Biophysical Society Bulletin | March 2026

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.

March 2026

5

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY