Grace Brannigan
Rutgers University

Editor, Channels, Transporters, and Receptors
Biophysical Journal

What are you currently working on that excites you?

I was trained as a physicist, but I get excited by messy, complicated biological questions. I see the perception of “messiness” as a signature of intriguing unanswered questions: What are the organizing principles underlying this system? Currently, we are working on several exciting “messes,” including non-ideal binding in multiphase systems (what does binding look like when a ligand has a complicated relationship with the solvent?) and the intrinsic modularity of long disordered proteins (we may not have helices or sheets—but is there a different sequence hierarchy that makes sense?). As in everyday life, cleaning up each of these messes requires special attention to the sticky, oily regions!

What have you read lately that you found really interesting or stimulating (a paper, a book, science or not science)?

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by members of the Harvard Negotiation Project. Like most professionals, scientists can’t avoid difficult conversations, but this book provides an approach and rationale that I think speaks well to scientists. It’s like having a protocol and troubleshooting guide! I had just happened upon an excerpt of the new edition in a newspaper and thought to myself, “Wow! I should read this!” Once I finished the book, I was thinking, “All scientists should read this!”