Biophysical Society Bulletin | May 2022

President’s Message

AWorld of Refugees

The scene of elated members laughing and hugging as the Bio- physical Society (BPS) Annual Meet- ing concluded in February faded almost cinematically to reports of destruction and death as an un- hinged Vladimir Putin drove his mil- itary into Ukraine and set missiles flying. The leadership of BPS, like that of many other scientific societ-

it can put them in danger of kidnapping. The population is unprotected, [and] everyone knows that the army, the police, and the gangsters work together.” Luis provides some financial support for his family in Venezu- ela, easing the otherwise constant food insecurity. But travel is difficult. “After Maduro took the government, many airlines stopped traveling to the country and it was more difficult to travel to or from Venezuela. My family cannot visit the USA since they have no visa, and it is not possible to get a visa in Venezuela since there is no US embassy in the country. I have not seen them for over five years.” The number of Venezuelan refugees in the world has continued to grow. According to the Brookings Institution, a total of 5.3 million people fled Vene- zuela between 2015 and 2020. A postdoctoral fellow from Cuba, now studying at the Univer- sity of Wisconsin–Madison, also requested anonymity. She said there was little incentive to study in Cuba since advanced degrees did not lead to economic stability. “Both my parents have college degrees, but my father had to drive a taxi at night to feed the family.” Her mother, a mechanical engineer and an executive in a government agency, also had side jobs to supplement her $50/month salary before emigrating to Chile. But expressing dissatisfaction with the economic situation was not allowed. “The threats we faced were more psychological than physical. Speech that discredits or criticiz- es the government is punishable by prison sentence. Now, for my family there is real danger, and they are always afraid. And everything has consequences, whether you are inside Cuba or out.” Some BPS members offer advice for how the rest of us can help. Says EMBO Young Investigator Camilo Perez, originally from Colombia and now at the University of Basel, “I think it’s really important to support refugee scientists as much as we can. I am in the process of bringing a Ukrainian student into my lab. While our research areas do not overlap significantly, it is my hope that during an internship she will be able to learn skills that will benefit her PhD in the future or improve her chances to find a job in Switzerland.” Volodymyr Korkhov , a Ukrainian scientist living and working in Zurich, hopes international support “will ultimately lead to an even stronger Ukraine as a vibrant center for scientific investigation,” once rebuilding is underway. He suggests the heartening response from the West toward Ukraine might inspire more effective means of supporting scientists and scholars fleeing Afghanistan and other countries, many of whom remain in refugee centers facing uncertain futures.

Gail Robertson

ies, drafted a statement of support (https:/www.biophysics. org/news-room/bps-condemns-the-invasion-of-ukraine- and-urges-support-for-ukrainian-scientists) calling for hu- manitarian relief for refugees and easing of visa restrictions for those seeking to pursue studies and work elsewhere un- der safer circumstances. For some BPS members, the threat is not abstract: Alexey Ladokhin , a professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center, was reunited with his 12-year-old daughter earlier in March after she fled Ukraine and came to the United States by way of Poland. As of this writing, he is in Kyiv seeking safe passage for his parents. He contributes an impassioned opinion piece in this month’s BPS Bulletin . The war on Ukraine evoked a broader reflection on the effects of displacement and oppressive governments among sci- entists worldwide. At a recent Gordon Research Conference in Italy, discussions one evening over dinner soon turned to politics, revolutions, wars, and oppression, with first-hand ac- counts shared by several at the table. At one point, Rockefel- ler University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientist Rod MacKinnon leaned over to me and said, “You know, Gail, we are the only people at the table who haven’t lived in a war zone or under a crushing dictatorship.” Looking at these fa- miliar faces, I realized how rarely I consider their backgrounds and the unique solutions their specific challenges required. Ongoing conflicts, aggressions, and repressive regimes are pervasive. Venezuela and Cuba, for example, have failed their scholars and scientists, driving a brain drain over many years punctuated by mass exoduses. BPS member Luis, a postdoctoral fellow at Washington University, offered these thoughts but asked that we change his name to protect his family back home: “I would say nobody is safe in Venezuela. It is one of the most violent countries in the world and there is always the risk that any person can be a victim. I know cases of neighbors who have been kidnapped by members of the police and they are released only after the family pays a bribe. Otherwise, they are charged... and sent to jail. There are people who need to pay armed gangs monthly to avoid being attacked. I have asked my nephews and nieces not to mention in school that they have family living in other countries since

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