GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT - Al Girotti
I'd like to take this opportunity to update you on various activities of your Officers and Councilors, plans for the next annual meeting, and miscellaneous other news.
1996 Annual Meeting - Nick Geacintov, the Immediate Past President, is hard at work organizing the next ASP meeting, which will be held over a 4-1/2 day period at the Omni Hotel/ Convention Center in Atlanta, GA: June 15-20, 1996. Nick tells me that he has received a veritable flood of great ideas for lectures and symposia and has decided to run the meeting until noon on Thursday, June 20 in order to accommodate a very full program.
The Washington DC meeting last June also ran 4-1/2 days; this was generally well received because there were fewer concurrent sessions of overlapping interest than at previous shorter meetings. One of the key events that Nick has scheduled is a symposium commemorating Michael Kasha's 75th birthday. Nick is introducing some program changes which sound very interesting. For example, some of the 8 a.m. School Lectures will be replaced by "New Perspectives" lectures to be held later in the day. In addition, a symposium on UVA Photobiology is planned, which will be co-sponsored by ESP, reciprocating for a symposium that ASP co-sponsored at the recent ESP meeting in Cambridge. Continued joint sponsorship is a vehicle for fostering scientific exchange between ASP and ESP members. For those concerned about possible congestion due to the Olympic Games in Atlanta, our meeting will be over before this starts to intensify.
1997 Meeting - This meeting is especially noteworthy because it will mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of our Society. As organizer, I plan to schedule special events to celebrate the occasion, e.g. a session dealing with key events in ASP's conception and evolution. I have asked Fred Urbach, the Society's Historian, to organize such a session. Several possible venues for this meeting are being considered by the Meeting Site Committee, including Chicago, Houston, and St. Louis. I welcome any suggestions that you might have with regard to the scientific program and/or social events that accompany this very important meeting.
Society Divisions - As you know, the Society now has five Divisions (chair in parentheses) representing five broad subspecialty areas: 1) Photochemistry/ Photophysics/ Phototechnology (Colin Chignell); 2) Photosensory Biology (Pill-Soon Song); 3) Photosynthesis/ Photoconversion (Ana Moore); 4) Photomedicine (Rox Anderson); 5) Environmental Photobiology and UVR Effects (Helene Hill). The Divisions serve as important links between the members and officers. In organizing a meeting program, the Past-President looks to the Division Representatives for suggestions and recommendations, and the Representatives in turn hope to get input from the members. I encourage you to associate with a specific Division if you haven't done so already, and to contact your Representative. Division Reports from the Washington DC meeting were published in the preceding issue of the Newsletter (now called ASP News).
Strategic Planning - Encouraged by the excellent financial status of the Society, the Council enthusiastically endorsed the formation of a Strategic Planning Committee about a year ago. President-Elect Frank Gasparro presently chairs this Committee, which is deliberating on several ventures aimed at further enhancing and enriching the Society, both in the near- and long-run (see page 3).
ASP Online - Our Treasurer, Dennis Valenzeno, has worked enthusiastically with other On-line experts on linking ASP to the World-Wide-Web. All kinds of useful information is now available to members through this network, including Division News, meeting updates, photobiology curricula, etc; and ideas for new entries abound! Dennis' efforts in this very important undertaking are greatly appreciated. (for more on POL, click here).
Committees - The Society has twelve standing committees, which are hard at work on charges that I assigned after the June meeting. I'll comment on some of the committee functions and goals in future Newsletters. The committees and their current chairs are as follows: Constitution and Rules (N. Geacintov); Executive (A. Girotti); Education (F. Gasparro); Grants and Awards (R. Anderson); Meeting Site (N. Geacintov); Nominations (N. Geacintov); Program (N. Geacintov); Public Affairs (F. Noonan); Publications (D. Valenzeno); Strategic Planning (F. Gasparro); Finance (D. Valenzeno); Membership (A. Oseroff). Any questions that you might have about committee activities are welcome; please contact me or the chairs I'll summarize some highlights of the upcoming 66th Council Meeting (November 11, 1995) in the next issue of ASP News.
