Biophysical Society Newsletter - February 2016

14

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2016

FEBRUARY

Subgroups

maintains his position as one of the leaders in the study of ion channels, focusing on the relationship between channel structure and gating mecha- nisms. In addition to his scientific achievements, Mackinnon has mentored countless students and post-doctoral fellows who have established suc- cessful independent academic careers. His work and the debates that followed have defined many of central questions in the field of membrane transport in the last two decades. Please join us in congratulating Rod as the 2016 Cole Awardee. The Cole Award is chosen annually from nomina- tions solicited from the subgroup by a selection committee comprised of the Membrane Biophys- ics subgroup chairs elect, current, past and past- past in addition to the subgroup treasurer. The 2016 Membrane Biophysics symposium, chaired by Alessio Accardi , will be held on Sat- urday, February 27, from 1:00pm to 6:00pm. Entitled "Unusual Mechanisms in Membrane Transport," the symposium promises to be a lively kick-off to the 2016 BPS meeting in Los Angeles. The Cole banquet and awardee lecture directly follows the symposium and will be held at the Luxe Hotel located at 1020 Figueroa Street, a few blocks from the LA convention center. Please send your RSVPs for the dinner to membranebio- physicsrsvp@gmail.com if you did not already sign up during registration for the 2016 BPS meeting.

Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Congratulations to Shana Elbaum-Garfinkle , Princeton University and Alexander Tischer , Mayo Clinic, Rochester, winners of the IDP Subgroup Postdoctoral Research Awards! Both Elbaum- Garfinkle and Tischer will receive a monetary award, sponsored by Molecular Kinetics, and will present at the 2016 IDP subgroup meeting. Elbaum-Garfinkle will discuss Disordered Proteins at the Nexus of Liquid Phase Separation and Neuro- degeneration and Tischer will present A Goldilocks Predicament for Von Willebrand Factor-mediated Platelet Adhesion. — Sarah Bondos , Secretary/Treasurer, IDP Subgroup Membrane Biophysics We are pleased to announce that this year’s Cole Award recipient is Roderick MacKinnon of the Rockefeller University. MacKinnon has changed the way we understand selective ion transport by unravelling the structural mechanisms underly- ing the function of ion channels. For nearly three decades his trailblazing functional and structural investigations challenged old paradigms, estab- lished new ones and opened the door for a mul- titude of research lines, ranging from theoretical chemistry and computational biophysics, to cell physiology, molecular pharmacology, and many other branches of chemistry, physics, and biology. MacKinnon’s contributions to the understanding of eukaryotic and prokaryotic ion channels have elucidated how ion channel proteins respond to the chemico-physical stimuli that lead to their opening and how they maintain high-fidelity selective transport at diffusion-limited rates. His work stimulated some of the greatest debates in the field of biophysics and membrane transport. For his remarkable contributions MacKinnon was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Lasker award, and the National Medal of Science. He

— Chris Ahern , Secretary-Treasurer, Membrane Biophysics Subgroup