Biophysical Society Bulletin | October 2018

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October 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Nine Outstanding Biophysicists to Receive BPS Honors The Biophysical Society is proud to announce the 2019 Society award recipients. These members will be honored at the 63rd Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, in March.

Raymond Stevens , University of South- ern California, will receive the Anatrace Membrane Protein Award for pioneering the development of membrane protein structural biology technologies including nanoliter crystallization robotics, nanoliter imaging, micro-expression and screening of constructs, thermal stability analysis, and the fusion partner toolchest that led to groundbreaking seminal work on the structures andmechanistic understanding of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily.

Enrico Gratton , University of California, Irvine, will receive the Avanti Award in Lipids for his pioneering work in the development and application of fluorescence methodologies

Elizabeth Rhoades , Universi- ty of Pennsylvania, will re- ceive the Michael and Kate Bárány Award for Young Investigators for her deep insight into structure-func-

to the study of lipid-lipid, lipid-protein and membrane dynamics and, for more than 30 years, his seminal contributions to our un- derstanding of lipid biophysics, both in vitro and in living cells.

tion relations in disordered systems, leadership in the identification and use of proteinmodels that are representative of human disease, and innovative use of single-molecule tools in both intra-, ultra-, and extra-cellular milieus.

Inside President’s Message Biophysicist in Profile

Meytal Landau , Israel Institute of Technology, will receive the Margaret Oakley Dayoff Award for outstandingly creative and committed work to solve diffi- cult research problems, including how small molecules bind to amyloid-like fibers of one of the two principal proteins of Alzheimer’s disease. Harry Noller , University of California, Santa Cruz, will receive the Ignacio Tinoco Award for his groundbreaking studies of the structure, dynamics, and func- tion of the ribosome; his outstanding mentorship and training of scores of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers; and his extraordinary ability to engage and collaborate with his colleagues to advance knowledge and understanding in the field. Yves De Koninck , Laval University, Canada, will receive the Emily M. Gray Award for his significant contributions to education in biophysics, including a distinguished record of excellence inmentoring research scientists and in developing novel educational methods andmaterials. Juli Feigon , University of California, Los Angeles, will receive the Founders Award for her courageous, creative work in structural biology of DNA and RNA; pioneering use of NMR to study structures and dynamics of nucleic acids; establishing the conformational variability of DNA, including the first structures of triplexes, quadruplexes, and aptamers; and landmark studies on telomerase in the structural biology of DNA and RNA. Jeff Gelles , Brandeis University, will receive the Kazuhiko Kinosita Award in SingleMolecule Biophysics for his pioneering research that has established new fields, created new techniques, reached across disciplines, encouraged new—and new-to-single-molecules— investigators, and, through a focus on biological relevance, brought single-molecule studies to a broad audience. Songi Han , University of California, Santa Barbara, will receive the Innovation Award for her invention and development of magnetic resonance methods that advance our fundamental understanding of biological hydration, which perfectly reflects the interdisciplinary essence of biophysical research.

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Publications Public Affairs From the Blog Annual Meeting Communities

12 Member Corner & Important Dates 13 Student Spotlight 13 Career Development 14 Grants and Opportunities 15 Upcoming Events 16

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AMessage from the President

Biophysicist in Profile

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

AMessage from the President Next month, Americans will head to their polling places to cast their votes in the midterm elections. Many states will hold gubernatorial elections and overall, voters will decide which party controls Con- gress. The stakes are high. The current political environment has in many ways worked to undermine science — singling out climate science for particular ire — and cutting back on legal immigration to the United States, which hampers the free flow of scientific discourse and progress in research. Ad- ditionally, the White House proposed budget had recommended significant reductions in the science research budget. While it may seem like the deck is stacked against science, there are reasons for hope. The 2018 midterm elections have attracted strong interest from the scientific community and many members of our community have thrown their hat in the ring. Science has tracked at least 31 candi-

Jane Clarke Areas of Research Protein folding and protein- protein interactions

Institution Wolfson College, Cambridge

At-a-Glance

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

Growing up in Cambridge, United Kingdom, Jane Clarke always planned to be a scientist and a teacher, and she achieved that goal, earning her degree and working as a high school teacher. After a move to the United States for her husband’s job, Clarke went back to school and began a second career as a researcher —which turned out to be a great success. After running her lab for 20 years, she now serves as president of Wolfson College.

