Café Sevilla
Type of Cuisine: Spanish (tapas bar)
Distance from Convention Center: 0.3 miles
Cost per person: $1-$25
Great atmosphere, good food, novel. Slightly pricey.

Neighborhood
Type of Cuisine: Modern American Gastropub
Distance from Convention Center: 0.5 miles
Cost per person: $1-$25
Great selection of local craft beers complemented by good food.

The Oceanaire Seafood Room
Type of Cuisine: Seafood
Distance from Convention Center: 2 blocks
Cost per person: $50-$100
Oyster selection is excellent and fish generally very good.

Salt Box
Type of Cuisine: New American
Distance from Convention Center: 4 blocks
Cost per person: $25-$50
Great cocktails, great food—especially the pumpkin soup, best ever!

Extraordinary Desserts
Type of Cuisine: Dessert/bar/small plates
Distance from Convention Center: (2 locations) 0.5 mile, 1.5 miles
Cost per person: $1-$25
Best desserts in the city—tasty and beautifully presented. They also serve meals, but the desserts are the focus. Great coffee, sandwiches, and a full bar.

The Fish Market
Type of Cuisine: Seafood
Distance from Convention Center: 0.9 miles
Cost per person: $25-$50
Excellent variety of seafood, all uniformly high in quality. Fabulous views.

Cucina Urbana
Type of Cuisine: Italian
Distance from Convention Center: 2 miles
Cost per person: $25-$50
Great food, great atmosphere. Italian with a Californian twist.

Crest Café
Type of Cuisine: American
Distance from Convention Center: 4 miles
Cost per person: $1-$25
Great diverse cuisine served quickly without pretension.

Pizza Nova
Type of Cuisine: Italian
Distance from Convention Center: 4 miles
Cost per person: $1-$25
Good food with an unusual twist.

Solare
Type of Cuisine: Italian
Distance from Convention Center: 4 miles
Cost per person: $25-$50
Very good food and atmosphere, reasonable prices, and ample parking.

El Agave
Type of Cuisine: Authentic Mexican
Distance from Convention Center: 4.4 miles
Cost per person: $25-$50
Really good authentic Mexican moles (not tacos, quesadillas, etc.). More varieties of tequila than you’ve ever seen before.

Point Loma Seafoods
Type of Cuisine: Seafood
Distance from Convention Center: 5 miles
Cost per person: $1-$25
Great place for lunch—not open for dinner.

Phil’s BBQ
Type of Cuisine: Barbecue
Distance from Convention Center: 5 miles
Cost per person: $1-$25
Great-quality food and inexpensive.

Flavors of East Africa
Type of Cuisine: East African
Distance from Convention Center: 5.3 miles
Cost per person: $1-$25
Delicious and affordable.

Bali Hai
Type of Cuisine: Hawaiian Fusion
Distance from Convention Center: 6.8 miles
Cost per person: $25-$50
Good food, reasonably priced, great cocktails, and not to forget, an incredible view of San Diego Bay and downtown San Diego!

Tacos El Gordo
Type of Cuisine: Mexican
Distance from Convention Center: 7.2 miles
Cost per person: $1-$25
They make probably the best tacos ever.

Los Arcos
Type of Cuisine: Mexican Seafood
Distance from Convention Center: 9 miles
Cost per person: $25-$50
This Mexican seafood is authentic (they have actual restaurants in Mexico), delicious, and there are lots of choices.

Don’t see your favorite San Diego restaurant on the list? Share it with 56th Annual Meeting attendees here.

For the next few paragraphs I am going to convince you that this blog is going to be so riveting, so incredibly insightful, and so controversial that it will be the first thing you want to read in the morning, and the last sight you want to see before you sleep.  I will convince you that even though I’m a mere undergraduate (on my way out!), wisdom pours from me like BS from politicians.

But in reality, the vast majority of BPS meeting-goers won’t even read this post.  That’s okay with me; I’m not a big blog reader myself.  For those of you brave souls who care enough, or have such an incredible amount of downtime to read this, I promise to make it entertaining, concise, and most importantly, somewhat meaningful.

My name is Gage Brummer, and I’m 22 years old from the geographic center of the United States – Kansas.  I’m able to attend this meeting because of a travel award I won at The Scripps Research Institute for a poster I presented (read: my poster is pretty stunning, you would be a fool to miss it.)  Tomorrow night I will finish teaching an organic chemistry lab at 10:30, drive the 2 hours from Manhattan (Little Apple) to Kansas City, and board a plane for SD at 5:50 in the morning.  So I’m pretty pumped about that.

That’s all you need, and probably wish, to know about me.  So on to what my posts will primarily include.  Look forward to:

1. Picturesque descriptions of awkward moments that I observe or am directly involved in at the meeting.
2. Drink specials and drinks worth getting more than one of.
3. Interesting anecdotes from the hostel that I am staying at.
4. Poems and soliloquies inspired by the South California sun and its liberal rays of glory.

I hope I’ve got you hooked.  If I don’t, then I’m not going to cry, but there’s a really good chance that my psyche will be bruised for a while.  I’ll now let you get back to your regularly programmed life, wishing you the happiest of days and the most pleasant of meeting experiences.

