Biophysical Society Bulletin | March 2019

March 2019

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Celebrate BiophysicsWeek 2019! Mark your calendars and plan to participate in Biophysics Week, March 25–29, 2019. Biophysics Week is an international celebration of the field and an opportunity to share the significant contributions biophysics has made to science with the general public, policy makers, students, and scientists in related fields. Below you will find a calendar of special events organized by the Society during this unique week dedicated to you and the field of biophysics. Monday, March 25 Biophysics Week Kickoff Event at Johns Hopkins University Tuesday, March 26 Capitol Hill Briefing: The Cryo-EM Thursday, March 28 Johns Hopkins University Student Poster Night at Baltimore City Hall State Advocacy Days

BiophysicsWeek Partners

Friday, March 29

Revolution presented by Eva Nogales Sponsors: American Society for Cell Biology, JEOL.USA, the Lawrence Berkley National Lab, and Thermo-Fisher Scientific Supported by: The University of California, Berkeley Wednesday, March 27 Webinar: High Throughput Single-Molecule Technologies with TJ Ha , Ilya Finkelstein , and Xiaowei Zhuang .

Webinar: Cover Letters Are Annoying, but Here’s How You Write Them Webinar with Alaina G. Levine Video Release: Nurturing a More Inclu- sive STEM Enterprise by Understanding Our Biases

Inside Biophysicist in Profile

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Public Affairs From the Blog

There are also new resources available each day: Cell Picture Show, Take 5 for Science Policy videos, Using Your PhD in Non-Academic Careers videos Visit our Biophysics Week website to find Biophysics Week Affiliate events taking place around the world, plus additional information and resources, including profiles of biophysicists and lesson plans. www.biophysics.org/BiophysicsWeek Let us know how you are celebrating—#BiophysicsWeek!

Grants and Opportunities

Publications

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Career Development

Communities 11 Member Corner & Important Dates 13 Student Spotlight 13 Obituary 14 Upcoming Events 16

The Biophysical Society is accepting nominations for the 2020 Society Awards. Know someone who has made a great contribution to

The nomination deadline for all Society Awards is May 1, 2019. Society Awards will be presented at the 64th Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, February 15–19, 2020.

biophysics? Consider nominating them for a Society Award! To submit a nomination, and to review the full list of awards, eligibility requirements, and required materials, visit: https:/www. biophysics.org/awards-funding/society-awards

Biophysicist in Profile

Carol Robinson Areas of Research Membrane protein complexes - particularly their structure and regulation

Institution University of Oxford

At-a-Glance

Carol Robinson , Chair of Doctor Lee’s Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, will deliver this year’s Biophysical Society Lecture at the 63rd Annual Meeting in Baltimore. Learn more about her life and unconventional career path.

Carol Robinson

Carol Robinson grew up in Kent, England attending a local school where, in addition to her academic subjects, she learned practical subjects such as typing, needlework and cookery. Leaving school at 16, she took up a position as a Gas Liquid Chromatographer at Pfizer, where she discovered her love of mass spectrometry. “Although, the 16-year old Carol thought this job title was really good, I didn’t find the work “ It was when I reached the mass spectrometry laboratory that I felt most at home. I really took to it andmade it my career. ” interesting”, she shares. “My role as a technician, however, involved rotations around all the laboratories and it was when I reached the mass spectrometry laboratory that I felt most at home. I really took to it and made it my career.” Working by day on the mass spectrometer, she studied before and after work, completing her undergraduate degree in seven years. In 1980, she was accepted by the University of Cambridge to continue her studies in mass spectrometry and to embark upon her doctorate. She had, by this time, left her post at Pfizer and was able to apply herself full-time to her studies, completing her PhD in just two years. Her unconven- tional path to PhD was to set the trend for her the rest of her career. Early in her time as a postdoc, Robinson made the decision to step away from her career in order to spend time at home with her three young children. During this time she took on a variety of part-time teaching posts that worked with her fam- ily’s schedule, before a chance advertisement she encoun- tered at her local library set her back on the path to academia. The Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford was advertising for a postdoctoral researcher in mass spectrom- etry; despite her eight years away from the field, Robinson

