1. ASB Annual Conference:

Our annual biophysics conference will be held at The Grand Mercure Hotel, Broadbeach. Actually, it is the same venue as in 1994 when it was known as the Pan Pacific. It is a short walk or monorail ride from Conrad Jupiter`s Casino where the ComBio 99 - Annual Conference of ASBMB, ASPP and NZ Cell and Developmental Biology - will be held from Sept 26 - 30. Those of you who were at Broadbeach in 1994 know it is a great venue and everyone will know of the Gold Coast`s reputation as a tourist spot at this time of the year; it is a great location for partners and families. You will remember that at our 1997 AGM in Melbourne the decision was taken that ASB 99 would have a biosensor theme to attract a flow-on of visitors from the IUPAB Congress in New Delhi. Since the Asia Pacific Biosensor group meets every two years and was last held in Christchurch in Jan 97, it was deemed sensible to combine the two conferences this year.

We have invited the following scientists to participate as guest speakers at our combined meeting :

Steve Mayo (Caltech) Protein folding and design

Roger Koeppe (Arkansas) Engineering the gramicidin channel

David Adams (UQ) Ion channels

Chris Lowe (Cambridge) Biotechnology and biosensors

Reinhard Renneberg (Hong Kong) Physiological sensors

Masuo Aizawa (Tokyo Inst Tech) Bioelectronics

Martin Thompson (SU) Sports/Exercise Science

We will be running the conference over three and a half days with sessions divided almost equally between biophysics and biosensors - an arbitrary distinction at best. We are also looking at holding a workshop on biosensors in the Applied Science Department at Griffith Gold Coast on Monday 4th Oct.

Sessions will consist of a 30 min opening talk followed by 3 or more 20 min talks. There will be two days for poster presentations, Fri 1st Oct and Sat 2nd Oct. The selection of oral and poster presentations will be decided when abstracts are received. You will hear more about abstracts and deadlines in the near future. We will try to maintain the traditional ASB leaning to student talks.

There will of course be plenty on chemical and biochemical sensors, but we will also have all the usual ASB fare. You can expect sessions on

Ion channels

Protein structure and function

New techniques/Experimental results

Sports and exercise science

Membranes

Bioenergetics

Macromolecules

Protein mechanics

Some 50 rooms have been block-booked at The Mercure. Room costs (breakfast not included) are $120 per day (single) or $60 per day (shared). Self-catering apartments are numerous in the Broadbeach / Surfers Paradise area. Prices range from $70 to $150 per day for 3-6 people sharing, but are cheaper when booked for more than 4 days. This is the final week of Qld school holidays, so book early. (Incidentally, Monday October 4th is a public holiday in NSW, ACT and SA).

Please make your own arrangements for these self -catered apartments. The following apartments are all close walking distance to The Mercure :

San Mateo Ph 07 5561 0444 Fax 07 5561 0445

4 nights : 2 persons/1 br $90; 4 persons/2 br $120

Victoria Square Ph 07 5592 1794 Fax 07 5570 1184

Email vicsqr@onthenet.com.au

2-4 nights : 2p/1br $130 ; 4p/2br $ 160

5-7 nights : 2p/1br $115; 4p/2br $145

Marrakesh Ph 07 5584 7000

4-7 nights, range from $99 -$125

Surfers Aquarius Ph 07 5538 9466

4-7 nights : 4p $158

King Tide Ph 07 5531 7124

4-7 nights : $70-80 2br or 1x3

Victoria St Apts Ph 07 5592 1794

2-4 nights $160 5-7 nights $145

lg 1db 2 single

There are other apartments which can be tracked down through the internet. Go for it!

These are ones that I have contacted personally. I found them all helpful.

Contact Tony Collings Ph 02 9413 7148 Fax 02 9413 7200

Email tonyc@tip.csiro.au

Additional information will be posted on the ASB web page at

2. ASB Past-President Leaves Australia.

Glenn King who was ASB President for 1997 and 1998, left Australia in March 1999 to take up a position as Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Connecticut Health Center (see http://www.uchc.edu). Glenn's appointment was part of the institution's strategic commitment to the area of structural biology. The Institute has excellent NMR facilities including 500 and 600 MHz spectrometers dedicated to protein structural studies, with plans to install an 800 MHz spectrometer in the year 2000. The Health Center has an excellent Molecular Biology and Biochemistry graduate program (see http://panda.uchc.edu/%7Embb/mbb.html) and Glenn would welcome enquiries from prospective students and postdocs.

Glenn's research interests are in the areas of protein structure and engineering, structure-based drug design, and peptide-drug delivery. Specific areas of interest include the design and development of

anti-cancer drugs, engineering of novel insecticides, and the molecular basis of prokaryotic cell division.

Glenn's new address details are:

Prof. Glenn F. King

Department of Biochemistry

UCONN Health Center

263 Farmington Avenue

Farmington CT 06032, USA

Phone: +1 860 679-8364 Fax: +1 860 679-3408

Email: gfk@panda.uchc.edu

We wish Glenn good fortune and thank him for his many contributions to the Society. I am certain that we will continue to hear from Glenn through his published work and via personal communications.

______________________________________________________________________

Dr Frances Separovic

School of Chemistry

University of Melbourne ph: + 61 3 9344 6464

Parkville VIC 3052 fax: +61 3 9347 5180

Australia email: f.separovic@chemistry.unimelb.edu.au