News from the IVACS Section
Greetings to all In Vitro Animal Cell Sciences (IVACS) Members
The historical city of Charleston, SC was the setting for the just completed 2009 Society for In Vitro Biology Annual Meeting. The meeting was a great success due to a very strong scientific program, equally enjoyable social activities, and the southern charm of Charleston, and all of these factors facilitated great interaction and networking with fellow friends and SIVB colleagues. On Monday June 8, IVACS had its Section Business Meeting from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, and below is a review of some of the items discussed.
I. Declining Membership
Our membership has been declining over the last few years. In addition, it appears that only one third (1/3) of our members attend the annual meeting. A lively discussion was held and some of the ideas and/or suggestions included the following:
- IVACS can reach out to other disciplines including Engineers and Physicists who share common research goals with some of our members research; we can also advertise in their journals;
- IVACS can establish closer ties with small and/or upstart biotech companies who would be exposed to the kinds of research done by IVACS members;
- IVACS can offer free membership to invited speakers who are not already members;
- IVACS has been doing a much better job at attracting students (our future) but can always do more and pursue students more aggressively;
II. 2010 Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB) Meeting in conjunction with the 12th International Association of Plant Biotechnology (IAPB) – June 6-11, 2010, St. Louis, Missouri
- IAPB is a very large organization and thousands of their members are expected to attend; it will be a 5-day meeting; they are expecting a hard copy of their program to be available by early August 2009;
- SIVB Board members have been working with the IAPB Planning Committee to have as much input as possible; we don’t want to be a speck on the window as we were in 2002 in Orlando;
- IVACS has put together a most solid and impressive scientific program for its members and for those SIVB Plant members who may also be IAPB members; there will not be any Interactive Poster Sessions;
- IAPB is planning a registration fee of $575- $800; SIVB could not negotiate a lower fee for SIVB members BUT here are a few points to take into account for IVACS members:
- IVACS sessions are scheduled for only four days (Mon afternoon, Tues, Weds and Thurs), therefore only 3 – 4 hotel nights;
- Lunch will be provided;
- Thursday night Gala Social (normally $75.00 at SIVB meetings) is included.
Note: if you are planning on attending PLEASE use the SIVB registration form on their website; SIVB will be refunded a portion of the registration fee of each SIVB member.
Wanted: Past President and long time SIVB member Paul Price (p.price05@comcast.net) is looking for help to create a hard cover publication of in vitro procedures and methodology to serve as a reference source for anyone entering the field. Please contact Paul should you be willing to help out in this most worthwhile initiative.
Please feel free to send me any news you would like to share with your fellow IVACS colleagues.
With thanks,
Guido Caputo (gcaputo@nrcan.gc.ca)
IVACS Secretary
Updated information on the 2010 Meeting provided by SIVB Business Office
NIH Funding Available for Development of In Vitro Botulinum Toxin Potency Assays
Two parallel Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) are available encouraging Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology (STTR) grant applications from small business concerns (SBCs) that propose to develop new non-animal-based assays to assess the potency of botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) in a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) commercial environment. Successful projects should have as their goal the development of a test(s) and reagents that could be used for commercial
release testing of BoNT/A products.
PA-09-178 will utilize STTR (R41/R42) grant mechanisms for Phase I, Phase II, and Fast-Track applications and can be found at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-09-178.html
PA-09-179 will utilize SBIR (R43/R44) grant mechanisms for Phase I, Phase II, and Fast-Track applications and can be found at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-09-179.html
Potential applicants may also be interested in the Workshop on Alternative Methods to Refine, Reduce, and Replace the Mouse LD(50) Assay for Botulinum Toxin Testing sponsored by ICCVAM, in collaboration with NICEATM and ECVAM in November 2006. In general, the consensus of the panel discussions was that the reviewed methods could be used, in specific circumstances or in a tiered-testing strategy, to reduce and refine the use of mice in the current botulinum toxin test method. However, none of the reviewed methods could currently be used as a complete replacement for the botulinum toxin test method. The panel discussions noted that with additional development and validation efforts, one or more of the reviewed methods might be useful as a replacement for the current botulinum toxin test methods in the future. It was noted that additional validation studies were needed for most methods (e.g., comparison of results to in vivo outcomes, validation of methods for the specific applications). Finally, some best practices discussed to decrease the number of animals tested for studies included (a) use of reference standards to minimize the number of replicate animals needed, (b) use of standardized methodology, and (c) reduction in the number of doses tested for assays where confirmation of potency is being evaluated.
Proceedings of the workshop have been released and can be viewed at:
http://iccvam.niehs.nih.gov/methods/biologics/bot_workshop.htm
Submitted by Steven Morefield, M.D., Program Manager
Integrated Laboratory Systems, Inc./Contractor supporting the NTP
Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Website: http://iccvam.niehs.nih.gov
