Calendar of events, awards and opportunities

Networking at the ASBMB annual meeting this week

The 2021 ASBMB Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with Experimental Biology, offers unmatched opportunities to showcase your work, learn from other scientists about their latest findings and expand your professional circle. The meeting is truly enormous, so, as much as we'd like to, we can't mention every amazing session or feature here. However, we have come up with some advice for those of you interested in networking and highlighted some important networking events for your #ASBMB2021 itinerary.

Getting ready to network

1. We recommend logging into the virtual event platform in advance of the meeting. Take this time to set up your attendee profile. You can include a picture, some fun ribbons and a biography describing your research interests, whether you're on the job market, and so forth.

2. Use the "People Finder" tool to look for speakers and attendees with whom you already know you'd like to connect. Use the star next to their names to favorite them. This will save them in your "My Experience" page for quick access (if they've chosen to enable networking).

3. Browse the program (there are several ways to navigate it). Favorite the events of interest. This will put them on your schedule in your "My Experience" page.

4. If you want to connect with any of the speakers you don't already know, make sure to favorite them, too.

5. The virtual event platform, in the "My Experience" area, offers a text-based communication channel and a video chat function. The text-based option can be used asynchronously or, if you make arrangements with your connections, synchronously, and up to four people can be in the chat at once.

Opportunities to network

Monday, April 26: The meeting officially begins on Tuesday, but you can start making connections on Monday at our interest group networking events. These are Zoom events where people with similar research interests can meet up, watch short presentations and chat about their fields.

Tuesday, April 27: The first networking window on the first official day of the meeting is pretty brief (11 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. EDT). But we think it's a good time to send a text chat to people you'd like to virtually meet up with later in the day or on future days. At 1:15 p.m., there's a "Meet the Experts!" session, at which you can chat with the speakers for the day, including ASBMB award winners. Starting at 3:15 p.m., there are lots and lots of poster discussions. Pick the ones that interest you, contribute to the conversation and make connections.

Wednesday, April 28: Like the day before, this day has a "Meet the Experts" session (at 1:45 p.m. EDT) and poster discussions (starting at  3:45 p.m. EDT).

Thursday, April 29: The "Meet the Experts" event is at 1:15 p.m. EDT. The poster discussions begin at 3:45 p.m. EDT.

Friday, April 30: This day is packed with programming, and many of the individual sessions have networking components. We want to draw your attention to the career panel for undergraduates at 1 p.m. EDT.
 

ASIP webinars during EB week

The American Society for Investigative Pathology is hosting a series of free webinars during the week of the Experimental Biology meeting. If you register for any of these webinars, you'll get a Zoom link. You do not have to be a registered attendee of EB, but you do have to register for each webinar. Here's what they have planned:

• April 27, 1:30 p.m. EDT: A Personal Story of Career Development — From Early-Stage Student to Starting a Career, and Navigating the Steps in Between | Morgan Preziosi, FENIX Group International
• April 27, 5 p.m. EDT: Pathology in Alzheimer Disease: A Protective Response? | George Perry, University of Texas at San Antonio
• April 27, 6 p.m. EDT: Confident Leadership: What Kind of Leader Do You Want To Be? | Deb Elbaum, executive and leadership development coach
• April 28, 5 p.m. EDT: Autophagy and Secretion in Cancer | Jayanta Debnath, University of California, San Francisco
• April 30, 11 a.m. EDT: Therapeutic Implications of Modulating Beta-Catenin in Cholestasis | Kari Nejak–Bowen, University of Pittsburgh

May 4–5: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the PDB

This celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Protein Data Bank as the first open-access digital data resource in biology will include presentations from speakers from around the world who have made tremendous advances in structural biology and bioinformatics. Students and postdoctoral fellows are especially encouraged to attend and will be eligible for poster awards. Learn more.

