Biophysical Society Bulletin | October 2022

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BPS Honors Ten Outstanding Biophysicists The Biophysical Society is pleased to recognize the following 2023 award recipients. These members will be honored during the 67th Annual Meeting in February.

Karen G. Fleming

Kevin H. Gardner

Elizabeth H. Kellogg

Jonathan A. King

José Nelson Onuchic

Krzystof (Kris) Palczewski

Ben Schuler

Jeanne C. Stachowiak

Sarah A. Woodson

Jin Zhang

Karen G. Fleming , Johns Hopkins University, USA, will receive the Avanti Award in Lipids for her groundbreaking contributions to our funda mental understanding of membrane protein stability, folding, biogenesis, and insertion through development and application of novel experimental tools that quantify membrane protein folding kinetics and thermodynamics. Kevin H. Gardner , CUNY Graduate Center and City College of New York, USA, will receive the Award in the Biophysics of Health & Disease for his development and application of magnetic resonance methodology to elucidate the mechanism and regulation of molecular switches, leading to the development of PAS domain inhibitors for cancer therapies and the exceptional translation of this understanding to the development of an effective cancer drug. Elizabeth H. Kellogg , Cornell University, USA, will receive the Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award for her important contributions to the mechanistic understanding of challenging and complex biological systems, including the neuronal microtubule interactor tau and a variety of DNA transposition systems.

Jonathan A. King , Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, will receive the Emily M. Gray Award for his distinguished record of excellence in classroom teaching, researchmentoring, and education of the public on science and policy. José Nelson Onuchic , Rice University Center for Theoretical & Biological Physics, USA, will receive the Founders Award for his wide-ranging impactful contributions to theoretical and computational biophysics across the scale of molecular-level interactions to that of cellular systems encompassing electron transfer, protein folding, genetic networks, and genome architecture. Krzystof (Kris) Palczewski , University of California, Irvine, USA, will receive the Anatrace Membrane Protein Award for his seminal work on the GPCR rhodospin and disease mechanisms and treatments and his impact on structural biology, notably lipid interactions and confor mational changes exhibited on ligand binding and isomerization.

Inside

Ben Schuler , University of Zurich, Switzerland, will receive the Kazuhiko Kinosita Award in Single-Molecule Biophysics for his devel opment and application of single-molecule fluorescence methodology and fundamental contributions to understanding protein folding and intrinsically disordered proteins. Jeanne C. Stachowiak , University of Texas at Austin, USA, will receive the Michael and Kate Bárány Award for her paradigm-shifting discovery in the field of membrane bio physics, demonstrating that proteins can induce membrane curvature solely through a surface crowding mechanism.

Sarah A. Woodson , Johns Hopkins University, USA, will receive the Ignacio Tinoco Award for her inspiring work on RNA folding and the assembly of RNA-protein complexes using frontier biophysical methods, which established currently acceptedmodels for howRNA complexes assemble and function. Jin Zhang , University of California, San Diego, USA, will receive the Carolyn Cohen Innovation Award for her pioneering work in elucidating spatiotemporal regulation of signaling molecules in their native biological context, the living cell.

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President’s Message Biophysicist in Profile

Public Affairs Publications Annual Meeting Communities Member Corner

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Career Development Thematic Meetings

Important Dates

President’s Message

BPS Budgeting andWhere the Money Goes President’s note: In response to questions I have received from members wondering where all the money from meeting registration and membership goes, I asked Jennifer Pesanelli , BPS Executive Officer, to provide a report of our Society’s income and expenses, and the driving forces behind the budgetary decisions. I think you’ll find it illuminating. — Gail Robertson , President “A budget is more than just a series of numbers on a page: it is an embodiment of our values.” — Barack Obama

Gail Robertson

Like any academic institution or corporation, the Biophysical Society has an annual budget cycle. Our fiscal year runs from January to December to coincide with our annual membership dues. August marks the start of our budget “season” as BPS Director of Finance and Operations Harris Povich calculates mid-year financials and starts the process of preparing year-end estimates and budgets for the following year in conjunction with the other department directors. Program staff, Subgroup Chairs, and most committees are involved, to varying degrees, in the budgeting process. Requests to sup port new initiatives or expand programs are considered. Cost increases are examined, and expenses are trimmed where appropriate. After a series of internal meetings, the estimates and budgets for each functional area are compiled and sent to BPS Treasurer Samantha Harris for an in-depth review. The Fi nance Committee, comprising BPS members and staff, meets in October to review the projections and discuss the proposed budget. With Finance Committee approval, the budget goes to Fall Council, usually in late October or early November, for formal approval, concluding the annual budgeting process. What’s in the BPS budget? For 2021, BPS total income was $3,093,000. The Society has three primary sources of income: membership dues, income from the Annual Meeting, and income from Biophysical Journal (BJ). We also receive some income from advertising, the job board, donations, interest and dividends on investments, and occasionally from grants. Some important points about Society income: • Membership dues account for less than one-fifth of income for the Society. In 2021, they amounted to $543,000, or 17.5% of our income. One Subgroup membership is included in the cost of membership, and $10 from each member’s dues are allocated to the Subgroup of their choice (for Regular and Early Career Members; Students and Emeritus Members may join as many Subgroups as they like for free).

