continuous attention to these efforts and to keep working at it every day.

Scientific Societies and Grassroots Movements: What We All Can Do to Combat Sexual Harassment Sunday, February 16, 6:15 pm Ballroom 20D, S an Diego Convention Center

February 2020

2

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

BiophysicsWeek

Officers President

David W. Piston President-Elect Catherine Royer Past-President Angela Gronenborn Secretary Erin Sheets Treasurer Kalina Hristova Council Zev Bryant Linda Columbus Michelle A. Digman Marta Filizola Teresa Giraldez Ruben Gonzalez, Jr. Joseph A. Mindell Anna Moroni Marina Ramirez-Alvarado Jennifer Ross David Stokes Pernilla Wittung-Stafeshede Biophysical Journal Jane Dyson Editor-in-Chief The Biophysicist Sam Safran Editor-in-Chief

Get Ready for BiophysicsWeek 2020! The fifth annual Biophysics Week 2020 is coming up on March 23-27. We are looking forward to celebrating biophysics all week long with daily BPS hosted events and affiliate events organized around the world! There will be a kickoff event, webinars, picture show, profiles, and more! If you haven’t planned an event yet, it’s not too late. Below are some ideas for hosting your own event: • Host a guest lecturer • Set up an Awareness Table at your local school highlighting your major and/or department • Plan a local meet-up of biophysicists • Schedule a lunch seminar showcasing student research in biophysics • Teach a lesson on biophysics to a local high school class • Conduct a lab tour or a tour to show off your school’s facilities • If you have a related event already planned in March 2020, please consider making it a part of Biophysics Week. If you haven’t registered for your affiliate event yet, please do so now at https:/www.surveymonkey.com/r/KZJVDDJ. For BPS Affiliate events taking place around the world, please visit www.biophysics.org/biophysicsweek to find an event near you. Look out for announcements and updates on events taking place during Biophysics Week at www.biophysics.org/biophysicsweek. Thank you to our Biophysics Week Partners: British Biophysical Society, Biophysical Society of Serbia, European Biophysical Societies’ Association (EBSA), Life Sciences Switzerland (LS2), SOBLA, Latin American Biophysical Society, and the Società Italiana di Biofisica Pura e Applicata (SIBPA).

Society Office Jennifer Pesanelli Executive Officer Newsletter Executive Editor Jennifer Pesanelli Managing Editor Beth Staehle

Production Catie Curry Ray Wolfe Proofreader/Copy Editor Laura Phelan 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. Cana- dian GST No. 898477062. Postmaster: Send address changes to Biophysical Society, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110, Rockville, MD 20852. Copyright © 2020 by the Biophysical Society. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Gear Up for Biophysics Week! Get your Biophysics Week 2020 t-shirt for $20 plus shipping. These shirts sold out quickly last year so order your shirt today! Visit www.biophysics.org/biophysicsweek for details.

February 2020

3

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

Biophysicist in Profile

Catherine Ann Royer Areas of Research Mechanisms of biological regulation at the molecular and cellular levels

Institution Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

At-a-Glance

Catherine Ann Royer , Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is stepping into the role of BPS President this month. “BPS is the most democratic society I know. The science is great, and for the most part, the elitism that annoys me is absent,” she says. “The rules that no one can speak at the Annual Meeting within two years of their talk is really unique to BPS and ensures broad participation. I also appreciate the Society’s openness toward new fields and areas of study. BPS moves forward with the science, not behind it.”

