Announcements

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Ru Chih C. Huang has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Molecular Medicine” in Current Issues in Molecular Biology (CIMB, ISSN: 1467-3045).

Prof. Dr. Ru Chih C. Huang’s publications address many critical discoveries on the function of chromosomal proteins, messenger RNA, and RNA-synthesizing enzymes, and RNA polymerase is the main focus of Prof. Dr. Huang’s earlier contributions to the field of molecular biology. These publications have since been chosen as part of the contemporary classics in life sciences in the 20th century (ISI Press). Prof. Dr. Huang’s more recent research focuses on the understanding of viral replication and oncogenic development in humans. The discovery of mutation-insensitive compounds capable of blocking HIV replication and cancer growth have led to several patents. One of these compounds, Tetra-o-methyl Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid (M4N, Terameprocol), is currently in clinical trials.

Honors and awards:

• National Scholarship (at N.T.U.), 1949–1953
• Charles Kettering Predoctoral Fellowship, 1958–1960
• Member, American Biophysical Society, 1969
• Member, American Society of Biological Chemists, 1970
• Member, Chinese Academy of Science, 1982: Second woman to be elected in Chinese history
• Outstanding Scientist Award, Chinese Medical Association in U.S., 1982
• Outstanding Asian American Scientist Award, 1985
• Awardee, American Women in Science, 1985. One of the ten selected by Equity Institute for its Biographies series
• The Burroughs Wellcome Visiting Professorship, 1992–1993
• Honoree, The Most Notable 100 North American Chinese of the 20th Century, 2000
• Honoree, Nation’s Most Respected Teachers, 2003–2004; 2004–2005
• Awardee, National Central University Visiting Chair Professor, 2008–2012
• Awardee, Johns Hopkins University, William McElroy Research Professorship, 2011
• The Choh Hao Li Memorial Lecturer, Academia Sinica, April 26, 2011
• American Biographical Institute’s Woman of the Year 2011 (ABI is a publisher of biographical reference work since 1967)
• Ru Chih Huang Biology Colloquia Series, Johns Hopkins University, 2018
• Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators - Millennium Magazine, June 26, 2019 (https://marquistopeducators.com/2019/06/26/ru-chih-huang/)
• Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient – Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2020
• Awardee, The Fourth Edition of A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine on Honoring the Legacies of Professionals From Around The World (2020–2021 Edition)
• Participated in The Star Treatment, a prestigious video series hosted by renowned lawyer and television personality, Star Jones (Press Release March 31, 2021)
• Named the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) Top Professor of the Year for 2022
• Research Gate Recognition for 250 citations for article “Effect of protein-bound RNA associated with chick embryo chromatin on template specificity of the chromatin” (November 2, 2022)
• Honorary Editor for the Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (2023)
• Who’s Who of Professional Women (April 2023)
• National Academy of Inventors Fellows Induction Ceremony, NAI 12th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. (June 27, 2023)

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Ru Chih C. Huang, who shared her vision for the journal with us, as well as her views on the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as Section Editor-in-Chief?
The innovative research that is being published in this journal is one of the reasons that I accepted the role as a Section Editor-in-Chief. Being able to have a role in getting inventive research out into the scientific community was an opportunity that I did not want to pass up.

2. What is your vision for the journal?
I would like to expand beyond the typical research topics. For instance, in my future research I would like to look at the effect of disease and treatments on chromatin levels. I feel it is important to explore disease at its most basic level, and it is my hope that other researchers also expand their ideas beyond traditional thinking.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
I think that the future of the field looks very promising. There are so many new innovations in research that information is being generated at a rapid pace. Also, I feel that more collaborations amongst researchers is a good thing for scientific research in general.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
I think that open access is vital for researchers to be able to keep up to date with the latest research, and that accessible information increases our knowledge.

5. What aspects do you focus on when reviewing a manuscript?
I feel that one of the most important aspects of a manuscript is innovation. I want to know that the research is significant and bringing something valuable to its specific field as well as science as a whole.

6. Do you have any suggestions for young researchers in this field?
I would advise young and aspiring professionals to study disciplines from fields other than their own, as this will allow for increased interdisciplinary knowledge and will aid in the development of necessary collaborations.