Angela M. Gronenborn

Jane Clarke

dates — including BPS’s own former Congressional Fellow Randy Wadkins —who qualified for primary elections, with several advancing to the general elections in November. In our community, many of our BPS members are getting involved with our public affairs efforts. The Public Affairs Committee has redesigned our Advocacy Toolkit, strengthening several of our current programs and rolling out new initiatives. Our members are taking advantage of these efforts. This August, while the House of Representatives was out on recess, our members James Bashkin and Eric Majzoub of the Uni- versity of Missouri in St. Louis visited Senator Roy Blunt’s district office to discuss National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and the importance of investments in fundamental research. In Washington, BPS staff worked with Kelsey Bettridge , a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, to set up a Hill Day and visited with Maryland’s Senators and Representative Elijah Cum- mings of Baltimore. These efforts are vitally important to sharing the positive impact our work as biophysicists has on society. Further, they help to provide Congress the cover it needs to counter budget cutbacks. For example, Senator Blunt serves as the Chairman of the spending panel that controls the NIH budget. In late August, the Senate passed a spending package that contained a $2 billion increase in funding for NIH, compared to FY 2018 levels. This is quite an accomplishment considering a majority of the Senate hails from the same party as the President, yet strongly rejected the Administration’s proposed budget for NIH. Instead, Sena- tors sent a resounding bipartisan message that Congress values investments in biomedical research. So, you may be wondering, how can you get involved and make a difference in the midterm elections? First, get out there and vote on November 6! Second, if you have not been to our website in a while, visit our Advocacy Toolkit. BPS staff is ready to work with you to develop opinion pieces or letters to the editor touting the benefits of biomedical research and help you host your local member of Congress for a lab tour. And, lastly, consider coming to Washington! Several BPS members just par- ticipated in the Rally for Medical Research, which brings the biomedical community to Congress. In the spring, BPS will also participate in STEM on the Hill, which brings together scientific societies, universities, and national laboratories to advocate for science. In closing, your voice matters. While current policies being followed are largely discouraging, we cannot influence the public policy process sitting at home. I strongly encourage you to support your colleagues running for office and get involved with BPS’s efforts. — Angela M. Gronenborn

Even as a young child, Jane Clarke , now Pres- ident of Wolfson College, Cambridge, knew she would grow up to be a scientist and a teacher. “I was always a scientist — surely all young children are!” she says. “That is, cu- rious and testing how the world about them works. I was encouraged by my parents to explore, ask questions, investigate, test every answer. My mother was a science teacher and although my father left school at 15 he was always mathematically and technically minded — he worked on radar during World War II.” She earned a bachelor’s degree in biochem- istry from York University and then followed in the footsteps of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, becoming a high school teacher. After she had been teaching for many years, Clarke and her family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, for her husband’s work as a banker. She was not certified to teach in Georgia, so she decided to return to school to update her scientific knowledge. She enrolled at Georgia Tech, where she fell in love with research. “I did a course with the protein crystallog- rapher Bud Suddath (who sadly died shortly after I left the United States) and that was when I decided a career in research was for me. I knew I wanted to work on the ‘next step’ in the DNA-to-RNA-to-protein paradigm — that is, how a linear sequence could en- code the structure of the protein, the pathway by which the protein folds to that structure, and its biological function,” she shares. When

the family returned to the United Kingdom, Clarke, at the age of 40, joined the group of Alan Fersht at the University of Cambridge and completed a PhD in three years. “I joined Alan Fersht’s lab just after he had started using protein engineering to investigate protein folding … and essentially, I have never looked back,” she says. “That big question is still one of the most interesting questions in biophys- ics, as far as I am concerned.” Prior to starting with Fersht, she had been discouraged by another scientist, who told her that it was not possible to pursue a PhD and have a successful career in science while raising children. “Being older, I had the confi- dence to reject that misogyny — the supervi- sor in question would never have said that to a man,” she explains. “Turns out it was a great thing that he rejected me — Alan Fersht was doing far more interesting research and he nurtured my career. He never asked, ‘Why are you leaving at 4 PM?’ He only cared about what you achieved.” Following completion of her PhD, she won a training fellowship to do her postdoctoral research on biological NMR with Mark Bycroft in Fersht’s lab. In 1997, Clarke received a Wellcome Trust Fel- lowship, and has held a series of fellowships from the Trust since then. “These fellowships are marvelous — you are free to explore your questions, follow your nose, without teaching and administrative obligations, and you only have to write a grant proposal once every five

Caitlin Simpson Elizabeth Vuong Sean Winkler Production

Ray Wolfe Catie Curry

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. Canadian GST No. 898477062. Postmaster: Send address changes to Biophysical Society, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110, Rockville, MD 20852. Copyright © 2018 by the Biophysical Society. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

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October 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Biophysicist in Profile

Publications

Know the Editor David Sept University of Michigan

In Search of Tweeters and Bloggers!

years!” she says. “Of course, the down side is that you have no security and could be out of a job if you fail to get the next one. Just as well my husband was a banker!” After running her own lab for 20 years, Clarke retired from re- search last fall, as is mandated at age 67 at the University of Cambridge. “In my case this is hard, closing down my lab after only 20 years! My final students are writing up. They have all been working on intrinsically disordered proteins, which fold

The biggest challenge of Clarke’s career has been working in a field in which so few women reach the top. “That can be lonely. There is such a macho ‘got to work long hours’ culture, and it is frustrating watching brilliant young women decide that punishing schedules will be too heavy a price,” she says. “I learned to keep it small — keep your group tight. That way it is manageable, easier to fund, you don’t get hung up with all the admin, and you can still be close to the results — even if it’s your students who are actually collecting the data.”

