ROCKVILLE, MD – The Biophysical Society is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2024 Society Early Career Travel Awards. These awards are very competitive in nature and are intended to recognize Society members for excellence in biophysics. The winners will be honored at the Society’s 68th Annual Meeting, being held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from February 10-14, 2024.

Pablo R. Arantes, University of California, Riverside, USA – “Biophysical Origin of Adenine Base Editors’ Improved Editing Efficiency”

Roi Asor, University of Oxford, United Kingdom – “Cooperativity and Induced Oligomerisation Control the Interaction of SARS-COV-2 with its Cellular Receptor and Patient-Derived Antibodies”

Francesca Baldini, Istituto Italiano Tecnologia, Italy – “Remodeling of the Nuclear Landscapes and Epigenome During Retro-Transformation of Neuroblastoma Cells Mediated by the Non-Coding RNA NDM29”

Puja Banerjee, University of Chicago, USA – “Assembly and Maturation of the Matrix Domain of HIV1 GAG Polyprotein”

Vishwambhar V. Bhandare, Innoplexus Consulting Services Ltd., India – “Novel Protein Engineering Approach for Conformational Stability”

Ananth prasad Burada, University of California, Davis, USA – “Structural Studies of Connexin 32 Gap Junction Channels by CRYO-EM”

Francesca Burgos Bravo, University of California, Berkeley, USA – “Fact Facilitates Nucleosome Transcription by Modifying the Strength and Transcriptional Map of the Nucleosomal Barrier”

Alfredo Vidal Ceballos, The Advanced Science Research Center, USA – “RNA Structure Modulates Emergent Material Properties of Model Neuronal Granules”

Delfine Cheng, Victor Chang Research Institute, Australia – “PIEZO1 Channels as Regulators of Integrin-Mediated Focal Adhesions in Cardiac Fibroblasts”

Luis Fern Cofas-Vargas, Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Poland – “Capturing the Biomechanics of SARS-COV-2/Antibody Complexes by Gōmartini Simulation”

Horace T. Crogman, California State University, Dominguez Hills, USA – “Mathematical Analysis of the Biophysical Response Of EGCG-Treated Hyperglycemic HMEC-1 and UMR Cells in Vitro Using Electric Cell-Substrate Impedance Sensing Technology”

Jasmine Cubuk, Washington University in St. Louis, USA – “Single-Molecule Spectroscopy of the SARS-COV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein”

Melody Di Bona, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA – “Collapse of Cancer Cell Micronuclei from Mitochondrial-Derived Oxidative Stress”

Hung N. Do, Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA – “Dynamics of B-Cell Receptor Assembly in a Complex Membrane Revealed by Multiscale Simulations”

Meredith Frazier, College of Charleston, USA – “Flipped Over U: Structural Basis for DSRNA Cleavage by the SARS-COV-2 Endoribonuclease”

Pablo S. Gaete, University of California, Davis, USA – “Connexin Hemichannels Function as Molecule Transporters Independently of Ion Conduction”

Francesco Giardini, University of Freiburg, Germany – “Dissecting the Role of Structural Remodeling on Trans-Scar Conduction in Arrhythmogenic Mouse Hearts by Advanced Optical Methods”

Seong-won Han, University of Münster, Germany – “Does TITIN Cleavage Eliminate Passive Force and Sarcomeric Structure Integrity in Single Myofibrils?”

Bence Hegyi, University of California, Davis, USA – “Intracellular Fibroblast Growth Factors Regulate the Arrhythmogenic Late Sodium Current in Heart Failure”

Stephanie A. Heusser, University of Copenhagen, Denmark – “Mechanisms of Activation and Desensitization in Acid-Sensing Ion Channels”

Amaia Jauregi Miguel, Linköping University, Sweden – “Functional Diversity of Proline-Substitution, Epilepsy-Associated, K_V1.2-Channel Variants”

Valeria Kalienkova, University of Bergen, Norway – “Think Like a Channel, Act Like a Carrier”

Najme Khorasani, University of California, Davis, USA – “Revealing Key Mechanisms of Atrial Fibrillation-Associated Fibrosis Through Computational Modeling of Cardiac Fibroblast”

Louise F. Kimura, Northwestern University, USA – “The DRG Serotonin Receptor 6 Contributes to Nociception”

Divya Kota, University of Illinois, USA – “ATP Mediates Phase Separation of Disordered Basic Proteins by Bridging Intermolecular Interaction Networks”

Audra Kramer, University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA – “Understanding CACNA1A Rare Disease in the Context of Novel Mutations”

Huong T. Kratochvil, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA – “Defining the Physicochemical Basis for Proton Selectivity Through the De Novo Design of Functional Proton Channels”

Deepak Kumar, Western University of Health Sciences, USA – “Deciphering Connexin 26 (CX26) Hemichannels: Beyond Ion Conduction, into Molecule Transport”

Yumin Lee, University of Chicago, USA – “Direct Observation of Protein-Peptide Folding and Binding in uhe Formation of Ribonuclease S”

Neil Lin, University of California, Los Angeles, USA – “Teaching Biophysics of Epithelial Cell Morphology Using Commercial Histological Samples”