decided to apply, recognizing that her knowledge wouldn’t be as up to date as candidates who were actively engaged in research. Luckily, someone on the hiring committee remem- bered Robinson from her time at Cambridge and decided to take a chance on her, and so in early 1992, she re-entered academia as a postdoctoral researcher in the mass spectrom- etry laboratory at the University of Oxford. This period represented the most challenging in Robinson’s career. She had to learn new skills to keep up with current technology, as well as catch up with advances in her field. “It was a whole new era,” she explains. “From the peptides that I had worked with in my PhD, the field had moved on to whole proteins and nucleic acids — I had a lot of reading to do. As well as getting ‘up-to-speed’ with research in the field, I also had to upgrade my IT and presentation skills which I did over time and with the help of my mentors, courses and seminars.” “ From the peptieds that I had worked with inmy PhD, the field hadmoved on to whole proteins and nucleic acids — I had a lot of reading to do. ” Not only had she soon caught up with current research and updated her skills, but her research was starting to attract attention — so much so that she was able to secure a pres- tigious Royal Society University Research Fellowship that provided her with 10 years of funding. With this funding she started to explore protein folding reactions, monitoring them by mass spectrometry to provide new insight into transient states. In 2001, she returned to the University of Cambridge to continue her research into the mass spectrometry of protein assemblies and to become the first female professor in the department of chemistry. While at Cambridge she carried out her first experiments to determine the overall topology of

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Biophysicist in Profile

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

proteins and began to project intact mem- brane protein complexes into the gas phase. She then returned to Oxford in 2009 to take up the Chair of Dr. Lee’s Professor of Chemis- try, a position she holds to this day. In 2013, Robinson was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her contributions to science. During her time at Oxford she has focused pri- marily on the relationship between membrane proteins and lipids. “We have recently discov- ered an entirely new way to study membrane proteins directly from their native environ- ment without any chemical intervention. The approach involves sonication of lipid vesicles and then exposure of these sonicated vesicles to high fields in the mass spectrometer,” she shares. “The resulting mass spectra are in- credibly complex, take many hours to interpret but have revealed new protein assemblies and previously unknown interactions between complexes. We’re very excited to see where this research leads us.” Going forward, Robinson plans to adapt some of these recently developed mass spectrom- etry approaches to study protein complexes within their native environments. “I think we have a lot of opportunities to apply this ap- proach to different membranes and vesicles – I am excited about the possibilities,” she says. Despite being an accomplished leader in her field, she says that one of the most rewarding aspects of her job is to see young scientists in her research group going on to great positions and careers. She has always encouraged them to maintain the work–life balance. One of her own role models is Dorothy Hodgkin, who succeeded in raising three children as well as having a highly distinguished scientific career.

When she is not working, Robinson enjoys taking part in a wide range of outdoor activi- ties, but especially running, which she tries to fit in regularly each week. “I also enjoy cook- ing, especially entertaining — I love to host friends and family around the table or out- doors in our garden,” she says. Asked how she would describe her research to a sixth grade teacher, Robinson says, “My research explores proteins and their inter- actions in the gas phase — an entirely new medium in which proteins can be interrogated. In this phase the protein molecules are able to express themselves in different ways. We can learn new things about the ways in which they do this. I think of it as the proteins having free- dom of movement – akin to running on a track as opposed to running in a swimming pool. The protein molecules are not constrained in the gas phase as they would be in solid or liquid states.” “ Maintain the passion that brought you into this field originally—and even in the face of difficulties persevere for as long as it takes—you have to keep going. ” Robinson recommends that young scientists focus on “the three ‘P’s – Passion, Persever- ance and Plenty of both! Maintain the passion that brought you into this field originally — and even in the face of difficulties persevere for as long as it takes — you have to keep going. I often say that experiments are not failing — they are simply not working – yet!”

Society Office Jennifer Pesanelli Executive Officer Newsletter

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

Revisiting the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology at the Single-Molecule Level Lima, Peru | July 18-21, 2019

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.