Editor, Molecular Machines, Motors and Nanoscale Biophysics

“ Follow your dream. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. But don’t be frightened to take it slowly, to take breaks. Keep your eye on what is important —your science and your family and friends—we’re not in this for fame or fortune. ”

upon binding to a partner macro- molecule —where protein folding and unfolding is part of the function,” she explains. “Plan A was to travel, support and mentor young scientists, and look after the five grandchildren more regularly.” Instead, a new opportunity arose for Clarke — to serve as head of a Cambridge college. “Last October I started my retirement with the posi- tion of president of Wolfson College, Cambridge. This is an amazing job. Wolfson is a relatively young college,

David Sept

Over the years, she has also built a support system of fellow women in science. “I have a number of close friends who I have only met through biophysics, mainly women, who I admire and who have supported me through the last 20 years, and I have supported them back,” she says. “Perhaps I will single out Carol Robinson , who left school at 16, took 9 years out after her PhD to look after her children, and yet is one of the world’s most eminent biophys- icists (she is the Biophysical Society Lecturer this year). She demonstrates

What are you currently working on that excites you? For many years, my group has worked to understand the sequence-structure-function relationship in both actin and tubulin. Our work has always been theoretical and computa- tional in nature, and we have been fortunate to have a great group of collaborators in experimental biophysics, biochemis- try, or cell biology. Just like many other fields, we have seen a massive influx of new sequence and structural data in recent years that has created many new opportunities for us. What I have found particularly exciting and interesting is the new understanding we have gained about disease-causing mu- tations in these proteins as well as the functional effects of post-translational modifications, particularly in tubulin. What has been your biggest “aha” moment in science? Apart from any breakthroughs I may have made through my science, I think the biggest “aha” moment for me was the realization that one could actually do scientific research as a career. I was a first-generation college student and although I knew I wanted to attend university, I frankly understood very little about how the higher education system actually worked. After my sophomore year as a physics major at the University of Alberta, I was awarded a summer research fellowship, and this experience completely shifted my world view. This set me on a path towards graduate school, a postdoc, and now nearly 20 years as a faculty member. That initial research op- portunity that I had now seems like random chance, and this really motivates me to give other students the same opportu- nity that I was so fortunate to receive.

Do you believe in the power of social media? Do you like to write, blog, and tweet about science? The Biophysical Journal is looking for 3–5 junior faculty members or early career re- searchers (post PhD) to tweet about articles in the journal and write related blog posts for the Society’s 3,500 blog readers. You will join the team of Society members who advertise exciting new science published continuously in Biophysical Journal while adding social media contributor to your list of accomplishments. Interested candidates can view the Society blog at https:/www.biophysics.org/blog and follow both the Society and BJ on Twitter @biophysicalSoc and @BiophysJ Tweets will be from the Biophysical Journal account and will not be attributed; blog posts will have attribution. Contribu- tors will be expected to prepare 60–70 tweets and approxi- mately 4 blog posts per year. Selected social media contribu- tors will have their name on the journal masthead, be profiled in the BPS Bulletin , and receive a small stipend. To submit your application by December 15, visit https:/www.surveymonkey.com/r/MQC2WBX

taking only mature undergraduates (returners to learning) and graduates. It is a modern, inclusive, and diverse community of students and researchers in all disciplines. At the moment we have students from 79 countries. It is a privilege to work with young — and not so young — scholars and see them forge their way, follow their passions, their ambitions to change the world,” she shares. “And actually, it turns out that being a biophysicist is a good training for this job. Of the 32 heads of colleges here in Cambridge, 4 of us are biophysicists! There is Greg Winter at Trinity, my old mentor Alan Fersht in Gonville and Caius, and Chris Dobson at St John’s.”

quite clearly that there is not just one way to be a success.” Outside of science, Clarke most enjoys playing with her five grandchildren, aged one to eight years. “I don’t do that enough because none of them live close enough,” she says. Asked what advice she would offer to those just starting their careers in biophysics, she says, “Follow your dream. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. But don’t be frightened to take it slowly, to take breaks. Keep your eye on what is important — your science and your family and friends —we’re not in this for fame or fortune. And marry a banker!”