• Historically, the Annual Meeting has been a good source of net revenue, earning the Society $400,000 to $500,000 per year in net revenue. Most of the income for the Annual Meeting comes from registration fees, exhibits, and sponsorships. • BPS’s largest source of net income for the past several years has been BJ, averaging $1.1 million each year. BJ is hybrid, meaning it is a subscription journal with an option for open access articles. Nearly 70% of the revenue from BJ is generated through subscriptions while the remaining 30% is a mix of page charges, open access charges, copy right fees, and advertising. We partner with Cell Press to publish BJ, and our contract with them has guaranteed BJ as a stable source of income for the Society since 2008. Changes in open access policies will affect that income, perhaps significantly, and we are currently working on some analyses that will guide future decisions around the policies and business model of BJ and the impact on BPS. What about expenses? For 2021, BPS total expenses were $3,157,000. This includes administrative and operation al costs for running the Society such as staff, information technology, legal fees, insurance, rent, etc. It also includes the expenses that go into running the Annual Meeting, the journals, and all the programs we provide in support of BPS’s mission and values. Programs include new Student Chapters; poster and science fair awards; educational sessions, career webinars, and networking events in support of student and early career members; Thematic Meetings and BPS Confer ences promoting scientific excellence and sharing knowledge; The Biophysicist —our education journal which reinforces our strategic goal of sharing knowledge in and about biophys ics; the BPS Ambassador program and Biophysics Week to engage and foster our global community; numerous programs to support inclusion and diversity such as travel awards to the BPS Annual Meeting for attendees at ABRCMS and SACNAS working in biophysics; the BPS Congressional Fellow and communication tools to help advocate for biophysics; and the list goes on.

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President’s Message

Officers President

Gail Robertson President-Elect Taekjip Ha Past-President Frances Separovic Secretary Erin Sheets Treasurer Samantha Harris Council Patricia Bassereau Henry Colecraft Erin C. Dueber Martin Gruebele Gilad Haran Kumiko Hayashi Syma Khalid Francesca Marassi Susan Marqusee Carolyn A. Moores

The Annual Meeting itself is cornerstone to many of our strategic goals, including sharing knowledge in and about biophysics, fostering a global community, and supporting the next generation, so there was no question that we would have a meeting in 2021 even though we couldn’t meet in person. However, the technologies and support required to host BPS 2021 virtually, the lack of exhibitor revenue, and lower than usual attendance resulted in a net loss of $54,800. While that number alone doesn’t seem too bad, it is a significant devia tion from the typical $400,000 to $500,00 of anticipated net revenue. For BPS 2022, many of us were together in person again, but other colleagues were not able to join us due to ongoing travel restric tions and health concerns related to COVID-19. We provided an online poster gallery and recorded Subgroup Saturday sessions, work shops, and awards talks to support those who were not able to be in San Francisco. We also had several on-site adjustments, including vaccination verification, a COVID testing ven dor, extra sanitization measures, etc. to help everyone stay safe and healthy. These virtual and on-site changes, along with a slightly low

er than average attendance, resulted in a sec ond year of negative returns from the Annual Meeting, a net loss of $27,500. For the 2023 budget, we anticipate the Annual Meeting will be near break-even, neither losing money nor returning a profit, as we continue to deal with the impacts of the pandemic and inflation. What happens in a year like 2021 when a his torically significant source of net revenue like the Annual Meeting loses money? Fortunately, BPS leadership has been diligent over the past two decades and has built reserves for just such a purpose. BPS reserve policy ensures that we have at least 100% of our operating budget in reserve to provide a backstop in the event of an emergency. In 2020 and 2021, we had to draw down on those reserves to help cover operational expenses and provide unin terrupted programs and services to members. A budget is a tool that helps us plan and allocate resources. Many stakeholders are in volved, and much time and thought go into the budgeting process at BPS. The result reflects

Kandice Tanner Valeria Vasquez Biophysical Journal Vasanthi Jayaraman Editor-in-Chief The Biophysicist Sam Safran Editor-in-Chief Biophysical Reports

our values and strategic priorities. — Jennifer Pesanelli , Executive Officer

Jörg Enderlein Editor-in-Chief

Society Office Jennifer Pesanelli Executive Officer Newsletter

BPS Sponsored Lecturer at EBSA 2023 Stockholm, Sweden | July 31–August 4, 2023

Executive Editor Jennifer Pesanelli Managing Editor John Long Production Ray Wolfe 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 © 2022 by the Biophysical Society. Darren Early Laura Phelan

BPS is pleased to sponsor EBSA Plenary Speaker Karen Fleming at the 14th EBSA Congress, July 31-August 4, 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. EBSA 2023 is hosted by the Swedish Society for Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology and will be held at the Aula Magna at Stockholm University.