Abstract Submission Deadline: March 8

Registration Deadline: April 5

www.biophysics.org/ 2019Lima

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Public Affairs

ProlongedWashington Shutdown Hits Science Scientists and the American public have been feeling the effects of the longest (partial) shutdown in Washington’s history. While roughly two-thirds of the government received its funding on-time, a partial shutdown occurred on

Before his appointment, Droegemeier served as the Vice President for Research at the University of Oklahoma and as a Cabinet Secretary of Science and Technology in the Oklahoma state government. He also previously served on the National Science Board under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and is a meteorologist by training. Droegemeier started in his White House role in January. The NSF funded over $118 million in research grants from December 2017 to January 2018, but due to the shutdown, no grants have been funded in 2019. Even families or school trips attempting to visit a National Park or a Smithsonian museum were, in most cases, unable to during the shutdown. According to a January 28, 2019, report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), government spending was reduced by $3 billion and economic growth was hurt during the shutdown. As a result, analysts believe U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may be reduced by as much as 0.2% in the first quarter of 2019. While the end of the shutdown comes as a relief, Congress and the White House have a limited window to reach a deal to prevent another lapse in government funding. The Biophysical Society advocated for a speedy end to the government shutdown.

Kelvin Droegemeier Assumes Role as Director of OSTP Of the 800,000 federal employees who were furloughed or forced to work without pay, thousands were researchers. Internal scientific work was all but halted at the Agriculture Department, the National Institute of Standards and Technol- ogy (NIST), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The damage was not limited to intramural researchers, as extra- mural researchers felt the pain as well. December 20, 2018, when congressional leaders and the White House failed to fund the remaining one-third due to disagreements over funding for a proposed US-Mexico border wall. The partial shutdown became the longest in American history on January 12, 2019, as it surpassed the previous 21-day record set in 1995.

In one of the last acts of the 115th Congress, the Senate confirmed Kelvin Droegemeier as the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technol- ogy Policy. In his Senate confirmation hearing in August 2018, Droegemeier described himself as an educator, public policy professional, and a storm chas- er. If confirmed, Droegemeier pledged that he would focus on improving our STEM education pipeline, encouraging

Ambassador Program

Kelvin Droegemeier

stronger private–public partnerships, and ensuring promising discoveries and technologies are effectively transferred to the private sector. He will now have a chance to fulfill his pledge to the Senate.

Empowering Biophysics Globally Learn more at www.biophysics.org/ambassador

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Public Affairs

BiophysicsWeek The Society’s Public Affairs Committee is developing some exciting events and programs to coincide with Biophysics Week 2019. Take 5 for Science Policy The Biophysical Society has conducted video interviews with Washington, DC policy makers to discuss science advocacy, policy, and the perception of science on Capitol Hill and in the public sphere. These short, non-partisan videos will be shared during Biophysics Week on our website and social media pages. Interviews: Honorable Rush Holt

Congressional Briefings The Biophysical Society is hosting two congressional briefings in March. On March 13, the Society is working with Congressman Bill Foster to host our

member Jennifer Doudna for a CRIS- PR-101 Briefing. The presentation will provide a lay-person-friendly overview of the technology, touch on patenting issues, and is intended for the more than 60 new members of Congress. On March 26, the Society is working with Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D- CA) to host our member Eva Nogales for a briefing titled The Cryo-EM Revolution. In 2017, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists who played key roles in developing Cryo-EM. The technique is now quickly becoming an important scientific tool that will

Chief Executive Officer, American Asso- ciation for the Advancement of Science Former Member of Congress (D-NJ) Co-founder of the Congressional Research & Development Caucus

impact many areas of human health, including drug discov- ery and development. Nogales will discuss the history of the technology, how it is used today, and share some potential future policy recommendations to further its development. This briefing will be sponsored by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), JEOL.USA, the Lawrence Berkeley Nation- al Lab (LBL), and Thermo-Fisher Scientific, in partnership with the University of California – Berkeley.

Honorable Bill Foster Member of Congress (D-IL)

Member, House Science Committee The only trained physicist in Congress

From the Blog biophysics.org/blog

Honorable Dan Lipinski Member of Congress (D-IL)

How Does Congress Decide on the Annual Spending of Our Tax Dollars? Public Affairs Committee members Jonathan King , MIT, and Eric Sundberg , University of Maryland, along with BPS Public Affairs and Outreach Director Sean Winkler , explain the Congressional budget process on the BPS blog: https:/ www.biophysics.org/blog/public-affairs-committee-how- does-congress-decide-on-the-annual-spending-of-our- tax-dollars

Member, House Science Committee Engineer by training and holds a PhD in Political Science

Honorable Jamie Raskin Member of Congress (D-MD)

The National Institutes of Health is contained in his Congressional District Colon cancer survivor, champion for biomedical research

