Biophysical Society Bulletin | March 2026

March 2026

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY

Thank you to our 2026 Biophysics Week Partners These Biophysics Week Partners have committed to supporting and promoting the public awareness of the importance of biophysics in science. Get involved by participating in Affiliate Events hosted by members around the world—both virtually and in person—and explore a dynamic lineup of Society-sponsored activities designed to bring biophysicists together and share our work with broader audiences This year’s Biophysics Week will feature a wide range of opportunities, including: • BPS Membership Specials • Career Booster Micro-Video Series • BPS Subgroup Webinars, Symposia, and Articles • New Classical Lay Summaries • On-Demand Feature: “Biophysics 101: Novel Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Biophysics” • New Lesson Plans • Biophysics Advocacy Lab • Exclusive Virtual Events and Discussions • 2026 Biophysics Week T-Shirt • JUST-B Spring Seminar • And More! For the most up-to-date schedule and details, visit the Biophysics Week website at biophysics.org/BiophysicsWeek. Celebrating the Science That Connects Us Join the global biophysics community March 23–27, 2026, for a week dedicated to celebrating and sharing biophysics. Throughout the week, we’ll spotlight the essential role biophysics plays in research and discovery while highlighting the diverse ways biophysicists contribute across disciplines. Biophysics Week also offers opportunities to share our work, connect with one another, and engage students, colleagues, and the broader community.

Inside

Stay Connected with BPS

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President’s Message Biophysicist in Profile

Communities

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Career Development

Public Affairs Publications

Member Corner Important Dates

President’s Message

Together We Can Find the Best of Times Amid Challenging Scientific Landscape Not so long ago, I was a fledgling

I will seek opportunities to continuously improve our Society services so that every member feels the tangible benefits of membership in BPS. Whether you are that aforemen tioned fledgling graduate student or an established scientist in industry or academia, the Society has opportunities to engage, connect, and grow your network. The Society is not a big, mysterious institution out there in the ether. Rather, we the members are the core of the Society, and I urge each of you to find something meaningful in your scientific persona and contribute that to the Society through committee and/or Subgroup membership and leadership. Even as I commit to enhancing the value of the Society to members, I cannot ignore the fact that there are external forces at play creating an uncertain dynamic over which the Society has no control and limited influence. As a practicing scientist and as your President, I take these threats very seriously, and I will harness the full extent of our Society’s influence to advocate for support for science. I am well positioned to do this work with the Society’s Public Affairs Committee, which keeps members informed when large changes are pending or have happened. Please subscribe to their email newsletter for up-to-date news by reaching out to advocacy@biophysics.org. If you are a US citizen, I encour age you to contact your elected representatives on a regular basis to individually advocate for science. This is not futile, as research traditionally has bipartisan support. Tools like BPS’s Policy & Advocacy Take Action advocacy application (www. biophysics.org/policy-advocacy/take-action) and the 5 Calls app make this a trivial exercise and will steer your commu nications to the appropriate representatives. I also attend regularly scheduled meetings with the elected presidents of other scientific societies to keep informed about how those groups are addressing current member needs. As the known unknown dynamic evolves, I will lead the Society to adapt to the sometimes quickly changing land scape. This might mean some fiscal belt-tightening, but I commit to a process that will preserve the impact of our Mission, Vision, and Values. I will always seek ways to make lemonade from any lemons coming my way. I hope you will join me in this journey by maintaining your membership in this Society, submitting your research to our journals, and attend ing our meetings. Together we can make a difference. — Karen G. Fleming , President

graduate student with barely a plan at my first Biophysical Society meeting. Now, I’m writing this column in January 2026 as I prepare to become the President of our Society. When people learn this news, the first question I

Karen G. Fleming

receive from most folks these days goes as follows: Given ev erything that is going on in the United States, how do you feel about assuming the presidency of the Biophysical Society? My answer to this question is to paraphrase Charles Dickens : It is the best of times, it is the worst of times. Applying the comparison to science: it is the age of mRNA vaccines and personalized medicine, it is the age of vaccine hesitancy; it is the epoch of evidence-based discovery and science-informed policy, it is the epoch of the incredulity of alternative facts; it is the season of greater awareness of social justice and representation, it is the season of intense polarization and culture wars; it is the spring of artificial intelligence, it is the winter of despair in distinguishing truth from lies. We have everything before us because we have never had better tools to understand nature, yet we might have nothing before us as the systems supporting basic research have never been more strained. We can sequence genomes for pennies and image single molecules, but many scientists spend years in precar ious career positions. In short, we are in an unprecedented period of known unknowns, unknown knowns, and unknown unknowns. It is an incredible time to be a scientist and to have the important responsibility to lead this amazing Society. As President, I will work to tip the balance decisively toward the best of times. As outlined in BPS’s Mission, Vision, and Values (www.biophysics.org/about-bps/mission-vision), I will ensure that our Society fosters an inclusive community where members with diverse experiences and viewpoints feel that their voices matter. This sense of belonging is essential for realizing the full potential of the community that our Society has built. We are better together. My hope is that you will come to the Society’s Annual Meeting, a BPS Conference, and/or one of our Thematic Meetings around the world so that you can take advantage of the opportunities to build in-person connections and to share knowledge, and that these experiences will enhance your scientific discovery.

