[3dem] ACA 2025 - invitation to attend & submit abstracts!

[Alexis Rohou]

Dear colleagues,

We are now accepting abstract submissions for the 2025 annual meeting of
the ACA <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.acameeting2025.com/__;!!Mih3wA!HRhH2YePmRpZIQ0vX6KbYx6K4eE83b9pWM7AbweTudmh0tmI20BmzoQ2XbWKeYxkBqTFAlkBoLL16XA3-0JmLaY$ >, to be held July 18-23 in
Lombard, Illinois.

Please submit your abstracts by March 31 to:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://auth.oxfordabstracts.com/?redirect=*stages*77680*submitter__;Ly8v!!Mih3wA!HRhH2YePmRpZIQ0vX6KbYx6K4eE83b9pWM7AbweTudmh0tmI20BmzoQ2XbWKeYxkBqTFAlkBoLL16XA3ez-RG4w$ 

The ACA is the Structural Science Society. In recent years, the ACA's
annual meeting has become a wonderful home to the cryoEM community, with
excellent oral and poster presentations, discussions and networking
opportunities. Memorably, this led Sriram Subramaniam, one of our invited
speakers in 2022, to open his remarks with "Thank you for inviting me to
the annual meeting of the American CryoEM Association".

This year's meeting features numerous sessions and workshops that will be
of interest to the cryoEM/cryoET community. I encourage you to take a look
at the meeting's program <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.acameeting2025.com/sessions__;!!Mih3wA!HRhH2YePmRpZIQ0vX6KbYx6K4eE83b9pWM7AbweTudmh0tmI20BmzoQ2XbWKeYxkBqTFAlkBoLL16XA3T6Yzin8$ >.

The cryoEM Special Interest Group (SIG) is organizing four oral sessions
and one workshop, listed below. I highly encourage you, on behalf of the
SIG and the co-chairs, to submit abstracts to the sessions, register for
the workshop, and/or to reach out to any of us with any question you may
have.

Cheers,
Alexis
(on behalf of the cryoEM SIG and of all the session co-chairs: Ed Eng,
David Taylor, Joey Davis, Juan Du, Ben Barad, Melanie Ohi and Peter Hsu)


*Innovations in sample preparation and other hardware in cryoEM *(Chairs:
Ed Eng and David Taylor)

Advances in cryoEM and cryoET methods and technology have revolutionized
our ability to see the atomic structure of proteins, and macromolecular
machines in the cellular environment, respectively. Despite these
breakthroughs, challenges in sample preparation and instrumentation
continue to be critical areas for innovation. Join us to learn about new
developments in sample preparation and other technologies that address
current challenges and open doors to exciting areas of biology.



*Innovations in algorithms and computational methods in cryoEM *(Chairs:
Alexis Rohou and Joey Davis)

Many challenges remain in the quest to fully unlock the potential of cryoEM
for structural studies of biology. How can we resolve fine details of
dynamic, flexible assemblies? What is the best way to study the structures
of macromolecules in their native, cellular context? How can we control our
instruments more efficiently for high-throughput, automated high-resolution
imaging? What are the optimal methods for obtaining and validating accurate
and reliable atomic models for molecules of interest? For these and many
other challenges, the development of improved computational methods and
algorithms remains a key stone of the field. This session will cover some
of the latest computational work in cryoEM and cryoET.


*From cells to atoms – using cryoEM approaches to address biological
questions *(Chairs: Juan Du and Ben Barad)

The ability to determine 3D structures of biological systems has
skyrocketed due to recent advances in cryoEM. This section will focus on
the use of single particle cryo-EM and cryo-electron tomography to
understand the molecular basis of biological processes.


*Structure of Nucleic Acids – cryoEM *(Chairs: Melanie Ohi and Peter Hsu)

RNA, DNA, and nucleic acid-protein complexes remain challenging targets for
structural biology. Nucleic acids are often structurally flexible even when
complexed to their protein partners and it can be difficult to purify large
enough quantities of stable nucleic acids or nucleic-protein complexes for
conventional structural approaches such as NMR or X-ray crystallography.
This session focuses on presenting successful examples of adopting
approaches and techniques for using single particle cryo-EM to determine
structures of dynamic nucleic acids and nucleic-protein complexes.


*Workshop: Applications of Visualization Technology in the Structural
Sciences*(Organizers:  Ed Eng and Nichole Valdez)

The Structural Science Visualization Technology Workshop at the Chicago ACA
Meeting will focus on the latest advancements in visualization techniques
for structural sciences, particularly in cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray
crystallography. The workshop will cover cutting-edge visualization tools
such as 2D and 3D molecular animations, virtual reality (VR), augmented
reality (AR), and 3D printing to enhance the presentation and understanding
of molecular structures. Attendees will engage in expert-led lectures,
hands-on demonstrations, and discussions to explore how these technologies
can be applied in scientific communication, education, and drug design.

Participants can look forward to an immersive learning experience where
they will gain practical skills in using animation, VR, AR, and 3D printing
to visualize complex structural data. The workshop will feature renowned
experts from institutions such as the University of Utah, UC San Diego, and
Schrödinger, offering insights into the latest tools like PyMOL3,
syGlassVR, and Nanome.ai. Attendees will engage in interactive sessions,
including hands-on demonstrations of 3D/4D visualization, molecular
animations, and real-time virtual collaboration for chemical and
pharmaceutical research. The event is ideal for scientists, educators, and
students looking to enhance their ability to present structural data in
innovative and compelling ways, making their research more accessible and
impactful.


-- 
*Alexis Rohou*
Senior Principal Scientist
Director of CryoEM
Genentech, Department of Structural Biology
1 DNA Way
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Cell: 781 249 9629
Pronouns: he/him/his
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.ncmir.ucsd.edu/pipermail/3dem/attachments/20250210/5f732226/attachment.html>