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Public Affairs

Mid-Year on Capitol Hill It’s hard to believe that I am halfway through my Congressio- nal fellowship. It has been an exciting time to be working on the Hill! My fellowship began last September with a two- week AAAS crash course in government and public policy. At the end of the month, I interviewed in Congressional offices and joined the health team in the office of Senator Feinstein (D-CA), representing California. It has been a dream come true to work for my home-state senator on a policy portfolio that matches and expands my interests.

pitch new ideas — not too different from lab meetings! These meetings have been an opportunity for me to learn about the issues outside my own policy portfolio. For the rest of the week, I am busy working on my own legislative projects, attending Congressional briefings, and meeting with constitu- ent groups. Occasionally, I am asked to write briefing memos, draft letters to federal agencies, and respond to the day’s news headlines. It’s an exciting and demanding job. One of the health team’s major accomplishments in the last few months was a bipartisan letter to the National Insti- tutes of Health (NIH) asking the Institutes to investigate how standard inclusion criteria used in clinical trials may be systematically excluding racial and ethnic minorities. Broad- ening eligibility criteria to include more diverse participants would make it easier to recruit patients for trials and provide better data on how therapies will work in heterogeneous patient populations. The NIH responded in December detailing several steps the Institutes are taking to include more wom- en, minorities, children, and older adults in clinical trials. This included broadening eligibility criteria at the National Cancer Institute to make clinical trials more representative. My biggest take away from working on Capitol Hill so far has been the professionalism and dedication of Hill staffers. Everyone I have interacted with thinks critically about their policy issues and cares deeply about public service. A huge thank you to the Biophysical Society for the opportunity to spend this year on the Hill. Hermes Taylor-Weiner —2018-2019 BPS Congressional Fellow

Taylor-Weiner in Capitol Building

Senator Feinstein has served as California’s Senator for 26 years and holds seats on several important committees. In addition to her well-known work addressing gun violence and banning torture, the Senator has been a long-time advocate for science. She serves as co-chair of the Senate Cancer Coalition and originally authored the legislation to create the Breast Cancer Research Stamp, which has raised more than $85 million for breast cancer research. I work on the heath portfolio in the office, which includes health insurance, medical research funding, and Food and Drug Administration regulations. My work in the Senate office is an interesting mix of activi- ties. Most weeks begin with a staff meeting that includes the full legislative staff and the Senator. During the meeting, we review the week’s legislative agenda, update the Senator on the status of ongoing projects and have the opportunity to

Find a Job. Post a Job. Visit the BPS Job Board today. https:/ biophysics-jobs.careerwebsite.com

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Public Affairs

Grants & Opportunities A Call for Multinational Research Projects on PersonalizedMedicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases This opportunity is co-funded by the EU Joint Programme - Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) and the European Commission. Proposals are invited for ambitious, innovative, multinational and multidisciplinary collaborative research projects to change the trajectory of neurodegenerative diseases through the development of precision medicine approaches. Deadline: Pre-proposals are due March 12, 2019; full proposals are due June 25, 2019. Website: http:/www.neurodegenerationresearch.eu/ initiatives/annual-calls-for-proposals/open-calls/per- sonalised-medicine-2019/ India Launches Two Science Channels, Hoping toMake Science more Popular According to a report in India Today , India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) is launching two new science channels – DD Science and India Science – to help spread Around theWorld Chinese Scientist Who Used CRISPR to ”Engineer” HIV-resistant Babies May Face Legal Consequences On January 20, 2019, officials representing the Chinese Minis- try of Health announced that Chinese scientist He Jiankui may face charges for his controversial use of CRISPR technolo- gies. In September 2018, He announced the birth of the first gene-edited babies, twin girls, whose DNA had been altered to be resistant to HIV. The scientist claimed that his use of the technology was approved by local ethics committees, but based on the Ministry of Health’s announcement, this does not appear to be the case. The Ministry accused him of violating federal laws in pursuit of personal fame and fortune. However, legal experts questioned the announcement, citing a lack of clarity in the law. It remains to be seen how the charges – if filed – will be resolved.