Next Generation Science: Start a BPS Student Chapter!

BPS NowAccepting Suggestions and Proposals for Biophysics eBooks Have you thought about writing a book but find the idea daunting? Have you wanted to pick up a succinct well-written book on a biophysics topic but realized it didn’t exist? We want to hear from you. For those interested in writing a book, the BPS-IOP ebooks program offers numerous resources as well as personal help and guidance to assist you. If you are interested in being part of this unique program, please submit your suggestion or a summary of your proposal, detailing the topic, concept, competition, and potential audience to Jessica.Fricchione@iop.org, including a current biography and contact details. Want to knowmore? Visit http:/ ioppublishing.org/biophysical-society-ebooks/.

Are you a mentor to biophysics students who have leadership potential? Are YOU a biophysics student interested in growing your educational and career opportunities? If either answer is yes, get involved organizing a Biophysical Society Student Chapter! The program is building active Chapters around the globe, increasing student representation and

participation within the Society, and promoting biophysics as a discipline across college campuses through activities organized by local Chapters. Chapters may be formed within a single institution, or regional chapters may be developed among multiple, neighboring institutions anywhere in the world. Approved chapters will receive $200 USD in reimbursable expenses to assist with getting started, and have access to special opportunities for Chapter officers and members at future Biophysical Society meetings. To learn more about application requirements, visit www.biophysics.org/student-chapters. Questions can be directed to Dorian Russell at drussell@biophysics.org. Applications are due November 15, 2018.

October 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Public Affairs

USMidtermElections: Congressional Forecasts before November On November 6, US voters will head to the polls to cast their votes in the midterm elections. Now that we are just a month away from voting, the battle lines for control of the House and Senate are coming into focus. Historically, the party that controls the White House (Republicans) tends to lose con- gressional seats during midterm elections. The vast majority of media attention has focused on the House of Representatives, as the minority party (Democrats), is poised to make gains, and possibly, reclaim control of the chamber. Every two years, all of the House’s 435 congressio- nal seats are up for election. However, only so many are ac- tually competitive or have a chance of changing party hands. But, due to President Trump’s relatively low approval ratings, an energized Democratic base, and a recent spate of Republi- can retirements, more congressional seats are expected to be competitive. The Democrats need to flip 23 Republican-held

seats to take back the majority and, according to forecasters like FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver and the University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato , Democrats are slightly favored to do exactly that. The race for control of the Senate is a vastly different story as only one-third of the chamber is up for election every two years. Currently, Republicans control the Senate by a narrow 51–49 margin, but they are facing a very favorable 2018 map. Democrats are being forced to defend 22 of their seats, while Republicans only have to defend 10 seats. Additionally, Dem- ocrats have incumbents running in 10 states that voted for President Trump in 2016, compared to just one state (Nevada) that Republicans are defending that went for Hillary Clinton . Yet, again, due to President Trump’s relatively low approval ratings, an energized Democratic base, and some surprisingly strong Democratic Senate recruits, Democrats have a path, albeit a narrow one, to reclaim the Senate majority, or, at the very least, minimize their losses in red-leaning states. Fore- casters are mainly projecting a wash, with most outcomes seeing Republicans gaining a seat or two.

Members Are Stepping Up Their Advocacy Earlier in the year, we reported that Congress would be out on recess for the month of August and that the recess is a great opportunity to get involved with BPS. We are excited to share that our membership has been responding and is stepping up to advocate for science!

If confirmed, Droegemeier would focus on improving our STEM education pipeline and encouraging stronger pri- vate-public partnerships, ensuring promising discoveries and technologies are effectively transferred to the private sector and continue to spur job growth across the country. Overall, Droegemeier appeared to be well received by Senators of both parties. While it remains to be seen when his confirma- tion will come before the full Senate for a vote, Droegemeier appears to be on track. European High Court Ruling Seen As A CRISPR Setback On July 25, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) in Luxembourg, dealt a major setback to proponents of gene-edited crops, including many in the research and sci- ence communities. The ECJ found that plants created using gene-editing tools such as CRISPR, should go through the same extensive regulatory process as other genetically modi- fied (GM) crops. The ruling will immediately impact the United Kingdom and Belgium as both countries had already approved and launched CRISPR crop field trials. Many researchers are concerned that this ruling is likely to hinder investments in crop research and fundamental science. While we’re off to a great start, we need your help to keep our advocacy momentum going! Congress is expected to be on recess for almost the entire month of October. If you are interested in learning more about our advocacy programs or upcoming events, please contact Sean Winkler at swinkler@ biophysics.org. The next day, BPS staff joined Kelsey Bettridge , a graduate student at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, to visit with the Maryland congressional delegation in Washington. Kelsey shared several videos of E. coli research conducted at the Xiao Lab that made an impactful impression as the team shared the importance of fundamental science research with con- gressional staff. By the end of the day, the BPS team had met with staff from the offices of Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD-7).

