Some years ago a lively discussion about the "greying of ASP" was published in the Newsletter. The gist of contention was that the aging ASP membership was detrimental to the growth and scientific health of the society.
Without debating the merits of the prior arguments, I suggest that the older members of ASP are presently making a far smaller contribution to the activities of the society than is desirable and feasible. It would be interesting to correlate the age of ASP members and their years of membership with their current participation in ASP meetings, publishing in P&P, and service on committees. I suspect that many formerly active members have "opted out" of ASP owing to costs and the apparent lack of interest shown by ASP. This group may include faculty members at colleges and large universities who no longer enjoy project support, independent contractors, consultants, and professionally active retirees. Times have changed. This is the era of downsizing, buyouts, and going private. Perhaps the traditional ASP membership model should be reexamined.
One's decision to attend a professional society meeting hinges on the balance between location, the extent of one's involvement, and cost. I recall from my more active days that we made a real effort to include the younger scientists as session chairs and symposium speakers. Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far. We also tried to diversify the population of symposium speakers by tracking the past presenters. Is this still being done? Although I cannot document it, I have the impression that too much redundancy has developed in the symposium topics and speakers, at least in the field I am most familiar with, which is PDT.
Senior members can serve as excellent chairs of contributed paper sessions owing to their breadth of experience and historical perspective. The current research activities of older members may be less "visible" but valuable and interesting nevertheless. Why not encourage the submission of preliminary abstracts for symposia and special lectures to be evaluated by the program committee. The older members can contribute to the annual meetings in other ways. They provide "institutional memory", which is more edifying than having an individual write a statistical history every decade or so. Also, the "old boys" and "old girls" can be of genuine assistance in helping promising new PhDs and post-docs find good positions. Even if they are not active, their former students are. When an ASP meeting is held in a certain location, an effort should be made to promote the attendance of those who demonstrated a commitment to ASP in the past. The perfunctory past-presidents' luncheon scarcely serves this function. The attendance list might be compared to the geographical membership list after the meeting to evaluate the extent of local participation. The older members would certainly like to "touch base" with their former colleagues and the younger members might like to identify a literature citation with a person. Incidentally, what function is served by the emeritus membership status that does not include the journal?
In earlier times, ASP was almost unique among scientific societies in the low fraction of members who attended the annual meetings. Is this still the case? If so, cost may be a major factor. Many senior members are "empty nesters" and generally travel with their spouses. The high registration fees at ASP meetings are a financial burden to those who must pay the entire expenses. A senior registration rate may be a partial solution. Most airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, and museums do this. Another possibility is to include senior members as ad hoc committee members and waive the registration fee for that meeting. Changes in the decades-old social programs should be considered. Why not have several open-to-all discussion periods in the evenings with snacks, soft drinks, beer, and wine instead of the stuffy and expensive seated banquet and the invitation- only President's reception? This would appeal to members and their guests of all ages. The meetings would benefit also by having a recreation committee to arrange low-cost healthy activities such as golfing foursomes, tennis doubles, nature walks, and the like.
The cost of publishing in P&P is prohibitive to those without institutional support. I appreciate that payment of page charges is not absolutely required. However, one likes to "pay one's way", especially when JPP, with an overlapping readership, has no page charges and provides 50 free reprints with covers. If the financial health of P&P is as good as stated, perhaps the entire page charge issue should be examined. The possibility of a sliding scaled based on the length of the contribution might be considered. On a less serious note, why not give a credit of one free page charge to a referee for each article refereed. The quality of the science is a major factor for any journal. I suggest that an independent evaluation of P&P be made by an outside panel of experts. Why not poll the published authors as to their evaluation of the refereeing and editorial procedures? This group should be objective. How useful are "symposia in print" and special issues devoted to a single subject? The Citation Index should provide some useful data.
In conclusion, ASP should be a society in which the members normally expect to attend the annual meetings and publish in the journal. I doubt that this is the case. It appears that the participants at any given meeting consist largely of the current council and committee members, invited speakers, many of whom are not ASP members, the subset of all photobiologists who happen to be working in a "hot" and therefore a funded area, and juxtapositions of the presenters names among research colleagues. This letter addresses "seniors" because they are the most likely group to have dropped out of active involvement. However, age is not the only factor. Other "dropouts" may include young faculty members at small colleges, and staff members at companies and hospitals that do not support professional travel. The fact that a former student or young scientist joined ASP in the first place indicates that he or she had a genuine interest in photobiology. If these members drop out as they become older, or stay in just to receive the journal at a low rate, clearly the society has not met their expectations. Historically, ASP has a splendid record of welcoming young scientists and utilizing their skills and enthusiasms. However, instead of deploring the "greying of ASP" it should be recognized that talent and enthusiasm do not vanish after the age of 35 or 50 or 75 and ensure that ASP members of all ages are encouraged to participate fully in the activities of the society.
Editor's note - "Old Photobiologists never die, they simply fade away" - as the exit slit is slowly closed. Seriously, Past-president Grossweiner's letter raises some interesting new issues. Is ASP really shortchanging its senior members in our attempts to cater to young scientists? We will be pleased to publish your viewpoints on this and other issues raised by Dr. Grossweiner's letter. Please send them in.
ICP '96, Vienna - A Royal Success
Frank Gasparro
Whether judged by the unique venue (the Hofburg Palace of Emperor Franz Joseph) or the program (a high-caliber, across-the- spectrum snapshot of photobiology and photomedicine) the quadrennial meeting was a fantastic success. There was a record attendance and the greatest number of presentations of any ICP (see F. Trautinger report below).
In the presidential lecture, Francesco Dall'Acqua (Padova) described new aspects of psoralen photobiology, focusing on apoptosis and non-DNA damage induced by psoralens. Two Finsen lectures were presented. In the first, Doug Brash (New Haven) described the important role of p53 tumor suppressor mutations in the development of skin cancer. In the second, Thomas Schwartz (Münster) described the important role of interleukins (especially IL-6) in cellular responses to UV radiation. These two lectures were representative of the high quality of a vast majority of the sessions.
The ICP'96 meeting will be a benchmark against which all future meetings will be measured - the organizing committee led by Herbert Hönigsmann and his colleagues (Robert Knobler and Franz Trautinger) deserve the highest accolades. In addition, all of the auxiliary personnel who manned the registration desk and helped visitors with many questions and requests are to be complimented on their knowledge, courtesy and patience.
On the nonscientific side, Vienna proved to undoubted interest to the community of scientists attending and beyond. The chamber orchestra, "Prager Collegium", playing pieces by Vivaldi, Bach and Mozart, together with the beautiful architecture of the congress venue, made this opening day particularly delightful and unforgettable. The evening closed with a welcome reception. Then followed five days of an intensive scientific program, presented in the form of six parallel symposia. Monday and Tuesday each started with a plenary session in the morning and continued with parallel symposia until 7:00 pm. Monday's plenary talk was given by Prof. D. Oesterheld (Martinsried) on "The Vectorial Ion Translation Mechanism in Archeal Photosynthesis". On Tuesday morning Prof. H. Takebe (Kyoto) presented an excellent overview on "Mechanisms of Mutagenesis and Carcinogenesis by Ultraviolet Light in Man and Mouse". Wednesday morning was reserved for two Finsen lectures and the Edna Roe lecture. "Sunlight and Skin Cancer: p53 in Initiation and Promotion" was the topic of the first Finsen lecture given by Prof. D. E. Brash (New Haven), who was introduced by Prof. M. Kripke. Prof. T. Schwarz (Münster), introduced by Prof. Hönigsmann, spoke on "Ultraviolet Light and Cytokines - Implications for the Immune System" in his Finsen lecture. Unfortunately Dr. J. Chory (La Jolla), the Edna Roe lecturer for the meeting, was prevented by illness from attending, so her lecture entitled "Signal Transduction Pathways Controlling Light-Regulated Development in Plants" had to be cancelled. The official program for Wednesday morning concluded with the presentation of a new tool in photobiological education. The interactive CD-Rom entitled "Light and Life" was developed by Prof. G. Jori (Padova) in cooperation with the publisher OEMF (Milano) for teaching and continuing education in photobiology. We had the opportunity to enjoy an introduction to its striking interactive features and its excellent teaching potential. With the help of this group, the proceedings of this meeting will be presented in both book and CD-Rom form. Wednesday morning was also reserved for poster presentation and discussion in parallel with the sessions.
The AIP general assembly was held at 12:30 pm. In contrast to the scientific sessions, attendance was regrettably poor. The AIP announced the next ICP (appropriately called "Photobiology 2000"), which will be held in San Francisco, CA in July 2000. Dr. Francis P. Gasparro (New Haven) will be the chairman of the local organizing committee for this millennial event that will also include the annual meeting of the ASP and the biannual meeting of the ESP. The general assembly ended with the treasurer's report, which showed that the AIP budget is quite satisfactory. Wednesday afternoon was free, to provide an opportunity for sightseeing in Vienna and its closer surroundings (as far as the rainy weather permitted).
After this afternoon of recreation, the scientific programs on Thursday and Friday were again intense and included parallel symposia and free communication sessions. The meeting ended on Friday at about 4:00 pm. In his closing remarks Prof. Hönigsmann looked back on a week of successful scientific exchange. In the name of the AIP and the local organizing committee he gave credit to all the speakers, chairmen, participants, colleagues and friends who helped to make this congress successful. He also extended his thanks to the Vienna Academy of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research and its excellent staff members who, backstage and at the registration desk, guaranteed an efficient and smooth organization.
Overall the 12th ICP in Vienna was a major success. The remarkable venue, the outstanding scientific impact, and the high attendance made it memorable among the International Congresses of Photobiology, and certainly should set a standard for future meetings. We are looking forward to Photobiology 2000 and hope that an equally significant number of enthusiastic scientists will again join in to demonstrate the living progress of photobiology.
