President’s Report

 

Fellow SIVB Members,

We are coming to the time of year when we prepare for the holiday season and time with family, friends and loved ones. It is also a time to reflect upon the year that we are winding down and the new year that awaits us. I am so thankful for my family and friends; many of my friends who are members of the SIVB. I would not be the person I am today without the love, influence and support of my family and friends. As I reflect back on 2012 from a SIVB perspective, this is what I see:

• I see a society that is gaining influence in the scientific community. Evidence of this is found with the impact factor of our journals, which have been on the rise! The impact factor of In Vitro Plant is now 1.49 and In Vitro Animal is at 1.31. This is clearly movement in the right direction and I tip my hat to John Finer and Tetsuji Okamoto (current editors of IVP and IVA, respectively) and Dwight Tomes and Denry Sato (past editors of IVP and IVA, respectively) for this accomplishment. Thanks also go to Prakash Lakshmanan as the Special Issue Editor and for all that have submitted publications to In Vitro Plant and In Vitro Animal resulting in this marked increase in the Impact Factor. Job Well Done!!
• I see a board of directors, more specifically YOUR board of directors, working together in a very positive way resulting in a stronger financial foothold, increased transparency and a true desire to bring our society to the next higher plateau.
• I see membership that is vibrant and eager to get involved—with special note for the student members. When I reflect on this past meeting in Bellevue, I see the student section taking charge as demonstrated by the establishment of leadership officers and planning for future meetings.
• I also see a deep sense of caring within the SIVB. As many of you already know, our friend, Mike Horn, passed away on August 27th after a tireless struggle with ALS. Mike was a special person to so many people at the SIVB in so many different ways. As a way to continue his legacy, the SIVB has established the Michael Horn Endowment Fund earlier this year and I have been touched by the number of people that have contributed to this fund.

Looking forward to 2013, and beyond, the future of our society is looking very good. The planning for the 2013 SIVB meeting in Providence, RI, from June 15-19, is well underway and it will be another excellent program. Looking forward, the site selection for the 2014 meeting has been determined and it will be in Savannah, Georgia, from May 29th to June 4th. The SIVB is also looking into potential collaborations with other professional societies to have “Joint Meetings” similar to what we have done in the past with IAPB. Stay tuned for more details as they develop. Finally, I want to wish each of you a safe, blessed and prosperous 2013.

Sincerely yours,
David Songstad, Ph.D.
President, Society for In Vitro Biology
[email protected]