created: 14th January 1998, last updated: 14th January 1998, © 1998 ABRF
Looking back on 1997, the ABRF has spent a great deal of effort reaching out to other scientific communities: the Protein Society meetings in Cambridge, England and in Boston; the International Congress of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ICBMB) in San Francisco; the Hilton Head Genome Meetings. Some of our members occasionally question the extent of these involvements, as well as the financial considerations, especially now that we have our own independent meeting. The meetings we attend may vary from year to year, for they often represent unique opportunities to raise the visibility of the ABRF and its talented membership. Furthermore, they provide a mechanism to reach out to other scientists with similar interests in technology and methods, and to continue to educate the community of scientists who use our biomolecular resource laboratories. As a side benefit, some provide an additional opportunity for ABRF members to meet and exchange ideas. While some financial commitment is needed at many of the meetings, including the expenses of extra newsletters and brochures distributed at the sessions, often our major investment is in labor and sweat. ABRF members attending the meetings almost always lend a generous helping hand to the organizers with last minute details of setup and organization. We appreciate the dedication of all those involved in ABRF projects. Together we have created some highly appreciated and unusual forums for scientific exchange and learning.
The call for papers for "ABRF '98--From Genomes to Function: Technical Challenges of the Post-Genome Era" has been mailed. Mike Rohde and Al Smith have prepared an exciting program of scientific sessions and tutorials. Informal scientific exchange, through networking, discussions, and poster presentations, will be a crucial part of the meeting. We hope to see you in San Diego in March. Planning is progressing on ABRF '99, to be held March 20-22, 1999 in Research Triangle, North Carolina. Mark Lively and David Landsmann will co-organize this event, which will have a bioinformatics theme. This focus reflects the increasing role that bioinformatics plays in laboratories working on biomolecular analysis and synthesis.
One of the last activities of the Executive Board each year is to welcome new members. However, this requires that we allow two of our close coworkers to depart. While Beth Fowler has gained recognition for her work as president in 1995-6, particularly for working hard to help ensure the success of our independent meetings, she has continued to work tirelessly for our members, often taking on the most challenging tasks. Significant among these was leading the effort to change our bylaws, expanding voting membership to all individuals. Tom Andersen has made important contributions to the ABRF, focusing particular energy on our research groups and on our new public policy efforts. Updates describing the progress of these activities are reported in this ABRF News. To avoid the possibility of the perception of a conflict of interest, Reid Townsend will also step down from the Executive Board at the end of 1997. Reid took particular interest in funding and policy issues that affect the daily lives of ABRF members in resource laboratories. His insights will be greatly missed in our discussions and planning. We will continue to use the talents of our retiring Executive Board members as a resource for future activities. Our good fortune is that we now welcome three new elected members: Lynda Bonewald, Ron Niece, and John Stults. Their combined experience will help us address the new scientific and professional challenges that face us. All of us on the Executive Board will need the insight and support of ABRF members in the new year.
Ruth Hogue Angeletti
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