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Officers President

Karen G. Fleming President-Elect Enrique M. De La Cruz Past-President Lynmarie K. Thompson Secretary Teresa Giraldez Treasurer Samantha Harris Council Robert Best Silvia Cavagnero Timothy D. Craggs Tanja Mittag Renae Ryan Tamar Schlick Biophysical Journal Vasanthi Jayaraman Editor-in-Chief The Biophysicist Padmini Rangamani Editor-in-Chief Biophysical Reports Theanne Griffith Taviare Hawkins Ryota Iino Anne Kenworthy Kandice Levental

Your contribution helps BPS provide opportunities for students and early career scientists, expand education and outreach, and strengthen our community worldwide. Every gift—large or small—makes a difference. Together, we can ensure that the next generation of biophysicists has the tools, support, and inspiration they need to succeed. Support the Future of Biophysics

GIVE TODAY! biophysics.org/DONATE

Melanie Cocco Editor-in-Chief

Society Office Jennifer Pesanelli Executive Officer Newsletter

Executive Editor Jennifer Pesanelli Managing Editor John Long Production Ray Wolfe Meredith Zimmerman Proofreader/Copy Editor The Biophysical Society Newsletter (ISSN 0006-3495) is published eleven times per year, January-December, by the Biophysical Society, 6903 Rockledge Drive, Suite 540, Bethesda, Maryland 20817. Distributed to USA members and other countries at no cost. Canadian GST No. 898477062. Postmaster: Send address changes to Biophysical Society, 6903 Rockledge Drive, Suite 540, Bethesda, MD 20817. Copyright © 2026 by the Biophysical Society. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Darren Early Laura Phelan

Nominate yourself or a colleague for a 2027 Society Award

The Biophysical Society is now accepting nominations for its 2027 awards through May 1, 2026. The Biophysical Society Awards Program celebrates individuals whose achievements and con tributions exemplify the best in our field and inspire us all. By recognizing excellence in discovery, innovation, education, mentorship, and service, the program honors those who personify integ rity within our global community. BPS awardees serve as beacons for our discipline, embodying the curiosity, rigor, and commitment that strengthen the foundation of biophysics worldwide. If you know deserving members or you’d like to nominate yourself, this is the opportunity to recognize those contributions. Remember, awardees can only be selected from among those nominated! Learn more by visiting our website: biophysics.org/awards-funding/society-awards. Application Deadline: May 1, 2026

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B i oApnhnyus iacli sMt ei ne tPi nr ogf i l e

Anand P. Singh Area of Research Building imaging tools to study dynamics in living systems

Institution University of Mississippi

At-a-Glance

Anand P. Singh , a biophysicist who taught himself experiments as a student in rural India, now builds custom microscopes to study protein dynamics while working to expand a regional biophysics com munity in the American Mid-South. His career spans three continents and reflects both the opportu nities of global science and the challenges facing immigrant researchers navigating visa restrictions and gaps in scientific infrastructure..

Anand P. Singh

In a small farming town called “Itaunja” in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, Anand P. Singh used his tutoring earnings to buy magnets, compasses, prisms, and pendulums. With these simple tools, he was able to explore and conduct experiments that his resource-limited high school couldn’t provide. Today, Singh builds sophisticated light-sheet microscopes to watch proteins diffuse and genes activate in real time, and he’s working to establish biophysics as a recognized field in the Mid-South of the United States, where it is not as strongly established as in other regions. “Biophysics is not yet a recognized field of study or even offered as formal courses in my university,” he explains. His response has been charac teristically proactive—organizing the Mid-South Biophysics and Quantitative Biology symposium to build a sustainable regional community. The foundation for Singh’s experimental approach was laid while earning his master’s degree in chemistry at Banaras Hindu University, where he developed what he calls “a quan titative mindset” through coursework in electrochemistry, chemical kinetics, and spectroscopy. But the turning point came during a rotation at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, where he encountered Sri Rama Koti Ainavarapu ’s work on single-molecule protein biomechanics. “I was amazed to see signatures of single protein folding and unfolding,” Singh recalls, describing the experience of witnessing a custom-built atomic force microscope probe individual motor proteins. Similarly influential was his exposure to the custom mi croscopy work of Sudipta Maiti . “Seeing custom-built micro scopes, where every single lens, laser, and control unit was systematically assembled to study molecular dynamics in living systems was a turning point for me,” Singh recalls. He decided to pursue graduate studies at the National University of Singapore under Thorsten Wohland , where he built his first light-sheet microscope and developed quantitative methods for measuring protein diffusion and protein-protein interac tion maps in living cells.

