Biophysical Newsletter - August 2014

15

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2014

AUGUST

Subgroups

ity this summer and fall? The Biopolymers in vivo (BIV) Subgroup is proud to announce a new Logo Contest. The purpose of the logo is to create a catchy design that relates, in a direct or abstract way, to the BIV subgroup core goals: understand- ing the structure and function of biomolecules in the context of the living cell and developing novel cutting-edge techniques to facilitate this aim. The designer of the winning logo will receive $350 in cash, along with a free t-shirt and dinner with the BIV Subgroup after the 2015 Balti- more symposium . Eligibility is extended to all members of the Biophysical Society who are early- career scientists, i.e., students and postdocs. The winning design will be selected by the current BIV officers and student representatives (see below). The BIV logo will appear in the BPS Newslet- ter, in presentation slides, and on tee shirts to be sold at the 2015 Annual Meeting. The deadline for submitting your logo design is November 30, 2014. Entries should be sent by email attach- ment to daryl.eggers@sjsu.edu . Contest rules and further details are available on the BIV Subgroup webpage ( http://www.biophysics.org/Portals/1/PDFs/ Subgroups/BIV-Logo-Contest-Rules-2015_v4.pdf ). Please be sure to share this opportunity with your creative colleagues! We are also excited to announce that the officers of the BIV Subgroup recently elected two early- career representatives to enhance the subgroup’s outreach and responsiveness to younger scientists. Our first representative, Anna Simon , is a gradu- ate student in the laboratory of Kevin Plaxco , UC Santa Barbara. Anna received her BS degree in bi- ological engineering from MIT. Maxim Prigozhin , our second representative, is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Steven Chu , Stanford Univer- sity. Max received his PhD in chemical physics under the direction of Martin Gruebele , University of Illinois. We welcome Max and Anna on board and we look forward to their contributions to shape the BIV subgroup and help us make future business decisions. — Daryl Eggers , BIV Member-at-Large

Mechanobiology The Mechanobiology Subgroup held its 2 nd an- nual meeting on the Saturday before the 2014 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco. It is truly an exciting time for mecha- nobiology, with all sorts of new ways to physically manipulate and measure biosystems in combina- tion (or not!) with many approaches from mo- lecular biology. Linda Kenney , founding Chair of the Mechanobiology Subgroup, energized the meeting by organizing an outstanding and diverse afternoon session. Talks ranged from the cell and molecular scale to large organisms, and focused on forces, stresses, and kinematics in both experi- mental and theoretical studies. Alex Dunn helped raise funds for refreshments from several sponsors – thanks! The Subgroup meeting concluded with a small quorum of subgroup members discussing plans for the 3 rd annual meeting on the Satur- day before the 2015 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Baltimore. Dennis Discher will serve as the Subgroup Chair for the 2015 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Baltimore. Suggestions for possible topics, speakers, and sponsors are all welcome (please email: discher@seas.upenn.edu). G.V. ‘Shiva’ Shivashankar will serve as the Sub- group Chair for the 2016 Meeting. We encourage all Society members to come to these Mechano- biology Subgroup meetings, whether you work in the topic or not, and please mention the subgroup to colleagues who work on any aspect of mecha- nobiology. Come participate, be inquisitive, and consider joining the Biophysical Society’s latest dynamic Subgroup. — Dennis E. Discher , Subgroup Chair BIV Students and Postdocs: Put Your Artistic Skills to Good Use! Biopolymers In Vivo Logo Contest Looking for opportunities to express your creativ-