Senate Begins Consideration of Kelvin Droegemeier asWhite House Science Advisor On July 31, President Trump nominated Kelvin Droegemeier to serve as the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The Office of Science had been vacant for the past 19 months. Droegemeier, vice president for research at The University of Oklahoma (OU) in Norman, has previously served on the advisory board of the National Science Foundation and his nomination has received praise from the larger research community. On August 23, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Commerce) held a nomination hearing for Droegemeier. He was warmly introduced by both of his home state senators: Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and James Lankford (R-OK). Traditionally, having the support of your home state senators is an encouraging step toward confirmation. In his opening remarks, Droegemeier described himself as an educator, public policy professional, and a storm chaser. He advised that while today is an exciting time in science, it is vital we main- tain our national commitment to scientific pursuits as we face daunting global challenges. On August 6, James Bashkin , University of Missouri, St. Louis, visited with Jasmina Hadzic , staff to Congressman William Lacy Clay (D-MO-1), at the congressman’s St. Louis District Office. Bashkin touched on the importance of fundamental science research and pushed for Congress to approve the Senate Appropriations Committee’s mark for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of $39.3 billion, a $2 billion increase over Fiscal Year 2018 levels (encouragingly the full Senate approved this proposed funding increase on August 23).

From the Blog biophysics.org/blog

The Biophysical Society is grateful to its 2018 Industry Partners.

In Search of…Protein Interaction Partners Sarafina Kimø, Ida Friis, Ilia Solov’yov, authors of the article Atomistic Insights into Cryptochrome Interpro- tein Interactions wrote on the blog about the image they created for the cover of volume 115, issue 4 of Biophysical Journal. https:/www.biophysics.org/blog/ in-search-ofprotein-interaction-partners BPS Members Kick-off August Advocacy Activities Read about BPS members who visited their congres- sional representatives’ offices this August to advocate for the importance of strong, consistent government funding for basic science research, and find out how you can get involved in advocacy. https:/www.biophys- ics.org/blog/bps-members-kick-off-august-advoca- cy-activities

GOLD SILVER

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

October 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Annual Meeting

Theory and Experiment to the Cell and Back

Education & Career Opportunities Fair Sunday, March 3, 1:00 PM–3:00 PM Are you thinking about grad school or starting to look for a postdoc position? Attend the Education & Career Opportu- nities Fair to meet with representatives from educational institutions as well as industry and government agencies who will be on hand to answer questions, distribute literature, and discuss opportunities for students and postdocs. Don’t miss this unique and convenient opportunity to learn

Student Housing Deadline: December 7

Affordable housing is available for undergraduate and gradu- ate student attendees who are current Society members. To secure student housing, visit the Annual Meeting website. Student Volunteers The Biophysical Society invites undergraduate and graduate students to volunteer time at the Annual Meeting in exchange for complimentary meeting registration. Volunteers must be Society members with registration fully paid, and must be willing to volunteer for six hours during the meeting. To apply, please send an email to meetings@biophysics.org by January 7, 2019, with the following information: full name, cell phone number, and complete list of dates/times available. Those selected will have their registration refunded after the meeting.

Student Opportunities Are you a student planning to attend the Baltimore Annual Meeting, or are you a facul- ty member planning to bring your students to the meeting? There are several sessions planned throughout the meeting to provide graduate and undergraduate students with opportunities to network with faculty members and other students from around the world and to explore a variety of career paths after graduation. UndergraduateMixer & Undergraduate Student Pizza “Breakfast”

Thank you to our sponsors: Asylum Research Alvéole Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Bruker Corporation Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC Cell Press Chroma Technology Hamamatsu Corporation Journal of General Physiology Leica Microsystems LUMICKS Molecular Devices Nanion Technologies Photonics Media Physics Today Sophion Bioscience A/S Wyatt Technology Corporation

more and get the information you need! Graduate Student Breakfast Monday, March 4, 7:30 AM–8:30 AM

Poster Award Competition Saturday, March 2, 3:00 PM–5:00 PM If you’re an undergraduate student, plan on attending this social and scientific mixer! Come meet other undergraduates and learn about their research projects. For undergraduate students who will be presenting during the standard scientific sessions, the mixer is an opportunity to hone presentation skills before the general poster session begins. Undergraduates listed as co-authors on posters are wel- come to practice their poster presentation skills in a less formal setting, even if not listed as the presenting author. Additional- ly, undergrads presenting as first or second author on a poster may participate in the Undergraduate Poster Award Competition. Three students will be selected for a $100 award also receive recognition prior to the 2019 Biophysical Society Lecture. Winners will be selected based on the quality and scientific merit of their research, knowl- edge of the research problem, contribution to the project, and overall presentation of the poster. Pre-registration is required to participate. Details are available on the Annual Meeting website.