May 5: Deadline for ASBMB annual award nominations

The ASBMB Annual Awards are given to outstanding professionals who have been recognized by their peers for contributions to their fields, education and diversity. The recipients will give talks about their work at the 2022 ASBMB Annual Meeting. You can nominate or self-nominate. See a list of available awards and prepare your nomination package.

May 6: Resiliency and wellness networking event

Building from Sharon Milgram's presentation at the 2021 ASBMB Annual Meeting, "Painful and important lessons about resilience and wellness for scientists," this free event at 4 p.m. Eastern on May 6 will give participants an opportunity to reflect on and share their own challenges and strategies they have found successful (and unsuccessful) in developing resilience. Get to know your peers across the world at this exciting networking event. Register.

May 10: Colloquium on G protein–coupled receptors

This colloquium, an extension of the Experimental Biology meeting, will feature as the keynote speaker Nobel laureate Brian Kobilka, who will give a talk titled "Structural Insights into the Dynamic Process of G Protein–Coupled Receptor Activation." (Read our feature on Kobilka, who won the 2013 ASBMB Earl and Thressa Stadtman Distinguished Scientist Award.) See the full list of speakers. Also, please note that you must have already registered for EB to attend this add-on event.

May 11, 18 & 25: Protonic bioenergetics and action potential

Save the dates for this ASBMB series about the latest discoveries and progress in mitochondria, neurons and other biosystems. It's being organized by James W. Lee at Old Dominion University. Learn more.

June 20–25: Teaching science with big data

This international meeting guides faculty on how to teach using web-based, free-access large data sets. How big is "big data"? Data that is so large, fast or complex that it's difficult or impossible to process using traditional methods. Join us to learn these valuable teaching skills to prepare students for the future. Sponsored by the ASBMB and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Registration and abstract submission opening soon.

June 21: Flux-independent signaling by ionotropic receptors

Save the date for the virtual event "Flux-independent signaling by ionotropic receptors: Unforeseen roles and complexities" on June 21. The organizers say it will be of interest to neuroscientists, cell biologists, molecular biologists and biochemists, among others, involved in the study of cell physiology and function in health and disease. We'll update this item as soon as we know about the abstract and registration deadline. In the meantime, read the event description.

July 21–23: Extracellular vesicle studies: From benchtop to therapeutics

Extracellular vesicles are secreted, membrane-bound compartments containing DNA and cytoplasmic constituent molecules of all types that are thought to act as mediators of intercellular communication. They are classified by both size and location/mechanism of cellular origination. They are thought to be produced by an ever-expanding diversity of cell types and species. However, there is also considerable skepticism related to their existence and utility, as it can be difficult to isolate EVs since there is no EV-specific molecular marker to target. (Editor's note: See this ASBMB Today feature on EVs by former science writer Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay.)

A primary focus in recent years has been to describe the mechanisms of molecular sorting that would allow researchers to target proteins produced from exogenously introduced DNA to EVs for cellular secretion and uptake. The potential value of EVs to therapeutics is thought to be enormous, thanks to the role of EVs in cell–cell communication as a robust, native delivery vehicle.

This event will appeal to a broad audience, including molecular biologists, biochemists, biophysicists, secretion experts, cell–cell communication specialists, clinicians, physiologists and others. Submit an abstract by May 27. The early registration deadline is June 25, and the regular registration deadline is July 16. Visit the event homepage.

Call for virtual scientific event proposals

The ASBMB provides members with a virtual platform to share scientific research and accomplishments and to discuss emerging topics and technologies with the BMB community.

The ASBMB will manage the technical aspects, market the event to tens of thousands of contacts and present the digital event live to a remote audience. Additional tools such as polling, Q&A, breakout rooms and post event Twitter chats may be used to facilitate maximum engagement.

Seminars are typically one to two hours long. A workshop or conference might be longer and even span several days.

Prospective organizers may submit proposals at any time. Decisions are usually made within four to six weeks. 

Propose an event.