Message from the Executive Board



At the 1995 Winter Board meeting, the participants reaffirmed their commitment to the goals of the ABRF: (1) to promote research and development of methods, technologies, and instrumentation relevant to the analysis and synthesis of biomolecules; (2) to provide mechanisms for the evaluation and improvement of the technical capabilities of biomolecular resource facilities and research laboratories; and (3) to educate resource staff and other members of the scientific community regarding the technological capabilities and functions of biomolecular facilities. These goals are being achieved by the dedicated volunteer efforts of our members working on various standing and ad hoc committees. Your membership is extremely important to the organization, and our success depends on the organization serving its members in meaningful ways. We invite and need your comments and efforts on our various projects.

Our Association's membership continues to grow. As of May 1, we have over 525 paid members. The component of our membership associated with industry has steadily increased over the years and now stands at 40%. We have over fifty members in Europe and several from Australia, Asia, and South America. Membership dues account for nearly half of our income, and our corporate sponsors are the second primary source of support. Our corporate liaison, Audree Fowler, has done an excellent job in recruiting 18 corporate sponsors so far this year. Several corporate sponsors have agreed to contribute additional funds to help defray the cost of our annual meeting. We deeply appreciate their generous support, which enables us to fund our meetings, workshops, newsletter, and member services.

Our tenth annual meeting will be held Saturday, July 8 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA. The program will include five workshops, poster presentations of the results of the 1995 collaborative studies, and a special retrospective on the contributions made by the Association over the past ten years. The annual Beckman-ABRF award will be presented to Dr. Klaus Biemann in recognition of his seminal contributions to the field of mass spectrometry and its application to biomolecules. Please join us in honoring Dr. Biemann for his outstanding contributions.

The annual ABRF meeting follows two ABRF symposia. At the 1995 ASBMB meeting, Clayton Naeve and Ron Niece chaired a session on current techniques in DNA chemistry, and our European members presented a symposium on approaches to protein characterization in Davos, Switzerland in conjunction with the European Protein Society.

We hope to see you in Boston.

Elizabeth Fowler


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Created: 27th July 1995
Last modified: 27th July 1995