Catherine Ann Royer

Incoming Biophysical Society President Catherine Ann Royer is a professor of biological sciences and chemistry and chem- ical biology and chaired Constellation Professor in Biocompu- tation and Bioinformatics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She grew up in Illinois — first on the South Side of Chicago and later in a working class neighborhood in Peoria. Her mother was an analytical chemist with the Chicago School Board and then a high school chemistry teacher. “I think the fact that my mother worked as a chemist, and a teacher, ended up making me consider the possibility of a career in science later on,” she shares. “Being a scientist would never have occurred to any of my friends in my rather low-income neighborhood.” Her preschool had French initiation, so she was interested in the French language from an early age. She wanted to be a French teacher when she grew up, and she began her college career studying French literature. During her first year she changed her major to chemistry. “I went on a year abroad program to France in my second year, but instead of studying French I studied natural sciences in French.” Then, she says, “instead of coming back after a year, I defected and ended up getting a natural sciences bachelor’s degree and a chemistry/ biochemistry master’s 1 degree — licence, it was called at the time — from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie - Paris 6.” After graduation, Royer and her future husband spent a year traveling in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala before returning to Illinois. She worked waiting tables at a French restaurant, where she had a fortuitous encounter. One of her customers was impressed with her ability to pronounce the names of the dishes on the menu, and she explained that she had gone to college in France. “Politely, this person asked what I had studied, and when I answered biochemistry he asked who my professors were. It turned out that the customer was I. C. Gunsalus , a famous BPS member and former chair of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Biochemistry De- partment,” she explains. “He had collaborated with most of

my French professors. He suggested that I apply to graduate school, rather than continue to wait tables. I did, miraculous- ly the department accepted my application, and the rest is history.” Once she started at the University of Illinois, she was drawn to biological fluorescence and the lab of Gregorio Weber . Past BPS President Suzanne Scarlata was in the same lab, and Royer also overlapped with another Past President, Dorothy Beckett . Working in Weber’s lab sent Royer down the path to her current research. “I am still interested in the biophysical mechanisms of transcriptional regulation. During my PhD I also applied pressure-perturbation to characterize biophysical properties of allosteric proteins,” she says, “and still today I pursue the use of pressure to obtain biophysical information, as well as how organisms adapt to high-pressure environ- ments.” She names her thesis adviser as a scientist she admires, saying of Weber, “He was a fantastic visionary scientist and a true gentleman. Even in an age where sexism was still acceptable, he was not sexist at all. I learned a lot from him about science and how to do it.” After graduating with her PhD, she received a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation and Cen- tre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) to work on allosteric binding and dynamics at the CNRS in Gif-sur-Yvette and the Université of Paris 7 in France. She then returned to the University of Illinois Physics Department to become the first user coordinator of the Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics directed by Enrico Gratton . “After three years, during which I got a National Institutes of Health starter grant to study bio- physics of a transcriptional repressor and was named adjunct professor of biochemistry at University of Illinois,” she says, “I got a tenure-track assistant professor position in the School of Pharmacy University of Wisconsin-Madison.” She was promoted to associate professor five years later, in 1995.

February 2020

4

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

Biophysicist in Profile

In 1997 Royer accepted a position with the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) as direc- tor of research in the Center for Structural Biochemistry in Montpellier, France. In 2002 she became associate director of the institute and in 2007, director. She moved to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, in 2013 as a professor of biological sciences and chaired Constellation Professor in Biocomputation and Bioinformatics, posts she still holds. She is currently building a new collaborative effort focused on systematically applying biophysical approaches to molecules and organisms from extreme environments, “particularly the deep biosphere, which is home to more than 90 per- cent of the Earth’s microbial biomass about which very little is known,” she shares. “How the biomolecules from these organisms are adapted to function under extremes of pres- sure and temperature can teach us a lot about genotype to phenotype at the molecular level.” The most challenging aspect of her career has been grappling with the systemic problems within the world of research. “I have always been somewhat of a non-conformist, always questioning authority. So I have a hard time accepting some of what I consider unfair aspects of scientific endeavor,” she explains. “These include various gender-based as well as elitist biases in grant and manuscript review, in promotion and tenure decisions, and generally what I consider to be

unreasonable bean-counting. I don’t just say this for myself or my own experience, as I have to admit I have gotten along pretty well in the system. It is just a situation that annoys me generally — as well as on occasion, personally.” Royer advises early career scientists: “Don’t get too involved in worrying about process — like I said, there are injustices and annoyances associated with that. Just keep focused on doing the best science, even when you feel impacted by the system. And, find someone who you can talk to and who can help you get through rocky spots. Finally, we all suffer set- backs. That is just the way it is. So enjoy it fully when you get a cool result. Celebrate!” As she steps into the role of BPS President, Royer reflects on how her career has been supported by the Society. “I think all of my mentors — official and unofficial — have been active members of BPS. Clearly, many of my most exciting and pro- ductive collaborations have come from meeting people at BPS. Early on, prominent female Society members — Clare Wood- ward and Mary Barkley in particular — really supported me and my work,” she says. “And it is always a pleasure to spend time with old friends discussing science and many other things. I hope that I can give a leg up to young Society members in the same way as was done for me. I try in any case.”