Singh worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Singapore’s Mecha nobiology Institute with Timothy Saunders . “Dr. Saunders had recently established his group there to investigate various aspects of developmental processes in the fruit fly ( Drosophila melanogaster ) and zebrafish, applying principles of physics to study tissue-level dynamics and mechanics using live-cell im aging and computational tools,” he shares. “In this role, I built my second custom microscope, a digital scanning light-sheet microscope with control software written by a talented PhD student, Shabo Zhang , to image fruit fly embryonic devel opment in detail to study the biomechanics of the nervous system of developing fruit fly embryos.” The work required mastering an entirely new skill set. “During this period, I was fortunate to get trained by a talented and dedicated biology postdoc, Christopher Amourda , on how to identify male versus female flies, set up crosses, and the basics of fly husbandry,” he notes. “It was a fun, collaborative, and intellectually stim ulating environment that fostered significant growth within the lab.” Following his time at the Mechanobiology Institute, he began a postdoc position at Princeton University with Thomas Gregor . Singh details, “There, I developed a biophysical imaging tool to study transcription kinetics in developing fruit fly embryos. This was a highly collaborative effort involving advanced fly genetics with Eric Wieschaus , optogenetics with Ping Wu and Jared Toettcher , and novel two-photon imaging with opto genetic perturbation microscope development. As part of this diverse team, we demonstrated that acutely perturbing transcription factor concentrations while simultaneously recording output gene activity provides a powerful approach for studying gene regulatory networks with unprecedented accuracy.” Continuing his research journey, he joined St. Jude Chil dren’s Research Hospital as a Scientist in the group of Scott Blanchard , a pioneer and inspiration to many early-career scientists in the biophysics community, particularly in the single-molecule field. Blanchard is the recipient of the 2025

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Biophysicist in Profile

Kazuhiko Kinosita Award in Single-Molecule Biophysics. Singh is extremely grateful for Blanchard’s mentorship, intellectual insights, and support and looks forward to continuing this connection through St. Jude’s educational and collaborative research initiatives. It’s work that exemplifies what Singh finds most compelling about his field: “My favorite aspect of biophysics is its ability to make the ‘invisible’ visible,” he says. “There is a unique excitement in building a custom microscope from individual lenses, lasers, and sensors and then using it to watch proteins diffuse or a gene turn on in real time.” Recently, Singh joined the Department of Biology at the University of Mississippi as a Visiting Assistant Professor. His responsibilities include teaching, engaging in collaborative research, and departmental services. He shares, “I am actively seeking research collaborations and grant opportunities in the area of molecular condensates. My research will investigate how protein-RNA interactions and their biophysical proper ties regulate biochemical reactions. My work combines live cell imaging and computational tools to dissect the dynamics and functions of molecular aggregates in healthy and disease model systems.” Singh’s trajectory has been shaped as much by financial struggle and geopolitical forces as by scientific curiosity. Growing up in a family of six supported by his father’s labor and his mother’s work as a homemaker, Singh relied on tutoring work and scholarships to fund his education and help his siblings. During graduate school, he was able to help his parents purchase farmland where they now grow organic vegetables in retirement. The challenges Singh faces as an immigrant researcher in the United States have been greater in recent years due to geo political shifts in immigration policies. “These recent changes have significantly restricted international travel, making it much more difficult to visit family in India or attend confer ences outside the US,” he explains. His response to those challenges demonstrates his adaptability, developed through years of working with limited resources: “I have focused on making the most of the opportunities available to me, partic ularly by actively participating in the BPS Annual Meeting and building strong professional connections here in the US.” The lack of a strong regional biophysics community has prov en equally challenging but also galvanizing. Singh’s solution is to organize a new regional event, Mid-South Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, designed to bring together under graduate and graduate students from institutions across the region. He envisions it as a recurring event, initially biennial but eventually annual, that will provide local students with “the same sophisticated training and international networking opportunities that I was fortunate enough to receive across continents.” It’s an ambitious undertaking, supported by a Biophysical Society Networking Event mini-grant (more

