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Protein interest group — Protein quality control

Chairs: Danish Khan, Stanford University, and Emily Sontag, Marquette University

The goal of this interest group event is to build a community of researchers in the field of protein quality control (PQC). This event will bring together faculty working in the area of PQC and early career researchers including undergraduate and graduate researchers from diverse backgrounds.

Multiple neurodegenerative diseases are linked to protein misfolding caused due to failure of PQC. Understanding the cellular responses to aberrations in PQC is thus an active area of research. Attendees will gain insights about the ‘big questions’ of PQC field and learn about the approaches being taken to understand the basic biology of PQC and PQC-related diseases.

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Signaling interest group — Cellular communication in health and disease

Chairs: Michelle Mendoza, University of Utah, and Roberto Zoncu, University of California, Berkeley

The goal of this interest group is to build a community of researchers in the field of signaling.

The session will cover current topics and innovative approaches to studying cellular communication, including metabolic signaling, cancer cell signaling and stress response. Special emphasis will be placed on advanced approaches to the study and manipulation of signal transduction, including high-throughput methods, single molecule imaging and quantitative modeling. 

Target audience: Researchers at all levels interested in this topic.

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Mitochondria interest group

Chairs: Oleh Khalimonchuk, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and Laura Lackner, Northwestern University

The goal of this interest group is to build a community for researchers in the field of mitochondria.

This interest group event will promote cross-talk across the areas of basic mitochondrial biology and molecular mechanisms of disease and aging, and provide an opportunity for biomedical researchers to explore and discover potentially unrecognized mechanisms of disease. Holding an interest group meeting that focuses on the diverse aspects of mitochondria and pathways that underlie the pathophysiologic mechanisms of age-associated diseases will provide a forum for uniquely gathering the international community of scientists in mitochondria, cell metabolism, and aging research. 

Target audience: Anyone interested in mitochondrial biology and the multifaceted roles of mitochondria in cellular and systemic physiology.

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Research education interest group — Collaborative teaching through CURES

Chairs: Ellis Bell, University of San Diego, and Regina Stevens-Truss, Kalamazoo College

The goal of this interest group is to build a community of researchers in the field of collaborative teaching through CURES.

CURES are authentic research experiences incorporated into a regularly scheduled course, making research accessible to all students. They include seven common elements of a research experience: relevance, scientific background, hypothesis development, proposal, experiments (including iteration)/teamwork to explore the hypothesis, data analysis and evidence-based conclusions, and presentation. CURES can be stand-alone or integrated either vertically or horizontally with other courses or institutions to increase emphasis on interdisciplinarity or scientific collaboration, and have been shown to be a high impact teaching practice.

This interest group event will catalyze interdisciplinary discussions around CUREs for teaching undergraduate biology and chemistry — and classes at the interface of these two disciplines, including biochemistry and molecular biology, build community and connect faculty and aspiring faculty with CURE mentors. The focus will be on interinstitutional collaborative CUREs and the key role of student hypothesis development and approaches to build student ownership of the CURE research.

Attendees will learn about the growing community of educators engaging in teaching protocols to increase research based experiences for undergraduate students. In addition, attendees, especially educators from 2-year colleges and postdoctoral fellows, will connect with the newly created CUREs community, OUR CUREs, and experience CURE faculty mentors. 

Target audience: Faculty from diverse institutions (community colleges, PUIs, comprehensive and R1 institutions) interested in learning about course-based undergraduate research (CURE) teaching and postdocs and graduate students interested in teaching paradigms.

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Structural biology interest group

Chairs: Jennifer Kavran, Johns Hopkins University, and David Taylor, University of Texas at Austin

This interest group is aimed at building a community of researchers in the Structural Biology field.

The program will highlight both emerging areas in structural biology as well as early career scientists covering new techniques including cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), and COVID-19 research. In addition, a panel discussion focused on providing resources for trainees (graduate students and postdocs) will be included.

Target audience: Life science researchers and structural biologists of all levels.

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Structural biology interest group — Membrane proteins

Chairs: Fran Barrera, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Matthias Buck, Case Western Reserve University

The goal of this interest group is to build a community of researchers in the field of structural biology.

The study of membrane proteins is living a golden era, as strides are being made towards understanding how these key proteins function. This networking event will highlight recent advances in a broad range of membrane proteins that are central players in key cellular processes. Topics covered will include cryogenic electron microscopy structures of membrane proteins, particularly receptors and transporters. Other cutting-edge techniques will include several modalities of single-molecule methods. 

Target audience: Researchers interested in biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology.

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RNA interest group — RNA virology

Chairs: Blanton Tolbert, Case Western Reserve University, and Sebla Kutluay, Washington University in St. Louis

The goal of this interest group is to build a community of researchers in the field of RNA virology.

This interest group event will bring together scientists who are generally interested in the cellular stages of the replication cycle of RNA viruses but pursue these endeavors using different experimental approaches. The format will encourage cross-talk between those inclined to understand mechanisms by employing structural biochemistry and those individuals who focus more on the cellular stages of molecular virology. Attendees will learn from a group of scientists who approach understanding virus–host pathways from different scientific and technological approaches and the identification of new host-virus pathways to pursue for therapeutic intervention. 

Target audience: Researchers at all career levels.

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Neuroscience interest group — Protein function in the nervous system

Chairs: Jason Yi and Harrison Gabel, Washington University in St. Louis

The goal of this interest group is to promote biochemical and molecular biology research in neuroscience and foster communication between mechanistic biochemical researchers and neuroscientists throughout the global research community.