BPS Networking Events The Biophysical Society is excited to announce these upcoming Networking Events. Come out and network with fellow biophysicists if you’re in the area! More information about each event can be found here: www.biophysics.org/upcoming-networking-events Cardiovascular Day 2020

University of Massachusetts Movement Center Student-Organized Research Symposium March 20th, 2020 Lowell, MA, USA Biophysics in Drug Discovery – Not just a Black Box March 27, 2020 Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK Biophysical Triangle of Atlanta 2020 (BTA 2020) March 2020 (date TBD) Atlanta, GA, USA

February 25, 2020 Columbia, MO, USA 3-Minute Elevator Pitch Competition March 1, 2020 Madison, WI, USA Scottish Structural Biology Meeting March 10, 2020 Glasgow, Scotland, UK

February 2020

5

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

2020 State of the Union Address Announced In the midst of settling the fiscal year 2020 federal budget and the House approving bills of impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi extended the formal invitation for President Trump to address a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union. The President will deliver his final State of the Union address of his current term on February 4. While scientific research wasn’t a priority in the President’s first two addresses to the nation, it was a strong theme in 2019 is likely to be again in 2020. Brouillette Confirmed to Lead Department of Energy House Passed HR 3 Projected to Deliver Important Investments

On December 2, 2019, the United States Senate easily confirmed Dan Brouillette to lead the Energy Department, capping one of the smoothest confirmation processes for a Trump Administration official in recent memory. Brouillette, who served as deputy secretary since August 2017, replaces Rick Perry , who departed December 1 after nearly three years as chief of the department. Brouillette has held a variety of posts inside and outside of government. He was chief of staff on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and served as an assistant secretary of energy for two years during the George W. Bush administration. He is the 15th Senate-confirmed energy secretary in US history. Tensions Continue to Rise Between Heads of HHS and CMS Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has ordered Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma to attend counseling in order to assess whether they can continue to work together. The feud goes beyond the ques- tionable reimbursement requests for lost personal items and consultant fees that have put Verma under a microscope as of late — and even beyond rumors that unfavorable leaks about Administrator Verma came from within the walls of HHS — and stems from more serious policy conflicts and efforts to publicly undercut one another’s initiatives. With health care expected to be center stage in next year’s election, losing either official could hinder President Trump’s efforts to deliver on promises he made in 2016 to meaningful- ly reduce health care costs and increase transparency.

On December 12, 2019, the House of Representatives passed their updated drug pricing bill, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act (HR 3), which includes significant investments in public health. The legislation invests an additional $10 billion at the National Institutes of Health to provide 10 years of sustainable fund- ing to build on the momentum of the 21st Century Cures Act. For the amount authorized for research for FY 2021 through 2030, the funding would be allocated as follows: $2.07 billion for the Precision Medicine Initiative; $2.04 billion for the BRAIN Initiative; $1.56 billion for cancer research; $1.14 billion for research related to combating antimicrobial and antibiotic resistance; $53.6 million for rare diseases; and $154 million for regenerative medicine using adult stem cells. HR 3 also includes $2 billion for the FDA for a variety of activ- ities including: modernizing the agency’s technical infrastruc- ture; more widespread adoption of continuous manufactur- ing techniques for drugs and biologics; the development of individual gene therapies; and, recruitment and retention of scientific and technical talent. The bill also includes $10 billion for combating the opioid cri- sis, $10 billion for community health centers, reauthorizes and expands the Health Profession Opportunity Grant Program, and doubles the investment in the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program to help reduce maternal mortality and morbidity. HR 3 has been referred to the Senate, but has not yet been referred to a Committee; an indication the Senate has no plans to take action on this bill and instead focus on their own package.

February 2020

6

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

SAVE THE DATE Rally for Medical Research

September 16–17, 2020 • Washington, DC

Biophysical Society members in the U.S. are invited to join us in Washington, DC on September 16–17, 2020 for the Rally for Medical Research Funding! Registration is now open for the annual Rally for Medical Research fly-in where you will meet with your elected officials and advocate on behalf of making National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding a national priority. This event, established in 2013, includes more than 300 national organizations coming together with a focused message on increasing NIH funding and raising awareness about the research it supports. Please email Leann Fox at lfox@biophysics.org to learn more and sign-up to attend.

Grants & Opportunities The Spinoff Prize This prize has been established by Nature Research in partnership with Merck to showcase and celebrate global excellence in the commercialization of research through the creation of spinoff companies. Restrictions: The spinoff company must have been formed to commercially exploit the results of research activity done at a university or a research institute. The spinoff must be a separate legal entity, although the university or research institute may own a controlling equity stake. The spinoff must have been registered as a separate legal entity on or after November 30, 2016. Deadline: February 28, 2020 Website: https:/www.nature.com/collections/cicfhfiheg

Wellcome Senior Research Fellowships Senior Research Fellowships support independent researchers who are emerging as global leaders in their field and want to tackle the most important questions in science. The areas of research that are eligible are: ge- netics and molecular science, cellular and developmen- tal science, neuroscience and mental health, infection and immunobiology, physiology, and population health. Who May Apply: Those leading a research program at an organization based in the United Kingdon, Republic of Ireland, and low- or lower-middle income countries (apart from mainland China) Deadline: February 27, 2020 Website: https:/wellcome.ac.uk/funding/schemes/ senior-research-fellowships

February 2020

7

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

Publications

Know the Editor Toshio Tsukiyama

Who would you like to sit next to at a dinner party? (Scien- tist or not) If it can be a dead person, Albert Einstein. I am not sure how well I could communicate with him but I would want to see how someone with such an exceptional intelligence talks. If it has to be someone alive, I would choose Michelle Obama. I want to ask her what it is like to be a first lady. At a cocktail party of non-scientists, how would you ex- plain what you do? We try to figure out how some cells in our body can live for years seemingly doing nothing. This cell state, quiescence, is essential for normal development and prevention of diseases like cancer, but how cells can enter, maintain, or exit from this state is largely unknown.

University of Washington School of Medicine Editor, Genome Biophysics

Toshio Tsukiyama

What are you currently working on that excites you? Mechanisms by which cell quiescence is controlled by chro- matin regulation. Quiescence is a reversible state in which cells stop doing a lot of things they normally do, such as tran- scription, for long-term survival. Turns out cells use amazing tricks to enter, maintain, and exit quiescence. What has been your biggest “aha” moment in science? That would be when I realized chromatin structure can be al- tered in an ATP-dependent fashion, and that unknown factor in cell extract was likely using ATP for the reaction. When I started that project, I did not expect any mechanism like this.

FollowBPS Journals on Twitter @BiophysJ @BiophysicistJ

BJ Highlights Early Career Researchers For the second year in a row, Editor-in-Chief Jane Dyson has curated a collection of articles published in Biophysical Journal by early career investigators.

Happy Anniversary The Biophysical Society is celebrating 60 years of the Biophysical Journal .

The Society thanks all of the Editors-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Editorial Board Members, reviewers, authors, and readers for their commitment to making this the most important journal in biophysics today.