scientific information and interest amongst the Indian public at-large. DD Science will be featured on the Doordashan Na- tional TV Channel, which reaches over 90 percent of the Indi- an population, and India Science will be a web-based channel. The DST called this effort a watershed moment for India and hopes the efforts will help to generate public interest in and understanding of science. Two-Thirds of European Scientists and Engineers Considering Leaving UK due to Brexit According to a report in Chemistry World , a survey found that nearly two-thirds of European scientists and engineers work- ing in the United Kingdom are considering leaving the country as a result of Brexit. Scientists cited access to funding and job insecurity as their primary motivators. The British Parliament recently rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s initial Brexit deal, leaving limited time for a new deal to be negotiated before the March 29 deadline. Connect with BPS

Mass Spectrometric Assays for the Reliable and Reproducible Detection of Proteins/Peptides of Importance in Obesity Research (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Applications are invited from institutions and organizations proposing the development of targeted mass spectrometric assays for proteins and peptides of primary interest to the obesity research community. The proposed assays should be highly reproducible, easily transferable to other laboratories, easy to multiplex, and validated in human plasma or serum. Deadline: April 17, 2019 Website: https:/grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/ RFA-DK-19-001.html

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Publications

Special Issue: Membrane Protein Signaling Biophysical Journal Call for Papers

Know the Editor Anatoly B. Kolomeisky Rice University Editor, Genomic Biophysics

Editors: Andrew Plested and Vasanthi Jayaraman

Anatoly B. Kolomeisky

Biophysical Journal will publish a special issue of the Journal with a focus on membrane protein signaling. The Journal welcomes submissions that report on biophysics of membrane protein signaling, with emphasis on the structure and dynamics of

What are you currently working on that excites you? I am trying to understand the molecular mechanisms of cancer. In contrast to the popular biochemical and genetic methods, we employ mathematical models to describe the dynamics of tumor formation. Our idea is that the dynamics of the appearance of cancer and its progression can tell us a lot about the underlying mechanisms. We are developing a theoretical framework which would predict the probability and, most importantly, the average time before specific can- cers will appear. What excites me is that this will be very use- ful for the future of personalized medicine. I dream that in the future a patient will go to a doctor who will apply our frame- work to evaluate the risks of different cancers for this person. This will be a tremendous help in improving our health. What has been your most exciting discovery as a biophysicist? Recently, my collaborators and I investigated the question of what criteria are utilized by biological cells to optimize their functions. It is widely believed that living systems are trying to make as few mistakes as possible. It is based on observa- tions that the amount of errors is very small in living systems. To our big surprise, after we applied our theoretical method for several biological systems, we found that speed is more important than the accuracy as long as the number of errors is tolerable. This changed my views of the fundamental principles that govern biological processes.

channels, transporters and receptors. Physiological signaling, model systems and sensory biology are of particular interest. The journal aims to publish the highest quality work and articles should have sufficient importance to be of general interest to biophysicists, regardless of their research specialty.

Please contact the editors with queries about scope and suitability.

Deadline for submission: July 1, 2019

For more information, go to www.biophysj.org

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Publications

2019 Biophysical Society Thematic Meetings

Biology and Physics Confront Cell-Cell Adhesion Aussois, France | October 14-17, 2019

Cell-cell adhesion is a fundamental biological and physical determinant of tissue organization, both in health and disease. However, the biology and physics of adhesion are often treated very differently. Cell and developmental biologists commonly focus on the molecular mechanisms responsible for cell-cell adhesion, whereas soft matter physicists consider principally the rheological properties of the contact interface. This meeting aims to bring these views and communities together, along with biophysicists and computational scientists, to develop a unified perspective on cell-cell adhesion that could not be achieved by any one community alone.

Organizing Committee: Sandrine Etienne-Manneville , Institut Pasteur, France Jean-Leon Maître , Institut Curie, France Virgile Viasnoff , National University of Singapore Alpha Yap , University of Brisbane, Australia

Abstract Submission & Registration Deadline: June 14, 2019

www.biophysics.org/ 2019Aussois

Career Development

This monthMolly Cule invited a guest to answer the question HowDo I Explain a Computational or Theoretical Model to Experimental Biologists?

