2020 continues to be a year of challenges with the largest challenges all being driven by scientific needs. At times like this, scientific societies – especially the Society for In Vitro Biology – need to step up and speak out.

The Society for In Vitro Biology is pleased to announce that Dr. J. Keith Joung will be presenting the Keynote Address titled “CRISPR-based technologies for targeted genome editing and gene regulation” at the 2021 In Vitro Biology Meeting (June 5-9, Norfolk, VA).

Each year, the Society for In Vitro Biology looks to honor our best and brightest. You know your colleagues best, so we reach out to our membership to help us identify and celebrate those who have achieved significant accomplishments in their career. Now is the time to nominate your SIVB colleagues for a 2021 SIVB Awards.

The SIVB Distinguished Scientist Award recognizes outstanding mid-career scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of in vitro biology and/or in the development of novel technologies that have advanced in vitro biology. The Society for In Vitro Biology honored Dr. Fredy Altpeter and Dr. Michael J. Fay as recipients of the Distinguished Scientist Award at the 2020 In Vitro Biology Meeting.

The Society for In Vitro Biology established the Fellow Award to recognize outstanding professionals who have made significant contributions to the field of in vitro biology and demonstrated service to the Society. The Society for In Vitro Biology honored Mr. Michael Dame, Dr. Lucy Lee and Dr. William Gordon-Kamm with Fellow Awards at the 2020 World Congress on In Vitro Biology.

One of the joys of the SIVB presidency is the ability to nominate individuals who have served the society in some special capacity for a distinguished service award. Normally these awards are presented at the opening awards ceremony. For 2020, the virtual meeting format meant that we could not make the normal presentations. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize them here.

The following student awards were presented at the 2020 World Congress on In Vitro Biology Virtual Pre-recorded Meeting held from June 6-10, 2020. Information on additional awardees at the 2020 World Congress was presented in the previous issue of the In Vitro Report. Information related to the available specific student awards can be found on the SIVB website or by contacting the SIVB Business Office.

This year’s In Vitro Biology meeting featured a virtual prerecorded oral presentation competition for Plant Biotechnology Students.

Continuing to stay engaged, inspiring each other, and learning from each other is now more important than ever for our Society. We hope that this new “You’ve Got This!” section will become a successful platform to share your stories about the challenges that you face due to this pandemic and the “new normal”, as well as ideas about how to overcome them.

Investigation on the suitability of milk-derived primary bovine mammary epithelial cells grown on permeable membrane supports as an in vitro model …

THE SOCIETY FOR IN VITRO BIOLOGY ACKNOWLEDGES THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FUTURE ENDEAVORS OF THE SOCIETY THROUGH THE FUND FOR THE FUTURE

Dr. Wagner Vendrame has accepted the new position of Professor and Assistant Chair in the Department of Environmental Horticulture at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences