Members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm joined family and friends in celebrating Linnea Yvonnesdotter’s licentiate in Biophysics, Intersection of model and experiments: Combining cryo-electron microscopy data and molecular dynamics simulations. Linnea defended on 24 January at Stockholm University, with Dr Erik Marklund (Uppsala University) as opponent. Professor Erik Lindahl and Ligand-Gated Ion Channels team-lead Reba Howard led a toast to their advisee of over four years.
Members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm helped install seasonal spirit and decor in our SciLifeLab offices on 6 December. Wishing all our members and colleagues a god jul and fine New Year!
Members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm joined family and friends in celebrating Marie Lycksell‘s successful spikning and defense of her PhD in Biophysics, Combining low resolution, high resolution, functional, and simulation techniques: In the study of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels. Marie nailed her thesis on 9 November 2022, and defended it 1 December 2022 at Stockholm University, with Professor Kresten Lindorff-Larsen (University of Copenhagen) as opponent. Professor Erik Lindahl and Ligand-Gated Ion Channels team lead Reba Howard led a toast to their advisee of over five years, as she prepares to embark on a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France.
Members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm revived our take on Swedish kräftskiva (crayfish party) at SciLifeLab on 20 September. Thanks especially to Erik, Marie, Michele, Reba, and all who assisted with food, drinks, songbooks, eating, drinking, and singing!
Thirty members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm finally gathered 25–26 August at Skepparholmen Nacka, our first such off-site group program since 2019. The program included workshops on interdisciplinary communication, popular science, course development, and networking skills, as well as bonding over wonderful meals, pools, and saunas. Big thanks to Alessandra, Anton, Michele, and Reba for co-organizing this long-awaited retreat.
Members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm joined SciLifeLab colleagues in hosting local high school students for an introduction to life sciences research on 11 March—the first such event possible since the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Among others, Nandan Haloi, Marie Lycksell, and Will Pipatpolkai introduced visiting students to principles of molecular dynamics simulations, including a virtual-reality tour of membrane proteins in motion.
Twelve members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm traveled to San Francisco, CA to present their research at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society, back on-site after a remote meeting in 2021. Among others, Lucie Delemotte spoke in and chaired the Symposium on Peripheral Membrane Proteins, Anton Jansen spoke in the Platform on Molecular Dynamics (II), and Erik Lindahl spoke in and co-chaired the Platform on Computational Methods and Bioinformatics (I). Cathrine Bergh was an invited speaker in the Platform on Protein-Lipid Interactions, with her talk delivered by Urška Rovšnik due to COVID-19 infection; Koushik Choudhury and Yuxuan Zhuang were invited speakers in the Platforms on Voltage-Gated Channels (I) and Ligand-Gated Ion Channels (II), though both talks were delivered by Reba Howard due to travel limitations.
Members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm braved the winter weather on 8 February for an afternoon hike around Brunnsviken, a couple kilometers east of our SciLifeLab campus. Though we look forward to being able to socialize indoors, we are privileged to work so close to such beautiful and accessible spots.
Twenty-nine members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm, along with colleagues in the Cryo-EM Swedish Infrastructure Unit, finally gathered for an outdoor mini-retreat on 23 August 2021 on the Karolinska Institute campus. Although plans for a longer off-site event were again postponed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was a tremendous opportunity to reconnect in person with our collegial community, including several members joined within recent months. Many thanks to co-organizers Alessandra, Michele, Anton, Reba, and especially Linnea for the afternoon activities.
Members of Molecular Biophysics Stockholm joined colleagues in our local structural-biology community, as well as invited speakers from France, Germany, Canada, Australia, and the USA, for the 24th annual Swedish Conference on Macromolecular Structure and Function (SWEPROT) 20–23 June 2021. In contrast to previous gatherings — with the exception of 2020, which was cancelled due to COVID-19 precautions — this year’s program was relocated from its foundational Tällberg venue in central Sweden, to be hosted instead by Linköping University and Around the Corner as a Video and Virtual Reality Conference.
Congratulations especially to MBS doctoral student Marie Lycksell, who was selected among submitted abstracts to present a virtual talk on Solution structure of the pentameric ligand-gated ion channel GLIC probed by small-angle neutron scattering, and further awarded runner-up for Best Oral Presentation.
