Biophysical Society Bulletin | November 2024

November 2024

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY

Biophysical Society Names Fellows for 2025 The Biophysical Society is proud to announce that it has named seven distinguished members as its 2025 Class of Fellows. This award is given to Society members who have demonstrated sustained excellence in science and have contributed to the expansion of the field of biophysics. The newest honorees will be recognized during the Biophysical Society’s 69th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California. The 2025 Fellows are:

Elizabeth H. Blackburn Enrique M. De La Cruz Enrico Gratton

Vasanthi Jayaraman Edward A. Lemke

Leslie M. Loew

Tanja Mittag

Elizabeth H. Blackburn , University of California, San Francisco, USA, for discovering the molecular structure of telomeres and how they are protected by telomerase. Enrique M. De La Cruz , Yale University, USA, for pioneering research on the mechanisms of the actin cytoskeleton and molecular motor proteins. Enrico Gratton , University of California, Irvine, USA, for outstand ing contributions to advancing biophotonics and fluorescence spectroscopy. Vasanthi Jayaraman , The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA, for exceptional contributions to understanding the structural dynamics of neurotransmitter receptors.

Edward A. Lemke , Johannes Gutenberg University and Institute of Molecular Biology Mainz, Germany, for advancing knowledge on the functional roles of intrinsically disordered proteins. Leslie M. Loew , R. D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, USA, for inventing fluorescent sensors of membrane potentials and leadership in the development of computational cell biology. Tanja Mittag , St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, USA, for trans formative advances on the mechanisms responsible for molec ular recognition and phase separation of intrinsically disordered proteins.

Call for New and Notable Symposium Speakers The Biophysical Society is seeking suggestions from Society members for speakers to be featured in the annual New and Notable Symposium in Los Angeles. This symposium is unique in that, through a series of brief talks, attendees hear about late-breaking and exciting science. If you have a colleague who should be considered, visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/HPMRT6H and complete the required information by December 2, 2024.

Inside

Stay Connected with BPS

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President’s Message Biophysicist in Profile

Communities

Career Development

Public Affairs Publications Annual Meeting

Member Corner Important Dates

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President’s Message

Get Involved with BPS It makes me happy to hear from many of you that you consider the

Outreach and networks. Many of us find purpose and sat isfaction by volunteering to improve our neighborhoods and local communities. And perhaps this is where we can be most effective in inspiring the next generation of biophysicists and in supporting STEM education. Whether you choose to vol unteer as a judge at a science fair, to visit a K–12 classroom with a neighbor or your child or grandchild, to be a mentor, or to sponsor a BPS Student Chapter, the Find a Biophysicist (FaB) Network (www.biophysics.org/find-a-biophysicist) can connect you with opportunities in your local community. By joining the Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI) Network (www.biophysics.org/pui-network), you can connect with fellow biophysicists dedicated to undergraduate educa tion across the globe. And by joining a BPS Subgroup (www. biophysics.org/subgroups), you can explore a specialized area of biophysics of your choice. Also, mark your calendars for the 10th annual Biophysics Week (www.biophysics.org/biophysics-week#/), March 24–28, 2025, where you can host an Affiliate Event such as a seminar, a journal club, a book discussion, a beer hour, or a cooking class! The event type is all up to you! Register your event with BPS and become part of the worldwide celebration and a powerful global community! Nominate a biophysicist for recognition. Every year, from January 1 to May 1, BPS accepts nominations for its pres tigious awards (www.biophysics.org/awards-funding/soci ety-awards) in 16 categories. From the Outstanding Doctoral Research in Biophysics Award, which is reserved for newly minted PhDs, to the Founders and Fellow of the Biophysical Society Awards, which recognize sustained contributions and achievement, BPS seeks to honor and celebrate excellence in biophysics! You too can define excellence by assembling a nomination package or by writing a persuasive letter on behalf of a deserving colleague. In addition, BPS accepts self-nominations for the majority of its awards! I wrote in more detail about my experience reviewing nominations on the Awards and Fellows Committees (see October 2024 issue of BPS Bulletin ). I believe that our awardees, through their accomplishments and prominence, speak volumes to the BPS brand as the trusted leader in quantitative life sciences. We can each do more to ensure that all deserving accomplish ments are acknowledged, recognized, and celebrated. I hope you will consider submitting a nomination in the next cycle. Propose a BPS Thematic Meeting. Since 2010, BPS has sponsored small, one-off, member-organized meetings, focused on a specific topic. The Society provides complete meeting management (in advance and on site), and partial financial underwriting. All proposals are reviewed by the

Biophysical Society to be more than an association of like-mind ed members. For me, too, it is a community where initial interac tions often develop into support ive, nurturing, enriching, life-long connections. Such connections glue us together into an “organ ism” that is more powerful than

