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.
Shasha Feng
My name is Shasha Feng. I am a grad student at Dr. Wonpil Im's lab in the Biology Ph.D. program at Lehigh University. My research interest focuses on ion channel ligand activation, membrane-protein interactions, and machine learning with physics. I am an outdoor lover. I have camped and backpacked on both the coasts of the U.S. and sumitted Mt. Washington recently. I serve as president of the Grad Students Outing Club at Lehigh and enjoy contributing to the well-being of the community. I hope to meet more people and learn more about science at BPS.
John Janetzko
I obtained my Honors BSc in Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 2012, with a focus on synthetic organic and inorganic chemistry. During my time as an undergraduate I worked mostly in the laboratory of Dr. Robert A. Batey where I developed organoboron-based methodologies for synthesis, and completed the total synthesis of the molecule Antimycin A1b. In the fall of 2012 I began graduate studies at Harvard University in the Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. There, I traded my sep-funnel for a pipette to explore the exciting world of enzymology and what many regard as chemical biology. Working in the labs of Drs. Daniel Kahne and Suzanne Walker (Harvard Medical School), I investigated the mechanism of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT)-mediated proteolysis, an enigmatic moonlighting function that had recently been described. During my Ph.D. I made extensive use of high-resolution mass spectrometry approaches to characterize novel post-translational modifications. While I had the opportunity to solve several OGT crystal structures during my PhD, I did not consider myself a structural biologist. Seeking to remedy this, I moved to the lab of Dr. Brian Kobilka for my postdoctoral work, where I’ve been trying to understand the molecular basis of G protein-coupled receptor desensitization and trafficking. My postdoc work has made use of a number of techniques ranging from mass spectrometry to single particle cryo-EM and most recently single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy. Beyond research, I am passionate about teaching, science communication and how we can make academia a more welcoming and inclusive environment. Outside of the lab, I am an avid bike racer, a coach for the Stanford University cycling team, and I enjoy spending time with my wife and our 9 month old Bernedoodle, Winston.
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Gabrielle Kosoy
My name is Gabrielle and I am currently a 4th year biophysics PhD student at the University of Rochester. My biophysics journey has brought me to the Wadsworth center in Albany New York as a technician studying bacterial polymerases and to the Gulbenkian Institute in Oeiras Portugal as a technician studying A to I editing proteins. In the last 3 years of my PhD I have become interested in immunology and am studying the interactions between viral protein and antibodies.
I'm looking forward to talking to people at the conference about what inspires them, what questions make them crazy or excited, and their favorite part of communicating their science to others. I am also musician, a hiker, and a big coffee/tea drinker. If you see me at the conference please chat with me and tell me a bit of your story.
Julia Migliore
I am working on a Ph.D. at the University of North Texas where I study the delivery of peptide drugs to cardiac myosin. In the lab, you can find me snapping pictures at the microscope and building molecular models. I am enamored by the teeniest tiniest systems that make life possible and as a result, I tend to talk about them whenever I can. This includes teaching biochemistry lab on campus, blogging about proteins on my website (juliamig.com), and engaging my extended family's science questions on holidays.
Susana Teixeira
I work at the University of Delaware Center for Neutron Science, and as a Guest Researcher at the NIST Center for Neutron Research. I hold a graduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lisbon, and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Reading (England). I have been working at world leading neutron research facilities in Europe and the U.S. for over 18 years, enabling experiments for international neutron users and training the next generations.
You can hear more about my work on the use of high-pressure to monitor protein degradation on February 22, at the poster session on Diffraction and Scattering Techniques. If you are attending the Education and Career Opportunities Fair, come talk to me at the NIST table and find out more about postdoctoral and summer internship opportunities. You may also ask me about Neutrons and Food at the Speed Networking event on February 21.
It is my first time in San Francisco, where I am looking forward to comparing the Golden Gate to its European sister, the Lisbon suspension bridge. When I am not using neutrons to probe monoclonal antibodies, I like to dive into creative writing and already published my first novel in Portugal. I have a reputation for being a chocoholic and a foodie.
Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede
I am Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, a professor from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. My research focuses on protein misfolding and aggregation, as well as copper transport proteins and their mechanisms. I am also leading a gender equality initiative at my university named Genie as well as sitting on many committees (such as the Nobel prize for Chemistry committee). I spent 3 years on BPS council and stepped off virtually last year. Thus, I really look forward to meet friends and colleagues again in San Francisco. Last time I was physically at a meeting was the BPS meeting in San Diego 2 years ago. When I blog during the meeting now, I will try to give you who are not attending a sense of the scientific content, the atmosphere, and feelings when being at an in-person meeting after a two-year break.