It is not an easy job. Let me just draw your attention to one important thing that people may ignore: The model can be useful, but that is conditional on how one asks questions and formu- lates the model. First, let us revisit what a model can provide and cannot. A model is con-

of interest are time averages or dynamical measurements, and whether stochastic or deterministic methods are needed, among other considerations. Consequently, the applicability and reliability of the model depend on how closely the model resembles the original system, whether the simplifications have been reasonably made, how well the current model fits with the existing knowledge or experimental data, and whether the model is able to predict experimental measur- ables for realistic tests. In summary, if you’re an expert specializing in theory or mod- eling and simulation, let your experimental colleagues know which types of questions they can ask, as well as the power and the limitation of your specialties. If you pursue quanti- tative modeling in general, you do not only want to tell your experimental partners the model conclusions or predictions, but also want to let them be aware of the assumptions of the model, the reasoning possibly, the essentialities of methods, and even some caveats. As such, when the model conclusions or predictions appear awry, you know that you don’t have to blame the model or yourself first; you can remedy your model assumptions or settings to see if that helps. After all, all mod- els are wrong or simplified, but some are useful, and a few, hopefully, can be interesting and inspiring. Jin Yu Beijing Computational Science Research Center

ceived as a simplification of reality. We build a model based on existing knowledge and reasonable assumptions. One can use the model to draw insightful conclusions and make testable predictions. Accordingly, the accuracy of conclusions or pre- dictions depends on the reliability of the underlying model or assumptions, which are unknown or to be examined. Computational biophysics may deal with modeling and sim- ulation of bio-molecules, for example, to reveal fundamental molecular dynamics related to biological functions. The force fields that specify the forces to be implemented onto the modeled particles have been physically as well as empirically determined. That means simplifications and assumptions have been involved in formulating the molecular model, e.g., from the quantum mechanics level to classical atomic level, or to a further coarse-grained level. To obtain sensible answers regarding a particular type of model, questions need to be asked at a commensurate level. Be aware that as a more refined structural resolution is demanded, a more restricted simulation time scale can be achieved for investigating the system dynamics, under a limited amount of computational resources. That is to say, if one is interested in long-time dy- namics of the system, one has to sacrifice molecular details, and vice versa. For phenomenological models that can be flexibly formulated at any level of interest, the quality of the model relies more explicitly on the model assumptions and set-up. In quantita- tive biology or study of a complex system, data sets collected experimentally may demand quantitative modeling first, before probing the highly elusive underlying physical mecha- nisms. To formulate the model, a modeler can communicate with experimental partners on the basics of the systems first: For example, how many particles or subunits are involved, are there interactions or coupling among them, and which types, i.e., the nearest-neighbor interaction or a long range type. Then one has to make it clear whether the quantities

Cover Letters Are Annoying, but Here’s How You Write Them March 29, 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

Register Today at biophysics.org/webinars

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Communities

Committee for Inclusion and Diversity 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 Committee for Inclusion and Diversity (CID) is dedicated to broadening participation, enhancing visibility, and promot- ing career opportunities for historically underrepresented groups in biophysics. The committee aims to foster a community inclusive to all biophysicists at the BPS Annual Meeting and performs out- reach to a diversity of student populations who may someday be inspired to pursue biophysics careers. The committee’s activities play an integral role in recruiting and retaining a diverse biophysics community. At the BPS Annual Meeting, the committee is involved with the Travel Awards Reception and rotating workshop topics relevant to inclusive STEM educational and professional cul- tures. This year, the committee is leading an Annual Meeting session on implicit bias — our unconscious stereotypes and attribution of traits to individuals from certain groups that can affect our ability to equitably hire and collaborate with others. This session will help scientists recognize and reflect on their unrealized biases and become better allies. In outreach to future biophysicists, the committee represents BPS at major student conferences focused on convening historically underrepresented groups in science. These events include the Society Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics & Native American in Science (SACNAS) annual meeting, the Annu- al Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), and the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) annual meeting. CID puts on a biophysics sym- posium at the SACNAS annual meeting, and participates in and sponsors the undergraduate research poster sessions at several conferences. The committee also seeks to enhance the visibility of our di- verse BPS community through contributions to the Biophys- icist in Profile series, intentionally highlighting biophysicists of varied backgrounds. This year, the committee is making

a recognized effort to include biophysicists from countries other than the United States and LGBTQ+ biophysicists in this series. This provides important context for members on the diversity of our community, and may offer role models for early career scientists from historically marginalized groups. The committee is made up of volunteer members who serve staggered three-year terms, renewable once. The current chair is Marina Ramirez-Alvarado of the Mayo Clinic. 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.

The Biophysical Society is grateful to its 2018 Industry Partners.