To view the collection from last year and this latest collection, see Spotlight on Early Career Investigators at https:/www.cell.com/biophysj/collections/

February 2020

8

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

Publications Member C rner

Important Dates March 1, 2020 Molecular Biophysics of Membranes, Tahoe City, CA • Abstract Submission Deadline April 17, 2020 Spatial Organization of Biological Functions, Bangalore, India

May 1, 2020 • Deadline for BPS Award Nominations May 1, 2020 Physical and Quantitative Approaches to Overcome Antibiotic Resistance, Stockholm, Sweden • Abstract Submission Deadline May 20, 2020 Physical and Quantitative Approaches to Overcome Antibiotic Resistance, Stockholm, Sweden • Early Registration Deadline

• Early Registration Deadline • Abstract Submission Deadline

Student Spotlight Matthew Halma University of Alberta Department of Physics

As you move forward in science, what type of research do you see yourself doing? Why? A specific study program may seem limiting, but if you keep an open mind, you may be able to spin it into something far greater than initially expected. The flipside of this is the need for radical responsibility, taking full ownership of one’s own path. There is the potential for great freedom, but you will have to keep yourself accountable in order to meet goals. Along with this is the responsibility to maintain proper self-care outside of one’s professional career, and make sure that efforts are sustainable over the long run.

Matthew Halma

Members in the News

Bernardo Pinto , University of Chicago, and Society member since 2014, was selected as a Pew Latin American Fellow.

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

Bernardo Pinto

The Biophysical Society is grateful to its Industry Partners.

GOLD

SILVER

For Industry Partner Membership information, contact alevine@biophysics.org.

February 2020

9

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

What You Should KnowBefore Heading to the Annual Meeting Registration

Thank you to our sponsors: ACS Omega Applied Photophysics Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Bruker Corporation Burroughs Wellcome Fund Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC Chroma Technology Dynamic Biosensors GmbH ELEMENTS SRL HORIBA Scientific Leica Microsystems LUMICKS Mad City Labs Mizar Imaging Molecular Devices Nanion Technologies NanoSurface Biomedical Olympus America Inc Photonics Media Physics Today Sophion Bioscience A/S Sutter Instrument The Company of Biologists The Journal of Physical Chemistry B The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters Wyatt Technology

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, February 18. Ballots will be distributed with your badge at the onsite registration desks.

Look for your registration confirmation with QR code that was sent by email, Friday, Jan- uary 31. 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 San Diego Convention Center, Lobby G. Onsite Registration Hours Friday, February 14 3:00 pm –5:00 pm Saturday, February 15 8:00 am –6:30 pm Sunday, February 16 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 confirma- tion via email. If you have not received your confirmation, 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.

Visit the Society booth located in the San Diego Convention Center Lobby G to purchase an Annual Meeting T-Shirt as well as other Society merchandise.

February 2020

10

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

Special Events OpeningMixer

Plan, Sync, Connect with theMobile App and Desktop Planner

Saturday, February 15, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Presentation of Awards and Biophysical Society Lecture, delivered by Sunny Xie Monday, February 17, 8:00 pm – Ballrooms ABCD Reception/Dance Monday, February 17, 9:30 pm – Hilton Sapphire Exhibit Hall With over 125 exhibitors, plan who you will be visiting in San Diego by viewing the live floor plan before you arrive. https:/ bit.ly/373dtP6 Exhibitor Raffle Win a Bose Portable Bluetooth Speaker!

Visit www.biophysics.org/2020meeting for more information on the Biophysical Society Events Desktop Planner and Events App. Search keyword “BPS Events” in the app stores below.

Daily Meet-Up Interested in making new acquaintances and experiencing the cuisine of San Diego? Meet at the Society Booth each evening, Sunday at 7:30 pm and Monday through Tuesday at 6:00 pm where a BPS member will coordinate dinner at a local restaurant. Undergraduate Student Lounge Need a quick place to unwind and relax or catch up on coursework while at the Annual Meeting? Visit the Undergraduate Student Lounge in Room 21 on the second level of the San Diego Convention Center. Biophysical Society TV BPS is again partnering with WebsEdge to bring Biophysical Society TV to the Annual Meeting! Biophysical Society TV features new episodes daily, including Thought Leadership and Annual Meeting News . View program highlights, “behind the scenes” interviews, and coverage of meeting events from the comfort of your own hotel by visiting www.biophysics. org/2020meeting.

