Dear SIVB members, colleagues, post-docs and students,
I am writing my eighth and final President’s Report in May 2024.
I want to take the opportunity to look backwards and reflect on my personal journey with the SIVB, which began when I was invited to present my research at the 2010 SIVB Annual Meeting in St. Louis. There, I found a welcoming, open, and collegial scientific-rich environment that made me feel instantly “at home”. I remember asking, “How can I do more?”, and this question was heard loud and clear by many of our Society’s members. Since then, the SIVB has offered me many opportunities to contribute to our Society and its mission to “foster the scientific and technical growth of its members, conduct biotechnology research to understand biology at the cellular and developmental level, and promote expand, and support the scientific knowledge base for the benefit of society.” Serving as President has been a great honor and even greater responsibility. Being a life-long learner, I regard serving in this postion as an invaluable experience and as one of the pinnacles of my professional career and personal growth.
Thank all of you for entrusting my capability, passion, and vision for the SIVB, and for giving me the opportunity to serve as the President of this Society in the past two years. These were, in my view, years of profound transitions for the organization. Transition backward from virtual annual meetings in 2020 and 2021, into welcoming back our members to an in-person annual meetings with a recorded components for on-demand viewing in 2022 (San-Diego, CA), and 2023 (Norfolk, VA). Transition forward through the heartbreaking, most difficult challenges that our organization has ever met with the untimely loss of Marietta Wheaton Saunders. As President, I called the executive committee (VP, President Elect, Past President, Treasurer: Michael K. Dame, Piero Barone, Allan Wenck, Barbara Doonan, Mae Ciancio, and I, respectively, along with Michele Schultz) into multiple special meetings for continual updates, options for Board voting, and development of protocols and procedures moving forward. Together with Michele Schultz and her dedicated team at her company Innovative Essentials, our organization overcame this challenge; we are preserving Marietta’s knowledge, continuing her commitment to SIVB, and upholding her legacy.
It will be a great pleasure to continue serving the SIVB with the new Board of Directors (BOD) in the roles of Past President and Publications Committee Chair, handing off the President’s role to Piero Barone for the 2024-2026 term in service of our Society. As I transition to the role of Past President, I will also serve as the Chair of the Nominating Committee that is charged with the preparation of the list of candidates for the 2026-2028 election cycle that will be held in the Fall of 2025. Serving as Past President, Allen Wenck undoubtedly put together a great slate of candidates for the different Board member and Officer positions of SIVB in the upcoming 2024-2026 term. Some of the Board members will either continue serving in their roles for another term, begin serving in new roles, or rotating off the Board as it convenes for the first time on Friday evening, June 7th, before the commencement of the Society’s 2024 World Congress on In Vitro Biology. The new and continuing members that will serve in the BOD, as well as in the Plant Biotechnology Section and in Vitro Animal Cell Sciences Section, were reported in the January-March issue of the IVR.
I look forward to working with our new and continuing officers in support of the growth, sustainability and positive impact of the SIVB. As I welcome the new BOD members, Fredy Altpeter (VP), Pon Samuel (Member-at-Large, PBS) and Vivian Dayeh (Member-at-Large, IVACS), I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members who are rotating off the BOD, Allen Wenck (Past President), Michael K. Dame (VP), Todd Jones (Member-at-Large, PBS), and Cynthia Goodman (Member-at-Large, IVACS). Although Allen will have concluded the six-year commitment of the Presidency position, he will continue to serve on the BOD for another year in his new role as the Program Chair of the 2025 Annual Meeting that will take place in Norfolk, VA! Congratulations on accepting this role, Allen!
As I close my eighth and final President’s Report, I want to express my tremendous gratitude for the wisdom, experience, critiques, and continued support from SIVB leaders, BOD members and Officers, Michele Schultz and her team at Innovative Essentials, and many members in the past two years. All of you worked tirelessly with me, and were willing to step up as requested and needed, to fulfill our commitment to the growth and positive impact of our Society as a leader in the discipline of in vitro biology for years to come.
I look forward to seeing and thanking all of you in-person at the 2024 World Congress on In Vitro Biology in St. Louis, MO!
Sincerely,
Addy Alt-Holland, PhD, MSc
SIVB President
