Biophysical Society Bulletin | November 2022

President’s Message

On the Horizon: The 2023 BPS Annual Meeting

Time is rocketing by as I find myself well into the second half of my term as president of the Biophysical Society. At this time of year, the BPS leadership and staff have many balls in the air as we look forward to Fall Council in November and the Annual Meeting in February. In my lab, abstract submission was the

having an out-of-body experience on stage. I still recommend overpreparing to my trainees to counter the nerves. Even tually a few minutes of slow breathing will likely suffice just before ascending the stairs to The Platform (cue scary music). If you have read my previous President’s Messages in the BPS Bulletin , you know I like to poll the Twitterverse for material and inspiration. I posed the following: The terror of your first talk; awkward or awe-inspiring moments with famous scientists; social and cultural challenges; lifelong friendships established; mentors found; embarrassments and blunders: What are your remarkable meeting experiences? Tweets arrived reporting all manner of ill-timed bodily malfunctions. I will spare you the graphic details but assure you there were some impressive game-time recoveries just moments before the 10-minute timer started. I suspect many others kept their experiences to themselves (“too cringy to share”). Mike Puljung (@MikePul jung) recalled his first poster presentation: “I explained Bertil Hille ’s own work to him (badly) and didn’t realize who he was until he was walking away.” Many responses related to the importance of networking, at all professional levels. Some trainees reported that a com pliment on their work or inquiry about their plans post-grad uation sparked events leading to their current postdoctoral positions. Faculty or lab directors may not remember these moments until much later, when the trainee shares how important that “hello” was. A little kindness goes a long way, even for those at the faculty level. Pablo Peixoto (@peixotolab) reported, “[She] shook my hand at a ‘Meet a Mentor’ event. I felt like I belonged.” Claudia Moreno (@Cladoni) tweeted, “After I gave my first talk as an Assistant Prof, we all climbed in a bus to go to a restaurant, I was at the back, when this badass scientist got into the bus, looked at me, and said out loud ‘I LOVED your talk!’ Probably she doesn’t remember but I sure do!!!” I send my trainees to the meeting on a quid pro quo basis: They must find a way to meet the heads and members of labs doing work they admire. I guess it seems terrifying, but I am always surprised by how few people come up to me and say, “I’d like to introduce myself.” Nothing is more flattering to an established scientist than “Can you tell me more about the work in your lab?” or “I wonder if I could share with you a recent exciting finding?” Try it! We won’t bite! Typically, in the ensuing conversation, we both learn something new. And isn’t that the point? As the years accumulate and the mental Rolodex overflows, it may take two (or more) meetings for the more established among us to remember a new

Gail Robertson

week’s dominant focus. The abstract deadline is a great mo tivator, with the pace of data collection and analysis acceler ating as we approach October 1. There are countless teaching moments: How do you write an abstract that is compelling but does not overpromise? What makes an effective title? And, that all important question, what category should I re quest? (The answer is always Voltage-gated K Channels, even if you’re studying something else.) It is noteworthy how many funding mechanisms support trainee participation at the Annual Meeting. NIH T32 slots often come with travel support, as do independent train ee fellowships—something all eligible students should be encouraged to pursue. My own institution offers travel funds to graduate students and faculty on a biannual basis; it is an underutilized resource here and perhaps elsewhere as well. BPS provides about $100,000 per year in financial support for around 200 attendees at all career levels. Members with de pendent care needs can apply for Family Care Grants which, if awarded, will enable two of my lab members to travel with heroic grandmothers. Whitney Stevens-Sostre , founder of Black in Biophysics, stepmom, and mother-to-be, says, “Childcare expenses can be crippling. I am grateful that BPS provides financial support so we can continue our professional devel opment without feeling that we must choose between our families and our careers.” Discussions of abstracts bring about excitement and anxiety related to presenting. For some the idea of a platform talk elicits fears of judgement by others, a panic attack, or dying. To many trainees, some presenters seem 100% confident, reporting their results with a steady voice and even a bit of charisma. But under that self-assured facade lies a hero who has wrestled the demons of stage fright and conquered mil lennia of evolutionary pressures telling us to get the hell out of there! When I walked between the hotel and the conven tion center to give my first platform talk, I clearly remember weighing with intention the relative merits of getting hit by a bus instead. Fortunately, I had overprepared, or “spinalized,” my presentation so that I appeared rather calm despite

November 2022

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