The Chemical Biophysics Symposium is a student organized conference now in its eighth year of providing an informal venue for discussions of topics bridging the physical and biological sciences. Past Symposia have been marked by a strong multi-disciplinary turnout including biologists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians, and other more exotic species; lively (but good-natured!) debates during panel discussions and question periods; a lavish Saturday evening banquet; and stellar lineups of prominent invited speakers. We hope to continue this tradition this coming spring (April 24-26, 2009), and we encourage all interested faculty, postdocs, and students to attend.

The Biophysical Society's 53rd Annual Meeting will be held, from February 28, 2009 through March 4, 2009, in Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The largest gathering of biophysicists around the world, this meeting includes Symposia, Workshops, Minisymposia, Subgroup Programs, and the National Lecture, as well as Educational Exhibits, Exhibitor Presentations, and Committee Events.

Although there is great interest in inorganic nanomaterials, the real excitement is at the interface of nano physics and chemistry with biology. At the level of cells and below, biological processes are increasingly being conceived in terms of nanomachines, in an environment delineated by nanostructures, that are understandable using techniques familiar to chemists and physicists.
The field is being transformed by remarkable advances in physical measurement as well as biological preparation techniques, including laser technology, single-molecule manipulation, enzymatic techniques, microscopies etc...
This conference will address progress and prospects in Nanobiophysics & Chemistry including nano and microfluidics, single molecule techniques, biomimetics and sensing, biomolecules in confined environments, in vivo imaging, forces in biomolecular systems, manipulation of biomaterials, spectroscopy of biomaterials, nanoparticles in biological environments, force microscopies, simulation of biomolecules and biomolecular assemblies at the atomic and coarse grained scales. Contributed talks in all areas (including those not listed above) are welcome.
The conference will also provide an overview of the latest developments in bionano physics and chemistry. It will be followed immediately by a conference on Nanomedicine where many of the advances in fundamental understanding discussed at the nanobio physics and chemistry event will find application.