When you arrive in San Diego, participate in the 2020 Exhibitor Passport Competition Exhibit Hall activity. Visit the 15 participating exhibitors, talk to them to find out the answer to their question, get your passport stamped, and drop off your passport at the Society Booth. Winner will be announced on Tuesday, February 18, in the Exhibit Hall.

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 #BPS20

biophysics.org/ 2020meeting

February 2020

11

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

Career Development

What to Expect in a Letter of Recommendation Dear Molly Cule,

in-depth analysis and perspective of the impact of your work. Anecdotal comments help to assure the reader that the writer actually knows you and has observed your work. Comments on the significance and impact of your work help the reader to understand how well you function as a scientist, at least in your field. At your career stage, it is important for the letter to provide enough detail to make clear that you have possession of and are driving your thesis projects. You need to be more than a minor player carrying out experimental procedures. Letter writers will also make comments about you personally, such as how well you work with others or as part of a team, and about your communication and leadership skills. They will often give a ranking or comparison to your peer group (“top 5 percent of students in the 25 years that I’ve been on faculty,” or “among the best two or three of the 30 graduate students I’ve trained”) and give their evaluation of your potential to contribute to the future lab. Hopefully the letter writer will customize each letter for the specific reader — you should provide information about the recipient. Generally, their web- page is sufficient. If the letter is for a fellowship application, it needs to address the specific questions asked by the funding agency and describe why you are appropriate for the award. You can see that the letter writer needs to know you pretty well. The reference should be a person familiar with your re- search and your performance in the lab. A course instructor’s letter is generally not as informative because the classroom is a different environment and situation than the laboratory. Provide them with your updated CV and a research state- ment, if available. They will need this information to talk about you (your undergraduate school and major, all your publications including abstracts, presentations, activities out- side of the lab, etc.). Your research statement should describe the research you have done as well as what you intend to do, or at least the directions you wish to pursue and the training you wish to seek. If you are asking for a letter of support for a fellowship, provide the proposal or at least the specific aims page so that the letter writer can comment on the project. I think the rank and position of the letter writer should be as high as possible, but make sure they actually will provide the letter. It is not uncommon for references to be late or not to deliver because they are busy and good letters take time to write. It should convey a sense of enthusiasm about you as a scientist and your capabilities. A “lukewarm” letter is not

I’m a fourth-year PhD student and preparing to apply for postdoctoral positions. I’m confused about what I should consider in asking professors to write reference letters for me. What should I expect from these letters? Whom should I ask and what informa- tion should I provide to them? Does it matter that they be all professors, work in the same field as me, or that they know me and my research very well? Signed, Career Builder

Dear Career, I think it is useful to consider these questions from the per- spectives of the people writing and reading the letters. The people who ask for your references obviously want to know if you are a person they want working in their labs and will contribute to their research programs. They will be investing a good portion of their grant or start-up funds to support you and they need to know your capabilities as a scientist techni- cally, intellectually, and creatively. They want to know if you can work independently and as a team member, how well you work with others, about your communication and leader- ship skills, and about your long-term career goals. They can extract a lot of this information from your CV and cover letter or personal statement, but several of their questions will be answered by your reference letters. As you move on in your career, the reference letters should give the reader an idea of your potential to develop and carry out your own significant research program. Eventually when you are an independent investigator, they should describe your standing and reputa- tion in the field. The duty of the letter writer is to state who they are and their relationship to you, which provides the basis for what they say about your capabilities. They will describe your scientif- ic contributions and achievements in general and hopefully describe how you developed your projects and accomplished your science to achieve results. A great letter will give an

Numbers By the

The BPS Job Board received 61,782 job views in 2019.

