Each year at the Annual Meeting, we invite a group of attendees to share their experiences and perspectives on the Society's blog. Read about this year's crop of bloggers below, and then follow their adventures here on the blog throughout the meeting.
Wilson Adams
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering at the Vanderbilt Biophotonics Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. My research focuses on applying advanced optical imaging and analysis methods to study fundamental phenomena in neuroscience, glial biology, and developmental biology, as well as translational biophotonics. Outside the lab, I am an avid musician, outdoors enthusiast, and self-proclaimed beer evangelist who loves to spend time with my wife and friends. One day, I plan to run my own lab developing and using advanced optical tools platforms to address intriguing questions in biomedical research.
Srirupa Chakraborty
I am a theoretical biophysicist, currently working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow. To quote the famous physicist, Dr. Richard Feynman, “…everything that living things do can be understood in terms of the jigglings and wigglings of atoms.” It is these jigglings and wigglings of atoms that forms the fundamental focus of my research interest. I approach that by applying atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and working on developing novel tools to bridge the gap between in silico models and experimental results. When I am not busy peering through the virtual microscope, you can find me travelling, hiking, or creating dance and/or art with some of my like-minded friends.
Chitrak Gupta
I am a postdoctoral scholar at Arizona State University. I use large-scale computer simulations to study chemo-mechanical coupling in mitochondrial protein complexes. This is going to be my 5th BPS, 4th as a guest blogger, and 1st as a postdoc (yay). I am excited about attending BPS as it provides me the opportunity to discuss my research with scientists from many different areas of expertise. In addition, being a guest blogger for BPS has been an excellent platform to build and showcase my writing skills and to communicate with a broader audience. This year I am looking forward to attending the sessions on bioenergy, which is a major focus of not only my research group, but also the Biodesign Institute at ASU where my group belongs. I am shall be talking about some recent and exciting results at the "Energy Transducing Complexes and Mitochondria in Cell Life and Death" platform on Monday, March 4, at 8:30 AM in room 307/308 (766-Plat). Would love to see you there!
Seda Kocaman
My name is Seda Kocaman and I am a PhD student in Dr. Engin Serpersu’s Lab, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in the department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology. I am also a member of the BPS Membership Committee. For my PhD dissertation, I have been working with three thermostable variants of the Aminoglycoside nucleotidyltransferase 4’ (ANT) enzyme in order to understand how they have achieved different levels of thermostability, via studying the differences in their ligand binding behavior, monomer-dimer equilibrium and X-ray structures. In fact, I will be giving a talk at the BPS Annual Meeting this year in which I will present part of my research. Title of my talk is “Thermodynamics of aminoglycoside-enzyme complexes yields clues on distinguishing thermophilic versus thermostable variants of the Aminoglycoside nucleotidyltransferase 4' (ANT4)” and it will take place on 5th of March at 5pm in Ballroom IV. I would like to invite everyone who is interested to come and listen to my talk! I will be more than happy to discuss my research with all of you! Along with my PhD in Biochemistry, I am also pursuing a Masters in Statistics and Data Analysis since I believe analyzing data properly is critical for good research. I will graduate with both of my degrees in December 2019 and I am hoping to carry on my career as a research scientist and continue to advance in science. Outside of work and research, I enjoy traveling, salsa dancing and trying different cuisines. I will try to explore Baltimore as much as I can during the conference. If you would like to join me in exploring Baltimore, please do let me know. The more, the merrier! Contact email: [email protected]
Ian Nova
My name is Ian Nova. I am a 28 year old PhD Candidate in Molecular Engineering at the University of Washington. I have worked as a single-molecule biophysicist since 2011 in the lab of Dr. Jens Gundlach. We research and develop technology using biological nanopores to sequence DNA and observe the motion of single helicases or polymerases at high resolution. The 2019 BPS annual meeting will mark my fifth year attending and presenting at the conference. I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and love to call this place home. During the weekend, you might find me surfing, skiing, or woodworking.
Sneha Paul
Born in Jamshedpur, a small verdant city in India, I am currently pursuing my doctoral studies at University of Hyderabad, India. My research interests lie in non-canonical DNA structures, femtosecond lasers and single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy. Among the recent advancements in science, the development of super-resolution microscopy has fascinated me the most. A travel enthusiast, an amateur photographer, a voracious reader and passionate about dance, I love to observe and conversate with random people. I strongly believe in the quote, “It is our choices that show what we really are, far more than our abilities.” My desire for life is to work towards the education of the underprivileged inhabitants of small villages and towns in the lap of Himalayas. I adore the works of Ruskin Bond and if I had to describe myself in a line, I would borrow one from his writings, “I am still on my zigzag way, pursuing the diagonal between reason and heart.”
Danielle Schmitt
Hello! My name is Danielle L. Schmitt, and I am in my second year as a postdoc working with Dr. Jin Zhang at University of California San Diego. In the Zhang lab, I develop and apply genetically encoded biosensors for kinases, particularly AMP activated protein kinase. I will be presenting a poster on my work during the meeting. Prior to joining the Zhang lab, I did my PhD with Dr. Songon An at University of Maryland Baltimore County. During graduate school, I lived in Baltimore and attended the 2015 Biophysical Society Meeting in Baltimore. I am very excited to be attending another Biophysical Society Meeting, seeing great talks, and visiting my adopted hometown of Baltimore. I hope to blog about interesting presentations and what to do in Baltimore beyond the convention center, including great places to eat! Follow me on Twitter or Instagram @schmittwitt_ and check out the Zhang lab on Twitter @jinzhanglab. See you at the meeting!
Joseph Jose Thottacherry
I am a graduate student with Jitu (Satyajit mayor) (https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty/mayor) at National centre for biological sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, India. I am interested in how mechanics regulate various cellular process and my thesis work is specifically on the mechanobiology of membrane trafficking (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06738-5). I like to write about science and recently became part of the preLights initiative to highlight interesting preprints (https://prelights.biologists.com/highlights/mechanical-stretch-kills-transformed-cancer-cells/). I would be blogging about my experience here at BPS 2019 and would focus on mechanobiology and/or membrane trafficking.
Gabriella Wheeler
I am a senior physics major at Clemson University with a special interest in biophysics, especially neuroscience. I am president of Clemson’s Biophysical Society student chapter and do research with Clemson biophysicist Hugo Sanabria. In my free time, I enjoy reading, writing poetry and fiction, and spending time with friends. After leaving Clemson, I plan to attend graduate school in computational neuroscience.
Lynn Zechiedrich
I hold the Josephine and Kyle Morrow Chair and am a Professor of Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology & Chemical Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. I study DNA, the enzymes that act on DNA, and the antibiotic and anticancer drugs that inhibit these enzymes. My work on supercoiled DNA has now branched into developing gene therapy delivery vectors. Come hear about my work Monday, March 4, 2019 in the 4 p.m. session, "Chromatin Organization and Regulation: From Physical Principles to Biological Pheomena." I am also principal flutist in the Texas Medical Center Orchestra, and enjoy photography, swimming, and SCUBA diving. I tweet @LynnZechiedrich and post on Instagram as lynnzechiedrich. I look forward to sharing my experiences at #BPS19!