Graduate students: do not miss a great opportunity to net- work with your peers at this breakfast session! Members of the Early Careers Committee will share information and answer questions about resources available to you, and how the committee serves graduate students in the biophysics community.

Sunday, March 3, 11:30 AM–1:00 PM Undergrads—plan to attend this valu- able networking and social opportunity to meet other students, Biophysical Society committee members, and scientists at all career levels to discuss academic goals and questions, and to develop a biophysics career path. The breakfast will include a panel discussion on academic and career paths in biophysics, with opportunities for questions and answers from the audi- ence. Come prepared to find out about the course of study that aspiring biophysicists undertake, what it means to be a biophysi- cist, and how biophysicists make important discoveries. Colleges in the Community Day Sunday, March 3, 11:30 AM–5:00 PM Are you a professor at an institution in the Baltimore area? Bring a group of your undergraduate students to Colleges in the Community Day! Undergraduate students local to the area are invited to join the BPS Annual Meeting for the opportunity to learn more about the field of biophysics by attending conference sessions, exploring special exhibitions, and Q&A with biophys- icists. Registraiton is required. Details are available the Annual Meeting Website.

Student members can take advantage of reduced meeting registration and membership rates. Have your students submit an abstract and join the Biophysical Society today!

Student Chapter Meeting Monday, March 4, 11 AM–12:30 PM

Local high school students get a one-on-one demonstration in the Exhibit Hall.

BPS Student Chapter members are invited to attend the Student Chapter Meeting! At the event, Student Chapters from around the world will exchange best practices (and share challenges!) in marketing their chapters and recruiting members, performing community outreach in science, and hosting chapter events. This event is open only to students currently in a BPS Student Chapter. Interested in forming a new Student Chapter? Applications are open September 17 – November 15. Contact drussell@biophysics.org for details. Undergraduate Student Lounge Looking for a quite space to study? Want to meet other un- dergraduate attendees? Be sure to swing by the Undergrad- uate Student Lounge, reserved specifically for undergraduate students to do classwork and make connections. The lounge is open throughout the meeting and WiFi will be available.

The meeting is an excellent place to meet a broad range of people to collaborate with. I made several new connections. It is excellent for my students to obtain a broad view of biophysics. — Arne Gericke

Students participatingi in the Undergraduate Poster Award Competition.

biophysics.org/ 2019meeting

October 2018

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y

Annual Meeting

How the Annual Meeting Program is Developed by Karen Fleming , Johns Hopkins University

Awards Symposium The Awards Symposium features talks by several of the Soci- ety’s award winners, including the recipients of the Anatrace Membrane Protein Award, the Avanti Award in Lipids, the Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award, the Michael and Kate Bàràny Award for Young Investigators, the Kazuhiko Kinosita Award in Single Molecule Biophysics, the Founders Award, the Ignacio Tinoco Award, the BPS Innovation Award, the BPS Award in the Biophysics of Health and Disease, and the Biophysical Journal Paper of the Year Award. Workshops Workshops occur during the Tuesday evening of the Annu- al Meeting. These are generally techniques oriented. Their number can vary from year to year depending on scientific developments and the interests and needs of the Society. Subgroup Synergy There should not be overlap between the main scientific program and that of the subgroup symposia. The subgroup Chairs receive a working copy of the Annual Meeting plan a year in advance and subsequently receive the final program as soon as it is available. The program and subgroup Chairs work to eliminate any cases of overlap if they mistakenly arise. Several years ago, subgroups began following the same guidelines as the regular program where subgroup speakers cannot speak more frequently than every third year in either subgroup or regular meeting symposia. Call for Future of Biophysics SymposiumSpeakers Know a young researcher doing cutting-edge research at the interface of the physical and life sciences? The Biophysical Soci- ety is seeking suggestions from you for speakers to be featured in the special Future of Biophysics Burroughs Wellcome Fund Sympsium in Baltimore. If you have a colleague who may be suitable for a nomination, visit https:/www.surveymonkey.com/r/DT5X9XH and complete the required information fields by October 26, 2018.

er members of the Society as needed. As with the Program Committee, this group of sorters regularly turns over yet also allows some institutional memory. Each person receives abstracts in their area of expertise based on the submission category the submitter chose. Sorters read all the abstracts in their area and are tasked with grouping them together to create synergistic poster sessions and platform talks. Sorters are also asked to program inclusive platform sessions.