February 2020

12

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 and Outreach

Subgroups Membrane Transport Subgroup

helpful to the reader. At best, it will probably not answer their questions and at worse, it will give a negative impression. We have all heard stories where a letter writer will tell the stu- dent to write it themselves and they will sign. Hopefully this will not happen to you — focus on fostering potential letter writers to learn about you and your research before you need to ask for a letter. This is a process you should have started well before you finish your thesis. References can be faculty in your department or program with whom you interact such as your thesis committee members, and they can be scien- tists who may not know you as well personally, but know your science very well. A collaborator is perfect or they can be people from your field who appreciate your work. Hopefully they have heard your talks or had discussions with you at conferences. Later in your career, these types of references become ever more important, but are often difficult to identify for a graduate student. Nonetheless, you have hopefully been developing such relationships by attending conferences and participating in inter-lab and inter-institutional collaborations. A great way to develop a reference is to invite them to serve on your thesis committee as an outside reader. It is impres- sive to potential employers to find that you have developed professional relationships with prominent scientists from other institutions and that they can speak to the impact of your work. Good luck with landing your postdoc and in developing your research career. — Molly Cule

The 2020 Membrane Transport Subgroup Symposium will start at 1:30 pm on February 15, 2020. We have an excellent lineup of speakers: Grace Brannigan (Rutgers Univ.), Katherine Henzler-Wildman (Univ. of Wisconsin Madison), Osamu Nureki (Tokyo Univ.), and Randy Stockbridge (Univ. of Michigan). Four short talks by postdocs and students are selected from the submitted abstracts and with suggestions from the members. The business meeting will be immediately after the Sympo- sium from 5:00 pm to 5:30 pm . We will have a coffee break at about 3:00 pm and Lucie Delemotte has ordered double the amount of hot coffee and tea! We acknowledge Avanti Polar Lipids ( Walter A. Shaw ), Swedish e-Science Research Center ( Erik Lindahl ), and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ( Emad Tajkhorshid ) for their sponsorship. We would like to announce our new Subgroup Blog which can be found at: https:/www.biophysics.org/blog/updates-from- the-membrane-transport-subgroup In the first Blog post, research from Grace Brannigan, Randy Stockbridge, and Luis Cuello is highlighted. We welcome mem- bers to submit updates of research in their labs for posting on the Blog. Membership fees remain a major source of income for cov- ering the cost of the annual symposium. Please encourage members of your lab to sign up for the Membrane Transport Subgroup. BPS membership fees include membership to one Subgroup of your choice. See you in San Diego! — Susan Rempe , Chair; Ming Zhou , Vice Chair; Lucie Delemotte , Secretary-Treasurer

Connect with BPS

Cell Stretching Systems

Explorers Discoverers Innovators April 25–26, 2020 Washington, DC

20+ Years of Experience Cited in Over 200 Publications

Why is Strex the best option for your research? strexcell.com/seewhy

info@strexcell.com (866) 844-4374

February 2020

13

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

BPS Announces New Student Chapters BPS is proud to announce four new student chapters! The newly admitted chapters are: • Biophysics Genoa Student Chapter at the Istituto di Tecnologia of Genoa (Italy)

• UMASS Lowell Biophysics Student Chapter at UMASS Lowell (USA) • AL-MS Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society at the University of Alabama and Mississippi State University (USA) • UB Biophysics Club at the University of Buffalo (USA)

BPS is excited to welcome these four new student chapters into the program, and looks forward to working with them! The Spring Call for Student Chapters will open in March. BPS now has 30 student chapters worldwide (listed below). See if there’s a local chapter near you! • Alexandria University (Egypt) • AL-MS (University of Alabama/Mississippi State University) Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society • Amherst College Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society • Arizona Student Chapter • Biophysical Society San Diego

• Biophysics Genoa Student Chapter (Italy) • Biophysics Pashchim Student Chapter (India)

• Clemson University • Emory University

• Florida State University • Johns Hopkins University • Kent State University • Mustafa Kemal University (Turkey) • NY Capital District

• Puerto Rico Biophysical Society Student Chapter • SJU (St. John’s University) Student Chapter of BPS • Texas A&M University • The City of New York (CUNY) Student Chapter • The University of Minnesota Duluth • The University of New Mexico • UB (University of Buffalo) Biophysics Club • UMASS Lowell Biophysics Student Chapter • University of California Davis • University of Denver Biophysics Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society • University of Lethbridge & University of Montana (USA & Canada) University of Maryland- College Park • University of Michigan • University of Missouri • University of Toronto Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society (Canada) • York University (Canada)

For any student chapter related inquiries, please contact Joon Kwak at jkwak@biophysics.org. For more information on the BPS Student Chapters program, please visit www.biophysics.org/student-chapters.