We wish Prof. Dr. Ru Chih C. Huang every success in her new position, and we look forward to her contributions to the journal.

MDPI will attend the 13th Member Congress of the Chinese Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and 2023 National Academic Congress. This event will be held from 19 to 22 October 2023 in Hefei, China, and is hosted by the Chinese Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

This event includes invited reports of the conference, branch (special topic) reports, and posters. The theme of this conference is gene expression and regulation; RNA function and regulation; protein modification and function; metabolic homeostasis and networks; frontier technology and application, etc.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Biomolecules (leading);
• Genes (leading);
• IJMS (leading);
• Cancers;
• Cells;
• Pharmaceutics;
• CIMB;
• Biology;
• Symmetry.

If you plan on attending this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth (#C07) and chat with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.csbmb.org.cn/2023/.

MDPI will be attending the 4th Conference on Food Bioactives & Health, which will be held from 18 to 21 September 2023 in Prague, Czech Republic.

The conference has already established itself as an important international forum for the presentation of the latest research results in the field of food bioactives, such as (poly)phenols, glucosinolates, carotenoids, peptides, (poly)saccharides, lipids, and other beneficial food constituents, but also of food contaminants and toxins. Contributions to the development of functional foods and food supplements, nutrition policy, personalized nutrition, and the bioavailability, absorption, and metabolism of food constituents and their interaction with gut microbiota are especially welcome. Researchers, practitioners, and policy makers with different professional backgrounds (e.g., physiologists, nutritionists, pharmacologists, plant scientists, and toxicologists) are welcome in order to create a multidisciplinary discussion forum typical of Food Bioactives & Health conferences.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Nutrients;
• Foods;
• CIMB;
• Toxins;
• Dietetics.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth and start a conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://fbhc2023.com/.

MDPI is committed to supporting the academic community, nurturing talent and advancing science. Awards are an important part of the research landscape and play a vital role in helping academics gain recognition, especially young researchers as they embark on new research avenues.

In 2022, our journals presented a total number of 394 Awards, including Travel Awards, Young Investigator Awards, Best PhD Thesis Awards, Best Paper Awards, and Outstanding Reviewer Awards, with several winners announced for some of the awards. The total prize sum amounted to just under 580,000 Swiss francs (CHF), or approximately 650,000 US dollars. Overall, more than 720 scholars were awarded.

The majority of the awards were dedicated to young researchers in relatively early stages of their careers. This encompassed 66 of the afore-mentioned Travel Awards, 60 Young Investigator Awards, supporting research projects and conference attendance, as well as 51 Best PhD Thesis Awards. Additionally, 113 Best Paper Awards were given by our journals. The selection committees were entrusted with identifying the most impactful and novel research and review articles published in their journal within a given year.

MDPI will continue its support and recognition for the academic community moving forward, sponsoring new awards across disciplines. To learn more about all the awardees and their research projects in your field of study, please visit the following pages:

To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.

MDPI will attend the ASHG Annual Meeting 2023, held in Washington, D.C., USA, from 1 to 5 November 2023.

The ASHG Annual Meeting is the largest human genetics and genomics meeting and exposition in the world. Held in the fall, it provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of cutting-edge science in all areas of human genetics. Highlights include invited symposia; abstract-driven plenary, platform, and poster sessions; education/trainee workshops; and career opportunities and networking events.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Genes;
• JPM;
• Biomolecules;
• Medicina;
• Diagnostics;
• Cancers;
• Biomedicines;
• Humans;
• Applied Biosciences;
• DNA;
• IJMS;
• Brain Sciences;
• Cardiogenetics;
• Vaccines;
• Life;
• Epigenomes;
• BioTech;
• Biology;
• CIMB;
• Biomedinformatics.

If you plan on attending this conference, please stop by our booth and speak with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have.

For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.ashg.org/meetings/.

MDPI will attend the 14th Asian Congress of Nutrition (ACN). The conference theme will be “Feeding the Future by Sustainable Nutrition”. Since 1973, the ACN has been held by the Federation of Asian Nutrition Societies (FANS) every four years. The conference committee categorized eight sessions in order to cover the board topics, namely: 1. Nutrition and Sustainable Development; 2. Basic Nutrition and Research; 3. Public Nutrition and Health; 4. Food and Nutrition; 5. Nutrition Across a Lifespan; 6. Nutrition Education; 7. Clinical Nutrition; and 8. Precision Nutrition.

