Challenges in times of pandemic and its aftermath for young Latin American Biophysicists

The COVID-19 pandemic brought abrupt changes in our life and work style, and biophysics research in Latin America was not exempt from it. From conference cancellations to lab closures, research plans and manuscripts were left hanging in the air. Graduate students and postdocs are one of the most affected groups in our countries, as in addition to these difficulties they also face severe funding cuts in short-term research fellowships and scholarships to study abroad that could last long-term. In this scenario, it becomes necessary for graduate students and postdocs in biophysics to discuss how they have been confronting these challenges since the start of the pandemic and to find potential regional collaborations and destination laboratories of interests, thus taking these difficulties as an opportunity to rethink the way we do research in Latin America. This virtual event will provide the stage, through flash-talk presentations, live surveys and debates, to conversate about the different strategies and computational/experimental infrastructure that enabled continuity of the research in biophysics in Latin American countries and also the repurposing of local efforts towards COVID-19 research. Moreover, the Argentinian Young Initiative in Biophysics (YIB) will discuss how their organization has provided spaces for training, discussion, consultation and networking as an exemplar case for other countries and as a guide for the potential consolidation of a regional group of Latin American graduate students and postdocs in biophysics.

This event will take place on March 29, from 2 - 4 pm in the GMT-3 time zone. When is this in my time zone?

NOTE: This event will be held with some parts in English and some parts in Spanish.

This event is organized by BPS member Dr. Cesar Ramirez-Sarmiento, Pontificia Univ Catolica, Chile and Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), and Macarena Siri and Paula Salazar from Jóvenes Biofísicos – The Young Initiative on Biophysics.

Event Recording:

Event Speakers

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- Maira Rivera, postdoctoral fellow, Instituto de Ingeniería Biológica y Médica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
- Ezequiel Frigini, doctoral fellow, Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis (CONICET-USL), Argentina
- Rodrigo Tomás Grau, postdoctoral fellow, Instituto de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Celular Aplicada CONICET-UNT, Argentina
- Dayane Dos Santos Alvares, postdoctoral fellow, UNESP, Brazil
- Aníbal M. Reyes, Departamento de Bioquímica y CEINBIO, Facultad de Medicina, UdelaR, Uruguay

Event Schedule

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