ANAND, Ganesh

Statement of interest

I welcome the opportunity to join the ASBMB Publications Committee. It would be a great honor for me to maintain the leading excellence of ASBMB journals.

I also look forward to advocating for excellence and visibility of a biochemistry and molecular biology perspective in a highly interdisciplinary environment with convergence of genomics, proteomics, structural biology, computational biology, structure prediction and, broadly, chemistry and physics.

Amidst the plethora of societies and journal publishing options and advances in artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, the ASBMB and its journals are more important than ever in guiding opinion and education of scientists and nonscientists alike.

My international career — beginning with undergraduate education in India, followed by postgraduate education and postdoctoral training in the U.S., then an independent research career in Singapore and now in the U.S. — gives me a unique and valuable global perspective for the Publications Committee.

The ASBMB is a leader in articulating an interdisciplinary understanding of life at the molecular level. Maintaining the high standards of the ASBMB journals is critical to maintaining that leadership. Despite the seeming enormous diversity of subjects at a morphological level, ASBMB journals articulate a common mechanistic thread connecting all biomolecules and a common rigorous scientific approach.

The ASBMB and its journals offer the best resources for lifelong learning. As a biochemist and structural biologist who has used mass spectrometry for probing dynamics of large macromolecular signaling complexes and viruses, I have found the Journal of Biological Chemistry and Molecular & Cellular Proteomics to be most pivotal for my research career.

The ASBMB has been my educational home base throughout my academic career. The ASBMB annual meeting was my first conference as a graduate student in 1997, and I came away most impressed by the enormous scale, breadth and depth of research, education and mentoring.

The society has been pivotal for my career; it has been an invaluable resource at all stages — from identifying my postdoctoral research mentor, to starting my independent career at the National University of Singapore and then to holding my current position at Penn State.

Unsurprisingly, all of my mentors and role models have held leadership roles at the society. The most enduring contribution of the ASBMB is its ability to guide generations of interdisciplinary scientists at all levels. The ASBMB covers research and education that integrates spatial (molecules to organisms) and timescale (sub-second enzyme reactions to development over years) perspectives in biology. The ASBMB educates members (young and old alike), and it is an interdisciplinary and inclusive forum for integrating advances in STEM with art.

I am most passionate about the ASBMB’s commitment to supporting lifelong learning and continuous mentorship for all ages. If elected, I will be a champion for younger scientists’ voices in ASBMB journals. This will ease career transitions and train scientists to explore new areas of research. ASBMB journals are pivotal in assisting scientists to move beyond a comfort zone guided by a narrow scientific focus, defined by past training and expertise. I will use my position to strive to cement ASBMB’s leadership in advancing inclusivity and diversity in interdisciplinary research.

Education and training

• B.Pharm., Pharmacy, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India, 1992
• M.S., Biological Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India, 1992
• Ph.D., Biochemistry, Rutgers University, 2000
• Postdoctoral training, University of California, San Diego, 2000–2006

Awards and honors

• Award in Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry, Waters Center of Innovation, 2011
• Outstanding Scientist Award, National University of Singapore, 2012

Experience

• Vice president, Singapore Society for Mass Spectrometry, 2016–2020
• Annual meeting program co-chair, Asia Oceania Mass Spectrometry Conference, 2017
• Session chair, protein–ligand interactions, 66th American Society for Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics, 2018
• Director, Singapore National Laboratory for Mass Spectrometry, 2019–2020
• Career Day and outreach head, Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, 2021–present
• Graduate curriculum committee, Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, 2021–present
• Session chair, Dynamic Nature of Viruses, Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, 2022