Biophysical Society Bulletin | May 2022

BiophysicsWeek

BPS Student Chapter Events Cornell Student Chapter of the Biophysical Society The Cornell Biophysical Society Student Chapter hosted two student seminars followed by an in-depth discussion of prominent research topics in the biophysics field on March 23. Shobhita Gupta led the student seminars with a presentation that explored structural protein interactome networks and their genome-wide functionalities using machine learning methods. Her talk delved into the significance of using deep learning neural networks to study protein-protein interaction interfaces. The implications of this research are vast since it has the potential to both bridge the gap between ge- nome-sequencing data and structural proteomic analysis and uncover new biology as it relates to human diseases such as cancer. Her talk was followed by Dhruva Nair ’s, whose presen- tation was centered around characterizing novel components in the bacterial flagellar motor. The impact of this research is significant because experimentally determin- ing these structures could lead to better treatment outcomes of Lyme disease. Following the student seminars, President Gupta led a research-based discussion on the application of biophysics to gene and protein structure, gene regulation, advanced optical imaging, and other related fields that is being conducted in labs at Cornell University.

University of Maryland Baltimore Biophysical Society Student Chapter

For Biophysics Week 2022, the University of Maryland Baltimore Biophysical Society Student Chapter hosted a virtual research talk and panel titled “Biophysics in Pharmaceutical Sciences.” This event was held in conjunction with Caldwell University’s American Chemical Society Student Chapter. Undergraduate students from Caldwell University and Goucher College were invited, and inter-

ested undergraduates who follow the chapter’s Twitter page (@umb_bps) were able to attend. Five speakers, all of whom are graduate students and members of the student chapter, gave brief 15-minute talks about their research. The talks fo- cused on the biophysical methods each uses in their research and how it contributes to pharmaceutical sciences. Following the talks, the undergraduates in attendance were able to ask the speakers questions in a panel format. Ques- tions covered topics from research to graduate school to career aspirations. It was a lively discussion with participation from all involved. The event was very successful, each of the speakers did an excellent job, and more than 50 people attended this event virtually.

Cedarville University Student Chapter The brand new BPS student chapter at Cedarville University celebrated Biophysics Week with a talk on “Science and Scripture” with speakers Steve Gollmer , Georgia Purdom , and Aaron Hutchison .

May 2022

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