The session will explore how a basic, mechanistic understanding of proteins can translate into new insights into nervous system function, disease, and evolution. The talks in this interest group will emphasize studies that perform mechanistic analyses of single proteins and enzymes in the context of nervous system function, and in particular, how these studies provide new insights into neurological disorders and potential treatments.

This interest group will provide an opportunity for trainees to network with researchers outside their current fields to facilitate career development.

Target audience: ͵ÅÄ͵¿ú neuroscientists and those interested in learning more about neuroscience research.

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Glycobiology interest group

Chairs: Amanda Lewis, University of California, San Diego Health, and Nadine Samara, National Institutes of Health

This interest group is aimed at building a community of researchers in the field of glycobiology.

The program will include discussions addressing problems associated with a lack of diversity, equity and inclusion in science, and glycoscience in particular; provide mental health advice/resources; and cover cutting-edge research in the field. Attendees will engage in discussions following the scientific talks and learn about the career path of a prominent glycobiologist at the FDA, Dr. Willie Vann.

Target audience: Researchers in glycosciences at all levels, leaders interested in building equity, diversity and inclusion in the glycosciences and early career researchers interested in learning strategies to manage mental health challenges.

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Lipid Research Division interest group — Lipid and membrane biochemistry

Chairs: John Burke, University of Victoria, and Mike Airola, Stony Brook Medicine

The goal of this interest group is to continue to engage the lipid community.

Attendees will learn about exciting lipid and membrane research.

Target audience: Biochemists and biologists who are interested in lipid and membrane research.

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Enzymology interest group

Chairs: Kayunta Johnson-Winters, University of Texas at Arlington, and Juan Mendoza, University of Chicago

The goal of this interest group is to build a community of researchers in the field of enzymology.

This interest group event will provide an in-depth and multi-level view of how the structural studies of enzymes elucidate essential cellular functions. The enzymes covered are important at the inner core of a cell through the cell's surface such as cell surface receptors. The research to be presented will be focused on the structure-function of enzymes essential to cellular function, cellular regulation, and relevant to human health and disease. Techniques and cutting-edge research include X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, NMR, enzyme kinetics, enzymology, and protein engineering.

Attendees will be exposed to a diverse panel of researchers performing cutting-edge science and gain insights into how some scientists use combined structure and engineering approaches to elucidate key enzymatic processes of cells. New investigators will also leave with insight related to their careers and respective fields through a Q&A session related to research, diversity, inclusion and promotion.

Target audience: researchers at all career levels with an interest in structure, enzymology, and human health and disease.

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Signaling interest group — Nuclear receptors

Chairs: Rebecca Riggins, Georgetown University, and Douglas Kojetin, Scripps Research Institute

This interest group is intended to bring together members of the scientific community who study nuclear receptors, which are critically important players in normal and disease physiology.

Nuclear receptors with well-established connections to specific diseases (e.g. the estrogen and androgen receptors in breast and prostate cancer, respectively) are often highlighted in spotlight sessions at major meetings, or the subjects of entirely independent conferences. However, the nuclear receptor field as a whole lacks a meeting venue that allows the cross-pollination of innovative ideas and conceptual advances drawn from the study of the lesser-known orphan nuclear receptors to these steroid hormone receptors, and back again.

Attendees will be able to connect with each other during the interest group event and throughout the main ASBMB meeting, with the idea that this will nucleate longer-term networking and collaborative opportunities.

Target audience: Researchers at all career levels who are already active in the nuclear receptor field, and those who are interested in moving towards this research area.

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Chemical biology interest group

Chairs: Minkui Luo, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Jianmin Gao, Boston College

This interest group is aimed at building a community of researchers in the field of chemical biology.

This interest group is assembled for collaborative, synergistic interaction of attendees with significant portion of the program for underrepresented, junior-level faculty members. This interest group can be of a great platform for ASBMB biologists to be exposed to emerging chemical biology tools, technology and methods. There are also existing chemical biology challenges that ASBMB biologists can collaboratively address with the aim for a group of core participants to potentially establish an annual meeting program. The ultimate goal is to inspire chemical biologists to mingle with the ASBMB community for mutual benefits: the utility of chemical tools to interrogate challenging biology and the advancement of novel biological discovery with chemical tools.

Target audience: Chemist biologists (likely first-time ASBMB attendees) with interest in searching for biological questions; the current ASBMB members with interest in chemical biology to develop tools or solve their existing problem.

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Protein interest group — Post-translational modifications

Chairs: Lauren Ball, Medical University of South Carolina, and Fangliang Zhang, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

The goal of this interest group is to provide a forum enabling interaction of scientists interested in the elucidating the impact of regulatory post-translational modifications on physiology, disease and drug response.

Novel approaches for enrichment and detection of PTMs including (nanopore, antibody) and detection methodology (mass spectrometry) and introduction to less well explored PTMs (examples: non-acetyl acylation, sulfation, arginylation) and their relevance to physiology and disease will be covered.

Target audience: Research scientists, physicians, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students.

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Signaling interest group — Triple negative breast and ovarian cancers

Chairs: Marina Holz, New York Medical College, and Mythreye Karthikeyan, University of Alabama at Birmingham

This interest group is aimed at building a community of researchers in the field of signaling–cancers.

The program will cover engaging talks on current topics and innovative approaches to study cellular communication, including metabolic signaling, cancer cell signaling and stress response. Special emphasis will be on advanced approaches to study and manipulate signal transduction, including high-throughput methods, single molecule imaging, and quantitative modeling. Attendees will be exposed to the most recent developments in the field and will have an opportunity to interact with speakers and with each other.

Target audience: Researchers at all career stages interested in the topic.

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