Biophysical Society Bulletin | September 2025

President’s Message

See You in San Francisco! I am very much looking forward to learning and sharing great science

Becoming more frequent and effective communicators of the value of science is an important investment in the future of science, people, and the planet. In these challenging times, we hope that the BPS Annual Meeting will provide a welcome breath of fresh air, where we can focus on the excitement and promise of the science we do, as well as reconnecting and making new connections with the vibrant BPS community. In recognition of the financial challenges many are facing, BPS has significantly expanded our Bridging Funds: • We encourage BPS members facing financial hardship to apply for Bridging Funds, to enable them to attend the Annual Meeting (biophysics.org/2026meeting/ awards-competitions/travel-awards); and • We encourage BPS members who are able to donate and thus expand the Bridging Funds available to help mem bers attend the Annual Meeting and stay connected to BPS science and community (biophysics.org/donate). We also want to reassure international members about travel to the United States. In July, our Program Co-Chair, Ariane Briegel , traveled from France to the United States for a conference and reported, “Entry to the US was easy. I was a bit nervous about traveling to the US, but it wasn’t a prob lem at all. Border agents were friendly and efficient. I have no worries about coming to the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in February!” Contacts at the Protein Society report ed no problems for attendees entering the country for their summer meeting, and nearly half of the participants at the recent BPS Thematic Meeting in Estes Park, Colorado traveled from outside the United States with no entry issues. As recent experiences have been overwhelmingly positive, I truly hope international members will feel reassured and inspired to attend the meeting in support of science at this critical time. If you need an invitation letter to help obtain a visa, we’ve made them available online at www.biophysics.org/2026meeting/ hotel-travel/invitation-letter-requests, and we recommend that you apply for your visa as early as possible. Finally, I would like to acknowledge that this is a difficult time for trainees to be launching their careers. We hope you will join us in San Francisco to take advantage of the many BPS meeting opportunities for networking and mentoring. We are also excited to announce that this year’s BPS Lecturer, Lewis Kay, will have an informal session on Tuesday afternoon to talk with trainees about career options and navigating challenges along the way. Supporting the next generation of scientists is very important to all of us! For great science, science communication, and mentoring, submit your abstracts by October 1, and see you in San Fran cisco! — Lynmarie K. Thompson , President

and reconnecting with the BPS community in San Francisco at our 2026 Annual Meeting, February 21–25! The Program Co-Chairs and Program Committee have assembled a wonderful array of Symposia and Workshops (biophysics.org/2026meeting/ program/scientific-sessions). These incorporate many mem

Lynmarie K. Thompson

ber-proposed sessions, with speakers covering a broad range of exciting biophysical topics. It is now up to all BPS members to do the final shaping of the program, by submitting ab stracts to present your latest advances as Posters, Platform Talks, Flash Talks, and Symp Select or Workshop Select Talks. In addition to the relatively new (since 2024) Flash and Select Talks, we also have a timely new category for abstracts: Biophysics for Sustainability. These new presentation formats and categories continue to expand the opportunities for our members and the impact of our science. In addition to the array of Symposia and Workshops, on Mon day evening of the meeting, Lewis Kay will give the BPS Lec ture, “The Essentiality of Solution NMR Spectroscopy in the Post-AlphaFold Era.” This talk will take us beyond static struc tures to consider the role of dynamics in the mechanisms of the molecular machines of the cell. Thanks in part to work pioneered by Professor Kay, it is now possible to interrogate the dynamics of proteins even within very large multi-pro tein complexes. With the wealth of structures emerging from both experimental and predictive techniques, understanding the role of dynamics in large complexes is a critical frontier for biophysics. It is my hope that this talk about spins and dynamics will inspire great new science ideas as well as some great moves on the dance floor at the ever-popular BPS dessert social following the BPS Lecture! You may be wondering whether we will be able to continue the important advances of science as we face numerous changes in science policy, funding, and priorities occurring at a dizzying rate in the United States this year. In this context, the 2026 President’s Symposium, “Communicating the Value of Biophysics in a Changing World,” will seek to inspire and em power all of us to tell our stories about science and scientists to the many people in our lives. Our Symposium will feature the perspectives of science leaders in various sectors: Holden Thorp , Editor-in-Chief of Science ; Jeremy Berg , former Director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences; and Sean Decatur , President of the American Natural History Mu seum. We will also hear from biophysicists who do effective outreach work, and the Public Affairs Committee will hold a companion workshop on science communication.

September 2025

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