The Biophysical Society committees are essential to the implementation of the Society's stated purpose to lead the development and dissemination of knowledge in biophysics. All new and continuing committee appointments are approved by Council on an annual basis. Committee members must be current Society members at the time of their appointment and must maintain active membership status for the duration of their committee terms.
Do you want to get more involved in BPS activities? If so, submit a volunteer form and select the committees that interest you from among the following: Early Careers, Education, Inclusion and Diversity, Membership, Professional Opportunities for Women, Public Affairs, or Publications.
The Awards Committee is responsible for evaluating the nomination packages for BPS Society Awards (not including the Outstanding Doctoral Research in Biophysics Award or Fellows) and selecting the winners each year. The deadline for award nominations is May 1 of each year. Society members are encouraged to nominate candidates by submitting a nomination form and required materials.
Chair
Linda Columbus (2025)
Committee Members
Michaela Jansen (2027)
Christy Landes (2027)
Tanja Mittag (2025)
Charles Sanders (2026)
Patricia Soto (2027)
Stephen Tucker (2025)
Lynn Zechiedrich (2027)
Jin Zhang (2026)
Taekjip Ha, ex officio
Gabriela K. Popescu, ex officio
Lynmarie K. Thompson, ex officio
The BPS Conferences Committee brings together groups of researchers, both those already established as well as new groups, for specialized meeting topics in a small meeting format. These conferences recur biennially or triennially and reflect excellence in science.
Chair
Suzanne F. Scarlata (2025)
Committee Members
Ariane Briegel (2027)
Marta Filizola (2025)
Samantha Harris (2025)
Anne K. Kenworthy (2025)
Ilya Levental (2027)
Arthur G. Palmer (2025)
Sudha Chakrapani, ex officio
Lukas K. Tamm, ex officio
Christopher Yip, ex officio
The Committee for Inclusion and Diversity's, formerly the Minority Affairs Committee (MAC), charge is to increase the number of underrepresented biophysicists and enhance the visibility and career opportunities of existing underrepresented biophysicists, and to involve them in Society affairs. The Committee aims to foster a community for underrepresented biophysicists primarily through activities at the Annual Meeting and through the Summer Program. Outreach to young underrepresented students is achieved through participation at the scientific conferences for underrepresented students.
Chair
Candice Etson (2025)
Committee Members
M. Yusuf Ali (2027)
Christopher Bassey (2025)
Silvia Cavagnero (2026)
Walter J. Chazin (2025)
Daniel Deredge (2026)
Lisandra Flores-Aldama (2027)
Theanne Griffith (2027)
Meghna Gupta (2025)
Anne Hinderliter (2025)
Susy Kohout (2026)
Amy Lee (2027)
Catherine Royer (2025)
Carlos A. Villalba-Galea (2025)
Catherine B. Volle (2025)
Lonnie Wollmuth (2027)
The Dissertation Award Review Committee is responsible for evaluating nomination packages for the Outstanding Doctoral Research in Biophysics Award each year and selecting two recipients, one who received their PhD at an academic institution in the United States and one who received their PhD at a non-US institution. The deadline for nominations is May 1 of each year. Society members are encouraged to nominate candidates by submitting a nomination form and required materials.
Chair
Taekjip Ha (2027)
Committee Members
Rommie Amaro (2027)
Takanari Inoue (2027)
Kandice Levental (2027)
Georg Pabst (2027)
Erdinc Sezgin (2027)
The Early Careers Committee is charged with guiding and promoting the Society's career development activities, including the organization of career development, networking, and community-building events at the Annual Meeting and writing articles in the Society's newsletter, the BPS Bulletin. In addition, the Committee is responsible for increasing the involvement of early career (graduate student, postdoctoral, or newly independent scientist) members in Society affairs and for recognizing the challenges unique to early career scientists.
Chair
Trushar R. Patel (2026)
Committee Members
Surl-Hee (Shirley) Ahn (2026)
Ademuyiwa Aromolaran (2026)
Matthias Buck (2025)
Srirupa Chakraborty (2027)
Jiajia Dong (2027)
Peying Fong (2027)
Dylan Girodat (2026)
Angela Greenman (2027)
Holly A. Holman (2026)
Christian Jorgensen (2026)
Jasna Markovac (2026)
Ewan McRae (2027)
Viviana Monje-Galvan (2026)
Vikas Navratna (2027)
Tugba N. Ozturk (2027)
Monica Rieth (2026)
Charlotte Smith (2025)
Woong Young So (2027)
Ashutosh Srivastava (2027)
Jeanne Stachowiak (2027)
Patrick C. Van der Wel (2025)
Subham Vishnoi (2026)
The Education Committee is responsible for providing materials and ideas to be used in promoting biophysics to the general public and particularly to students. The Committee plans and executes brochures and educational programs at the Annual Meeting, including the Undergraduate Poster Award Competition. The Committee also creates educational resources for the Society website and coordinate outreach events such as Science Fairs.