Gabriela K. Popescu

any of its parts. We each contribute to that power through the time and effort we commit to common activities. And, conversely, the connections we develop during such common activities leave each of us more powerful: more knowledge able, more experienced, with a broader perspective, and with a larger network. This is why in this column, I want to highlight the many opportunities available to our members to engage rewardingly with BPS, regardless of our career level, time zone of residence, or personal resources. Most of us have initially joined BPS as trainees or junior scientists, attracted by its mission to “promote dissemination of knowledge in biophysics.” We became members of BPS to attend the Annual Meeting where we can interact with other biophysicists or to publish our results in its journals. However, we stayed, and renewed our membership year after year, be cause we felt inspired and supported by the connections we developed with other members. The exchange of information facilitated by our initial interactions grew into connections im bued with feelings of fellowship and friendship. I believe that for junior and seasoned members alike, engaging with the Society can be a source of inspiration, of renewed purpose, and of energy. So, what does it mean to engage with BPS, and how can you go about it? As I have addressed in previous columns, renewing your membership, attending BPS-sponsored meetings, and pub lishing in the BPS family of journals remain powerful ways to engage with the Society. These venues allow you to both contribute to the BPS community and benefit from it. Howev er, as a BPS member you can engage with the Society year round. To select those activities where your time investment is returned with the most satisfaction, start by consulting the “Get Involved” page on the BPS website (www.biophysics.org/ get-involved), peruse the monthly BPS Bulletin (www.biophys ics.org/bps-bulletin), follow BPS on social media, or contact us directly (popescu@buffalo.edu or society@biophysics. org). We are happy to hear from you! And I feel certain that whether you choose to participate in a one-off event, perhaps online from the comfort of your own office, or if you commit to taking on years-long commitments to help govern the Society, you will find something that meets your needs.

November 2024

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President’s Message

Officers President Gabriela K. Popescu President-Elect Lynmarie K. Thompson Past-President Taekjip Ha Secretary Teresa Giraldez Treasurer Samantha Harris Council Patricia Bassereau Margaret Cheung Martin Gruebele Taviare Hawkins Anne Kenworthy Syma Khalid Emmanuel Margeat Anita Niedziela-Majka Elizabeth Rhoades Tamar Schlick Valeria Vasquez Jing Xu Biophysical Journal Vasanthi Jayaraman Editor-in-Chief The Biophysicist Padmini Rangamani Editor-in-Chief Biophysical Reports

Thematic Meetings Committee and must be approved by Council to ensure that they serve the BPS mission and adhere to our values and aspirations. Keep an eye on your inbox for calls for proposals, as well as on social me dia and the monthly BPS Bulletin . Learn more about how to prepare such a proposal at www. biophysics.org/thematic-meeetings/crite ria-and-submission-info. Committees. Joining a BPS committee offers a more structured modality of engaging with the Society. Serving on a committee requires a three-year commitment, but rewards you with lasting connections and regular interactions with a small group while advancing a particu lar goal and learning more about the Society. On the Committees web page (https:/www. biophysics.org/about-bps/governance/com mittees) you will find a full list of our commit tees, their charges, composition, and terms of service. For more advice about joining a BPS Committee, see the Molly Cule column on p. 22. To express your willingness to serve on any of the committees for Early Careers, Education, Inclusion and Diversity, Membership, Profes sional Opportunities for Women, Public Affairs, Publications, or Sustainability, please fill out a volunteer form (www.surveymonkey.com/ r/6VLDPTF), or contact the committee chair. BPS is committed to equitable representation and inclusion across all facets of diversity, and for this reason all new and continuing appoint ments are reviewed and must be approved by Council on an annual basis. I volunteered to serve on the Committee for Professional

Opportunities for Women early in my career and, with time and experience, I had the privi lege of chairing the committee for two terms. I made life-long friends there, and I am still very engaged with that community. Elected office. Serving on the 12-member BPS Council, or as a BPS officer as treasurer, secretary, or president, is an honor and a privi lege one has to earn by demonstrating dedica tion to the BPS mission, knowledge about its organization and governance, and an exciting vision for the future. We are very fortunate to have many members who are superb leaders, and who over the years have given their time, effort, and talent for the good of the Society. And I know that we have among us many more talented members who are yet to throw their hat in the ring for the amazing opportunity to shape the future of biophysics. Personally, I plan to remain active in BPS long after my term as a BPS officer comes to an end. I will continue to use the many venues of engagement BPS offers to ensure that as biophysicists we maintain and strengthen our identity as the purveyors and guardians of quantitative and rigorous research in biology, while remaining open to increasingly diverse areas of research. I hope you will join me in continuing to promote the reputation of BPS as the trusted leader in quantitative life sciences. — Gabriela K. Popescu , President

Jörg Enderlein Editor-in-Chief

Society Office Jennifer Pesanelli Executive Officer Newsletter

Executive Editor Jennifer Pesanelli Managing Editor John Long Production Ray Wolfe Meredith Zimmerman Proofreader/Copy Editor The Biophysical Society Newsletter (ISSN 0006-3495) is published eleven times per year, January-December, by the Biophysical Society, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Distributed to USA members and other countries at no cost. Cana dian GST No. 898477062. Postmaster: Send address changes to Biophysical Society, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110, Rockville, MD 20852. Copyright © 2024 by the Biophysical Society. Darren Early Laura Phelan

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B i oApnhnyus iacli sMt ei ne tPi nr ogf i l e

Sarah L. Keller Area of Research Liquid-liquid phase separation of membranes

Institution University of Washington, Seattle

At-a-Glance

Sarah L. Keller, the Duane and Barbara LaViolette Endowed Professor of Chemistry at the University of Washington, Seattle, took an academic journey that led her to science, physics, and eventually biophysics. With the support of mentors and colleagues, she found success and her “scientific family.”

