With this ABRF News we welcome a new Editor and introduce a new logo. The logo concept submitted by Rebecca Ettling in this year's competition has been developed into the official logo seen above. The modern graphic symbolizes the innovative and energetic spirit of the ABRF, emphasizing themes important to our organization: Research, Technology, Communications, and Education. This timing is a fitting welcome to the new Editor of ABRF News, Clayton Naeve, who will provide us with a fresh perspective on ABRF activities.
Although the ABRF is a small society, our members have a disproportionate scientific impact by providing research support to many other laboratories. Accordingly, the Executive Board voted this spring to join the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) as a sustaining associate member. We hope that joining FASEB will provide us with a voice in issues important to the ABRF membership, such as increased support for research infrastructure and technology.
The ABRF Symposium organized by Alistair Aitkin at the Second European Symposium of the Protein Society was a great success. Len Packman represented the ABRF and presents a report on the scientific sessions in this newsletter. Time is now drawing near for two more special ABRF-associated meetings. Paul Matsudaira has organized an exciting symposium, Dissecting Genetic Networks, to be held on Saturday, July 12 at the beginning of the Protein Society Symposium in Boston, MA. Later in the summer, the ABRF has organized a full day of minisymposia and workshop sessions, the Technology Corners, on August 27, in the midst of the International Congress of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in San Francisco, CA. This latter meeting will present an unusual opportunity for the ABRF to introduce its activities to an international audience. Posters from Research Committee studies will be prominently displayed.
Planning has now begun on ABRF '98: Meeting the New Tomorrow; Technical Challenges of Characterizing Complex Systems, organized by Al Smith and Mike Rohde. We are especially pleased to announce a travel award to help ABRF members attend this meeting. Initial details of this exciting new program, sponsored jointly by the ABRF and by the Applied Biosystems Division of Perkin Elmer, are in this issue of ABRF News.
After many months of dedicated deliberations, the Task Force commissioned by the Executive Board to study the Status of ABRF Member Laboratories and Their Staff has prepared a final report. Based upon this report, the Executive Board has already taken action on a number of the recommended items. Reid Townsend is chair of a special subcommittee to identify mechanisms to improve the recognition of ABRF members' scientific contributions in publications. Nancy Denslow will lead a Taskforce to develop a long term strategy for preparation of educational course modules on specific cutting-edge technologies.
Consistent with the above efforts, a subcommittee headed by Beth Fowler has prepared a proposal for amending the bylaws so that voting ABRF members will be individuals in resource and research laboratories. ABRF voting members are currently the resource laboratory representatives, and individuals are non-voting Associates. A ballot on this issue will soon be mailed. Since votes will be cast by the resource laboratory representatives, it is important for all Associates to convey their opinion on this issue to their laboratory voting representative.
Ruth Hogue Angeletti
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