Best wishes to you all.
ASP AWARDS - CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
The Awards: At each annual scientific meeting, ASP honors two scientists for their contributions through research. These awards come from you - the ASP membership - and even Newt Gingrich can't stop them! Each recipient gives an award lecture at the annual meeting and receives a plaque and prize of $1000 plus travel to the meeting. The ASP Research Award honors a well-established scientist who has made major contributions in photobiology, photomedicine, photochemistry, photophysics and/or other areas represented by the ASP. The ASP New Investigator Award was established in 1994 to recognize exciting new work by investigators (of any age) who have recently entered the discipline. Carl Bauer received the New Investigator Award in 1994 and Thomas Sakmar was the 1995 recipient. Established in 1986, the ASP Research Award has been awarded to the following:
Making the Awards: All nominations are considered in a competitive fashion by the ASP Awards and Grants Committee, which tries to achieve an unbiased assessment that represents the broad scientific interests of the ASP membership.
THE ASP PHOTON AWARD -The first ASP Photon award was given to Homer Black at the 1994 annual meeting in Phoenix. This award, a statue of the sun god Ra, similar to the film industry's Oscar, was established by several Past President's of our Society to honor members who have made exceptional contributions and who have served the Society above and beyond the call of duty. These contributions include service on Council, or as an officer of the Society, contributions to the Society's publication efforts, or any service to the ASP deemed exemplary by the members of the Council. This award, which is not for research contributions, will be made from time to time on an ad hoc basis as suitable recipients appear. In keeping with its title, the award a small quantum which appears unexpectedly, leading to a singlet excited state. Nominations for individuals to absorb this award can be simply made by a letter to Dr.Rox Anderson (address above).
PLEASE PARTICIPATE - NOMINATE A
SCIENTIST FOR ONE OR ALL AWARDS!!
TRAVEL AWARDS - The ASP also offers TRAVEL AWARDS to the annual meeting, based on need and scientific merit as expressed in the abstracts submitted. Travel Awards are open to pre- and post-doctoral Associate Members, and are especially intended to help high-quality, young scientists come to the meeting.
PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY: A NEW LOOK - P&P Editor's Corner
As usual, the cover of your January, 1996 issue of Photochemistry and Photobiology will be red but many changes will be evident. Most noticeable will be the redesigned cover and the clearer layout style of the articles. The front cover is a bold red with white printing. Special features, such as Invited Reviews and Symposia-in-Print, will be listed there. The Table of Contents has been moved to the front of the issue; the last page contains ASP information and a membership application. Detailed information for preparation and submission of manuscripts is given on the inside back cover and ASP annual meetings and/or advertisements will be printed on the outside back cover.
Articles will be printed in a more readable style with a one-column-wide abstract and bold section headings. The complete mailing, fax and e-mail addresses of the corresponding author will be given in a footnote. Of special significance for authors is a change in the style for references in the text. Reference numbers will now be given in parentheses in the text; the citation style in the reference list remains the same. Complete instructions for preparation of manuscripts and figures will appear at the beginning of the January issue.
Recently introduced changes, such as printing Invited Reviews throughout the year and frequent publication of Symposia-in-Print, will continue. A Symposium-in-Print typically consists of four to eight peer-reviewed original research papers on a focused topic. Invited Reviews, like their predecessors, the Annual Reviews, concentrate on literature published within the last two years. Your suggestions for both of these features are greatly appreciated.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS - ASP President, Secretary and Council Elections
According to Article VIII (Elections) of the ASP ByLaws, "Nominations for offices to become vacant shall be made by the nominating committee. Nominations may be made by ten Members in the form of a signed petition or letters. In addition, a written statement by the nominee of willing- ness to serve must be received." Current vacancies include two councilors-at-large, Secretary and President (1997-1998). Nominations should be sent prior to January 1, 1996 to Dr. Nicholas Geacintov, Chair, Nominating Committee.