The scientific program was announced in July when registration and abstract submis- sion opened. You might be wondering how the program typically comes together. What do the organizers do? Who helps them? How are the symposia topics chosen? Stated another way, what happens in the room where it happens? This article will hopefully demystify the meeting genesis by describing the process for how the scientific program

Member-Suggested Symposia The Society has a call each fall for member-suggested sympo- sia topics. These are discussed by the entire Program Com- mittee, and all Society members are welcome to submit their ideas every year. A fully developed submission will contain a list of 4-6 speakers as well as a thoughtful paragraph that explains why the symposium being suggested is timely and compelling. These symposia ideas have been used literally as submitted or alternatively as a jumping off point on which to build a set of talks for a symposium or workshop. The final symposium composition often depends on the other factors the meeting is trying to balance, discussed below. Who Can Speak? There are guidelines for who can be invited to speak. The Bio- physical Society has a firm rule in place that scientists cannot speak in a symposium or workshop more frequently than every third year. The lists of past speakers are provided to the Program Committee and Council for reference. Once ineligi- ble speakers have been eliminated, the committee first and foremost seeks speakers who will give outstanding scientific presentations in each of the topical areas. Once this list is as- sembled, the committee strives for inclusive excellence in the sense that the speaker demographics (gender, ethnicity, and geographic origin) should be representative of the member- ship. PlatformTalks Platform talks are a very successful aspect of the Biophysical Society, and the meeting program includes 64 such sessions. There are eight speakers in each session and two session Chairs who make the introductions and keep everything on time. Anyone at any level can be considered for a platform talk if you indicate such an interest when you submit your abstract. It is important to be strategic with your abstract cat- egory selection because platform topics derive from abstract categories with a threshold number of submissions. Platform speakers and chairs are selected during the “sort,” described next. The Abstract Sort All of the abstracts submitted for the meeting must be programmed to a platform or poster session theme, time, and day. This sorting is generally conducted by the Program Committee, the Society officers, members of Council, and oth-

Karen Fleming

develops. Organizing the meeting is nearly a two-year-long process carried out by a group of scientists collectively known as the Program Committee. The Annual Meeting Chair (or Chairs) leads the committee and is appointed by the Society presi- dent-elect soon after s/he is elected. Other members of the committee include three members of Council, who each serve rotating three-year terms, the past meeting Chair(s), and finally members at large who are appointed by the Chair(s) to serve a one-year term. The committee composition is designed to cover a broad range of scientific areas, and the appointment strategies serve to stimulate a regular turnover of its membership to ensure diverse representation yet at the same time retain some institutional memory about recent meeting challenges and successes. The official charge to the Biophysical Society Program Com- mittee is to develop a scientific program that responds to and serves the needs of the membership, which represents diverse scientific and technical, educational, and demographic constituencies. The committee accomplishes this through the symposia, workshops, and platform talks. Symposia Each year there are 20 scientific symposia with invited speak- ers. Most of the symposia topics (e.g., proteins, nucleic acids, ion channels, etc.) are distributed according to an analysis of the frequencies of topic categories selected in abstract submissions from the previous years. This ground-up strategy capitalizes on the interests of the scientists who attend the meeting. In addition, there are two to three symposia reserved for “emerging areas.” These areas can come from Council, can be identified by an increase in abstract submissions over time, can change from year to year or can be part of a multi-year strategic plan to incorporate emerging fields or methods.

Biophysical Society Lecturer The BPS Lecturer is selected by the Society president and is the highest annual award bestowed by the Society. New and Notable The Society has a call in early November for members to submit nominations for this symposium that exclusively features late-breaking and exciting science. Self-nomina- tions are accepted. These nominations are discussed by the Program Committee, who select the speakers. Be sure to nominate your colleagues if they have cool, exciting scientific findings that are hot off the presses! Future of Biophysics This symposium, sponsored by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, highlights the work of young investigators doing cutting-edge research at the interface of the physical and life sciences. The Society issues a call in mid-September for nominations for this symposium. These submissions are re- viewed by the Program Committee, who select the speakers. 2018 Program Co-Chairs, Francesca Marassi (left) Anne Kenworthy and along with Society members finalize the programming of symposia, platforms, workshops, and poster sessions at the Society Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.

