Continuing with our successful annual meetings and workshops over the past three years, the Membrane Protein Structural Dynamics Consortium (MPSDC) announces the second Frontiers in Membrane Protein Dynamics meeting in 2014. The meeting, which will take place in the Chicago Hilton Hotel in the downtown Chicago loop area, is open to the public and will be our most extensive meeting to date.
Like our first Frontiers in Membrane Protein Dynamics meeting in 2012, the conference will consist of scientific sessions and poster presentations, and feature both Consortium members and external invitees. Unlike in previous years, however, Frontiers in Membrane Protein Dynamics 2014 will span three days of scientific discussion, organized into eight sessions covering topics at the edge of current developments in membrane protein structure, dynamics and function.
Additionally, we are thrilled to announce that Frontiers in Membrane Protein Dynamics 2014 will feature two keynote speakers. On May 7th, the meeting will be inaugurated by Dr. Robert Stroud, Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California at San Francisco. Then, on May 9th, Dr. Klaus Schulten, Swanlund Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and an active participant in the Consortium’s own Computational Modeling Core, will close the conference. Both Stroud and Schulten are renowned experts at the vanguard of membrane protein dynamics and their unique insights on the contemporary state of the scientific field will significantly enhance our discussions. Read more about Drs. Stroud and Schulten »
Last year’s annual meeting.
Click photo to enlarge.
Finally, we count a stellar roster of speakers covering a broad range of topics and techniques. A preliminary speaker list can be found here »
Up-to-date information about Frontiers in Membrane Protein Dynamics 2014, can be found at a stand-alone website portal dedicated exclusively to this meeting. In addition to hosting a registration form (mandatory for MPSDC members), we have included information about sponsorship opportunities, abstract submissions, a tentative program, Hilton Hotel room rates, and general information about the Chicago area to boot.
A registration fee schedule, based on Consortium affiliation, has been posted to the website. Upon registration, you will be redirected to an e-commerce gateway where payment for the meeting should be posted.
We invite you to visit the Frontiers in Membrane Protein Dynamics 2014 website, and let us know what you think! Please stay posted as we will be releasing more information to the website soon.
Dr. Francis Valiyaveetil is Assistant Professor of Physiology & Pharmacology at Oregon Health & Science University. The Valiyaveetil lab studies potassium channels, which are integral membrane proteins that catalyze the selective conduction of K ions across biological membranes. While a great deal of research has been focused on these channels, fundamental questions regarding the mechanism of ionic selectivity and gating remain. Valiyaveetil”s team has developed a unique combination of methods to address these questions. Their methods include the use of chemical synthesis to introduce precise chemical changes in the channels, x-ray crystallography to determine the structural effects and electrophysiology to determine the functional effects of these changes. Using this multidisciplinary approach they hope to explain the mechanism of ion selectivity and channel gating.
Dr. Andrzej Rajca is Charles Bessey Professor of Chemistry at University of Nebraska. The Rajca laboratory research interests lie in the area of organic and biomaterials chemistry. The underlying theme of the laboratory”s 
Our first speaker is Robert Stroud, Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California at San Francisco. At the Stroud lab, scientists seek to understand molecular mechanisms of certain key biological processes, as well as signal transduction between processes at the level of protein structure, dynamics, and mechanism. In addition to his posting at UCSF, Dr. Stroud is also the director of the 
Our second keynote speaker is one of our very own Consortium members: Klaus Schulten, Swanlund Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Professor Schulten is a full-time faculty member in the Beckman Institute and directs the 
The 2014 International Biophysics Congress, which is taking place in Brisbane, Australia this year, will have the pleasure of hosting none other than MPSDC Director 