Sarah L. Keller

When she was young, Sarah L. Keller remembers worrying about what she would be when she grew up. “I had no idea how to choose. Maybe that’s one reason I feel at home in biophysics, where I think about interdisciplinary topics!” Keller feels that “every life decision has both a push and a pull. My family moved across the US in my first year of high school. At my old school, my most engaging mentors taught writing. In my new school, my science teachers were much stronger, especially my physics teacher, Steve Mathis . This shift pushed me away from the humanities I had previously favored and pulled me toward science. Plus, I reasoned that if I had a science-related career, I could support myself and a family.” In college, her physics lab courses were so much more enjoyable than her other labs that she became a physics major. Her next task was to decide what kind of physics she might pursue. Keller told the Living Histories online series (https:/ tinyurl.com/TheLHSeries) in a 2023 talk, “In my sophomore year, I was excited to be chosen to be on a team of students going to Fermilab, [but spent] the summer soldering 4-mi cron wires 4 millimeters apart on a drift chamber. It was mind numbing. So, particle physics wasn’t as much fun as I had imagined it would be. Neither was astrophysics. My professor kept hitting on me. I did not want to enter a field in which I’d ever have to interact with him again.” By the time she started graduate school in physics at Prince ton University, Keller had identified which branches of physics pushed her away, but she had not yet felt a strong pull to any others. Keller shares, “Like most scientists, I can construct a compelling story in which I sound as if I brilliantly planned my training and foundational experiments to amass the right skills and results in the right labs to then answer important questions. However, when I was a student and postdoctoral fellow, I found stories like that demotivating because they im plied that success in science required an unattainable level of genius and foresight,” she says. “A more accurate description of my career is that I was pulled to work with people I liked and respected, which led me to do my best science because I enjoyed working with them.”

“My single best career move was, as a second-year gradu ate student, to notice how the members of Sol Gruner ’s lab enjoyed each other as much as they enjoyed science, and to decide that I wanted to work with them, even though I had no previous interest in biophysics. Sol proposed a risky project. He hypothesized that ion channels surrounded by lipids shaped like cylinders would function differently than ion channels surrounded by lipids shaped like cones, due to the membrane’s lateral pressure profile. He introduced me to Adrian Parsegian , who introduced me to Sergey Bezrukov , who taught me everything I know about black lipid membranes. Our data showed that Sol’s hypothesis was right, and I pub lished my first paper in the Biophysical Journal . BJ was the right place to reach broad audiences interested in rigorous physical measurements of membranes, and it still is. I’m honored to be speaking at the BPS Satellite Meeting honoring Adrian on the Friday before the 2025 BPS Meeting.” Keller recounts, “Attending grad school in the US was a good fit for me. I probably would not have earned a PhD or become a biophysicist in a different academic structure. To afford grad school, I needed a stipend every year, including during my master’s degree. To become a biophysicist, I needed the flexibility to completely change my branch of physics and my research group, even when I was years into my PhD.” Keller further explains, “Some colleagues and I were inter viewed in 2021 for Physics Today about why so many women in physics choose biophysics. I bluntly said it was because ‘there are fewer assholes in biophysics,’ which I maintain is still true, and still important. This leads to the question: how can we further increase collegiality among biophysicists, and attract even more talented scientists into our field? Ideas might include nominating broader populations of colleagues for awards, or introducing more colleagues to each other, or trying even harder to recall the dauntingly vast literature to cite each other better. We won’t always succeed—we are busy, tired, and imperfect humans—but good intent seems like the right place to start.”

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Biophysicist in Profile

in 2001. We were hot on their heels with our papers in 2002 and 2003, measuring transition temperatures and tie-lines. That 2003 paper has been cited over a thousand times now. Sarah convinced her fantastic friend Ben Stottrup to join the group. I might have initially taught Sarah and Ben about phase behavior in lipid membranes, but they got me tenure and taught me how to run a group. They and many other students ‘mentored up,’ and I am so grateful.” At BPS Annual Meetings, Keller and Veatch connected with Lee, Erin Sheets , Anne Kenworthy , Kalina Hristova , Anne Hinter liter , and Susan Gilmore , forming the Membrane Chix. As Keller told Living Histories , “We didn’t have an Old Boys Network, so we became our own network. We shared stories about which colleagues you could trust and which you should not share preliminary results with,” she explains. “We also noticed that some outstanding senior women in our field had not won major BPS awards. We ganged up on them and encouraged them to apply.” Keller remarks, “For me, BPS meetings are the annual reunion of my scientific family: through my ‘direct lineage’ of Sar ahs, my mentor-aunties and -uncles, my science-cousins in related fields, and my brilliant nieces and nephews in the next generation. BPS meetings are important for all our careers because they are where we network to learn the quiet backstory: the experiments that didn’t work, the ideas that weren’t funded, the job offers that were declined, and the collaborations that didn’t continue.”