February 2020

14

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

Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting

Physical and Quantitative Approaches to Overcome Antibiotic Resistance Stockholm, Sweden | August 30 – September 2, 2020 Antibiotic resistance is a pressing global challenge to human health, and biophysics and bioengineering have much to offer to the global response to this challenge. This meeting will help bring together scientists working to diagnose, understand, and overcome antibiotic resistance. Engineering approaches and the biophysical methodologies of spectroscopy, single- molecule and single-cell microscopy, computational modeling, and development of functional assays are uniquely suited to help answer these questions. This meeting seeks to explore the interface between biophysical research and the microbiology of drug resistance, highlighting the breadth of work that spans these two fields and encouraging new synergies to tackle this global health problem.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Peter Kasson , University of Virginia, USA Joanna Slusky , University of Kansas, USA Georgios Sotiriou , Karolinska Institute, Sweden SPEAKERS Michael Baym , HarvardMedical School, USA Anushree Chatterjee , University of Colorado Boulder, USA Christine Dunham , Emory University, USA Ian Gilmore , National Physical Laboratory, United Kingdom Cindy Gunawan , University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Maximiliano Gutierrez , Francis Crick Institute, United Kingdom Birgitta Henriques-Normark , Karolinska Institute, Sweden Paul Hergenrother , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Alfonos Jaramillo , University of Warwick, United Kingdom Syma Khalid , University of Southampton, United Kingdom Roy Kishony , Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Israel Colin Kleanthous , University of Oxford, United Kingdom Natalia Komarova , University of California, Irvine, USA Mary Dunlop , Boston University, USA Johan Elf , Uppsala University, Sweden

Abstract Submission Deadline: May 1, 2020

Jintao Liu , Tsinghua University, China Kaspar Locher , ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Ben Luisi , University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Megan O’Mara , Australian National University, Australia Laura Piddock , University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Early Registration Deadline: May 20, 2020

K. Martin Pos , Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Natalie Strynadka , University of British Columbia, Canada Alejandro Vila , CONICET-Instituto de BiologíaMolecular y Celular de Rosario, Argentina Mathias Winterhalter , Jacobs University, Germany KevinWood , University of Michigan, USA Yi Yan Yang , A*STAR, Singapore Pamela Yeh , University of California Los Angeles, USA Helen Zgurskaya , University Of Oklahoma, USA

For more information, visit www.biophysics.org/2020Stockholm

Biophysical Society

5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110 Rockville, Maryland 20852

February 2020

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

Biophysical Society Meeting

March March 15–18 EMBO|EMBL Symposium: Inter-Organ Communication in Physiology and Disease Heidelberg, Germany https:/www.embo-embl-sym- posia.org/symposia/2020/ EES20-02/ March 29–April 2 22nd International Neuroscience Winter Conference Sölden, Austria http:/www.winterneurosci- ence.org/2020/

April April 2–6 Keystone Symposia: New Discoveries in the Immunobiology of Asthma: Implications for Therapy Snowbird, UT, USA https:/www.keystonesym- posia.org/KS/Online/ Events/2020D1/Details.aspx- ?EventKey=2020D1 April 19–21 Cell Symposia: The Conceptual Power of Single-Cell Biology San Francisco, CA, USA http:/www.cell-sympo- sia.com/conceptual-sin- gle-cells-2020/

May May 12–15 Biophysics at the Dawn of Exascale Computers Hamburg, Germany https:/www.biophysics. org/2020hamburg#/ May 14–15 Tumor Heterogeneity, Placticity and Therapy Leuven, Belgium https:/www.vibconferences. be/events/tumor-heteroge- neity-plasticity-and-therapy

June June 7–12 Molecular Biophysics of Membranes Tahoe, CA, USA https:/www.biophysics. org/2020tahoe#/ June 7–11 New Approaches to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Ascona, Switzerland https:/www.biozentrum. unibas.ch/de/events/ conferences-symposia/ nacarb2020/

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