Welcome to Newsletter #14 from the AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR BIOPHYSICS
Have a look at the ASB website address is: http://www.anatomy.su.oz.au/ASB/
Email items of interest to: crisdos@anatomy.su.oz.au
 

ITEM #1: Glenn King is the Boehringer medallist
So far, 1997 has been a very good year. Better for some than others.
Probably the best news of the year is the personal win by Glenn King. Congratulations to him on his award of the ASBMB Boehringer Medal. Here is an edited version of his citation:

Glenn King is a Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry at the University of Sydney, where he heads a protein structure and engineering laboratory. After graduating BSc(Hons) from the University of Sydney in 1983, he studied for a PhD in the laboratory of Prof. Philip Kuchel, who had recently initiated the first high-resolution NMR studies of cellular systems in Australia. It was during this time that Glenn made several important contributions to the development of NMR methodologies for studying membrane transport phenomena, and his PhD studies were the first to raise the possibility that human erythrocytes might act as a proteolytic sink for circulating peptide hormones.

Glenn received an NMHRC CJ Martin Fellowship in 1986 to undertake postdoctoral studies in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Prof. Iain Campbell, one of the pioneers of NMR studies of proteins. It was during his time in Oxford that Glenn's attention turned to the use of NMR techniques for studying protein structure and dynamics.

Glenn was appointed to a Lectureship in Biomedical NMR Spectroscopy in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Sydney in 1989, and his subsequent work has focused on using NMR spectroscopy to provide three-dimensional templates for protein engineering and rational drug design. Glenn is well known for his structural and dynamic studies of the leucine zipper domain of the Jun transcription factor, which have provided a basis for the design of "superzipper" peptides with potential therapeutic value because of their ability to block the transactivation function of Jun, Fos, and other leucine zipper transcription factors.

More recently, his laboratory has determined the three-dimensional structure of several ion channel toxins from the Australian funnel web spider, one of which has proved to be an excellent template for insecticide design by virtue of its ability to specifically inhibit insect but not vertebrate voltage-gated channels.
 

Item #2: International Conference on Molecular Interactions of Actin: A report by Cris dos Remedios
A joint meeting of the ASB and the US and Japanese Biophysical Societies was held in Maui, Hawaii from April 1 through April 5. Sixty eight scientist attended including six Australians attended the meeting with the generous assistance of a grant from the Department of Industry, Science and Tourism. Other funds came from the National Science Foundation, The Japanese Ministry of Science, the US Biophysical Society (whose funds were targeted to young investigators) and the March of Dimes. Scientists from 10 countries including six European countries attended. The meeting was held in the brand new Sheraton Maui Hotel at Kaarnapali. The facilities were superb, the weather perfect and, best of all, the science was superlative. The ASB provided financial facilities which enables us to conduct the conference in US dollars, but there was absolutely no financial contribution from the ASB funds.

Highlights of the conference include: A visionary lecture by Professor Fumio Oosawa in which he provided a statistical mechanical insight into the role of actin in "nano-machinery" of the contractile proteins. A special feature of his hypothesis was that actin filaments can exist in different free energy states implying that different conformations of actin play an essential role in the development of force. In all 57 speakers gave platform presentations of which 26 were given by young investigators. This combination of young, active experimentalists with more mature (older) scientists made the conference both unusual and enjoyable.

All of the abstracts from the meeting can be read on the Actin Conference site on the ASB home page (http://www.anatomy.su.oz.au/ASB/). A two volume series will be published on this topic.
 

ITEM #3: A colour brochure to attract young scientists into undergraduate and postgraduate biophysics. The society plans to produce a small leaflet/booklet dealing with the topic "What is Biophysics?".  This issues will be discussed at the Australian Academy of Science National Committee for Biophysics on May 9.
IF YOU HAVE AN INTERESTING COLOUR GRAPHIC (PHOTOGRAPH, STRUCTURE, SPECTRUM, CONFOCAL IMAGE etc) please let me know and the Committee will try to incorporate it into the production.
 

ITEM #4: March News from FASTS

The Careers Forum: The National Press Club was the ideal location to make the important national point that S&T is part of the mainstream of life, and needs to be taken into account with all the other factors in setting national policy.  Both the Minister for Science and Technology Peter McGauran and Shadow Minister Martyn Evans made interesting contributions to the Forum on science careers at the National Press Club on March 19. There was wide participation by industry, funding agencies, the universities, and (most pleasing) young research scientists. The event was sponsored by several FASTS Member Societies, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and the Academy of Science.

The Minister committed himself to work with the science community "to create an environment in the public sector and in the private sector that funds R&D and therefore employs scientists, technologists and engineers and provides them with a career path."  He talked about the cultural change in the science community since he was Shadow Minister, and said the image of the "whingeing, befuddled scientist demanding unending funding" had been replaced by a new professional approach in dealing with Government by the research agencies, academies and societies. But his talk was a clear indication that the capacity and inclination of
Governments today to create positions for research scientists are limited. The old ways have gone, and anyone wishing to influence the course of national policy has to recognise that.

Shadow Minister Martyn Evans advised scientists and engineers to adjust their value systems and think more positively about the opportunities to work in other fields than those for which they have been specifically trained.

The full text of both speeches is up on the FASTS' web site. (http://bimbo.pharmacol.su.oz.au/fasts/fastshome.html)

FASTS is currently considering its response to the ideas which came out of the Forum.

Bringing the S&T interests together
FASTS hosted a meeting of S&T organisations to discuss submissions to the West Review of Higher Education. Dr Doreen Clark, one of the two scientists on the Review panel, was invited to discuss the Panel's general approach and answer questions.

Media
FASTS has maintained an active presence in both the general and sectional areas of the media, and we are frequently rung by journalists seeking comment. Coverage this month included the Financial Review, the Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Canberra Times and ABC TV and radio.
 

ITEM #5: Annual ASB Conference
Check the ASB website for the latest developments on the October meeting of the Society. Login to the site (http://www.anatomy.su.oz.au/ASB/) and open the item: 21st Annual Conference of the ASB. Ray Norton and his team are running this meeting. He can be contacted directly on: ray@mel.dbe.csiro.au
 
 

Cris dos Remedios
President, ASB

Cris dos Remedios. D.Sc.
Institute for Biomedical Research
The University of Sydney, F13
Sydney 2006 Australia
Phone +61 2 93513209;  Fax +61 2 93512813