While Keller was finishing her dissertation, she contemplat ed possible career paths. She felt that becoming a professor was impossible because when she and other women in her department asked their Chair why there were no tenure-track women on the faculty, he told them that any woman hired would have to be unassailable so that no one could say she had been hired just because she was a woman. Keller told Living Histories , “I interpreted that to mean that [any woman] had to be better than nearly all the men on the faculty. That’s when I stopped thinking I could ever become a professor.” Nevertheless, she still loved biophysics, and she wanted to apply imaging techniques to biophysical problems. She leveraged her next BPS Meeting to decide what her next move would be. She reveals, “I brought a list of labs doing cryo-electron microscopy to the meeting and asked everyone who the best mentors were. The clear consensus favored Joe Zasadzinski , who is indeed a great mentor! After I joined Joe’s lab, my lab-mate, Ka Yee Lee , told me how much she loved working with Harden McConnell. ” As a result, Keller completed postdoctoral fellowships in the Zasadzinski lab at the Uni versity of California, Santa Barbara, and in the McConnell lab at Stanford University. “In Harden’s lab, I was researching liquid-liquid phase transitions in lipid monolayers, thinking about stripe phases and critical phenomena. I was also gener ating most of my own research directions. An idea crept back into my head about maybe becoming a professor,” she shared with Living Histories . Keller told Living Histories that after she began a faculty position at the University of Washington, “the first graduate student to join my group was the brilliant and driven Sarah Veatch . We happened to be doing the right research at the right time. We were trying to find large-scale liquid-liquid phase separation in model lipid bilayers when the first paper showing how this behavior could be achieved was published The first graduate mentee of Sarah Keller (left) was Sarah Veatch (right), whose first graduate mentee was Sarah Shelby (center).

In addition to her career, Keller enjoys traveling with her partner, Rob Carlson , hiking with her University of Washington colleagues Anne McCoy and Julie Theriot , and making art. The October 1, 2024 issue of Biophysical Journal features an oil painting of Keller’s, highlighting her team’s result that most methods of making giant vesicles incorporate similar ratios of lipids. She also volunteers to broaden voter turnout in elections. One year, she celebrated a student’s dissertation defense by making a cake on the theme of their research, and “thesis cakes” became a lab tradition to highlight and cele brate the work of her trainees. Sarah Keller holds up a “thesis cake” she made to celebrate a student’s dissertation defense.

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Public Affairs

Applications Are Open for the Biophysical Society 2025–2026 Congressional Fellowship Interested in using your science skills to inform science policy? Does spending a year working on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, helping develop policy sound exciting? The Biophysical Society’s Congressional Fellowship program (www.biophysics. org/policy-advocacy/congressional-fellowship) is your opportunity to participate directly in the process of law-making that affects how research is funded and regulated. This year-long opportunity provides fellows a chance to use their science knowledge to inform the public policy process. Fellows will gain firsthand knowledge and experience on how Congress works and participate in the esteemed AAAS Science and Technology Fellows program that provides ongoing training and networking opportunities during the fellowship year and beyond. Visit www.biophysics.org/policy-advocacy/congressio nal-fellowship for more details about the program or contact Leann Fox at fellows@biophysics.org or (240) 290-5606. The application deadline is December 13, 2024 .

House Enacts Legislation to Reinstate China Initiative On September 11, 2024, the House approved a bill to reinstate the China Initiative from the Department of Justice (DOJ). The move comes on the heels of the National Insti tutes of Health (NIH) Director Monica Bertagnolli apologizing for the damage done by the previous iteration of the initia tive launched in 2018. The Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP [Chinese Communist Party] Act (HR 1398) would require the DOJ to launch a “CCP Initiative” that aims to “curb spying by the Chinese Communist Party on United States intellectual property and academic institutions,” among other goals. It was passed by a modest margin with some bipartisan support. Although the Senate companion bill, S.511, is unlikely to see any advancement in this Congress, the White House issued a statement decrying the bill for the potential to promote “incorrect and harmful public perceptions that the DOJ applies a different standard to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct related to the Chinese people or to American citizens of Chinese descent.” During the Biden administration, the DOJ discontinued the China Initiative label on the grounds that it had created a “perception” of bias that had a chilling effect on the research community. In its place, the DOJ has pursued a prosecution strategy focused on a broader array of nation-state threats and has more frequently delegated enforcement responsibili ties to federal science agencies. In addition to the bill to reintroduce the initiative, several other bills focusing on tightening security regarding China were introduced. Included in those bills was another measure to block the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from