Karen Fleming, BPS member and Chair of the Committee on Profes sional Opportunities for Women (CPOW).

For the most up-to-date information about EBSA 2023, please visit www.mkon.nu/ebsa.

Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

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Biophysicist in Profile

Swetha Murthy Area of Research Gating and function of mechanosensitive ion channels

Institution Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University

At-a-Glance

Swetha Murthy has been fascinated by science since she was a young child, and her curiosity and hard work have carried her to her current position as an assistant professor at the Vollum Institute at the Oregon Health & Science University.

Swetha Murthy

Swetha Murthy , assistant professor at the Vollum Institute at the Oregon Health & Science University, grew up in South ern India. When she was a child, her father was in the Indian Navy, so the family moved around frequently before settling in Bangalore during her high school years. Her parents, an engineer and a teacher, encouraged curiosity and learning. “I grew up in a household where reasoning and questioning processes and ‘how things work’ was encouraged. This really instilled inquisitiveness in me and nurtured my enthusiasm for science,” she shares. She attended Bangalore University for her undergraduate studies and her master’s degree, and then moved to the Unit ed States to pursue her PhD at the State University of New York, Buffalo. “My interest in biophysics piqued when I was a graduate student in Gabriela Popescu ’s lab, where I studied gating kinetics of NMDA receptors. I really enjoyed immersing myself in the molecular mechanisms of ion channel function.” Following completion of her PhD, Murthy undertook a postdoctoral position at Scripps Research in La Jolla, Califor nia. She was eager to expand her research experience and make an impact on the ion channel field, and landed in Ardem Patapoutian ’s lab. “The lab had just discovered the first bona fide eukaryotic mechanosensitive ion channel PIEZOs, and to me that seemed like a budding topic, especially from the perspective of biophysics. There was so much unknown with these fascinating channels. His lab is also where I fell in love with somatosensation and, although my training was not in neuroscience, I learned to include a broader perspective to my training in molecular function and biophysics of ion channels,” she continues. “I joined Ardem’s lab just a couple years after PIEZOs were discovered and witnessed firsthand all the PIEZO-related discoveries that his lab subsequently made, which led to [Patapoutian’s] Nobel prize. This was truly inspirational and motivating.”

“I studied biophysical properties as well as in vivo function of the mechanosensitive ion channel PIEZOs. My work eluci dated a lot of the initial biophysical properties and molecular determinants of the channel that are important for the pore and gating,” Murthy explains. “But probably my most inter esting contribution to science was determining that PIEZO2 is the sensor for tactile allodynia, a phenomenon when touch evokes pain during conditions like sun burn, fibromyalgia, or after inflammation or injury. This was a surprising result because the common theory was that although touch was dependent on PIEZO2, inflammation- or injury-mediated mechanical pain was probably transduced by other mechan ically activated ion channels. Also, these results allow us to target topical drugs to inhibit PIEZO2 as a means to manage pain caused from tactile allodynia.” Murthy is now an assistant professor at the Vollum Institute, part of Oregon Health & Science University. Her lab studies the mechanosensitive ion channel family OSCA/TMEM63, how these channels are gated by force, and their underlying function in mammalian physiology. “OSCAs—which is the gene name for the ion channels present in plants—are a large family of 15 genes. The different isoforms have un paralleled diversity in mechanosensitivity and biophysical properties,” she reports. “This is in contrast to other MA ion channel families, which have only one or two members, with largely comparable biophysical and structural properties that have hindered the identification of distinct gating domains. Therefore, the lab is currently using OSCA channels as a tool to mine information about molecular mechanosensation. Our efforts will provide deeper insights into gating of these channels.” The biggest challenge in her career thus far came after the early success she found during her postdoctoral training. “I longed for a physiological perspective, and hence, I took up

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Biophysicist in Profile

the challenge of elucidating the role of PIEZO2 in pain sensa tion. In parallel, I started the herculean task of screening for novel MA ion channels. Both these projects required me to learn techniques and biology that I wasn’t familiar with, and extended from mouse genetics to behavior. This was very challenging and resulted in two to three years of negative or no data,” she reveals. “But with perseverance and confidence that if one is asking the right questions, then with patience and determination one can be successful, I was able to achieve my goals. Being out of my comfort zone made me a better and more well-rounded scientist. I also learned a very important skill, which is to recognize when to drop projects and move on. Finally, I could not have faced these challeng es without backing and encouragement from my mentors, Ardem and Gabriela. And that kind of unconditional support from a mentor is what I want to provide for my trainees.” Her future research plans are “to really start etching at un derstanding how mechanosensitive ion channels gate,” she says. “With few known mammalian mechanosensors and the challenging nature of understanding how force is intrinsically sensed by these proteins, the study of mechanically activated ion channels has been impeded. I hope that with our efforts we can start unravelling some of these important questions. From the perspective of community building, I look forward to interacting with the Society to contribute further with their efforts in building an inclusive and diverse culture.”