information will be available soon at www.biophysics.org/ upcoming-networking-events). When not in the lab or classroom, Singh is “likely organizing student outreach events or teaching high school students via WhatsApp,” sharing fundamentals of biology, chemis try, and physics. “Believe me, teaching online and keeping everyone focused is not easy, especially when students are on a different continent and the time difference adds another layer of challenge,” he remarks. “I manage this by listening to their stories and questions; we work together to find answers through back-and-forth discussions or by designing simple experiments they can perform to satisfy their curiosity.” Singh sees public engagement as essential to the future of biophysics. “It is essential for the entire biophysics communi ty, from students and postdocs to professors, to step outside the lab and engage with the broader public,” he declares. “This ensures that science remains a resilient, objective resource that serves everyone, rather than becoming a subject of polit ical ideology.” The mentoring aspect of his work provides what Singh de scribes as the most rewarding dimension of his career. At BPS meetings, he signs up for mentorship programs and visits undergraduate poster sessions, finding it “incredibly reward ing to discuss their scientific journeys, including the hardships they face and the excitement of testing a hypothesis.” He vividly remembers his own first BPS meeting in Philadelphia in 2013, where he proactively invited senior members to his poster and won a Student Research Achievement Award just before Karolin Luger ’s National Lecture. “For a moment, we all felt like little superstars!” he recalls. His current research investigates how protein-RNA interac tions and their biophysical properties regulate biochemical reactions, with a particular focus on molecular condensates. Combining live-cell imaging with computational tools, Singh aims to dissect the dynamics and functions of molecular aggregates in both healthy and disease model systems. If he weren’t pursuing this work, he says he’d be growing exotic fruits and vegetables and actively supporting local farmers and communities by teaching them how to apply scientific methods to improve the crops and yields—a vision that con nects his scientific training with his agricultural roots. For students entering biophysics, Singh offers practical advice rooted in his own experience: connect with senior mem bers during poster sessions, take advantage of the Society’s resources, and participate actively in both virtual and in-per son events. The Biophysical Society, he emphasizes, offers extensive support programs, including travel grants, network ing grants, poster prizes, bridging funds, and job boards for academic and industry positions. “There truly is something for every biophysicist,” he notes.

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Public Affairs

Fiscal Year 2027 Work Begins As of the time of writing, we are mere days away from the continuing resolution funding the US federal government expiring. However, the planning for fiscal year 2027 has begun. Stakeholders, such as BPS and our coalition partners, have begun sub mitting our funding request levels for agencies funding scientific research. The White House is expected to release a budget re quest in early February, but recent years have seen them released closer to March or April, which leaves House and Senate ap propriators beginning the process on their own. The White House has already released the priorities for scientific research and development to focus on artificial intelligence, quantum science, nuclear energy, and biotechnology, but it remains to be seen if there will be another round of drastic proposed cuts to science when the President’s Budget Request is officially released.

NSF Undertakes Major Organizational Restructuring In December, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a significant restructuring, raising questions within the research community about its impact on the $9 billion federal science agency. The changes were prompted by a directive from the White House Office of Personnel Man agement requiring supervisors to be career federal employees and to manage no more than 10 direct reports. The NSF had long relied on temporary “rotators”—scientists on loan from universities—to serve as supervisors, often overseeing much larger teams. To comply, the NSF promoted career pro gram officers into supervisory roles and eliminated roughly three-quarters of its 350 rotator positions, most of them program officers. The reduction also allowed the agency to shrink its approximately 1,700-person workforce in response to a separate White House directive. As part of the reorganization, NSF’s Office of Legislative and Public Affairs and Office of the General Counsel now report to the Chief Management Officer (CMO) rather than directly to the NSF Director. The CMO role, created in July 2024 by then-Director Sethuraman Panchanathan , is held by Micah Cheatham , who previously oversaw administrative functions such as budget, grants management, and human resourc es. The position has since expanded to include oversight of compliance with executive orders and White House policy directives.

The restructuring also alters NSF’s scientific organization. The agency has eliminated discipline-based divisions within its directorates and replaced them with smaller units known as sections, some temporarily labeled generically to meet supervisory requirements. In several cases, these sections are grouped into broader thematic areas, such as the Biology Directorate’s new focus areas of foundations of life, living systems, and bioinnovation and infrastructure. The long-term effects of the restructuring on NSF’s operations and research portfolio remain unclear. NIH Agrees to Review Previously Halted Grant Applications after Lawsuit Settlements The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has agreed to review certain grant applications that were frozen, denied, or with drawn in 2025, according to settlement agreements reached with plaintiff researchers and state attorneys general. Under the settlements, the NIH will reevaluate affected applications by using its standard review procedures and will assess each application “in good faith,” as outlined in a joint stipulation filed with the court. In exchange, the plaintiffs in both cases agreed to dismiss their remaining legal claims. The agreements stem from lawsuits filed in 2025 after the NIH terminated hundreds of research grants and halted the review of additional applications. The affected grants and

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Public Affairs

proposals included research areas such as transgender health, environmental health, vaccine hesitancy, workforce diversity, and COVID-19. According to court filings, the actions followed executive di rectives that restricted certain categories of federally funded research. NIH staff were instructed to terminate or suspend grants and applications that were deemed inconsistent with those directives. The NIH has not provided a timeline for com pleting the reviews or indicated how many applications will be reconsidered. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced in late January that it will no longer provide funding for research in volving human fetal tissue. The decision takes effect immedi ately and applies to both intramural and extramural research programs. The NIH stated that while agency funds may no longer be used for research involving human fetal tissue, projects cur rently underway may continue if those funds are re-budgeted for other approved research activities. Funding for research using human fetal tissue has declined in recent years. In fiscal year 2024, the NIH supported 77 such grants totaling $53 million, representing a small portion of the agency’s $48 billion budget. NIH Ends Funding for Research Involving Human Fetal Tissue