GOLD SILVER

Numbers By the Since the BPS webinar program started in 2015, 1,491 people have registered for the webinars.

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

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Communities

2019 Call for Networking Events Are you looking to connect with local biophysicists? Do you have an idea for a networking event and want to host one in your area? BPS can help! Since 2011, BPS has encouraged local communities of biophysicists to come together by providing mini- grants to support such events. These events have brought together local scientists (Society members and non-members) to discuss various topics in biophysics and to share their experiences, research, and ideas with their local community. All current Society members inside and outside of the United States are eligible to apply. Please note that your event must meet the following requirements: • The event should be no longer than one day; • It should be a stand-alone event (not part of a larger conference); • The event should promote interaction between different institutions and/or communities in a geographical area not served by the BPS Annual Meeting; • There should be an emphasis on promotion of biophysics; • The event must take place in an area not currently well served by other opportunities for networking among biophysicists; • A meeting size of approximately 25 to a maximum of 150 attendees is best; • It must be advertised prominently as a BPS-sponsored event; and • If there is a speaker list, it should include graduate students and postdocs. BPS will be accepting networking event proposals for events occurring in the summer and fall of 2019 at the earliest. The networking event submission site will be open March 15–April 30, 2019. If selected, you may receive up to $500 through the Membership Committee’s mini-grant program to host the event. For more information about the proposal requirements, or for more information on upcoming networking events, please visit

https:/www.biophysics.org/networking-events. Upcoming Networking Events: The Brisbane Calcium Symposium May 1 Queensland, Australia Early Careers in Biophysics: Leveraging Your Ph.D. May 17 Madison, Wisconsin Western Canada Biophysics

Use Your Expertise to Make a Difference! Be an inspiration to your community and help change the lives of those interested in or studying science. The FaB Network is free and accessible by members and non- members, but only BPS members may add their names to FaB. The network is designed to provide the best match to users searching for a biophysicist for any of the afore- mentioned activities. To join FaB, login or create your myBPS account and get involved. Help build this new network by signing up today. For more information, visit biophysics.org/ get-involved.

Networking Meeting September (Date TBD) Kelowna, BC, Canada

Please visit each event’s page, accessible by links here www.biophysics.org/meetings/NetworkingEvents for more information about registration and abstract submission details. Plan to come out and network with fellow biophysicists in your area!

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Member Corner

Important Dates BPS Thematic Meetings Multiscale Modeling of Chromatin: Bridging Experiment with Theory March 31–April 5, 2019, Les Houches, France

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

Quantitative Aspects of Membrane Fusion and Fission May 6–10, 2019, Padova, Italy

Student Spotlight Chon Lok Lei University of Oxford

Department of Computer Science As you move forward in science, what type of research do you see yourself doing? Why? My current research is in computational/mathematical modelling of electrophysiology. In particular, I am interested in tailoring mathematical models to individual stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes for studying pharmaceutical drug safety. I foresee myself continuing to use mathematical and computational models to explore and explain biological processes. As a physicist-turned-computational biologist, my goal would be to study biological systems in the way that physicists quantify physical systems, using advanced statistical models to design and analyze experiments to help in building models.

Chon Lok Lei

Members in the News

Jane Richardson , Duke University, and Society member since 1977, received the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Alexander Hol- laender Award in Biophysics. (photo credit: Jared Lazarus, Duke University)

Gregory Voth , University of Chicago, and Soci- ety member since 1996, received the Ameri- can Chemical Society’s Joel Henry Hildebrand Award in the Theoretical & Experimental Chemistry of Liquids.

Jane Richardson

Gregory Voth

Eve Marder , Brandeis University, and Society member since 1995, received the NAS Award in the Neurosciences.

Lewis Kay , University of Toronto, and Society member since 1998, received the Nakanishi Award.

Eve Marder

Lewis Kay

Two Society members were named co-winners of the American Physical Society’s Max Delbrück Prize in Biological Physics: Ken Dill , State University of New York, Stony Brook, and Society member since 1979; and Jose Onuchic , Rice University, and Society member since 1991.

Ken Dill

Jose Onuchic

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Obituary

Michèle Auger Michèle Auger passed away on October 29th, 2018, at the age of 55. She was both a talented researcher and an exceptional teacher, not to mention an exceptional person. She had an enormous impact on science in Quebec and Canada and will be missed by all at Université Laval, as well as by the chemistry and biophysics communities across Canada and around the world.