SEE YOU IN SAN DIEGO, FRIENDS.

G

I have never been to a conference.

I’ve been to a few poster sessions held by my small liberal arts college and one regional meeting, but I have never attended a big scientific meeting.

I’m an undergraduate at Wesleyan University, and in three days I’ll roll up my poster, put on my flip-flop, and fly across the country to San Diego to attend my very first scientific meeting. Luckily, in this tech savvy era I have resources. So I’m blogging about my adventure to California and attempting to bring as many wiser and more worldly scientists as possible along with me.

That’s where you come in.

I want to know what you want to see.

•        Which new and notable has you the most excited?
•        Which subgroups, platforms, and symposia will be the best?
•        Who presents the nicest posters?

Leave a comment and let me know. If more than one person recommends it, I’ll go, and I’ll blog all about it.

My name is Eric M. Johnson-Chavarria and I am 4th year graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign’s Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology Program.   I am currently working on single cell gene expression using a microfluidic device for free solution confinement.  I am Texas native and took some getting use to the cold winters here in Illinois.   My background is in physics at the University of Texas San Antonio.  Planning for two more years till PhD completion then hopefully back in the Lonestar state.  I am giving my prelim exam at the beginning of May, so I am currently pushing for more and more data!

Here is a brief list of the topics I plan to write about…so stay tuned!

• Nanoscale Biophysics Subgroup meeting
• Travel award reception
• Graduate and Postdoc Institution Fair (Ill be representing my program…stop by Sunday 1-3pm if your interested)
• Of course the keynote lecture, poster, and oral presentations
• Local hotspots and dining

Safe travels and see you all soon!

Eric

The data that I mentioned.

A longstanding interest in our lab is the sorting and separation of complex mixtures of cells, which is important for diagnostics, therapeutics, and basic cell biology. Our general approach has been based on the selective capture of cells using antibody-functionalized surfaces in microfluidic devices. However, interfacial phenomena at low Reynolds numberscan impose “speed limits” on how efficiently cells can be captured.

For the cover image, we worked with medical illustrator Janet Sinn-Hanlon to visualize the two physical mechanisms utilized to circumvent these “speed limits.” Our microfluidic device incorporated a nanoporous, fluid-permeable membrane that allowed us to steer cells directly towards the bottom capture surface. To illustrate this, the background of the image shows a mixture of target cells (red) and other cells (green) entering the microfluidic channel. As these cells travel from the image background towards the viewer, we also emphasized their movement downward on the page. Janet conveyed this idea by progressively increasing the opacity of the cells and sharpening the focus. In addition, streamlines and bubbles were used to suggest a sense of movement in the fluid.

After being transported to the membrane, the cells must also interact specifically with antibodies by “rolling” in order to be captured. Since the flow is primarily directed into the surface, the diminished flow along the surface promoted specific capture of target cells but also limited non-specific adhesion of other cells. This was illustrated by showing only the red cells rolling to a stop as they approached the foreground, while the green cells continued onward. This behavior is reminiscent of the in vivo “homing” of leukocytes and stem cells to porous vasculature during inflammation and injury.

We are thrilled that our image was chosen for the cover of Biophysical Journal, in conjunction with the publication of this article. The fundamental ideas and issues we explored are highly relevant for the development of new microfluidic technologies to diagnose cancer, burns, and trauma, or HIV/AIDS. We hope this cover inspires public interest in the exciting research problems we investigate at the interface of the physical sciences, clinical biomedicine and technological development, which are described further at our website, http://cem.sbi.org.

The first thing that comes to mind might be a study of how fast I am tackled and physically injured after photographing unpublished scientific research. Out of respect for the BPS photography regulations and my own well-being, that experiment will not be conducted. Instead, my aim is to photograph stylish scientists, Sartorialist-style.

If the blog “This is What a Scientist Looks Like” has taught us anything, it’s that scientists have bizarre hobbies. Discounting that, it illustrates that many scientists possess a fashion sense! I’m not talking about conceptual runway fashions here, I’m talking about  adhering to some basic set of sartorial guidelines for men and women. If fashion really isn’t your thing, you have nothing to worry about (no fashion don’ts).

I’ll be on the hunt for individuals looking sharp and going that extra angstrom on their BPS presentation outfit. As you can imagine, I can’t be everywhere at once so if you notice a smartly dressed scientist at BPS this year, snap a paparazzi photo and throw me an email.

Why couldn’t the format have only been pdf, which is then saved without any html interpretation and printed straight into the employers book they will receive?  These formats are equally searchable electronically.  All the trouble of html interpretation and the by-hand fixing it requires is nonsense.  Plus, some of the formatting just isn’t possible unless you are willing to hash your own code.

Okay, wanted to get that out there for anyone else who was planing to wait until the Feb 21 deadline for submission to get incorporated into the Resume/CV Binder for the conference.