Andrew T. Lombardo, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA – “The Exclusion of Non-Muscle Myosin-2 is Required for Microvilli Actin Maintenance in Human Cells”

Andrea J. Lopez Moreno, University of Bergen, Norway – “In Vitro Interaction Of Myelin Proteins P0, P2, and MBP with F-ACTIN”

Julene Madariaga Marcos, Universität Leipzig, Germany – “Mechanistic Insights into CRISPR-CAS12F1 Revealed Through Single-Molecule and Biochemical Studies”

Soumit Sankar Mandal, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati, India – “Molecular Grammar Underlying the DNA Binding Protein CREN7 in Crenarchaeota”

Agustín Mangiarotti, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany – “Biomolecular Condensates Interacting with Membranes: Wetting, Remodeling, and Damage Stabilization”

Lauren A. McCormick, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA – “ Microtubule Polymerization is Controlled by Interface-Acting Nucleotide”

Saheli Mitra, Carnegie Mellon University, USA – “Unveiling the Fusogenic and Membrane-Modulating Potential Of TRP- and ARG-Rich Antimicrobial Peptides”

Anupam Mondal, Rice University, USA – “Why Nucleosome Breathing Dynamics is Asymmetric?”

Cecilia Mörman, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden – “The Anti-Amyloid Brichos Domain Regulates Tau Protein Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation and Inhibits Tau Fibrillation Associated with Alzheimer's Disease”

Tsukasa Nakamura, Purdue University, USA – “DAQ-Score Database and DAQ-Refine: Deep-Learning Based Quality Estimation and Refinement of CRYO-EM Derived Protein Models”

Muhammad Umair Naseem, University of Debrecen, Hungary – “Inhibition of K_V1.3-K_V1.X Heterotetramers by K_V1.3-Specific Inhibitory Peptides”

Amy R. Nava, Stanford University, USA – “New Insights Into the Molecular Mechanisms of the Coupling of Proton and Chloride in CLC Antiporters”

Myongin Oh, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA – “Deciphering the Molecular Mechanisms of Stra6-Mediated Retinol Transport”

Sreetama Pal, Cornell University, USA – “A Reconstitutive Platform for Biophysical Dissection of the Nipah Virus Fusion Cascade”

Popular Pandey, Case Western Reserve University, USA – “Impact of the AQP5 H173D Mutation on H₂O AND CO₂ Permeability: Physiology and MD Studies”

Roya Pournejati, University of Washington, USA – “Cluster Formation Between BK and CA_V1.3 Channels Precedes Their Insertion into the Plasma Membrane”

Varsha Rajshekar, University of California, Berkeley, USA – “Affinity Hierarchies and Amphiphilic Proteins Underlie the Co-Assembly of Nucleolar and Heterochromatin Condensates”

Warin Rangubpit, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA – “Lipid Membrane Damage by Amyloid Peptides: Effect of the Polar/Non-Polar Sequence Pattern”

Robyn T. Rebbeck, University of Minnesota, USA – “Calcium Channel Targeted Modulators Identified by Fret-Based High-Throughput Screening”

Alice Romagnoli, UNIVPM DISVA, Italy – “Translational Takedown: CYFIP1-Based Peptidomimetic Against Cancer And Fragile X Syndrome”

Andrew Savinov, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA – “High-Throughput Discovery of Inhibitory Protein Fragments with Alphafold”

Silvia Scalisi, University of Catania, Italy – “Origin and Evolution of Oncogene-Related Dna Damage: A Confocal Imaging Study”

Tong Shu, New York University, USA – “Mesoscale Molecular Assembly is Favored by the Active, Crowded Cytoplasm”

Macarena Siri, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany – “Amyloid Fibers in Biofilms: Structure and Adaptation to Environmental Cues”

Tomasz Skóra, University of Utah, USA – “Bottom-Up Coarse-Grained Model of Microtubule Dynamics: A Bridge Between Length- and Timescales”

Ben Sorum, University of California, Berkeley, USA – “Quantifying Tension Generated by Mechanical Force in Two-Pore-Domain K+ (K2P) CHANNELS”

Xun Sun, The Scripps Research Institute, USA – “Probing the Dissociation and Reassembly Pathway of an Amyloidogenic Homotetramer”

Sheena Vasquez, Stanford University, USA – “Structural Investigations of the Cytosolic Iron-Sulfur Cluster Assembly Pathway Late Acting Proteins”

Lie Wang, Baylor College of Medicine, USA – “Mechanism of Anion Exchange, Small-Molecule Inhibition, and Lipid Regulation of Pendrin”

Hongyin Wang, University of Virginia, USA – “Lipid Scrambling Reduces Membrane Stiffness and Facilitates Membrane Blebbing”

Huiwang Zhan, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA – “Self-Organization of Glycolytic Activity into Cortical Waves Fuels Cell Migration and Cancer Progression”

 

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The Biophysical Society, founded in 1958, is a professional, scientific society established to lead an innovative global community working at the interface of the physical and life sciences, across all levels of complexity, and to foster the dissemination of that knowledge. The Society promotes growth in this expanding field through its Annual Meeting, publications, and outreach activities. Its 7,500 members are located throughout the world, where they teach and conduct research in colleges, universities, laboratories, government agencies, and industry.