Biophysics Professor Sarah L. Veatch has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Thomas E. Thompson Award from the Biophysical Society’s Membrane Structure & Function Subgroup!
The Thomas E. Thompson Award promotes excellence in research in membrane structure and function and increases the visibility of MSAF members within the Biophysical Society. The award celebrates the legacy of Thomas E. Thompson (1926-2021), a pioneer in the field of membrane structure and function, and a former president of the Biophysical Society and Editor-in-Chief of the Biophysical Journal.
Dr. Veatch was recognized for her impressive contributions to the understanding of membrane structure and cell signaling. The impact of her early research on biomimetic model membranes and critical phenomena is impossible to overstate.
By mapping phase diagrams and compositional dependencies in membrane systems, Dr. Veatch laid the groundwork for understanding membrane heterogeneity. Throughout her career, she transitioned from model systems to live cell membranes, where she has provided molecularly detailed explanations for the role of lipid rafts in cell signaling. This research has been transformative, offering insights into how nanoscale membrane domains influence cellular processes like immune cell signaling, protein clustering, and receptor interactions. Her approach bridges physical chemistry principles with complex biological mechanisms, recontextualizing our understanding of membrane function at molecular and cellular levels.
Dr. Veatch will receive this award at the Membrane Structure and Function Subgroup (MSAF) symposium during the Annual Meeting in February 2025. Congratulations!
