Biophysical Society Bulletin | October 2023

BPS Conference

Proton Reactions: From Basic Science to Biomedical Applications Tahoe, California, USA | August 20–24, 2023

The Biophysical Society Conference on Proton Reactions brought together outstanding experimental, computation al, and theoretical studies on proton reactions, from model systems to complex biochemistry and clinical applications. Colleagues came from all around the world—from North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. An overriding theme was the application of discoveries from basic sci ence to understanding and developing novel approaches to treat relevant diseases. The meeting included experimental scientists, theoreticians, computational modelers, clinicians, and trainees interested in the special and unique aspects of proton transport, pH regulation, proton chemistry, an en tire range of important molecules whose function relies on protons, the theory of proton transfer and electron-coupled proton transfer, and proton transfer reactions in the age of exascale computing. The 47 speakers ranged from early-ca reer scientists selected from the posters to invited seasoned investigators. Each talk was followed by questions and discussions, some of which were so vigorous they had to be truncated to preserve time for the next speaker. There were well-attended poster sessions each evening. The general consensus was that the conference was both scientifically intense and enjoyable, with prolific discussions during and after the formal sessions. The meeting was held surrounded by the stunning beauty of the Granlibakken Tahoe resort, where discussions from the sessions continued, sometimes late into the night. This exciting

conference had a difficult start. Initially planned for August 2021, it was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, in 2022, obtaining a conference site was complicated by wildfires in California. The organizers are most grateful to all the colleagues who supported the meeting over more than three years. That the meeting could finally take place in August 2023, is a testimony to the strong support from the community studying proton reactions, and it is hoped that the Tahoe meeting is only the first of its series. The meeting was organized by Ana-Nicoleta Bondar (Univer sity of Bucharest, Romania, and Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany) and Thomas E. DeCoursey (Rush University, USA). They would like to thank the sponsors of the conference for their generous support: the Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Böhringer Ingelheim, The Company of Biologists, and Journal of General Physiology . They are also most grateful to the meeting’s advisory board: Bernard Garcia-Moreno (Johns Hopkins University, USA), Marilyn Gunner (The City College of New York, USA), Jessica Swanson (University of Utah, USA), and Gregory Voth (University of Chicago, USA). Bondar and DeCoursey could not have organized the meeting without the support of the Biophysical Society and would like to express their gratitude to BPS Director of Meetings & Exhibits, Dorothy Chaconas , who guided and took care of all logistics together with her colleagues Maija Ibanez and Umi Zhou .

October 2023

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