Fellow Awards

The Fellow Award recognizes current members of the SIVB who have been active members for at least 10 years. A Fellow has made outstanding contributions in their area of specialization or discipline to include research, teaching, and administration in public, government, academic, or private industry activities. The Society for In Vitro Biology honored Michael Horn and Arthur McIntosh with the SIVB Fellow Awards at the 2008 World Congress on In Vitro Biology.

Dr. Michael E. Horn

I, Jerry Ranch presented Mike Horn with the 2008 SIVB Fellow Award. Mike was recognized for his many contributions to the SIVB over the years, in particular his work on the publications committee, where he played a major role in arranging for the In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Plant journal to be published by Springer, a change that has resulted in the generation of profits of nearly $100,000 per year. Mike was also commended for energy and enthusiasm.

Remarks by Jerry Ranch:

Unfortunately, John Finer, the nominator of Mike Horn for this recognition, could not be here to present this award directly. For me, it is a singular pleasure to present Michael Horn with the SIVB Fellow Award. Mike has earned this recognition primarily due to his outstanding and unwavering support of the SIVB.

For example, his service to the Society includes:

Editor of Explants, 1990-2002
Vice-Chair, Plant Section 1992-1994
Chair, Plant Section 1998-2000, 2000-2002
Reviewing Editor, In Vitro 1994-1998
Associate Editor, In Vitro 1998-present
Chair, Publications Committee 2004-2006, 2006-2008

I’ve known Mike since about 1980; he was in the Ph. D. program at the University of Illinois with Professor Jack Widholm (the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, by the way) while I was doing post-doctoral research in the same lab. During this time I came to know him and his family well.

I have always found Mike to be optimistic and open with ideas and suggestions. Allow me to present a short personal anecdote to document this observation. As a fresh post-doc, Jack had me deliver a seminar on a piece of work I did while in graduate school. I chose to discuss the work I did with Dr. Ken Giles. We had isolated fresh plastids from spinach, “covered” them with a liposome, and delivered them to a yeast slime strain (naturally occurs as protoplasts – published in In Vitro, by the way). We measured respiration using an oxygen electrode. John Boyer, one of the premier photosynthesis researchers in the world at the time, was in the audience. Boyer asked, “What was the terminal electron acceptor, water?” My mind was on cell and tissue culture and not on the physics of the device or biochemistry. As I struggled to comprehend the question, I looked up into the audience, and there was Mike in the back row, nodding his head in affirmation. Mike had saved the day!

Indeed, his gregarious personality helped him build bridges in the Society and aided in fostering unity of purpose across the Sections. Many believe that Mike’s finest hour was his tenure as Publications Committee chair where he successfully managed a delicate and tumultuous transition period. We owe Mike a debt of gratitude for his activities on behalf of the SIVB.

Despite all that Society work, he has amassed a formidable list of referred publications and issued patents. Mike is a scientist’s scientist. Indeed he has been productive, and it is fortunate for the SIVB that a portion of those energies are directed toward the improvement of our Society.

Submitted by Jerry Ranch

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On Saturday, June 14, 2008, Dr. Arthur McIntosh was presented with the SIVB’s Fellow Award. This award is presented to those who have made “outstanding professional accomplishments in the area(s) of specialization of in vitro biology and service to the Society”. Dr. McIntosh was honored with this award at a luncheon during the International Conference of Invertebrate and Fish Cell Culture, a conference held in conjunction with the 2008 World Congress on In Vitro Biology in Tucson.

Dr. McIntosh has been involved in invertebrate cell culture research for nearly 4 decades. During this time, Art has established himself as a leader in this field. His contributions have been in several areas, including insect virology (e.g., virus discovery and characterization), virus-cell interactions, insect cell line establishment, and the characterization of insect cells.

Art began his adventure in science with a B.A. from McMaster University in Chemistry in 1959. He then obtained an M.S. in Bacteriology at the University of Guelph (1962), followed by a second M.S. in Food Science and Technology at M.I.T. (1965). He finalized his education with a Sc.D. at Harvard University in Microbiology in 1969. After completing his doctorate, Art worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford Research Institute on the culturing of leprosy bacterium.

Dr. McIntosh’s first opportunity to work with invertebrate cells and viruses came as a Research Scientist at Boyce Thompson Institute. It is here that he began working with baculoviruses and made the important observation that these pathogens were specific for selected invertebrate species, with limited replication in vertebrate cells. These observations had important implications for the use of baculoviruses as biological control agents and, later, for the development of baculovirus expression vectors (BEVs) for the production of pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, it was at Boyce Thompson that he established the first leafhopper cell line, the DMII from Dalbulus maidis. Dr. McIntosh then moved to Waksman Institute of Molecular Biology, Rutgers University, as an Assistant Research Professor, where he worked with Dr. Karl Maramorosch. Art continued his studies on baculoviruses and their interactions with vertebrate and invertebrate cell lines. At this time he also optimized a vertebrate cell culture medium for insect cells and developed a novel method for generating clonal cell cultures.

Given his budding reputation in the area of insect virology and cell culture, in 1979 Art was offered a position as Research Microbiologist at the Biological Control of Insects Research Laboratory (BCIRL), USDA-ARS, in Columbia, MO. Dr. McIntosh established numerous cell lines from noctuid insects, including BCIRL-HvAM1 and BCIRL-HzAM1, many of which are excellent producers of baculoviruses such as AcMNPV and HzSNPV, respectively. These viruses, and others, are effective biocontrol agents against a variety lepidopteran pest insects responsible for high levels of crop damage world-wide. With Art’s new cell lines, work in numerous areas, such as molecular and physiological aspects of virus-cell interactions, has been made possible. Additionally, Art has been responsible for the discovery and characterization of a virus (PxMNPV) that is able to control the diamondback moth – an important international pest that has become resistant to traditional insecticides. He has also helped to advance numerous other research efforts, such as those in the areas of virus phenotyping, cell line identification and cell cloning. These are just a few of Art’s many accomplishments during his research career.

In addition to Dr. McIntosh’s contribution to invertebrate biology and virology, he has also been an active member of the SIVB for numerous years. He was Chairman of the Invertebrate Division (during the days of the Tissue Culture Association!). Art has also been a member of several committees and chaired a variety of symposia. During meetings, he has enjoyed interacting with students and other scientists and has felt the TCA/SIVB to be an important part of his productive career.

To summarize, in the words of other accomplished invertebrate scientists: “Dr. McIntosh has had an outstanding career as an invertebrate cell culturist for over 35 years. Many of his contributions and discoveries have been significant in furthering our understanding of insect cell biology and the application of viral pesticides for agricultural insect pest control…Dr. McIntosh is clearly a highly respected scientist who is considered by his peers as a pioneer in invertebrate cell culture research …” (Robert Granados, Charles E. Palm Scientist and Virologist, Emeritus, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Ithaca, NY). “Art has been a highly productive researcher over the past nearly 40 years, spending much of his time focused on insect cell culture and their use in insect virus research…He is one of the top researchers in insect cell culture and has been an active member of the SIVB/TCA for many years, including being Chairman of the Invertebrate Division…” (Dwight Lynn, Research Scientist, retired, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD).

We want to congratulate Dr. Arthur McIntosh for his outstanding research career and professional commitment to the in vitro sciences that has lead to his being one of the recipients of the 2009 SIVB Fellow Award.

Submitted by Cynthia Goodman