Created: 28th February 1999, last updated: 7th April 1999, © 1999 ABRF
The new year started with a flurry of activity for the Executive Board. With the addition of new members and new officers, change and new learning experiences were in store. Work and anticipation have been mounting toward ABRF '99 Bioinformatics and Biomolecular Technologies: Linking Genomes, Proteomes, and Biochemistry, because it is just around the corner (March 19-21). Mark Lively and David Landsmann put together an interesting and informative program, and Marcella Jackson and Jean Lash have turned these plans into reality and helped to solve many unforeseen problems. Most of you are attending ABRF '99, and many are attending the first ABRF premeeting course, "Protein Sequencing by Mass Spectrometry," which will be taught by Prof. Don Hunt and colleagues. This is an opportunity for interactive training with the experts. Hope to see you there!
Major issues to be addressed by the Executive Board in the coming year include association management, assistance to the ABRF committees and working groups, and issues concerning resource laboratories. As the society continues to grow, new skills and professionalism are required. The Executive Board is continuing to investigate association management with an emphasis on cost efficiency. The Executive Board is also working with the committee and research groups regarding projects, support, communication, and efficient operation and productivity. The working groups are a unique feature of our society, a feature we are all proud of. No other society has groups that generate and publish data useful to members of the society and to researchers as a whole. Chairs and representatives from our committee and working groups are collaborating with the Executive Board during the ABRF '99 meeting to discuss these issues.
The Executive Board has written an article addressing the creation and support of resource facilities, which should be in the February issue of the FASEB Journal in February. Harmful and helpful policies with regard to cost, commitment, and support of resource facilities are addressed. The Executive Board welcomes feedback. Its members will address guidelines for core facilities during the coming year and continue to pursue science policy initiatives and funding issues that affect support for technology.
This is the first issue of Journal of Biomolecular Techniques that is the product of professional publishing. JBT will soon receive an ISSN number, contains peer-reviewed articles, and can be used for citation purposes. Clayton Naeve is doing an outstanding job as Editor-in-Chief. Clayton and the Executive Board encourage you to submit your best work to the official journal of the ABRF.