funding US universities that have partnerships with “Chinese entities of concern,” defined as universities that have ties to the Chinese military or other security services. The White House has expressed a desire to work with Congress to refine the bill, stating that it supports the intent of the bill but be lieves “there may be more appropriate ways to prevent DHS funding from being directed toward academic institutions that are vulnerable to the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China’s] increasing monetary influence.” House Passes Biosecure Act In early September, the House enacted the “Biosecure Act” (HR 8333) to prohibit entities that receive federal funds from using biotechnology that is from a company associated with a foreign adversary. Specifically, the bill would prevent federal funds from going to biotech companies linked to five “foreign adversaries”: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. It bans purchases from five specific Chinese compa nies—BGI, MGI, WuXi Biologics, Wu Xi AppTec, and Complete Genomics—beginning in 2032. It would also prevent federal funds from going to other organizations that use services and equipment from the companies. The White House Office of Management and Budget would update the list of companies of concern at least once a year. It will also affect academic collaboration with Chinese researchers. Any projects that rely on sequencing in China or involve Chinese scientists who use services or machines from the companies will be affected. The new restrictions would also cut off one source of genome sequencers used in US labs. The Senate is considering a similar measure, with one iteration having already passed through a Senate committee. Speculation suggests that the Senate will probably adopt the House lan guage in a compromise bill or attached to a must-pass piece of legislation that would then be passed onto the White House for signing.

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Public Affairs

International Postdocs Face More Challenges Than US Counterparts In 2023, the NIH put out a call for comments from current and former postdocs about the challenges they face and received a flood of responses that bore out what was antici pated: a number of concerns about salaries, cost of living, and opportunities. What may not have been anticipated was the number of these concerns raised by the international post doc population in the United States, which makes up 57% of the US postdoc population. According to a paper published in August by Research Policy , among the 2,800 academic post docs working in the United States, those holding temporary visas received lower pay and less career support and guid ance than US citizens and permanent residents, even though visa holders were more productive (Kahn, S., and MacGarvie M. 2024. New evidence on international postdocs in the US: Less pay, different experiences. Res. Policy 53: https:/doi. org/10.1016/j.respol.2024.105077). The study used data from the National Science Foundation’s Early Career Doctorates Survey, a detailed questionnaire that was administered in 2017 to academic scientists who were within 10 years of completing their PhD. This varies from other prior postdoc surveys, which largely focus on gradu ates who received their PhDs in the Unites States. Temporary residents who received their PhD abroad—35% of the total respondents—earned 6.8% less as a postdoc than did US citi zens and permanent residents, the study authors found. That difference far exceeded the gender pay gap (1.7%) observed in the same sample.

Immigration Reform Key to US Science A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, En gineering and Medicine (NASEM) is calling for immigration reform to allow more individuals with advanced degrees, a major component to US research, to remain in the country. NASEM’s report suggests that the broken US immigration system is threatening the country’s status as a global leader in research. The report calls on Congress and the White House to make it easier for immigrants earning advanced degrees in STEM fields to remain in the country. Among the recommended changes to the current laws are boosting the number of foreign-born experts in designated STEM fields who could receive a green card, removing the cap on green cards for natives of specific countries, and giving green cards to ev eryone who wants to remain in the country after earning an advanced degree from a US university. In addition to the need to retain foreign-born STEM talent, the report recommends a massive investment aimed at attracting more domestic students into STEM, an investment that will take a long-term plan to implement. Lastly, the report warns against policies restricting the flow of international talent in the name of protecting national securi ty, lest they be seen as discriminatory. Although immigration reform continues to be a lightning rod for political parti sanship, the report suggests that a balance must be struck between the recruitment of international research talent and avoiding the problems surrounding illegal immigration.

Give the Gift of Membership

Looking for the perfect gift for a colleague or aspiring biophysicist? To give the gift of BPS membership, visit biophysics.org/giftmembership.

The Biophysical Society is grateful to its Industry Partners.

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For Industry Partner Membership information, contact alevine@biophysics.org. SILVER

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Publications

Know the Editor Yuval Ebenstein Tel-Aviv University Associate Editor Biophysical Reports

Editor’s Pick

Yuval Ebenstein

What are you currently working on that excites you?? In the last year, I have opened a new front of research in my lab trying to connect a psychological state of an individual with molecular transformations in the brain. Specifically, epigenetic patterns of chemical modifications along genomic DNA in brain cells have been shown to change in response to various types of mental stress. Our lab has developed a tool box for single-molecule studies of DNA modifications, which we are now utilizing to map various mouse brain regions for changes associated with depression in depressed versus happy mice. At a cocktail party of non-scientists, how would you explain what you do? Hi, I’m a physical epigeneticist. I’m trying to find out if, and how, a chemical code on our DNA makes us who we are. Each one of us has a unique and personal genome, but all the different cell types that make us have exactly the same genetic code—our personal genome. How can different cell types display distinct shape and function despite having the same execution code? It turns out that additional informa tion is encoded by chemical modifications to the DNA bases. This epigenetic code controls which parts of the genome are used by each type of cell according to its function (skin, liver, etc.). The modified DNA bases may be converted back to their original state, thus allowing cells to write and erase functional information—a molecular memory. My lab develops tech niques to read epigenetic patterns on DNA and relate them to physiological conditions such as cancer. We profile DNA molecules one by one, which provides extreme sensitivity for cancer diagnosis. It also allows us to measure epigenetic entropy. But that’s a whole different story.