Murthy joined the Biophysical Society as a graduate student, where she greatly expanded her scientific network. “Through out my career, I have met such inspirational mentors and scientists who are BPS members. Even though in the realm of ion channels I switched fields from grad school to postdoc, the connections and network that I built in the Society as a graduate student continue to support and encourage me,” she says. “I have been inspired by women in ion channel biophys ics and physiology such as Popescu, Miriam Goodman , Vas anthi Jayaraman , Sudha Chakrapani , Indira Raman , and Sharona Gordon (to name a few). These women have been role models to the rising generation of scientists to not just maintain in terest in ion channel biophysics, but also alert the community on inclusivity and spread awareness across different rungs of the scientific society. I feel privileged to be a part of this com munity and use its resources to encourage a new generation of biophysicists.” Outside of her career, Murthy spends her time pursuing sev eral hobbies. She shares, “I am an avid hiker and backpacker and love the outdoors. I also like to illustrate and paint, and often try to marry my love for science and creativity into art pieces.”

Get Involved.

The Biophysical Society provides many opportunities for members to get involved and give back to the biophysics community. To learn more about the different opportunities, please visit www.biophysics.org/get-involved.

The Biophysical Society is grateful to its Industry Partners.

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

PLATINUM

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Public Affairs

Behind the Capitol Curtain As the outgoing BPS Congressional Fellow, it’s my privilege to share a final update on my experience with the biophysics community. My year working as a Congressional Science & Engineering Fellow for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions’ Subcommittee on Children and Families has been for this tremendous opportunity. In this report, I’d like to share three lessons and insights on how the U.S. Congress functions to help the biophysics community better understand, and more effectively engage with, their elected representatives. Behind every member of Congress is a team of dedicated staff members. Prior to joining Congressional staff, I won dered how any one individual could possibly have the exper tise or knowledge to make informed decisions on every policy they acted on (particularly in science and technology). In short, they don’t…at least not all at once or all the time. Represen tatives and senators largely function as the president of an eponymous corporation, or perhaps the principal investigator of an academic laboratory—they set high-level priorities, values, mission, and tone that their staff seek to implement and advance with fidelity. Each member’s office includes legislative staff that specialize in certain policy areas. Most in depth legislative and policy development work is carried out by these staffers, and the member is briefed prior to votes, hearings, interviews, meetings, or decision points to provide the information needed for them to make informed choices or Max Olender remarkably meaningful and infor mative, and allowed me to immerse myself in an entirely new environ ment. I’m indebted to the Society

engage in productive dialogue. While many constituents are highly motivated to meet with their senator or representative to discuss their issues of interest, meeting with the member’s staff leading work in that area is often the more productive (and far more accessible, though less photogenic) option. Ideas aren’t in short supply, but time and attention are. Constituents, advocacy groups, industry and interest groups, think tanks, and others are constantly approaching Congress to request policies. Some even arrive with a ready-to-intro duce bill in hand. Staff also generate their own policy ideas. However, passing a bill can be immensely challenging and time consuming. Each step in the process requires members of Congress to expend time, resources, and political capital, and risks opening oneself or one’s party to criticism or vulner ability. Additionally, there are innumerable challenges facing the country at any given time. Consequently, members need to be highly motivated to champion any specific policy. While this motivation can sometimes come from personal experi ence with an issue, a primary motivation of elected officials is the belief that one’s work will be appreciated and rewarded by constituents. This is usually best achieved by broad coalitions of constituents and stakeholders who convey—through direct engagement with the office or through the press—the importance of the policy to their home state or district. Everything you see is meant to be seen, but not everything you see is as it seems. For example, impassioned speeches on the floor of the Senate are often delivered to an empty room. Such televised monologues typically aren’t meant to sway the positions of other members of Congress on a partic ular issue or bill, but rather to communicate to the public with the gravitas afforded by the special venue and perceived in tent of high-minded debate. Similarly manufactured for public

consumption are scenarios in which members or parties are forced to vote against legislation that seems nominally uncontroversial and wholesome. Such bills and amendments Applications Are Open for the Biophysical Society 2023–2024 Congressional Fellowship Interested in using your science skills to inform science policy? Does spending a year working on Capitol Hill in Wash ington, DC helping to develop policy sound exciting? The Biophysical Society’s Congressional Fellowship program (https:/www.biophysics.org/policy-advocacy/congressional-fellowship) is your opportunity to participate directly in the process of lawmaking that impacts how research is funded and regulated. This year-long opportunity provides fel lows a chance to utilize their science knowledge to inform the public policy process. Fellows will gain firsthand knowl edge and experience on how Congress works and participate in the esteemed AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellows program (https:/www.aaas.org/program/science-technology-policy-fellowships) that provides ongoing train ing and networking opportunities during the fellowship year and beyond. Visit the website (https:/www.biophysics. org/policy-advocacy/congressional-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, 2022.