POSITION AVAILABLE - 1996
Postdoctoral positions available to carry out research in one or more of the general areas: High peak power photosensitization mechanisms; DNA photochemistry; Specific free radical generators and radical damage mechanisms Candidate should possess a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry or Biochemistry and have experience in Photochemistry and time-resolved spectroscopic techniques, preferably laser flash hotolysis. Additional expertise in the areas of membrane biochemistry, synthetic organic chemistry or molecular biology would be advantageous. Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine is a multidisciplinary research institute specializing in interactions of light with biological systems. Interested, qualified candidates should contact:
WHAT IS PHOTOBIOLOGY ONLINE? - Upcoming Events
The World Wide Web site Photobiology Online is approach-ing its first birthday, and it is flourishing. A joint presentation of both the American and European Societies for Photo-biology, Photobiology Online(POL) provides a wealth of online information to photobiologists. The following paragraphs des-cribe 1 of 12 sections in POL, the "Upcoming Events" section.
Upcoming Events - Upcoming Events currently contains 5 listings. These are the next 2 meetings of the ASP, the next 2 meetings of the ESP, and the International Congress of the AIP. Each listing gives the date and location of the meeting, if it has been decided. If not, the tentative sites are listed.
Each of the listed meetings is a link. This means that if you point at that line with your cursor and click the mouse button, a new screen of information will appear which provides additional details concerning the meeting. Typically, there will be as much information (or more) than you will find in the meeting announcements that are mailed to registrants.
The information about next year's International Congress on Photobiology in Vienna is a particularly useful site because it allows you to preregister for the Congress online. You can simply fill out a form on the screen of your computer, then click on the SEND button, and you are preregistered! (This requires that your system supports "forms". If you're not sure, you can simply try it to see if it works.) In the future, Upcoming Events will be expanded to include a secondary calendar which will list other meetings of interest to photobiologists, schools, courses, etc.
How Do I Access Photobiology Online? - To access POL you will need a web browser software program such as Netscape or Mosaic. You can also access POL in a text-only mode with software such as Lynx. Contact your information technology personnel for procedures to obtain these programs. You can then access POL at the following address (URL):
STERLING B. HENDRICKS MEMORIAL LECTURE
The annual Sterling B. Hendricks Memorial Lectureship was established by the Agricultural Research Service in 1981 to honor the memory of a great scientist by recognizing scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the chemical science of agriculture. The 1995 award was made to Winslow R. Briggs whose 1995 lecture (Regulation of Plant Growth by Blue Light) was presented on August 23 at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago. Dr. Briggs, a charter member of the ASP, is currently the Director Emeritus of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of plant Biology and professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University.
PHOTOBIOLOGY FOUNDATION
The Strategic Planning Committee has given the green light to explore the establishment of the Photobiology Foundation. This would be a separate and distinct entity from the ASP. It would operate as a "501C3 Basic Charity" under standard IRS regulations. This means that it would be able to raise funds - all donations would be tax-exempt. Prior to filing IRS form 1023 we will be establishing a Board of Governors. I have already spoken with several individuals about serving on an Advisory Committee. Please forward additional feedback/ comments/suggestions to Frank Gasparro
PHOTOBIOLOGY UNDERGROUND
Agriculture has always been dependent on the vagaries of Mother Nature - at least until the establishment of Prairie Plant Systems in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Brent Zettl, founder and president of PPS, has created a totally controlled subterranean environment in exhausted zinc and copper mines of the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. These underground caverns leave no environmental factor to chance - temperature, humidity, length of day and night. Deep in the normally dark mine shafts, life-giving light is provided by metal halide and high-pressure sodium lights. Under these conditions plants grow much faster. For example, hibiscuses grow 20 cm in 2 weeks as opposed to 7 cm at the earth's surface. These enhanced growth rates have been observed for many kinds of plants and have been attributed to the lack of stress in the controlled underground environment where lights are on for 18 hrs a days; during daylight hours the temperature is maintained at 25oC and at night, 19oC. Energy-robbing diseases and insects are absent. While roses and herbs are plentiful, other much needed plants are also being cultivated. For example, the yew plant, desperately needed to produce taxol, a highly effective chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of breast cancer among others is being cultivated. Additional information may be obtained by calling (306) 975 1205).