Chair
Yadilette Rivera-Colón (2026)
Committee Members
Ananya Chakravarti (2027)
Andrew Feig (2027)
Andrea Ghisleni (2027)
Semire Uzun Göçmen (2025)
Esmael Haddadian (2025)
Logan Kaler (2027)
Jefferson Knight (2025)
Hannah Malcolm (2027)
Thayaparan Paramanathan (2025)
Vijay Rangachari (2026)
Arnold Revzin (2026)
Luis O. Romero (2026)
Elizabeth Schneider (2027)
Rita Sirrieh (2025)
Patricia Soto (2027)
Ragothaman M. Yennamalli (2027)
The Fellows Committee, chaired by the President, is responsible for evaluating the nomination packages for the Biophysical Society Fellows and selecting the winners each year. The deadline for fellow nominations is May 1 of each year. Society members are encouraged to nominate candidates by submitting a nomination form and required materials.
Chair
Gabriela K. Popescu (2025)
Committee Members
Ivet Bahar (2027)
Gilad Haran (2025)
Ka Yee C. Lee (2026)
Boris Martinac (2027)
José Onuchic (2025)
Rohit Pappu (2027)
H. Lee Sweeney (2025)
Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede (2025)
The Finance Committee, chaired by the Treasurer, advises Council on the finances of the Society. The committee reviews the fiscal health of the Society and with the Executive Director prepares and recommends an annual budget for approval by Council at the Annual Meeting. The Finance Committee oversees the annual audit and the management of the Society's reserves.
Chair
Samantha Harris (2025)
Committee Members
Cynthia Czajkowski (2025)
Diane Lidke (2027)
Pablo Peixoto (2027)
Jonathan Rocheleau (2026)
Teresa Giráldez, ex officio
Gabriela K. Popescu, ex officio
William C. Wimley, ex officio
The Member Services Committee is charged with coordinating the activities of its member committees to ensure that Society resources are used efficiently and that the diverse human resource needs of the membership are met.
Chair
Teresa Giráldez (2028)
Committee Members
Melanie J. Cocco (2024)
Candice Etson (2025)
Karen G. Fleming (2024)
Kathleen Hall (2024)
Trushar Patel (2026)
Yadilette Rivera-Colon (2023)
Eric Sundberg (2024)
The Membership Committee is charged with assessing changes in Society membership and needs, looking for nascent and underserved areas, and based on those assessments, developing plans to attract new members and retain existing members. At the Annual Meeting, the Membership Committee hosts several events, including the First-Time Attendee Drop-By and the New Member Welcome Coffee, giving members an opportunity to speak with Society leadership, and hosts a table at the Education & Career Opportunities Fair. The Membership Committee also sponsors Society Mini-Grants for local networking events.
Chair
Yuri Nesmelov (2027)
Committee Members
Clemens Anklin (2027)
Tinatin Brelidze (2026)
Ashley Carter (2027)
Michael Cascio (2027)
Liza Dahal (2026)
Carmen Domene (2025)
Daryl Eggers (2027)
Ellen Kang (2026)
George Khelashvili (2027)
Rajan Lamichhane (2026)
Joseph Mindell (2026)
Cathy Proenza (2026)
Seth Weinberg (2025)
Teresa Giráldez, ex officio
The Nominating Committee is charged with preparing a list of nominees for President-Elect, Council, Treasurer or Secretary when necessary, determine the willingness of the candidates to run, and report its list to the Executive Board and Council for approval the year following its election.
Per the Society bylaws, nominations for Council may also be received by petition. Contact the Society Office at [email protected] for information on how to submit a petition candidate for Council.
