Meeting Reports

The Protein Dynamics & Transient Interactions conference brought together researchers from diverse fields in biological chemistry, structural biology, biophysics and computational biology. This event provided an invaluable platform to discuss how studying the dynamic features of proteins and their role in driving interactions with macro- and small molecules is crucial in health and disease, bioenergy and the environment. Most of the science presented was new and unpublished, with presenters showing some of the most advanced approaches to studying protein dynamics, including spectroscopic techniques (NMR, IR, EPR, fluorescence), computational chemistry and time-resolved X-ray and cryoEM. The quality of talks was exceptionally high, which stimulated excellent audience engagement and lively debates that carried on into the post-session and coffee breaks.

The meeting started with a plenary lecture from Prof Christina Redfield (University of Oxford, UK), who presented a tour de force outlining the importance of understanding protein dynamics, showing some of her recent research where NMR was central in dissecting proteins molecular mechanisms and functions. The second keynote, Dr Manu De Rycker (Drug Discovery Unit, University of Dundee), who gave The Biochemical Society’s 2024 Industry and Academic Collaboration Award Lecture, showed the long journey for the development of new pre-clinical candidates for neglected tropical diseases. Early-career researchers (ECRs) made an enormous contribution to the conference with a total of 13 talks including prize winners Allan Roldão, Linnea Blomgren, Michael Herrera and Ellie Hyde. The conference also provided a great opportunity for ECRs to engage with MRC/CRUK/Royal Society/Wellcome Trust Programme Managers, who joined our round table discussions on “transitioning to independence”.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and we are planning to organise this conference again in 2026. Please contact the organisers if you want to join the "Protein Dynamics" mailing list.