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Public Affairs

OSTP Issues Guidance on Federally Funded Research On August 25, the White House Office of Science and Tech nology Policy (OSTP) interim Director Alondra Nelson delivered guidance for agencies to update their public access policies as soon as possible to make publications and supporting data funded by taxpayers publicly accessible, without an embargo or cost. All agencies will fully implement updated policies, including ending the option to make publications freely available after an embargo of up to 12 months, no later than December 31, 2025. The new public access guidance, which builds on a previous memo from OSTP in 2013, was developed with the input of multiple federal agencies over the course of this year to enable progress on a number of Biden Administration priorities. BPS will actively monitor the devel opment of this guidance as it applies to each funding agency to anticipate how it might impact biophysics researchers and BPS publications.

may include—embedded within a larger piece of legislation implementing overwhelmingly popular policies—some provision that a group finds unacceptable or may even violate certain rules, but the subsequent headlines accuse the out maneuvered group of opposing the feature policy. Analogous to the maxim that things seeming too good to be true usually are, decisions in Congress that seem too preposterous to believe often are as well. A healthy dose of skepticism, and an assumption of basic goodwill and positive intent, is frequently well founded. As two new biophysicists begin their tenures as BPS Congres sional Fellows, I’m excited by the unique opportunities that lie ahead of them, and for all they will learn, experience, and ac complish. I’m also excited for my own next step, which brings me to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). There, I will be working on Small business Education and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) as a Policy Fellow and Health Scientist within the Office of the Director. The SEED Office’s mission is “to accelerate the conversion of scientific discoveries into healthcare solutions,” and as a Fellow I’ll get to collaborate across institutes and federal agencies to enhance or establish programs that help to advance NIH-funded research from lab to market and bench to bedside. I’m excited to apply the lessons and skills acquired over the past year in this new role and future positions as I pursue my interests in advancing innovative translational work in the medical technology field to improve health and wellbeing at a global scale. — Max Olender , BPS Congressional Fellow 2021–2022

Give the Gift of Membership Looking for the perfect gift for a colleague or aspiring biophysicist? Now is a great time to give the gift of BPS membership, as the recipient will gain immediate access to valuable member benefits and a network of dedicated scientists committed to promoting and advancing biophysics research. To give the gift of BPS membership, visit biophysics.org/giftmembership.

among other issues important to biophysics. Numbers By the

BPS has supported almost 50 letters to the U.S. Congress and President’s Administration this year in support of appropriations for federal research funding, new programs and opportunities for scientific research, and advocating for pandemic preparedness,

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Publications

Biophysical Reports Published Its First Issue One Year Ago Launching a new journal is big accomplishment for a society publisher, and one can’t help but be proud as the publication grows and matures. That is why BPS is happy to celebrate one year since Biophysical Reports released its first issue in September 2021. Launched as a gold open access journal, meaning its articles are free to read immediately upon publication for anyone with internet access, Biophysical Reports reaches a vast global audience. It publishes full-length articles and reviews, as well as letters and reports. The journal accepts submissions in all disciplines encompassed by biophysics, with a particular emphasis on methods and techniques (biological, chemical, or physical) for biophysical research, as well as concepts and ideas that present major conceptual advances or represent new views on existing data and results Founding Editor-in-Chief Jörg Enderlein has assembled a distinguished editorial board (www.cell.com/biophysreports/ editorial-board) able to handle the wide variety of biophys ics research. Associate Editor Oliver Beckstein sums up the journal’s approach, saying “ Biophysical Reports fills a gap in the publication landscape for biophysicists as a journal for high-quality scholarly work without putting undue emphasis on extraordinary novelty.” The board is committed to rigorous, but efficient, peer review. Authors who submit their work receive a first decision in an average of 3.4 weeks; if the article is not going to be sent for peer review, authors will be notified in an average of only 3.5 days. The editorial board of Biophysical Reports invites you to send your quality research for consideration. The biophysics com munity is excited to see the journal’s reputation and reader ship grow. More information can be found at www.biophysre ports.org.

Editor’s Pick Biophysical Reports Viro-fluidics: Real-time analysis of virus production kinetics at the single-cell level Joëlle Eid, Marius Socol, Antoine Naillon, Jérôme Feuillard, Luca Ciandrini, Emmanuel Margeat, Benoit Charlot, Marylène Mougel “We are frequently exposed to viruses, but some of them, like HIV, cause fatal diseases and pandemics. The authors have developed a simple viro-fluidic system that requires only fluo rescent labeling of viral particles and allows direct observation of viruses exiting a cell, one by one, under cell culture condi tions. The system operates in real-time and at single-cell and single-viral particle resolutions. The results reveal HIV pro duction at a moderate frequency that was not predicted for optimal virus dissemination. Importantly, the viro-fluidic tool is remarkably easy for biologists to access and is transposable

to other pathogens or extracellular vesicles.” Version of Record Published August 10, 2022 DOI: https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.bpr.2022.100068