The NIH also indicated that it plans to review its policies re lated to research using human embryonic stem cells. In fiscal year 2024, more than 600 NIH-funded projects, totaling $322 million, involved the use of human embryonic stem cells. The agency said it intends to seek public input on technologies that could reduce or replace the use of these cells. Federal Court Upholds $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee; Appeals Fast-Tracked A federal court has upheld a policy requiring a $100,000 fee for certain new H-1B visa petitions, and legal challenges to the policy are moving through the US court system. In a De cember 23 ruling, US District Court Judge Beryl Howell declined a summary judgment motion from the US Chamber of Com merce and related business groups seeking to block the fee, finding that the fee policy falls within the authority granted by federal immigration law. As a result, the fee requirement remains in place while litigation continues. After that decision, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed to expedite the appeal of the case, in which business and research organizations are challenging the fee’s legality. Plaintiffs, including the Chamber of Com merce and other groups, continue to pursue legal arguments against the fee. The outcome to date means that the fee remains in effect for new H-1B visa petitions subject to its provisions, and additional court decisions on the appeal will shape the fee’s longer-term status.

Give the Gift of Membership Looking for a meaningful gift? Share the benefits of BPS with a colleague, student, or friend. Give a gift that inspires and supports their future in biophysics. www.biophysics.org/giftmembership

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Publications

Know the Editor Ana-Nicoleta Bondar University of Bucharest Editor, Proteins Biophysical Journal

Editor’s Pick

Ana-Nicoleta Bondar

What are you currently working on that excites you? We work on understanding how membrane proteins use hydrogen-bond networks to perform their biological func tion. We are particularly interested in understanding how such networks help stabilize a protein structure, intercon nect functionally important sites of the protein, and estab lish proton-conducting wires. I am really excited about the collaborations with colleagues with whom we work together on questions of common interest. In my laboratory, we use modeling and molecular simulations to study the motions of membrane systems. The hydrogen-bond networks that we study are dynamic and typically involve water molecules, and from the long simulations that we perform, we often derive rather large datasets. To analyze these efficiently, we de velop specialized graph-based algorithms and codes. These approaches have allowed us to discover, for example, that a membrane receptor already has in place much of its internal hydrogen-bond network before an external ligand has bound to it, and it can rearrange in a ligand-specific manner. This is potentially important for interactions between the receptor and other partners of the cellular signal transduction path way. How do you stay on top of all the latest developments in your field? I like to regularly read scientific papers, new and old. As an editorial board member, I read manuscripts and the exchange between authors and reviewers. I check notifications that I receive about new papers and read those that I find interest ing. I look at the reference lists of papers that I read. I attend conferences and listen to the talks and discuss with col leagues. I also very much enjoy reading the science sections of the newspapers that we subscribe to at home.

Biophysical Journal Mitochondrial position responds to glucose stimulation in a model of the pancreatic beta cell Luis Perez, Xue Wen Ng, Michael Mohs, David W. Piston, and Shankar Mukherji “In neurons, mitochondria hang out by the power-intensive synapses. Is this just the way neurons are, or is this a cel lular adaptation? New models and measurements by Perez et al. suggest that this is an adaptive response across cell types: glucose stimulation drives mitochondria toward the cell periphery in pancreatic beta cells through cAMP/PKA/ Ca²⁺-activated kinesin transport along microtubules. This was enabled by models of a biased random walk tied in with new, pixel-level quantification of mitochondrial spatial distribu tions: distributions of all mitochondrial pixel distances from the nucleus center enable comparison across cells of varying sizes and mitochondrial content, overcoming barriers met in previous single molecule tracking efforts. This work is an exciting advance that establishes positioning of mitochondria as an active response to energetic demands.” Version of Record Published December 18, 2025 DOI: https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2025.11.018

The Biophysical Society partners with eight coalitions and affiliate partners to represent the broad scope of research being done by bio physicists. These partnerships allow BPS to take part in policy and ad vocacy initiatives related to the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and STEM Education. Learn more about our coalitions at www.biophysics.org/policy-advo cacy/stay-informed/coalition-partners.

Numbers By the

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Communities

BPS Welcomes Five New Student Chapters The Biophysical Society Student Chapter program is open to students with an interest in biophysics and leadership. The program aims to build active student chapters around the globe, increase student membership and participation within the Society, and promote biophysics as a discipline across college campuses through activities organized by the chapters. If you are interested in forming your own chapter as either a mentor or student, then you may apply for BPS Student Chapter recognition during the biannual calls for applications. Each chapter must be sponsored by a BPS member. The Spring Call for Student Chapters will be open from March 1 through May 1, 2026. For more information about organizing a new student chapter, please visit: www.biophysics.org/membership-communities/student-chapters/start-your-own-student chapter. BPS now has 75 Student Chapters worldwide, including 5 newly formed chapters denoted with an asterisk below. See if there’s a local chapter near you!