Chair
Valeria Vasquez (2024)
Committee Members
Margaret Cheung (2024)
Taekjip Ha (2024)
Kumiko Hayashi (2024)
Syma Khalid (2024)
Kresten Lindorff-Larsen (2024)
The CPOW is charged with promoting science education for girls and women; promoting the advancement and retention of women and minorities in biophysics; fostering development of professional communities among women; raising awareness of the scientific contributions of women in biophysics; recognizing the challenges of balancing career and family; promoting fair and equitable treatment, and improving the climate for women in biophysics in all stages of their careers. The Committee serves as a resource to other committees to promote diversity and internationalization within their programs and activities. Each year, the CPOW sponsors Annual Meeting activities and hosts workshops on various topics, which are open to all attendees.
Chair
Karen G. Fleming (2027)
Committee Members
Rebecca Berlow (2026)
Susan Buchanan (2027)
Anne Carlson (2025)
Lauren Conger (2027)
Lukasz Cwiklik (2025)
Elizabeth Duran (2026)
Clarissa Durie (2026)
Kevin Gardner (2026)
Elka Georgieva (2027)
Connie Jeffery (2027)
Nelli Mnatsakanyan (2025)
Sally Pias (2026)
Padmini Rangamani (2025)
Jie Xiao (2026)
Divya Yadav (2027)
E. Lynn Zechiedrich (2026)
The Biophysical Society Program Committee is charged with the organization of the Annual Meeting scientific program. The program must respond to and serve the needs of the membership, which represents diverse scientific, technical, and educational constituencies.
Co-Chair
Sudha Chakrapani (2025)
Co-Chair
Christopher Yip (2025)
Committee Members
Margaret Cheung (2027)
Ibrahim Cissé (2024)
Gilad Haran (2025)
Kumiko Hayashi (2026)
Syma Khalid (2026)
Francesca Marassi (2026)
Joseph Mindell (2025)
Tamar Schlick (2027)
Elizabeth Villa (2024)
The Public Affairs Committee's responsibilities include (1) ensuring appropriate support for biophysics and basic research at the federal funding agencies; (2) supporting biophysics through congressional and public outreach and education; (3) developing special initiatives and responses, as appropriate, to matters of public policy that impact on biophysics and biophysicists at all education and career levels; and (4) advising the Society president and council on matters of public affairs. Recently, the committee has provided input on strategic plans at NSF and NIH, budget and appropriations decisions on Capitol Hill, reauthorization legislation for NIH, NSF, and the Department of Energy Office of Science, open access regulations and bills, as well as other areas of interest to the Society. The committee also plans policy events for the Annual Meeting and sponsors scientists to participate in Hill Days in Washington, DC.
Chair
Ranajeet Ghose (2027)
Committee Members
Advait Athreya (2026)
Gregory Caputo (2027)
Shuo Han (2027)
Kalina Hristova (2027)
Michaela Jansen (2027)
Joseph Long (2025)
Sanjeevi Sivasankar (2026)
Randy Wadkins (2027)
Teresa Giráldez, ex officio
Gabriela K. Popescu, ex officio
The Publications Committee is responsible for overseeing Society peer-reviewed publications and recommending editorial policies for each to ensure achievement of Society goals. It appoints all Associate Editors and Editorial Board Members (such appointments to be ratified by Council). The Committee is also responsible for understanding and developing journal budgets in collaboration with the Finance Committee, for approval by the Council.
Chair
William C. Wimley (2027)
Committee Members
Antje Almeida (2027)
Francisco Barrera (2027)
Carlos Castañeda (2026)
Andrea Gohlke (2025)
Michael Greenberg (2027)
Chia-Lung Hsieh (2027)
Ilya Levental (2025)
Maria Spies (2025)
David Stokes (2025)
Samantha Harris, ex officio
The Sustainability Committee is responsible for developing strategies and coordinating activities to support member engagement with sustainability research, support member transition into sustainable research, and harmonize some of the policies of the BPS with the objectives of sustainable development.
Chair
Emmanuel Margeat (2027)
Committee Members
William Hancock (2027)
Leslie Loew (2027)
Samrat Mukhopadhyay (2027)
Gabriela K. Popescu (2027)
Lynmarie K. Thompson (2027)
Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede (2027)
The Thematic Meetings Committee solicits proposals from Society membership for small, focused topic meetings to be held in various locations around the word. The committee reviews proposals, provides feedback to prospective organizers, and makes recommendations to Council.
Chair
Lukas Tamm (2025)
Committee Members
Ariane Briegel (2027)
Teresa Giráldez (2025)
Syma Khalid (2025)
Jinwoo Lee (2025)
Ilya Levental (2027)
Thorsten Wohland (2025)
Sudha Chakrapani, ex officio
Suzanne Scarlata, ex officio
Christopher Yip, ex officio