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Publications

Editor-in-Chief of The Biophysicist Honored with Sackler Prize

Sam Safran , the founding editor-in- chief of The Biophysicist , BPS’s open access biophysics education journal, has received the prestigious dis tinction of Laureate of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics for 2022. Safran received the prize for his decisive contributions to the understanding

long-standing collaboration with Weizmann’s Department of Science Teaching in the development of a novel course for high school students that teaches statistical thermodynamics with biophysical examples, using computer simulations. The research that led to the award of the Sackler Prize has factored into Safran’s teaching. “Our recent interest in the polymer physics associated with nuclear-scale chromatin organization has motivated me to include a lecture on chromatin physics in the polymer unit of my graduate course on soft matter,” Safran says. “The idea of mechanical force dipoles (a region containing spatially separated, equal and opposite force) has its analogies in electrostatics (electric dipoles) and motivates students to understand the analogies between elasticity and electrostatics.” In his capacity as editor-in-chief, Safran would like the entire biophysics community to understand that their biophysics teaching and student learning can be enhanced by research-based approaches, new teaching materials, and assessment studies, such as those reported in The Biophys icist . While the primary disciplines that underlie biophysics (chemistry, physics, and biology) have well-established teach ing-oriented communities, this is not yet the case in biophys ics. “Ironically, the need for enhanced teaching and educa tional research in the field is even greater than in the primary disciplines, due to the multifaceted nature of biophysics,” Safran asserts. “Our journal is nurturing those educators (which are in many cases, also outstanding researchers) who recognize the need for novel teaching and learning approach es and how those can be based on educational research,” he continues. “We are reaching out, via webinars, BPS confer ences, and our special journal issues, to the entire biophysics community to provide tools that address these needs and, in doing so, to build networks around a core of scientists inter ested and working in biophysics education.” Journal articles and information about submitting an article are available at www.thebiophysicist.org. Inquiries about potential submissions can be sent to thebiophysicist@bio physics.org.

Sam Safran

of the structure and dynamics of cells and their interactions with their physical environment. The theoretical research pro vided a fundamental and conceptual basis for cell mechanobi ology, including the response of the stress fibers, sarcomeres, and cellular adhesions to forces generated by acto-myosin within the cell, other cells, or external mechanical sources. Safran explains, “Of particular importance was the introduc tion of the multiscale idea of contractile force dipoles that can apply locally to the active contractile forces in cells or at the cellular scale, where an entire, adhered cell behaves and responds mechanically as a force dipole. Applications to experiments included the response of cells to cyclic and static stretch, cardiomyocyte beating and its regulation by me chanical probes, and orientational order of the stress fibers of adhered cells and its response to the rigidity or softness of its mechanical environment.” As for the future direction of his research, he adds, “Recently, we are focusing on mesoscale, theoretical descriptions of phase separation in cells with experimental applications to chromatin organization in the nucleus as well as protein condensates, where a novel aspect is their long-time, non-equilibrium behavior due to protein production and degradation”. Safran is a professor in the Department of Chemical and Bio logical Physics at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. Although his institution is primarily a research institution with no undergraduates, he has a keen interest in education. “While teaching is ‘voluntary,’ I am motivated to teach because of my enthusiasm for transmitting the fundamentals that underlie research in biophysics and how those relate to the generic, soft-matter properties of interfaces, polymers, membranes, and self-assembled systems,” he shares. He also has a

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Annual Meeting

Student Opportunities What opportunities will you take advantage of at BPS 2023? There are several sessions planned throughout the meeting to provide undergraduate and graduate 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. Undergraduate Student “Pizza Breakfast” Sunday, February 19, 11:30 am –1:00 pm , USA Pacific Undergraduate students should plan to Graduate Student Breakfast Monday, February 20, 7:30 am –8:30 am , USA Pacific

Thank you to our sponsors: AIP Publishing axiVEND Bruker Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC Chroma Technology Delmic Elements srl Fluxion Biosciences HarvardBioscience HORIBA Scientific Journal of General Physiology (JGP) LUMICKS Mad City Labs Nanion Technologies Sophion Bioscience A/S Sutter Instrument Did you know…. Student members can take advantage of reduced meeting registration and membership rates. Have your students submit an abstract and join the Biophysical Society today!

