Biophysical Society Bulletin | May 2018

Biophysicist in Profile

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

Frances Separovic , University of Melbourne, on antimicrobial peptides. More recently, my dream of collaborating with peptide scientists in Spain was realized when Enrique Perez-Paya , whom I had known since 1989, contacted me about measuring the membrane-binding of some Bcl-peptides, which has now led us into the world of apoptosis. I have also been very privileged to collaborate with Marcus Swann , one of the developers of dual polarization interferometry, and which has allowed us to study membrane structure changes and trans- formed our membrane research.” Irene Yarovsky , RMIT University, was a PhD stu- dent in Aguilar’s lab from 1991 to 1994, and the two have recently re-started their collabo- rative research. “Mibel was my first colleague and supervisor in Australia. What luck was it!” she shares. “She is my dream colleague: enthusiastic, knowledgeable, hardworking, patient, respectful, and fair.” Separovic agrees: “Mibel is generous with her time and encouragement, keen to help, and possessing a keen intellect; always positive and able to wrap her head around seemingly contradictory data to find a clearer path to understanding.” In 2009, Aguilar was the first woman to be promoted to Professor of Biochemistry at Monash University. “This was the culmination of 15 years work, and it did leave me a little aimless for a few months. However, later that year I also took on the role of Associate Dean of Research Degrees in the Faculty of Medi- cine, Nursing and Health Sciences, in which I had overall responsibility for the management of about 1,100 PhD and masters students,” she shares. “This was a challenging aspect to my everyday life, particularly in balancing the time to also write papers and grants and supervise students, but it was very rewarding to be in this senior leadership role where I participated in significant university policy development and implementation and saw the impact in the transformation of the next generation of research leaders and thinkers.” Looking back, the biggest challenge of her career has been balancing research progress with family. “Family life has its own momen-

Zev Bryant Jane Clarke Linda Columbus Bertrand Garcia-Moreno Teresa Giraldez Ruben Gonzalez, Jr. Arthur Palmer Marina Ramirez-Alvarado Jennifer Ross David Stokes Joanna Swain Pernilla Wittung-Stafeshede Biophysical Journal Jane Dyson Editor-in-Chief Society Office Ro Kampman Executive Officer Newsletter Executive Editor Rosalba Kampman Managing Editor Beth Staehle Contributing Writers and Proofreaders Dorothy Chaconas Laura Phelan

Aguilar with her family.

tum and interweaving the scheduling of 8:00 am lectures with child-care drop-offs was certainly interesting in those early days!” she says. “However, the access and cost of child- care really has not become any easier today — in spite of all the rhetoric around work-life balance and gender equity.” “There are many factors that impede the in- crease in numbers of women in science — the combination of child bearing responsibilities and the brutal nature of publish or perish — and there is no real allowance made for any break in productivity. The international conver- sation about this issue is now moved to plans for action, so one can be somewhat optimistic about the social landscape that surrounds us girls in science,” Aguilar says. On an individ- ual level, work-family balance “is made a lot easier when you have supportive family and work colleagues. I was lucky to obtain a place in one of the university crèches when my son Liam was born, and so was able to go over to breast feed, which did alleviate the separation anxiety and guilt! My husband William has been legendary in his co-parenting of our son: for example, I did school drop-off and he was able to start work extremely early to do school pick-up. The key is to be focused on specific outcomes and be strategic with commitments outside your immediate work environment so you have time for your family and yourself, “she continues.” Try also to keep a balanced per- spective by reading your favorite books and maintaining some degree of physical fitness — or whatever works. You will find your own way to manage all these competing demands.”

Caitlin Simpson Elizabeth Vuong Ellen Weiss Production

Ray Wolfe Catie Curry

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