ESP MEETING REPORT - Dennis Valenzeno
The 6th Congress of the European Society for Photobiology was truly an amazing event. Granted there was a wide ranging, high quality scientific program, there was the prestige of meeting at Cambridge University, and there was the fellowship and camaraderie that are characteristic of any superbly organized meeting. But the truly amazing event was the near absence of rain! Congress organizer, Antony Young, had arranged for the English summer drought to end providing greenery all about. Only occasionally were the passings of the participants hurried by showers. This was indeed fortunate as the sessions were held in 3 locations of the campus separated by a few minutes' walk. Many sessions were in the new Moeller Conference Center, while others were in either Churchill or Fitzwilliam College.
The scientific program, which occurred September 4th through 8th with a free afternoon on the 6th, ran in 6 tracks including photomorphogenesis and photomovement, photosynthesis and photosynthetic pigments, vision, environmental and cellular photobiology, photomedicine, PDT and photosensitization, DNA photodamage and its repair (joint with ASP), and photophysics of biological systems. In addition to plenary lectures, a limited number of submitted abstracts were selected for oral presentation. The remainder were given as posters. By my count there were over 400 abstracts from nearly 500 registrants, according to the last registration figures provided at the meeting.
Of note to ASP members was the joint ASP/ESP symposium on DNA photodamage and repair, which attracted a large following. Continuing in this tradition, ESP has committed to sponsor a joint symposium at the 1996 ASP meeting related to UV-A effects.
Another exciting development was the introduction of a new learning tool in photobiology. In cooperation with an electronic publishing company in Italy, ESP has collaborated on production of a CD-ROM "textbook" in photobiology. A very impressive demonstration of a preliminary version was conducted at the Congress. A student works his way through the text, graphics and occasional animations at his own pace. There are periodic quizzes which halt progression until the preceding material is mastered. It is anticipated that the completed version will be available in early 1996. Meeting participants had the opportunity to sign up in advance at a greatly reduced rate.
ESP's General Assembly (business meeting) marked the passage of the presidency from Dietrich Averbeck to Giulio Jori. A slide of a beautiful coastal scene revealed that the next ESP meeting, in 1997, will be in Stresa on Lake Maggiore, a resort town near the Swiss border in northern Italy.
A side note about the AIP is in order. The board of the Association Internationale de Photobiologie met during the Cambridge Congress. They have asked ASP to consider acting as host for the International Photobiology Congress in the year 2000, preferably in San Francisco, since this is a site that is easy to reach from Europe, Japan, the US, and many other countries. ASP's Council will consider this proposal at its fall meeting in Houston.
In summary, when all the important photobiological issues of the day had been thoroughly discussed, the Queen had been toasted, the Port (as in wine) had been passed, and all the appropriate queues had been waited through, we all departed vowing to find some way to scrape together enough funds to personally experience the attractions of Stresa in 1997.
FROM THE EDITOR
We are trying some new things out - did you notice? The masthead now reads "ASP News"; color photographs, volume number and issue number are added - any comments or suggestions, as always, are welcomed. You can send them any way you like: Phone: (203) 785 6061), FAX: (203) 737 1618, e-mail: gasparrofp@maspo2.mas.yale.edu or fotndoc@aol.com or even "snail mail" using the address on page 2 (Editor's box) - Thanks.
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