Get inspired while eating breakfast! Grad uate students should attend this breakfast for a chance to meet other students, discuss issues they face in their current career stage, and learn from others’ experiences. Limited to the first 100 attendees . Annual Meeting of the Student Chapters Monday, February 20, 11:00 am –1:00 pm , USA Pacific Students and meeting attendees are invited to meet several BPS Student Chapters from around the world for an interactive work shop. Student Chapter officers and represen tatives will be onsite to share information about their Chapter and learn about other Chapters. This session aims to establish Chapter interactions, communications, and planning for future Student Chapter Annual Meeting sessions.

attend this session. It’s your chance to meet other students and network—not to mention pizza will be served! During this session, BPS Committee members and invited speakers will have a panel discussion with Q&A on academic and career paths in biophysics. This session is limited to the first 100 attendees. Education and Career Opportunities Fair Sunday, February 19, 1:00 pm –3:00 pm , USA Pacific Starting to look for a postdoc position? Or maybe you’re an undergraduate thinking about grad school? Check out the Education and Career Opportunities Fair. Student at tendees are invited to meet with representa tives from educational institutions as well as industry and government agencies. Find out about open postdoc positions and labora tories seeking graduate students at univer sities with leading programs in biophysics. Stop by the fair to learn about the variety of opportunities available and to talk one-on one with representatives from participating institutions.

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Annual Meeting

Biophysics Beyond the Boundaries

JUST-B Poster Session Monday, February 20, 3:00 pm –5:00 pm , USA Pacific

Call for Future of Biophysics SymposiumSpeakers Do you know a young researcher doing cutting-edge research at the interface of the physical and life sciences? The Biophysical So ciety is seeking suggestions from you for speakers to be featured in the special Future of Biophysics Burroughs Wellcome Fund Sympo sium in San Diego. If you have a colleague who might be suitable for a nomination, visit https:/www.surveymonkey.com/r/9DSJ5QV and complete the required information by October 17, 2022. Student Volunteers Undergraduate and graduate students can volunteer time at the Annual Meeting in exchange for complimentary meeting registration. Volunteers must be Society members with regis tration fully paid and must be willing to volunteer for six hours during the meeting. To apply, please send an email to meet ings@biophysics.org by January 5, 2023, with the following information: full name, cell phone number, and complete list of dates/times available. Those selected will have their regis tration refunded after the meeting. Student Housing Deadline: December 6, 2022 Affordable housing is available for undergraduate student at tendees who are current Society members. To secure student housing, visit the Annual Meeting website.

The JUST-B Poster Session highlights the achievements of underrepresented students, postdocs, and early career researchers. Present your work and network with BPS2023 attendees! All are welcome to attend. www.biophysics.org/education-careers/just-b-poster-ses sion

One-on-One with aMentor Students and Early Career Members are invited to apply to be paired with a mentor from among BPS Regular Members. Participants can meet with their mentor in person. Pairs are matched based on scientific interests from their member ship profiles, as well as the answers to a short questionnaire. Membership and registration are required for participation. In addition to being a great opportunity for Student and Early Career Members to have a mentor, mentors find this to be a valuable experience to meet with and encourage the next generation of biophysicists. Each mentor will only be paired with one person, on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up here: https:/www.biophysics.org/2023meeting/program/ professional-development-networking#mentor. Undergraduate Student Lounge Saturday, February 19 –Wednesday, February 22 Need to catch up on coursework? Or do you want to meet other undergraduate attendees? Stop by the Undergraduate Student Lounge throughout the meeting. Wi-Fi will be avail able.

biophysics.org/ 2023meeting

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Communities

Premila Samuel Mohan Dass Committee for Professional Opportunities for Women (CPOW)

Premila Samuel Mohan Dass

Is this your first volunteer position for BPS? If not, what other positions have you held? Yes. I was one the Committee for Professional Opportunities for Women (CPOW) from July 2020 to August 2022. I am currently also the postdoctoral representative for the Bio polymers in vivo Subgroup. Why do you volunteer? I volunteer when I feel strongly about a cause. I am passion ate about the the efforts of recruiting and retaining under represented groups, including women in STEM. I believe where I am today as a scientist is primarily because of all the intentional guidance I have received from my mentors (under graduate, graduate, and postdoctoral) over the years. They believed in my scientific potential, even at times when I did not. Coming from humble beginnings, I got my first “break” in science when I was admitted to study chemistry at Berea Col lege, a tuition-free undergraduate institution that specifically admits underprivileged students. And so now it is my time to give back to the scientific community that took me in and to stand by others, especially the next generation, who need the same support I once received. What has been a highlight from your volunteer experience? As part of CPOW, I served on a task force responsible for initiating the family care travel grant. I thought it was a very

meaningful effort by BPS to make such a grant available for those who couldn’t otherwise afford to travel to the annual meetings due to family obligations, such as young mothers who need childcare. Another highlight was the opportunity to co-organize a round table webinar discussion on post-pan demic research recovery, especially with a focus on early career scientists and trainees. Do you have advice for others who might be thinking about volunteering? Find the cause that drives you first, commit to it, and be inten tional in addressing it through your volunteer efforts. I prefer not to spread myself thin by overcommitting, and I found what works best for me is focusing my energy on one or two causes and giving those my best. When not volunteering for BPS, what do you work on? Well, my postdoctoral research work keeps me busy, but it is a fun kind of busy! Right now, I am working on building, simu lating, and analyzing small models of human cell cytoplasms to better understand how the cellular environment can affect dynamics, interactions, and stabilities of macromolecules at the atomic level. It is like solving an intricate jigsaw puzzle— there are so many moving parts to consider, but I love the work. When not working, I like to spend intentional time with my husband by going for walks or playing board games.