The aim of the conference is to encourage discussion and gain valuable knowledge on a broad range of nutritional issues, such as food and energy storage, the coexisting malnutrition situation, the emerging prevalence of nutrition-related chronic diseases, the aging of societies, etc.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Nutrients;
• Healthcare;
• Metabolites;
• Obesities;
• Nutraceuticals;
• CIMB.

If you plan on attending this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth (#D01) and start a conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit https://acn2023.sciconf.cn/en/web/index/11826.

Conference: 37th International Specialised Symposium on Yeasts—ISSY37
Date: 27 November–1 December 2023
Location: Adelaide, Australia

MDPI will be attending ISSY37 as an exhibitor, and we welcome researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas with us.

The theme for ISSY37 is “Yeast Biotech 2.0: New Yeast, Knowledge and Applications”. The meeting will bring together leading researchers, biotech executives, suppliers, government and early career researchers interested in fundamental and applied investigations of yeast. The planned themes will likely include:

• Biodiversity and new yeast;
• Yeast-derived food and beverages;
• Yeast cell factories;
• Yeast in plant-based foods and meat/dairy alternatives;
• Synthetic genomes, organelles and communities;
• Designer yeast;
• Bioenergy;
• Biomedicine;
• Biosafety.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Fermentation (leading journal);
• JoF;
• Microorganisms;
• Beverages;
• Bioengineering;
• Applied Microbiology;
• CIMB;
• BioTech.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://issy2023.com.au/.

MDPI will attend the 29th Annual Meeting of Japan Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. This event will be held at the Osaka International Convention Center for three days from Monday, 11 September, to Wednesday, 13 September 2023.

The theme of this meeting is “Gene Therapy Making a Leap Forward – A Bridge to the Future through Cooperation between Industry, Government and Academia”. Gene and cell therapy has so far been centered on blood diseases, cancers, and metabolic disorders, but gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, an intractable neurological disease, was also launched in the US and Japan. Regulations must be well discussed with government agencies, PMDA, and other agencies. The Society will develop a meaningful program to enable sufficient discussions between stakeholders. In addition, a session will be organized by the Scientific Program Committee, a new committee established by the Japan Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• IJMS;
• CIMB;
• Antioxidants;
• Cancers;
• Current Oncology;
• Metabolites;
• SynBio;
• Biologics;
• Genes;
• Hemato.

If you plan on attending this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth and speak with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have.

For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.c-linkage.co.jp/jsgct2023/en/index_en.html.

MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising junior researchers, acknowledge their contributions, and enhance communication among scientists. We are proud to present the winners for the year 2022 in biology and life sciences. The winners were selected by the journals’ Award Evaluation Committee.

We warmly congratulate the awarded young investigators for their outstanding contributions. MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Agriculture:

• Thomas Hartinger, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria

Agronomy:

• Leontina Lipan, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Spain

Animals:

• Daniel Stec, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

Brain Sciences:

• Dibyadeep Datta, Yale Medical School, USA
• Giacomo Valle, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
• Morgan H. James, Rutgers University, USA

Foods:

• Xiaonan Lu, McGill University, Canada

Genes:

• Alfredo Iacoangeli, King's College London, UK
• Elisa De Franco, University of Exeter, UK
• Riccardo Pecori, German Cancer Research Center, Germany
• Vanessa Silva, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal

Horticulturae:

• Massimiliano Renna, University of Bari Aldo Moro at Bari, Italy

Insects:

• Adam G. Dolezal, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States

Microorganisms:

• Carla Rodrigues, Institut Pasteur, France
• Lorena Rodriguez-Rubio, University of Barcelona, Spain
• Kevin Solomon, University of Delaware, USA

Nutrients:

• Colleen Deane, University of Southampton, UK

Toxins:

• Paz Otero Fuertes, University of Vigo, Spain

Pathogens:

• Marta Giovanetti, National Reference Laboratory of Flavivirus in the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil
• Carrie M. Long, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), USA

Vaccines:

• Carina Joe, University of Oxford, UK

About MDPI Awards:

In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.

To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.