• • AL-MS (University of Alabama/Mississippi State University) Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society (USA) • Amherst College Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society (USA) • Arizona Student Chapter (USA) • Auburn University (USA) • Bahçeşehir University (Turkey) • Biophysical Society Cameroon Chapter (Cameroon) • Biophysical Society Kenya Chapter (Kenya) • Biophysical Society San Diego (USA) • Biophysics Genoa Student Chapter (Italy) • Biophysics Pashchim Student Chapter (India) • Cedarville University (USA) • Clemson University (USA) • Columbia University (USA) • Cornell University (USA) • CWU Biophysics Club at Central Washington University (USA) • East Tennessee State University (USA)* • Egerton University (Kenya) • Emory University (USA) • Florida State University (USA) • Gā ṅ geya Student Chapter at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata (India) • Georgia Tech (USA) • Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (India) • Irvine Student Chapter at the University of California, Irvine (USA) • Istanbul Student Chapter (Turkey) • Johns Hopkins University (USA)* • Kent State University (USA) • Llano Estacado Young Biophysicists at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (USA) • Masinde Muliro University (Kenya) • Michigan State University (USA) • Milano Student Chapter (Italy) • Mustafa Kemal University (Turkey) • Northeastern University (USA) • NY Capital District (USA) • Oregon Health & Science University (USA)* • Oregon State University Student Chapter at Oregon State University (USA) • Puerto Rico Biophysical Society Student Chapter (USA) • Alexandria University (Egypt)

Sanyo-Onoda City University Student Chapter at Sanyo-Onoda City University (Japan) • SJU (St. John’s University) Student Chapter of BPS (USA) • Structural Biology and Biophysics Club at Purdue University (USA) • Student Chapter of NIT-W (India) • The City University of New York (CUNY) Student Chapter (USA) • The Medical School of the Autonomous National University of Mexico (Mexico) • The University of New Mexico (USA) • UB (University of Buffalo) Biophysics Club (USA) • UChicago Student Chapter (USA) • Uganda Student Chapter (Uganda) • UMASS Lowell Biophysics Student Chapter (USA) • University of Buea (Cameroon) • University of California, Davis (USA) • University of California, Los Angeles (USA) • University of California, Riverside (USA) • University of Chile (Chile) • University of Cincinnati (USA) • University of Denver Biophysics Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society (USA) • University of Illinois Chicago (USA) • University of Illinois – Urbana (USA)* • University of Lethbridge & University of Montana (Canada & USA) • University of London (United Kingdom) • University of Maryland, Baltimore Student Chapter (USA) • University of Maryland - College Park (USA) • University of Michigan (USA) • University of Nebraska–Lincoln (USA) • University of Pennsylvania (USA) • University of St Andrews (United Kingdom) • University of Texas, Arlington (USA) • University of Texas, Austin (USA) • University of Toronto Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society (Canada) • University of Valparaiso (Chile) • University of Wisconsin–Madison (USA) • University of Yaoundé I (Cameroon)* • Wayne State University (USA) • Wesleyan University (USA) • Yale University (USA)

For more information or to learn how to start or join a chapter, please visit www.biophysics.org/student-chapters.

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Communities Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting

Mechanobiology of Infection

Ascona, Switzerland | June 7–11, 2026

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Effie Bastounis , University of Tübingen, Germany

Over the past decade, groundbreaking advances in microbiology, biophysics, and biomedical engineering have begun to uncover the essential role of mechanical forces in infection biology. From how bacteria sense and respond to surface contact, to how host tissue stiffness influences colonization and immune defense, this emerging field connects the physical environment to the physiology of both pathogens and host cells. Despite rapid progress, there has been no dedicated forum to bring together the diverse community working at this interface—until now. This meeting will be the first international conference focused on the mechanobiology of host–pathogen interactions, with the goal of uniting researchers across disciplines to define the future of this field. The program will include invited talks, contributed presentations, poster sessions, and networking events, with a strong emphasis on early-career participation and cross-disciplinary exchange. Scientific sessions will explore bacterial force sensing, biofilm mechanics, motility, mechanical aspects of immune defense, theoret ical modeling, and host–microbe interactions in engineered systems and organoids. The conference will also showcase state-of-the-art tools for probing mechanical phenomena, including advanced micros copy, microfluidics, and computational modeling.