Subgroups Theory and Computation

of Wisconsin–Madison, USA) was selected for the mid-career award. In addition to our award talks, we will also feature invited talks presented by Margaret Johnson (Johns Hopkins University, USA), Janice Robertson (Washington University at St. Louis, USA), Frauke Graeter (Heidelberg University, Germa ny), and Juyong Lee (Kangwon University, South Korea). Please consider joining the Subgroup when you renew your BPS membership to support our program, and we look forward to seeing you in San Diego! — Edward Lyman , Secretary-Treasurer

The Theory and Computation Subgroup will hold its second symposium at the BPS Annual Meeting in San Diego on Subgroup Saturday. Please join us in congratulating our first two winners of the Theory & Computation Awards awards! Giulia Palermo (University of California, Riverside, USA) was selected for the early career award and Xuhui Huang (University

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Member Corner

Members in the News

Stay Connected with BPS

Pratyush Tiwary , University of Maryland and Society member since 2021, was named a 2022 Sloan Research Fellow in the Chemistry section.

Pratyush Tiwary

Grants & Opportunities

LGBTQ+ Awards from the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals This organization gives a few awards each year with currently open applications. The awards are presented to LGBTQ+ scientists and include Scientist of the Year, Engineer of the Year, Educator of the Year, and more. Deadline: December 2022 Website: https:/noglstp.org/programs-projects/recogni tion-awards/

American Association of University Women Research Publication Grants in Engineering, Medicine and Science These grants help women by providing funding for research projects that will culminate in scholarly publi cations. They are open to women scholars conducting basic research in engineering, medicine, or the physical or biological sciences and who have a doctorate degree in one of those fields. Deadline: December 1, 2022 Website: https:/www.aauw.org/resources/programs/ fellowships-grants/current-opportunities/research-pub lication-grants/

Start a BPS Student Chapter at Your Institution! Apply now to form a BPS Student Chapter at your institution and join a worldwide network of student leaders promoting the field of biophysics! BPS Student Chapters are led by students and provide members with opportunities for professional development to enhance their academic experience. Chapters may be formed within a single institution, or regional Chapters may be developed among multiple neighboring institutions anywhere in the world. Approved Chapters can also receive up to US$200 inmatching reimbursable expenses to assist with getting started. Advisors, don’t miss this opportunity to help support the next generation of biophysicists. Share this exciting opportunity with students in your department and consider serving as a Chapter Sponsor. As a Chapter Sponsor, you will provide professional guidance, practical advice, and assistance to students. For more information, a complete list of instructions on forming a BPS Student Chapter, and a list of existing Chapters, visit www.biophysics.org/student-chapters. Applications will be accepted through November 14, 2022. Have questions? Connect with us at studentchapters@biophysics.org.

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Career Development

ASciencePhDCanLead toManyPaths More than 50% of STEM PhDs leave academia and, depending on the field, the number is much higher. Contrary to the common belief that the main reason for leaving is the difficulty in getting faculty jobs, most PhDs change course because they choose to do

ones and the corporate ones. She also learned a lot about business and management, something that would come in very handy when she decided to go back to academia in various roles related to scholarly communications and the dissemination of information, as well as teaching and learning design. Career stories like this are very common. The reasons for leaving academia are varied and the paths often lead to something unexpected, usually in science but not always. Some choose to go to government jobs or to positions in biotech/pharma. Others teach at community colleges, small undergraduate institutions, and even high schools. Some have primary teaching appointments at large research universities. Still others go into professional society management, patent law, information technology, or investment banking. And I know of one world-renowned researcher who decided to retire, leaving science for Asian art. She will often remark that the skills she learned as a scientific researcher continue to serve her well in her new career. So, pursue your passions even if that means changing course. There are many ways you can stay in science (or leave sci ence), be productive, and make meaningful contributions to your chosen field. The skills you learned and the experiences you accumulated as an academic researcher translate, even more than you can imagine. — Molly Cule

“something else.” Their careers are not “alternative”—they have decided to take a different path to contributing to

science, one that is not on the traditional academic track. A colleague of mine told me about her eclectic career path that led her from the classic tenure track into commercial scientific publishing and back into academia. For her, it all started with a job posting in a scientific journal: a publishing company was looking for people with a PhD in sci ence and no publishing experience. I guess the idea was that it was easier to teach scientists about publishing than the other way around. As it turned out, my friend found her passion: the ideal way to be in science but not at the bench. She also realized that she should have been a lot more excited about lab work given her initial plans to follow the academic track. My friend ended up staying in commercial publishing, in the private sector, for almost 20 years, working on books, journals, and various electronic products. The opportunities to interact with the leaders in the scientific community were amazing, as was the travel to conferences, both the scientific

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