News from the In Vitro Animal Cell Sciences Section

Annual Meeting
The 2006 SIVB Annual Meeting in Minneapolis provided a breadth of informative scientific sessions and the social interactions among senior and junior investigators which typify our society. In addition to our co-sponsorship with the Plant Biotechnology section of three interesting and provocative plenary sessions, we sponsored a diversity of "animal kingdom-focused" cell culture symposia, sessions in depth and interactive poster sessions.

Awards
Our section was pleased to present a SIVB Lifetime Achievement Award to Professor Wei-Shou Hu (U Minnesota). We also recognized four scientists who have contributed greatly to the body of scientific knowledge and to our society by awarding them with SIVB Fellow Awards: Guido Caputo (Canadian Forest Service); Dennis Laska (Eli Lilly & Company); Shirley Pomponi (Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution); and Amy Wang (GlaxoSmithKline). As with recent meetings, we benefited from the participation of many graduate students and younger scientists, and we recognized Vanessa Franssens (KU Leuven, Belgium) with a student award.

Business Meeting
Appreciation was expressed to the out-going officers of the Vertebrate, Invertebrate and Cellular Technology Sections for their great efforts over the past two years:

Vertebrate Section
William Smith, Chair
Lia Campbell, Vice-Chair
Kim O'Connor, Secretary

Invertebrate Section
Guy Smagghe, Chair
Ray Hakim, Vice-Chair
Guido Caputo, Secretary

Cellular Toxicology Section
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, Chair
David Jayme, Vice-Chair
Kim O'Connor, Secretary

Membership also welcomed the in-coming officers for the merged In Vitro Animal Cell Sciences Section: David Jayme (Chair); Lia Campbell (Vice Chair); and Kim O'Connor (Secretary)

The recent consolidation of the Vertebrate, Invertebrate and Cellular Toxicology Sections into a single section provided an excellent opportunity to review the anticipated benefits and explore any residual concerns. Among the benefits cited were increased attendance at sessions, streamlined meeting program, consolidated administrative and fund raising efforts, improved ability to attract new members and sponsors, greater opportunity to synergize the overlaps in the cellular toxicity, vertebrate and invertebrate fields and provide exposure to a broader range of research topics, and enhanced interaction among SIVB members. The two primary concerns pertained to adequate and equitable representation in the leadership and policy-making councils and to ensuring diversity of scientific interests in the scientific program. A taskforce is developing a charter for the In Vitro Animal Cell Sciences Section to formalize these intents into a statement of mission, objectives and operating strategies that will be presented for SIVB Board approval and for membership ratification.

Opportunities for Members to Contribute: Members at all levels of experience and tenure within SIVB are encouraged to participate in a variety of activities to benefit our society. Examples include:

• 2007 Program - The Program Committee is actively working to finalize the themes for the plenary sessions and symposia and to invite outstanding speakers for the 2007 SIVB meeting to be held in Indianapolis, IN (June 8-13, 2007). If you have suggestions or wish to serve, please contact the SIVB Secretariat.
• Member/Sponsor Recruitment Brochure - The Membership Committee is preparing an informational brochure about SIVB to be used to support recruitment efforts for members and sponsors. Nancy Reichert has requested visually-attractive science content photos that represent SIVB member research efforts and photos that illustrate interactions between established and junior investigators. Send photos to nreichert@provost.msstate.edu within the month.
• Award Nomination/Development - Each year, the Awards Committee reviews credentials of individuals nominated to receive the SIVB Lifetime Achievement Award and the Fellow Award, in addition to various society awards presented to student participants. We encourage you to recognize the outstanding contributions of your colleagues by nominating them for SIVB awards. Additionally, we are working jointly with Plant Biotechnology to institute an award to recognize achievements of junior investigators. Please offer your suggestions for appropriate award criteria to Wayne Parrott or David Jayme.
• Joint Social Activity - The Program Committee has sponsored several exceptional plenary scientific sessions at the past few annual meetings. To highlight the benefits of enhanced interaction among the diversity of SIVB members, we determined that, rather than have separate social events, the 2007 annual meeting would feature a combined social event, involving members from both Plant Biotechnology and In Vitro Animal Cell Sciences sections. Members desiring to participate in planning this social event are invited to provide names and contact information to section chairs or the SIVB Secretariat.

A unique feature of SIVB membership is the opportunity for each member to contribute to the strength and direction of the society. I urge your continued, enthusiastic support to position SIVB to accelerate and enable the technological breakthroughs of our future.

David W. Jayme, Chair
In Vitro Animal Cell Sciences Section