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Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, opens tomorrow! There are more than a dozen workshops on the agenda, each consisting of a number of talks centered around a theme—think cool and novel enzymes and signaling mechanisms in the cell nucleus.
Each session is led by one or two researchers and highlights new findings from experts in the field.
Moffitt Cancer Center Professor Gina DeNicola co-organized the Discover Redox and Metals in BMB Biology conference this weekend with UCLA Professor Siavash Kurdistani
This week, I’m going to dive into the practical aspects of planning one of these workshops. Moffitt Cancer Center Professor Gina DeNicola co-organized the Redox and Metals in Biology conference with UCLA Professor Siavash Kurdistani. DeNicola detailed the planning process for workshops, regardless of size.
First, structure and guidance
Scientific activities vary in scale and organizational structure. For larger conferences, the lead organizer may first select a workshop topic and then invite specific researchers to lead the workshop. That’s how DeNicola got involved with Discover BMB.
But it’s also common for conference organizers to open calls for proposals so that people can come up with topics and run workshops themselves. For example, the Discover BMB interest group meeting grew out of a proposal. (In addition, ASBMB earlier this year invited members on a hybrid basis to nominate themselves for speaking opportunities related to the 2025 symposium theme.)
If you are invited or volunteer to plan a workshop or any other type of meeting, it may seem daunting at first. DeNicola recommends looking at the schedule and breaking down the work into specific tasks.
The first thing DeNicola and Kudstani thought about was the structure of the workshop. They know they have a certain number of speaking locations that are divided into different subcategories. “Metals and redox biology is a big umbrella, so we (and the conference organizers) divided the discussion into three subcategories to make it more focused,” DeNicola said.
Then they move on to perhaps the most important step: choosing who will speak at the meeting. DeNicola said it was a collaborative effort. She and Kudestani came up with names for each subcategory and emailed each other. They then had more discussions to figure out the details and make a final choice. The final selection is made by the conference organizers before formal invitations are issued.
“We both proactively sought out speakers and listened to each other’s suggestions,” she said. “We have different backgrounds: mine is in cancer and redox, and (Kurdistan’s) is in metal biochemistry. So we considered different people, which made the overall selection more comprehensive.”
DeNicola said they also take into account guidelines provided by conference organizers, so keep those in mind if you’re planning a conference as well. For example, some conference organizers may seek to broaden participation and therefore discourage inviting speakers who spoke the previous year or discourage inviting someone to speak at two different conferences in the same year.
Teamwork: coordination and cooperation
DeNicola and Kurdistan were at different institutions, on opposite sides of the country—she in Florida, he in California—but they needed to plan the workshop together. DeNicola said they use email and Zoom meetings to stay connected and stay on track. They mostly use email to decide on plans, do legwork individually, and then meet via Zoom to discuss specific topics, such as selecting speakers.
“Email is great for sharing files and making quick decisions, and we can have longer discussions over Zoom,” she said.
DeNicola and Kudstani also had to consider the realities of the day. They each plan to lead one section of the conference and then invite a speaker to lead the third section. “The chair is very important to ensure that meetings run smoothly and to guide issues,” DeNicola said.
She and Kudestani also served as liaisons for invited speakers throughout the planning process. They answered questions about registration, travel and other conference logistics.
Value: worth doing in the end
I asked DeNicola if she thought planning the conference was a valuable experience and worth the effort, and she said yes. “Being able to direct and decide who will speak and interact with speakers I’ve never met before is rewarding,” she said. “I hadn’t seen (Kurdistan) before either, so getting to know him and his science better was a cool bonus.”
DeNicola also said the schedule is spread out enough that there isn’t too much work happening at any one time, making it easier to manage other responsibilities. However, she does recommend considering your other commitments before agreeing to a planned meeting.
“I agreed to do a lot of things in advance, and then when they happened, I realized it was going to take a lot of time,” she said. “When I agreed to help with conference planning, I learned a lesson: I don’t agree with having a conference more than once a year.”
You can learn more about redox and metals at the biology conference (fun tidbit: the self-selected workshop theme song is “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath) and learn about other workshops at ASBMB’s Discover BMB website Details.
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