Daria Bonazzi , Institut Pasteur, France Alexandre Persat , EPFL, Switzerland SPEAKERS

Morgan Delarue , Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS), France Yves Dufrene , Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium Fan Jin , University of Shenzhen, China Yasaman Karami , Center Inria University De Lorraine, Belgium Rebecca Lamason , MIT, USA Tâm Mignot , CNRS Aix-Marseille Université, France Ashley Nord , Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), France Teuta Pilizota , University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Enrique Rojas , New York University, USA Khalid Salaita , Emory University, USA Joe Sanfilippo , University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA Joshua Shaevitz , Princeton University, USA Carolina Tropini , University of British Columbia, Canada Navish Wadhwa , Arizona State University, USA Gerard Wong , University of California, Los Angeles, USA Yilin Wu , Chinese University of Hong Kong, China Jing Yan , Yale University, USA Vasily Zaburdaev , University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

Abstract Submission Deadline: March 31, 2026 Early Registration Deadline: April 16, 2026

For more information, visit www.biophysics.org

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Communities

Ashley Carter Membership Committee

Ashley Carter

Is this your first volunteer position for BPS? If not, what other positions have you held? Right now I am on the Membership Committee, but I have held other volunteer positions within BPS. When I came to my first Annual Meeting in 2004 as a graduate student, I was blown away by the size of the meeting, the quality of the sessions, and the chances for career development. Volunteers make a lot of the Annual Meeting happen, and so I wanted to get involved right away. I remember really hoping to be picked to be a session chair. Even though it is a lot more work, I still always feel a sense of pride to be chosen for that position. Why do you volunteer? Volunteering is integral to being a scientist. We need peer review for manuscripts, people to give talks at conferences, committees to evaluate applications for funding, and men tors to train the next generation of scientists. Whether you are serving as an editor for the Biophysical Journal , judging the Travel Awards, or chairing a Subgroup, this is all volunteer work, but it is central to the research endeavor. Being chosen to be on a committee or to lead a workshop is an honor. You get to shape your research field and the Society! What has been a highlight from your volunteer experience? Last year I was nominated to run for Council and that was such a good experience. I didn’t win a seat, but it was great to work with the BPS staff and to be nominated. If you are ever asked to run for a position, do it! We need lots of good people to run so that we can have a strong society.

Do you have advice for others who might be thinking about volunteering? Start small. You don’t get to be president of the Society without holding a lot of other positions first! Say yes to being session chair or reviewing for Biophysical Journal or judging the un dergraduate poster competition. Join a committee, nominate yourself for a leadership role in your Subgroup, or lead a virtual or in-person networking event. Students can run for an officer position in their BPS Student Chapter or they can start a new Student Chapter. When not volunteering for BPS, what do you work on? My research is on DNA folding in sperm cells. We know that DNA in these cells is folded to semi-crystalline levels using positively charged protamine proteins, but we don’t know how that charge neutralization leads to near crystallization. To figure this out, I use atomic force microscopy to visualize single DNA molecules as they fold (shout out to the Single Molecule Subgroup!). Also, I am at Amherst College, which is a small liberal arts college in western Massachusetts. This is a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI), so undergrads are the main researchers in the lab that are driving the science forward. I love leading students through their very first re search project—when the project works, it is sheer joy! If you are interested in positions at a PUI, join the PUI Network to learn more!

New: Muscle Biology Subgroup In response to enthusiastic member interest, the Biophysical Society is excited to reinvigorate its vibrant muscle biophysics community with the launch of a new Muscle Biology Subgroup. This Subgroup will serve as a welcoming home for researchers across all areas of muscle biophysics—spanning excitation–contraction coupling, myofilament structure–function relation ships, regulation of contraction, and beyond—while fostering fresh connections, new collaborations, and renewed scientific momentum. The Muscle Biology Subgroup is under the leadership of Sam Harris and Shanna Hamilton (Co-Chairs) and Ken Campbell (Secretary). We hope you join us! https:/www.biophysics.org/subgroups

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Career Development

How Do I Resolve Conflicts with a Colleague? Disagreements are a natural part of

that both parties can walk away happy if they find a way to work together. These kinds of conflict rarely reflect personal animosity. When approaching a disagreement, try leading with curiosity instead of defense. Starting with a neutral statement, such as “I would like to understand your perspective on this” or “I am concerned about meeting our timeline if the schedule is un clear,” sets a collaborative tone, which will probably lead to a much more productive conversation than “You are making this difficult.” Always remember to focus on specific behaviors or outcomes instead of assuming the other party’s motivations. There are moments, however, when informal resolution is not enough. Sometimes talking to a colleague at all just seems to make the situation worse. Make sure to consult established guidelines for your institution or workplace and to document your communications. You probably have access to neutral mediation programs and formal conflict-resolution path ways of some kind. These can be especially important when conflicts involve power differences or complex issues such as authorship or project responsibilities. In my experience, just knowing that you could prove your side of the story can make a world of difference for your mental health. Even when conflicts cannot be completely resolved, your goals stay the same: maintain professionalism, reduce friction, and focus on shared objectives. By addressing tension early and seeking practical solutions, researchers can turn disagreements into learning experiences. As difficult as it may seem in the moment, thoughtful conflict management is an essential part of cultivating a culture of respect, which should always be our standard. The earlier you begin, the faster the conflict can be resolved, and the team as a whole will be stronger for it. — Molly Cule