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Communities

Member Corner

Members in the News Richard Leapman , National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, and Society member since 2010, received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Microscopy Society of America. (no photo)

Biopolymers in Vivo Subgroup

Exocytosis-Endocytosis Subgroup We are pleased to announce the results of the recent elec- tion for officers of the Exocytosis-Endocytosis Subgroup. Ling-Gang Wu (NINDS/NIH, Chair-elect) and Jeremy Dittman (Weil-Cornell Medicine, secretary-treasurer) join Amy Lee (University of Iowa, Chair), Dixon Woodbury (Brigham Young University, past-Chair), and Executive Committee Member Colin Johnson (Oregon State University) in organizing the Exocytosis-Endocytosis Subgroup Symposium at the 2019 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. The 2019 symposium is scheduled for Saturday, March 2, at the Baltimore Convention Center. The title is “From Molecule to Mechanism: New Insights into the Dynamics of Vesicle Nils Brose , Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine Regulation of Vesicle Acidification at the Neuronal Synapse Ira Milosevic , European Neuroscience Institute, Goettingen Dynamic Control of Vesicle Priming in Synaptic Short-Term Plas- ticity . Justin Taraska , NHLBI/NIH Imaging the Nanoscale Structure of Endocytosis and Exocytosis with Light and Electron Microscopy . Fusion and Recycling.” Featured speakers are:

Viola Vogel , Laboratory of Applied Mechanobiology, and Society member since 2006. (no photo) Dorothee Kern , Brandeis University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Society member since 2000. (no photo) The following members were elected to the German National Academy of Sciences, the Leopoldina:

The Biopolymers in Vivo (BIV) Subgroup aims to understand how biological polymers such as proteins and nucleic acids act and interact in the cellular environment. Our community in- cludes cell and molecular biologists, chemists, and physicists who are trying to bridge the gap between experiments done in vivo, in silico, and in the cell. With a geographical and disciplinary heterogeneity, finding common grounds for discussion can be challenging. We are trying to circumvent this by expanding the interaction be- tween BIV members beyond the Subgroup Saturday meetings at the Biophysical Society’s Annual Meeting. To do this, we initiated two additional forums for discussion. The first is the BIV twitter group, @biopolymersinvivo, where followers can get updated on, or contribute to the list of recent relevant literature and events. The second is an online journal club based on the Slack platform, which takes place once monthly. To join, please send a request directly to ssukenik@ucmerced. edu. The BIV subgroup is also looking for student research talks for the upcoming subgroup meeting at the 63rd Annual BPS Meeting in Baltimore! If you would like to be considered, please email your abstract to the Program Chairs at boers- ma@dwi.rwth-aachen.de in addition to submitting it to the BPS Annual Meeting 2019 in Baltimore.

Vincent Hilser , Johns Hopkins University, and Society member since 2002, was awarded the 2018 James J. Christensen Memorial Award from the Calorimetry Conference.

Julian Schroeder , University of California, San Diego, and Society member since 1990.

Vincent Hilser

Julian Schroeder

Important Dates BPS Thematic Meetings 63 rd BPS Annual Meeting March 2–6, 2019, Baltimore, Maryland Abstract Submission Deadline: October 1, 2018

Quantitative Aspects of Membrane Fusion and Fission May 6–10, 2019, Padova, Italy Abstract Submission Deadline: January 14, 2019 Early Registration Deadline: February 1, 2019 Revisiting the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology at the Single-Molecule Level July 15–18, 2019, Lima, Peru Abstract Submission Deadline: March 8, 2019 Early Registration Deadline: April 5, 2019

Multiscale Modeling of Chromatin: Bridging Experiment with Theory March 31–April 5, 2019, Les Houches, France Abstract Submission & Registration Deadline: December 1, 2018

2019 Sir Bernard Katz Award Keynote Lecture Ed Chapman , University of Wisconsin/HHMI Diverse Functions of the Synaptotagmins .

Student Spotlight Adree Khondker

NewMembership Benefit in 2019 Beginning with the 2019 dues cycle, Society membership will include one complimentary subgroup membership. Members may always join additional subgroups for $20 each. As before, all emeritus and student members may join as many subgroups as they wish for no additional fee. BPS subgroups are an integral part of the Society, providing year-round opportunities for members to meet, network, and collaborate within their more focused research communities while still enjoying the rich benefits of belonging to the broader biophysics world of the Biophysical Society.

In addition, several short talks from trainees will be selected from the abstracts submitted for the Annual Meeting. As in the past, a closing banquet dinner will allow for plenty of networking and scientific interactions after the symposium. The organizers invite all members of the Biophysical Society to join us for what promises to be an outstanding day of cut-

Department of Physics and Astronomy McMaster University

ting-edge science and camaraderie. — Amy Lee , Exo/Endo Subgroup Chair — Dixon J. Woodbury , Past Chair

As you move forward in science, what type of research do you see yourself doing? Why? I would like to probe the intersection between biophys- ics and medicine by using structural biology techniques to understand Alzheimer’s disease. With the advent of accessible biomolecular simulations and more reliable protein models, I believe biophysics will play a major role in understanding, and possibly overcoming, many neurodegenerative diseases.

Adree Khondker

Numbers By the

BPS has over 30,500 followers across social media platforms.

October 2018

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