Biophysical Reports Growing bacterial colonies harness emergent genealogical demixing to regulate organizational entropy Garima Rani and Anupam Sengupta “Spatiotemporal distribution of bacteria has far-reaching ramifications in the ecology and evolution of bacterial species and their consortia. Many species are surface associated, yet how they distribute genealogically, i.e., how daughter cells distribute in relation to their mother cells, specifically during the early stages of biofilm formation, remains unknown. By analyzing expanding colonies using a custom-built, label-free algorithm, the authors tracked bacterial growth, revealing distinct self-similar genealogical enclaves that intermix over time. While biological activity determines their intermixing dynamics, emergent topological defects at the interfaces mediate the finger-like morphology of interfacial domains. The results demonstrate that proximity to kith and kin—both spatial and genealogical—is intrinsically encoded in growth from an early developmental stage, signifying its role in medi ating fitness and viability.”

Version of Record Published August 21, 2024 DOI: https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.bpr.2024.100175

Numbers By the

BPS supported 17 science fairs across the United States in 2024.

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Call for Applications: Editor-in-Chief of Biophysical Reports Open for infinite possibilities The Biophysical Society is seeking the next Editor-in-Chief for its open access journal, Biophysical Reports , to support the Society’s strategic goals: • Foster a Diverse and Inclusive Global Community Biophysical Reports publishes Letters, short Reports, and full-length Articles for rapid publication, which can be written for specialists or general audiences. The journal welcomes submissions describing new results, methods, or technologies. The journal complements Biophysical Journal by providing a vehicle for articles with rapid turnaround in a fully open access journal. Biophysical Reports publishes original research in all aspects of biophysics, from the molecular to whole-organism levels. The Editor-in-Chief should embody the scientific standards of the Society, support its mission, and have a vision for the future of the journal. This appointment will begin January 1, 2026, for a single five-year term. This is an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of biophysics and to lead a high-quality open access publication. The Editor-in-Chief will: • Lead the editorial team; • Recruit exciting manuscripts through attendance at international conferences and scientific meetings; • Shape the future editorial direction of a journal that is now beyond the startup phase; • Work with Society Office staff on day-to-day editorial management; and • Collaborate with staff and the Society’s publishing partner, Cell Press, on effective workflows, journal website features, marketing, and social media promotion of the journal. The successful candidate will have: • Broad interest across the full spectrum of biophysics, • Project and/or people management skills, • Strong organizational skills, • Enhance the Sharing of Knowledge • Invest in the Future of Biophysics • Advocate for Biophysics

• Strong written and oral communication skills, and • Interest in engaging with the scientific community.

The Publications Committee welcomes applications from candidates who support and are dedicated to the Society’s values. There are no restrictions on scientific interests, background, gender, or geography. To apply, please submit a cover letter outlining the motivations for your interest. We will also accept nominations. We will consider applications until March 1, 2025. Confidential applications should be made to the Publications Committee through the Society Office (jlong@biophysics.org).

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Annual Meeting

Career and Networking Events From putting potential students in touch with top biophysics programs, to assisting job seekers with resume critiques, to providing networking opportunities for mid-career professionals, this year’s Annual Meeting will feature a wide variety of career-enriching events for attendees at every career level. All session times are USA Pacific time zone.

Thank you to our sponsors: APS Physical Review Journals Bruker Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC Chroma Technology

Postdoctoral Breakfast Sunday, February 16, 7:30 am –8:30 am Life as a postdoc can bring along many chal lenges. This session provides postdocs the opportunity to learn from speakers who will share their journey with open Q&A and time to network with others. Attendees can see a va riety of different perspectives on how to deal with challenges as a postdoc and to learn how to move forward in their careers. The session Sunday, February 16, 11:30 am –1:00 pm This “breakfast” allows undergraduate stu dents valuable networking and social op portunities with both peers and established biophysicists. You will also have a chance to meet and talk to Biophysical Society commit tee members and scientists at all career lev els to discuss academic goals and questions and to learn how to develop a career path in biophysics. This event will also feature a panel discussion from invited speakers who will share their stories and answer questions. Space for this session is limited to the first 100 attendees. is limited to the first 100 attendees. Undergraduate Student Pizza “Breakfast”

Education and Career Opportunities Fair

Cube Biotech Depixus SAS Fidabio HORIBA Leica Microsystems LUMICKS Mad City Labs Inc Malvern Panalytical Molecular Devices Nanion Technologies Nuclera wwPDB Foundation Sophion Bioscience A/S Thermo Fisher Scientific

Sunday, February 16, 1:00 pm –3:00 pm This fair will provide opportunities for can didates to meet with representatives from educational institutions as well as industry and government agencies. Students and postdoctoral candidates will be able to meet with representatives from colleges and uni versities with leading programs in biophysics. Attendees can connect with representatives from industry and agencies who will provide information about employment and funding opportunities at their institutions/companies. Representatives interested in reserving a table at this fair must register online no later than January 10, 2025. Please contact the Society at society@biophysics.org with questions.