For a change I am a newly minted assistant professor that now has to edit, instead of create the poster. I find this is a lot harder since I have to resist the urge to micromanage and take over the making of the poster. To help I have created some guidelines for my students. Maybe it will help you as well:

1) Check out the BPS guidelines for posters below. You’ll want to be sure your poster is no bigger than 4 ft x 6 ft or it won’t fit on the board and bring push pins! Guidelines here:  http://www.biophysics.org/2012meeting/Abstracts/PosterGuidelines/Instructions/tabid/2419/Default.aspx

2) You’ll want to make sure to add the abstract, introduction, figures, conclusions, acknowledgements, and bibliography. They should all be readable and clear. Think about how you would use the poster to give a 5 minute pitch to someone and how you might use it to spark a longer 15 minute conversation. Also think about those that may be reading your poster while you are not there.

3) Printing of the poster. I compose in Adobe Illustrator and then convert to pdf. I find if I print a small version on 8.5 x 11 inch paper I catch a lot of “big picture” mistakes. Also if I blow up the poster so that I am looking at it at 300% I catch a lot of mistakes as well, generally with the figure resolution. The things that always drive me nuts once I print: (a) any spelling mistakes, (b) the wrong color scheme (most poster printers are CMYK so set your document accordingly), (c) the special characters like greek letters don’t print (check them in your pdf), (d) figures that don’t convert well (if you are using power point I have found that saving figures in the .png format at 1200 dpi and then inserting them into power point seems to work well).

4) Carrying your poster to the meeting is a delicate process. The best way is to roll your poster opposite the way it rolled out of the printer, after it dries. Put a rubber band around it and place the roll in a poster tube. Be sure to put your name and contact info on the poster tube. Carry the poster with you on the plane (don’t check it) and then leave it in the hotel until it is time to hang it the night before. Don’t forget push pins!! Stick some in the tube. You can also have your poster printed for you. For details visit:  http://www.biophysics.org/2012meeting/Abstracts/PosterGuidelines/PosterPrinting/tabid/2420/Default.aspx

Good luck with your preparations. I will be trying not to take over my wonderful student’s work!

This year I have just started an Assistant Professorship at Amherst College in western Massachusetts. Amherst is a small, private, liberal arts college with some amazing undergraduate students. I have several in my lab working on a range of projects from building an optical trap to detecting micron-sized beads using laser detection. It is great to have my students present posters at BPS to show off all they have accomplished.

I would also like to use the poster session as a place to talk to other scientists that are not in my field, but in fields that I would like to learn about – AFM, microrheology, and patch clamp. Hopefully this blog will help.

About me: I was an undergraduate at Univ. of Michigan – Ann Arbor and completed a BS in physics and a BE in engineering physics. I went to graduate school at the Univ. of Colorado – Boulder and did my PhD work in optical trapping with Tom Perkins. I did a post doc at Harvard with Aravi Samuel in behavioral neuroscience before taking an Assistant Professorship at Amherst College.

I’m Jason, a US biophysics grad student originally from Salt Lake City and currently part of the Harvard Biophysics program.  So, logically enough, I’m working in Groningen, Netherlands, hence the duality of my temperature appreciations.  I’m going to be blogging about the conference while I’m there and I’ve been asked to give a brief introduction blog.  Well, I like beaches, but long walks upon them hurt my ankles.  This is also my first time blogging, so if anyone reads this and likes something, let me know.  If you don’t like it, constructive criticism is also welcome.  I plan to post about some of the talks and posters I visit, giving my impression of how well the point was driven home and highlighting any techniques that I really enjoyed.  I believe myself a fairly positive person, though snarky satire is right up my alley.  I am not going to attack anyone for a bad performance because these things just happen … frequently to me …  So, we’ll just have to see how it goes.

Right now I’m putting together my itinerary for the conference.  It’s a long task of filtering through more 7-syllable buzz-words than I knew could be created, but without it I know I’d be lost.  My work focuses on the membrane fusion of influenza virus, so I’m excited to see so many sessions dedicated to my area!  I use single-particle fluorescence microscopy for my measurements, so naturally I check out all the microscopy relevant sessions and I get anxious thinking about all the great images I’m going to see.  This is one thing I really love about being a biophysicist – all the pretty pictures we get paid to make.
Sitting in my lab, getting every last appealing abstract read,
gives me visions of GFP and mCherry-labeled sugar plums dancing in my head.
Whoa, red-green Christmas flashback.  Props to Josef Lazar and Alexey Bondar who are giving poster 1017-Pos for the sweet abstract image that gave me that little limerick.

While on this note, I have to say I’m pretty shocked that many of the talks with a cool sounding title have NO ABSTRACT.  What?!  Come on man, they’re not that hard to put together.  Take some pride in your presentation and get me interested!  I often won’t go to a talk without an abstract unless I specifically know that they will talk about something useful to me.  If it’s on the edge, with my first thought being “sounds interesting, but what is it now…?” and then no abstract, nope, not getting on the itinerary.  Maybe that’s the point, or not, I’m not going to judge, just putting my 2 cents out there.  Also, seeing the long super-technical titles surprises me, still.  Makes the talk sound about as fun as going to a meeting of people who are all close friends among each other, trading inside jokes, while I’m just introducing myself.  I’m sure they enjoy themselves, but I’d just be out of my element.

Good luck to all of you getting ready, see you in sunny San Diego!