research. How could they not be? When people with strong opinions operate together within tight deadlines under high expectations, tension is almost inevitable. Small misunderstandings can grow, and they might not be very noticeable until they’ve grown quite a bit. Handled thoughtfully, however, conflicts can clarify expectations while

strengthening the team and its culture. As you may have noticed throughout your life, a large amount of professional conflict comes from a few common pain points, like miscommunications and competing demands. Recognizing these patterns early is crucial, because conflicts rarely improve on their own. Simple conversations can be more effective than you might expect. For example: “Can we set aside ten minutes to clarify how we are doing X?” or “Help me understand what matters most to you about this draft.” Having small talks like this every once in a while is the most reliable method that I have found for catching pain points early on. Let’s imagine two researchers who need to use the same piece of equipment on overlapping schedules. Frustration builds and emails become curt. In this situation, the underly ing issue is not the instrument itself, but unspoken assump tions and lack of communication. A short conversation to clarify needs and establish a transparent schedule can resolve tension before it escalates. Another scenario might involve two co-authors with different ideas about how to structure the manuscript. One contributor wants to emphasize tech nique, while the other wants to increase readability. Coming together to discuss priorities and compromising could move the project forward while ensuring that all perspectives are represented. You might be surprised by the number of times

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Career Development

Upcoming Networking Events The next call for Networking Event applications will open on March 15. Check out the website for criteria to start planning your application: www.biophysics.org/meetings-events/networking-events/criteria-and-submission-information. Upcoming events include: The Exhaustive Chase: Investigation of Striated Muscle Regulation in Health and Disease Tallahassee, FL, USA March 21, 2026 The Biophysics of Quantum Biology (virtual) April 2026 (date to be determined) Mathematical Modeling in Biological Systems Yaoundé, Cameroon May 18, 2026 Southern California Users of Magnets Riverside, CA, USA September 5, 2026 Mid-South Biophysics and Quantitative Biology 2026 University, MS, USA November 6, 2026 Biophysical Approaches for the Development of Therapies for Infectious Disease (virtual) Date to be determined Not all details and dates for events have been determined at the time of publication. Check www.biophysics.org/upcoming-networking-events for updates! Biophysics, Then and Now: An Opportunity to Engage in Dialog between Experienced Research Scientists and Undergraduate Students of Science San Diego, CA, USA June 2026 (date to be determined)

An open access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to highlighting and nurturing biophysics education, and its scholarship and development.

www.thebiophysicist.org

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Special Issue: Foundations of Membrane Biophysics: Dedicated to Wolfgang Helfrich Call for Papers

Editors: Rumiana Dimova, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces Michael Kozlov, Tel Aviv University Thomas Weikl, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces

Zhong-Can Ou-Yang, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

To celebrate the foundational work of Wolfgang Helfrich and his profound and lasting influence on the physics of soft matter and biological membranes, we invite contributions from all areas of biophysics, particularly membrane biophysics, inspired by Helfrich’s ideas, concepts, and scientific legacy. Wolfgang Helfrich, who passed away in September 2025 at the age of 93, shaped entire fields through a rare combination of physical intuition, mathematical clarity, and conceptual simplicity. Beginning with his theoreti cal work on liquid crystals in 1967 that led to the first twisted-nematic liquid-crystal electro-optical display in 1970, Helfrich went on to transform our understanding of biomembranes. In 1973, he published the first complete description of the elastic energy of fluid lipid membranes, providing a theoretical framework that has become the cornerstone of modern membrane biophysics. In 1978, he set up the first theory of the steric repulsion of membranes caused by shape fluctuations. Over the following decades, Helfrich made numerous theoretical and experimental contributions to membrane physics, spanning vesicle shapes and instabilities, membrane elasticity and fluctuations, and the response of membranes to electric fields. His work established a quantitative language for describing membrane mechanics and continues to guide experiments and theory across scales, from model membranes and vesicles to cellular membranes and synthetic soft-matter systems. We welcome original research and perspectives from scientists advancing the biophysics of membranes by using experimental, theoretical, and computational approaches. Contributions that build on, extend, or are inspired by Helfrich’s concepts, such as membrane elasticity, curvature, fluctuations, interactions, and field-induced phenomena, are particularly encouraged. This special issue aims to honor Helfrich’s legacy by highlighting the creativity, rigor, and breadth that characterize his enduring impact on biophysics.

Deadline for submission: September 3 0 , 2026

• Instructions for authors can be found at: https:/www.cell.com/biophysj/authors. • Please include a cover letter stating that you would like to contribute to the Wolfgang Helfrich special issue and please describe why the work fits into the issue. • All accepted articles will be reviewed upon receipt and will appear online as soon as accepted, even if submitted early. • Normal publishing charges will apply. • Questions can be addressed to the BJ Editorial Office at BJ@biophysics.org or to (240) 290-5600.

Biophysical Society

To submit, visit https:/www.editorialmanager.com/biophysical-journal/

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