Our mission promotes the sharing of knowledge and expertise to support the molecular bioscience field across all career stages, which could not be possible without the hard-work and determination of those that sit on our committees, boards and panels.

Every month, we introduce you to one of our volunteers to gain insight into what our committees do, the benefits to the community, and the benefits to the individuals who volunteer.

Professor Helen Walden sits on our Publications Committee which consistently keeps under review the Society’s publishing products and services to ensure that they are relevant, serve the community and provide value for the Society and the molecular bioscience community.

We asked Helen three questions about her role as Committee Chair and what she has gained from the experience.

What inspired you to get involved with the Society and how has the experience matched or exceeded your expectations?

I have quite a selfish answer to this one! I was awarded the Colworth Medal in 2015, and although I had been an on/off member of the Biochemical Society for a number of years, it hadn’t really been at the forefront in my consciousness. It was such a lovely experience, the award, the lectures and visits that went with it, and the review we published on the back of it, that when I was asked if I would like to be involved (initially with the travel grants, then general grants committee), I was very happy to do so.

Over the years I have supported nominations for awards, which is always an uplifting experience even when unsuccessful. I have met many colleagues from different fields and institutions, some of whom are now collaborators. I thoroughly enjoyed working on the grants committee, first as a member, and subsequently chairing it, and was surprised to learn how much money is applied to supporting young scientists to attend meetings, seminar series sponsorship, and of course the flagship meetings. 

I immediately felt welcomed and connected to the many different activities, from membership, local ambassadors, awards panels, grants, meetings and so on. I then joined Biochemical Society Transactions as an Associate Editor and am now Chair of the Publications Committee of Portland Press.

Can you share a specific moment/accomplishment in your role(s) that made you feel rewarded?

There are actually a few moments, but in particular I really enjoyed going to a protein conference in Australia as part of the advocacy work. The previous year I had been an invited speaker, and enjoyed the meeting immensely, and thought the community at that meeting was ideal for hearing about recent advances from enthusiastic researchers. 

The advocacy support given to associate editors enabled me to attend the following year and hear about exciting research and talk about the opportunities to publish the reviews and mini-reviews that BST focusses on. It was a great additional impetus to engage with the research being presented, and to make more contacts and connections with scientists from all over the world.

What skills and experiences have you gained from being part of the Society?

Many skills and experiences – I think that the general grants committee was my first committee devoted to deciding on support for conferences, work I still do now for other organisations. Chairing that committee was my first experience chairing such panels, and that undoubtedly helped me to develop leadership skills, and gave me confidence to take on other roles. The Associate Editor role gave me real insight into the publishing process from the perspective of the editors – prior to that my only experience had been as an author, and it was really eye-opening to see the challenges from another angle and possibly made me a more willing reviewer! 

Now as Chair of the Publications Committee for Portland Press, I see much more into the workings of governance, and how much work goes into upholding the missions of the Society, and how it seeks to serve and support the Biochemistry community at all levels. It’s also given me much more understanding of the role of Society publishers in the scientific ecosystem, and a real appreciation for all the hard work undertaken by staff in the Society, and the scientists who spend some of their finite resources on supporting it.

Discover more about our Publications Committee.