It is our great pleasure to announce that Dr. Mazdak Khajehpour is the 2024 recipient of the Michèle Auger Award for his undeniable and long-lasting service to the Biophysical Society of Canada (BSC).
During his time serving as the BSC executive from 2014 to 2022, Mazdak had a critical impact on our society. He was a consistent go-to person for strategic planning and set the tone for the BSC as an inclusive welcoming organization. After the very first BSC meeting in Waterloo exposed a hunger within our community for some type of Canadian biophysics meeting, Mazdak convinced the rest of the BSC executives to move forward with yearly BSC meetings. He took it upon himself to organize the 2016 BSC meeting in Winnipeg, proving it was financially and organizationally sustainable, and implemented the single-track meeting structure we have become familiar with, with a very high quality of diverse talks. Mazdak set a high standard that every BSC meeting organizer has since sought to match or exceed. Most importantly, Mazdak worked tirelessly to help create a collegial and fun atmosphere during this meeting and following ones and was an early proponent of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Mazdak’s contributions to biophysics in Canada and the BSC, however, extend well beyond his work with the BSC. Prior to his involvement with our society, Mazdak organized annual biophysics scientific sessions at the annual Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (CSC) where he brought together biophysicists from across Canada to share their research. These meetings ultimately served as both a catalyst and a model for the current BSC annual meetings. Since completing his term as the BSC executive, Mazdak has continued to promote Canadian biophysics and build community, currently serving as one of the lead organizers of the Annual Symposium of the Protein Society, to be held in Vancouver in July 2024.
