The 30th Structural Biology Annual Symposium
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026
Location: Health Education Center (HEC) Room 3.206
Chair: Dr. Yunfeng Chen
co-Chair: Dr. Li-av Segev ZarkoThe Center's 30th Annual Symposium was successfully held on April 18th. Five talks were presented by renowned scientists and students and postdoctoral fellows presented posters. Five of those posters were selected for awards of $100. The winners were Mariia Rybak (postdoc, UTMB), Xiangyu Den (postdoc, Rice), Jaila Lewis (student, UH), Kai Ye (student, Rice), and Seye Oladeji (student, Rice). Specially mentioned, True Russell from Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) was awarded $50.
Scientific Program Schedule
2026 Abstract Book
Invited Speakers
Elisar Barbar, Ph.D.
Alumni Distinguished Professor and HeadDept. of Biochemistry & Biophysics
Oregon State University
Title: "Beyond the Fold: The Surprising Superpowers of Disordered Proteins"
Martin Schwartz, Ph.D.
Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Professor of Biomedical Engineering and of Cell Biology
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Title: "Mechanotransduction at the Molecular Level"
John Weisel, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Title: "Fibrin Biomechanics from Nanometers to Centimeters"
Rui Zhang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO
Title: "High-resolution cryo-EM Structures of the Conoid in Toxoplasma Gondii"
Haiqing Zhao, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Texas Medical Branch
Galveston, TX, USA
Title: "Zooming In and Out of Protein-Protein Interactions with Graph-Based Models"