Michèle served on numerous grant selection committees, notably at the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. She also organized various conferences and symposia, including the Meeting of the International Soci- ety for Magnetic Resonance (ISMAR) in Quebec City in 2017. Finally, Michèle was very engaged in promoting chemistry and sciences to the general public. She established an interactive activity on perfume fabrication and a very popular lecture entitled “The Chemistry of Odours: From Skunks to Chanel,” which she continued to deliver until very recently. Without doubt, her most notable contribution to scientific outreach started in 2011 for the International Year of Chemistry, when she co-founded “Attraction Chimique,” a series of interactive activities to promote chemistry to school children and the general public. To date, “Attraction Chimique” has initiated chemistry to over 400,000 people, mostly teenagers. Michèle joined the Biophysical Society in 1987, and was particularly active in the Biophysical Society of Canada (BSC) where she served on the Executive Committee, as Treasurer, and as Secretary. To recognize her outstanding contributions, the BSC created the Michèle Auger Award for Exceptional Service in 2016, with Michèle being the inaugural winner of this award. Michèle Auger was a woman of values and great empathy, involved, passionate for books, sports, music and science. But most of all, she was an inspiring person. Everyone that crossed paths with Michèle will remember her as a model to follow, an exceptional woman who passed away too soon. — Normand Voyer , University Laval — John Baenziger , President, Canadian Biophysical Society

Michèle Auger

After obtaining her B.Sc. in 1985, Michèle joined the group of Dr. Ian Smith at the University of Ottawa to pursue her PhD studies in biophysics. It is here where she developed her great passion for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and its use in the study of biological systems. After graduat- ing from the University of Ottawa in 1990, Michèle continued research as a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Dr. Robert G. Griffin at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is there she got interested in the use of solid-state NMR to study bi- ological membranes. She joined the Department of Chemistry at Laval in July 1991 as an assistant professor and became a full professor in 2000. Her namesake lab was founded with the aim of understand- ing the relationship between the structure, dynamics, and interactions of different macromolecules of biological interest. Specific research interests include the study of proteins and peptides with antimicrobial character, amyloid peptides, and silk proteins. Her research findings have been published in more than 125 peer-reviewed journals. For the quality and innovative character of her work, Michèle received several distinctions, including the Barringer Award from the Spectroscopy Society of Canada in 2002, the Clara-Benson Award from the Cana- dian Society for Chemistry in 2007, and she was nominated Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada in 2010. During her career, she trained over one hundred undergrad- uates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars, often receiving awards for her outstanding teaching contributions. Michèle was particularly proud of the Communication for Chemists course that she created from scratch. Anyone who knew Michèle knew how close she was to students and how much she cared about them. Her door was always open. In 2006, she co-founded a unique initiative: “Les 24 heures de la chimie” designed to promote chemistry and strengthen the sense of community in the Department of Chemistry.

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Obituary

March 2019 www.biophysics.org/ 2020meeting

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Biophysical Society

5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110 Rockville, Maryland 20852

March 2019

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Upcoming Events

April: April 1–2 OLIGO 2019 Oxford: Antisense & Therapeutic Nucleic Acids Oxford, UK http:/ lpmhealthcare.com/oli- go-2019-oxford/ April 15–17 Physics of Excitable Membranes Bad Honnef, Germany http:/med-bio.physik.tu-dort- mund.de/cms/en/Home/in- dex.html

May: 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 May 6–10 CSH Asia: Membrane Proteins: from Physiology to Pharmacology Suzhou, China http:/www.csh-asia.org/ 2019meetings/MEMBRANE. html

June May 31–June 8 The 54th Course of International School of

July June 30–July 5

FASEB Meeting: RNA Localization and Local Translation Snowmass, CO https:/ src.faseb.org/intra- cellular-rna July 7–12 GRC on Membrane Protein Folding Stonehill College, MA https:/www.grc.org/mem- brane-protein-folding-con- ference/2019/

Crystallography on the Topic of 3D Cryo-EM Image Analysis Sicily, Italy https:/ crystalerice.org/ 2019/ June 9–14 HFIR/SNS Advanced Neutron Diffraction and Scattering Workshop Oak Ridge, TN https:/ conference.sns.gov/ hands2019/

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