Biophysical Society Newsletter - October 2014

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2014

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

OCTOBER

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY

Biophysicists in Profile Malin Suurkuusk , Product Manager and Application Scientist at TA Instru- ments, grew up in Virginia with a calorimeter lab in her house, so it is no surprise that she became a scientist. Her father, Jaak Suurkuusk, was a ther- mochemist who designed calorimeters that would be able to measure heat capacities of biological systems. He started out by designing calorimeters during his postdoc, in order to be able to determine some of the thermody- namic parameters needed for their study. Following his postdoc, he became more focused on calorimeter design and less involved in experimentation, eventually opening his own business. Over time, the business became a family affair; Suurkuusk began assist- ing her father in his lab at age thirteen, and her mother, sister, and brother became involved in administration, marketing, and programming. When she started high school, she was already familiar with a scientific setting and many of the tools therein. She had also developed a great interest in science, inspired by her father’s work. She says of her father, “He is a visionary when it comes to calorimetry and thermodynamics.” Following in his footsteps, she chose to study math, chemistry, and physics in high school. MALIN SUURKUUSK

Officers President Dorothy Beckett President-Elect Edward Egelman Past-President Francisco Bezanilla Secretary Lukas Tamm Treasurer Paul Axelsen Council Olga Boudker Taekjip Ha Samantha Harris Kalina Hristova Juliette Lecomte Amy Lee Marcia Levitus Merritt Maduke Daniel Minor, Jr. Jeanne Nerbonne Antoine van Oijen Joseph D. Puglisi Michael Pusch Bonnie Wallace David Yue Biophysical Journal Leslie Loew Editor-in-Chief

“ I am really impressed by earlier scientists when so much was still unknown and they did not have the tools we have today. Also being a woman in research those days, when all of society was very male-dominat- ed. I admire those who did this pio- neering work. ” – Malin Suurkuusk

When Suurkuusk began her un- dergraduate degree at Stockholm University, she was unsure about which STEM subject she would pursue. “I could not choose be- tween math and natural science with a major in chemistry,” she says, “I applied to both, but the natural science courses started a day before the math courses.” Suurkuusk took the timing as a sign, and decided to focus on biochemistry. She took classes in physical chemistry and neurochemistry during this time as well, and graduated with her master’s degree in biochemistry. She

Society Office Ro Kampman Executive Officer Newsletter Ray Wolfe Alisha Yocum Production Laura Phelan Profile

Ellen Weiss Public Affairs

The Biophysical Society Newsletter (ISSN 0006-3495) is published twelve times per year, January- December, by the Biophysical Society, 11400 Rockville Pike, Suite 800, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Distributed to USA members and other countries at no cost. Canadian GST No. 898477062. Postmaster: Send address changes to Biophysical Society, 11400 Rockville Pike, Suite 800, Rockville, MD 20852. Copyright © 2014 by the Biophysical Society. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

says, “When I was looking for a graduate position, I wanted to learn more about physical methods for the study of biological and biochemical systems, even if I did not call it biophysics at the time.” Suurkuusk earned her PhD conducting research in the thermochemistry department at Lund University and in an industrial setting at Pharmacia. Working in industry at this point in her career brought a particularly dif- ficult set of challenges. In her first two years, she worked on several projects that were subsequently closed by the company. She came away with noth- ing to publish. After the first few years, she began working on a project