Missed the October 1 abstract submission deadline? You can submit a late abstract for poster presentation. Late abstract submission deadline is January 7, 2025.

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Teaching Science Like We Do Science Sunday, February 16, 2:00 pm –4:00 pm

Graduate Student Breakfast Monday, February 17, 7:30 am –8:30 am

Navigating the future as a graduate student is both thrilling and daunting, but sharing the journey with others can be incrediably valuable. This breakfast has a panel discussion and Q&A struc ture, allowing students to receive feedback related to their ca reers. It also presents an opportunity for graduate student Annual Meeting attendees to meet and discuss the issues they face in their current career stage with their peers. The session is limited to the first 100 attendees. Annual Meeting of the Student Chapters Monday, February 17, 11:00 am –12:30 pm The Annual Meeting of the Student Chapters allows student chapter members to connect with others from around the world. Network, share your accomplishments, and learn from one an other about how to make your own chapter even better! Biophysics 101 Monday, February 17, 1:30 pm –3:00 pm Biophysics 101 is an opportunity to learn about hot topics in bio physics from experts in the field! More information to come soon about this year’s session topic. Hands-on Training: Four Interpretable Machine Learning Techniques to Immediately Accelerate Your Research Monday, February 17, 1:30 pm –3:30 pm Are you eager to accelerate your work through data science and interpretable machine learning but are unsure where to begin? This beginner-friendly training session is your gateway to using these powerful tools without needing any prior coding experience or software setup. Hosted by the newly established National Sci ence Foundation National Center for Emergence in Molecular and Cellular Sciences, this hands-on session will equip you with the skills to harness the four most-widely used data science tech niques. This training is designed specifically to benefit biophysi cists, offering practical, easy-to-use methods that can be broadly applied across the field. Space is limited to just 50 participants at any career stage, so don’t miss out on this valuable opportunity. Register at www.surveymonkey.com/r/8XNSTW6.

Teaching science has changed over the years. Educators at any level of biophysical science education will benefit from this interactive, hands-on workshop. The focus of the session will be on practice-applicable, easy-to-use strategies and tools that educators can use to assess how their teaching transcribes to their students and if changes to their educational methods are necessary. Don’t miss this session! PI to PI Mixer Sunday, February 16, 4:00 pm –6:00 pm Engage in meaningful one-on-one discussions with col leagues and exchange insights on navigating the challenges between landing your job and securing your next promotion. Connect with other PIs to share strategies for managing lab staff, getting your research published, renewing funding, and building a strong professional network that supports your career advancement. Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI) Network Annual Meeting Mixer Sunday, February 16, 5:00 pm –7:00 pm Are you interested in or currently building your career at a pri- marily undergraduate institution (PUI)? Would you like to meet and learn from biophysicists at PUIs around the world? Then join us at the PUI Network Annual Meeting Mixer! Here you’ll have the opportunity to meet with a diverse group of PUI professors to learn, discuss, and share ideas related to your career at a PUI. We hope to see you there! One-on-One with a Mentor Student and Early Career members are invited to apply to be paired with a mentor from among BPS Regular members. Regular members are invited to sign up as mentors and help guide the next generation of biophysicists! Pairs are matched on the basis of scientific interests from their mem bership profiles, as well as the answers to a short question naire. Membership and meeting registration are required for participation.

You can sign up online at www.biophysics.org/2025meet ing/program/professional-development-networking?#- mentor.

biophysics.org/ 2025meeting

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Managing It All: Making Time for Success

Founding and Establishing a Research Laboratory at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions Tuesday, February 18, 12:00 pm –1:30 pm Establishing a research laboratory at a primarily undergrad uate institution (PUI) can be a daunting task. That’s why this session offers guidance on founding and establishing a research laboratory with those circumstances and challenges in mind. A team of panelists made up of faculty members at PUIs who have been successful in their positions will share their experiences and answer your questions. Careers in Industry: A Q&A Panel Tuesday, February 18, 1:00 pm –2:30 pm Join a Q&A discussion about scientific careers in industry. Industry panelists will answer audience questions and share their career experiences. Hear from professionals in different roles and positions and get tangible advice for identifying and pursuing a career in industry. Annual Art of Science Contest Now Open Entries are due December 2, 2024 Do you have an eye-catching image that resulted from your research? Show the artistic side of scientific imag ing. BPS members attending the 2025 Annual Meeting may enter the annual BPS Image Contest, The Art of Science. Monetary prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place. The 2025 Art of Science Image Contest is fully supported by Chroma Technology. Submit today at biophysics.org/2025meeting

Monday, February 17, 2:30 PM–4:00 PM This workshop hosted by the Committee for Professional Op portunities for Women will empower participants to take charge of their own career goals, with an emphasis on time and project management strategies for prioritizing productivity. Participants will have the opportunity to participate in a guided self-reflection to identify their professional priorities and the ways in which daily obligations often lead to putting these priorities aside. Partici pants will then break into career-stage-specific groups to discuss strategies for managing the sometimes-conflicting priorities that are common barriers to productivity in scientific careers. Partici pants will leave the workshop with new ideas and inspiration for how to play an active role in promoting their own success. Speed Networking Monday, February 17, 4:30 pm –6:00 pm Networking is key in science, but there never seems to be enough time! The goal of this event is to allow Student and Early Career members to network and connect with estab lished biophysicists in a fun, casual way. Attendees will rotate among the mentors, who will be seated at different tables, for five-minute discussions. By the end of the event, each participant will have had meaningful interactions with more than a half dozen colleagues and the opportunity to meet many more. Registration is recommended for this event. Sign up at https:/www.biophysics.org/store/products/product-de tails?ProductName=speed-networking-2025-am. JUST-B Networking Hour Monday, February 17, 5:00 pm –6:00 pm Join us for an engaging networking hour dedicated to foster ing connections among individuals from groups historically underrepresented in biophysics. Participants will include JUST-B poster presenters and members of SOBLA (the Soci ety for Latinoamerican Biophysicists) and Black in Biophysics, but all are welcome. This event aims to create a welcoming space for participants to share their experiences, exchange ideas, and build meaningful relationships that can enhance their professional journeys.

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Subgroup Symposia at the BPS Annual Meeting Saturday February 15, 2025 Subgroup Symposia at the 2025 Annual Meeting are scheduled for morning and afternoon sessions to allow attendees to attend multiple Subgroup Symposia and to accommodate all research areas.

Morning Sessions (8:30 AM – 12:30 PM) Bioenergetics, Mitochondria & Metabolism Biological Fluorescence Biopolymers in Vivo Channels, Receptors & Transporters Cryo-EM Membrane Fusion, Fission & Traffic Nanoscale Approaches Physical Cell Biology Theory & Computation Bioenergetics, Mitochondria, and Metabolism

Afternoon Sessions (1:30 PM – 5:30 PM) Bioengineering Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Macromolecular Machines & Assemblies Mechanobiology Membrane Structure & Function Membrane Transport Motility & Cytoskeleton Multiscale Genome Organization Single-Molecule Forces, Manipulation & Visualization Bioengineering Subgroup Chair: Seth Weinberg , Ohio State University, USA Speakers Manu Ben Johny , Columbia University, USA De Novo Design of Precision Actuators for Voltage-gated Calcium and Sodium Ion Channels Gil Bub , McGill University, Canada Multiplexed High-throughput Imaging for the Life Sciences Dawen Cai , University of Michigan, USA Super-resolution Profiling of Neuron Morphology, Synapse Con nectivity, and Molecular Identity Priscilla Hwang , Virginia Commonwealth University, USA Mechanical Cues Mediate P-Cadherin Dependent Adhesions Re quired for Epithelial Morphogenesis Amelia McCue , Johns Hopkins University, USA Engineering a Tumor-Sensitive Prodrug T Cell Engager Bispecific Antibody for Safer Immunotherapy David Odde , University of Minnesota, USA Biophysics of Cancer and Immune Cell Migration in Brain Tissue Roshni Shetty , University of California, Davis, USA Multiscale Modeling of Sex Differences in Beta-Adrenergic Re sponses of the Heart Keita Uchida , University of Pennsylvania, USA Single Cardiomyocyte Protein Synthesis Is Driven by Heteroge neous mTORC1 Activity

Subgroup Co-Chairs: Harpreet Singh , Ohio State University, USA, and Shanmughapriya Santhanam , Pennsylvania State University, USA 2025 Program Co-Chairs: George Porter , University of Roch ester School of Medicine, USA, and Pam Wenzel, UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School, USA Symposium Title: Bioenergetics and Cellular Differentiation Speakers Roman Eliseev , University of Rochester School of Medicine, USA Crosstalk of Differentiation and Bioenergetic Pathways in Bone Marrow Stromal/Stem Cells Vivian Gama , Vanderbilt Center for Stem Cell Biology, USA The Coordination of Mitochondrial and Peroxisomal Fission Establishes Cell Fate during Neurogenesis Atsushi “Austin” Nakano , University of California, Los Angeles, USA The Role of Glucose in Cardiogenesis Jason Tennessen , Indiana University, USA Oncometabolites, Fruit Flies, and Rotting Bananas - Drosophila melanogaster as a Model for Studying Tumor Metabolism Pamela Wenzel , UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School, USA Biomechanical Force Initiates mTORC1-dependent Mitochondrial Remodeling in Hematopoietic Development

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