The following slate of nominees has been chosen by the Nominating Committee, Albert Girotti, Chair:
President-Elect
Nancy Oleinick
Dennis Valenzeno
Division 5 Councilor (vote for one)
Frank de Gruijl
David Sliney
Councilors at-large (vote for three)
David Bocian
Craig Elmets
Woody Hastings
Daniel Yarosh
A biography for each candidate and the ballot will be distributed to the membership in March. According to the by-laws of the society, only members in good standing (dues paid) are eligible to vote. Please make certain your dues are paid and be sure to vote.
UPDATE ON ASP '97 - OUR SILVER ANNIVERSARY MEETING
Al Girotti
The 1997 meeting will mark the 25th anniversary of the society's founding. This special meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency at Union Station in St. Louis, MO, July 5-10. With considerable help and advice from division representatives, I'm getting close to finalizing the scientific program.
Some highlights are as follows: (i) "Landmarks in Photobiology", a symposium focusing on key organizational and scientific events in the history of the society; (ii) "Across the Spectrum", a school/press conference featuring topics of public interest such as photocarcinogenesis, photoaging, sunscreens, and phototherapy; (iii) a special session on grant proposal writing, presented by a scientific review administrator from NIH; and (iv) a special session dealing with successful planning and writing of scientific papers. According to my latest projection, we will have 27 symposia, 7 contributed sessions, 9 lectures, 4 schools, 2 workshops, and 2 special presentations.
I look forward to additional input from the membership and its representatives as this very special meeting continues to take shape. Along these lines, we're planning to display ASP memorabilia - old photos, books, news articles, etc. If you have anything like this that we can borrow, please make arrangements with me or the secretariat as soon as possible.
Best wishes to you all - I'll see you in St. Louis!
Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society
2-6 March 1997
Morial Orleans Conference Center, New Orleans, LA
Contact: Emily Grey, Tel: 301-530-7114, Fax: 301-530-7133.
Annual Meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, 23-27 April 1997
Sheraton Washington Hotel, Washington, DC
Contact: Angela Welsh, Administrative Director
Society for Investigative Dermatology
Suite 340, 820 West Superior Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44113-1800
Tel: 216-579-9300; Fax: 212-579-9333
e-mail: sid@gwis.com
Annual Meeting of the Radiation Research Society
3-7 May 1997
Providence Convention Center
Providence, RI
Contact: Mark Watson, Tel: 708-571-2881.
Annual Meeting of the American Society for Photobiology
5-10 July 1997
Hyatt Regency at Union Station, St. Louis, MO
Contact Al Girotti, Tel: 414-456-8432, Fax: 414-257-2008
E-mail: agirotti@post.its.mcw.edu.
Biannual Meeting of the European Society for Photobiology
8-13 September 1997
Stresa, Italy
Contact: Francesco Lenci
http://www.ib.pi.cnr.it/esp97/intro.html
Gary Schuster
Gary Schuster is a dean, a professor of chemistry, a research chemist, a skier, and a skydiver. He holds a BS in Chemistry from Clarkson College of Technology (1968) and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Rochester (1971). After twenty years in the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois, he became Dean of the College of Sciences and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech in 1994. He is a former NIH Post-Doctoral Fellow at Columbia University, a Sloan and Guggenheim Fellow, and was named a Cope Scholar by the American Chemical Society
He is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Society for Photobiology, Sigma Xi, and the Inter-American Photochemical Society. He currently holds grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. This year he was chairman of the Electron Donor Acceptor Interactions Gordon Conference.
His current research focuses on two topics. The first is the interactions of chiral molecules having isomerizable styrene-like groups with circularly polarized light. In his grand plan, molecules of this type might someday be used in rewritable storage media. The second topic focuses on the use of anthraquinone derivatives as photonucleases. These compounds are unique because they can be recycled. Excitation of the quinone leads to DNA damage, ultimately strand cleavage, and, in the presence of dioxygen, to regeneration of the quinone.
He is an avid skier and, on May 20, 1995, stepped out of a perfectly good airplane at 13,500 feet, fell roughly a mile and a half in 55 seconds, and landed safely in defiance of the laws of the physical universe, if we overlook his parachute.
Editor's note: New councilors are welcome to use this forum to introduce themselves to the society. Please send 3-4 paragraphs and a photograph.
PHOTOBIOLOGY AND GOVERNMENT
Frank Gasparro
On September 19 and 20 a panel of photobiologists, including many ASP members, was convened in Rockville, MD by the FDA to review new aspects of sunscreen efficacy and testing. Participants included the members of the FDA Topical Division, invited guests, consultants and members of the sunscreen industry. Seven major topics were addressed: photochemistry; inorganic sunscreens; variables in the determination of photostability and photocatalytic and photobiological effects in skin; photostability of sunscreen components; vehicle effects in the evaluation of sunscreen efficacy; and novel methods for the detection of biological effects. Some of the speakers had recently presented their work at the sunscreen symposium at the ASP meeting in Atlanta (ASP Newsletter vol 25, No. 4). The panel presentations and the ensuing discussions will be instrumental in formulating guidelines for the development of new sunscreens and the testing of their safety and efficacy, evidence of an active role of ASP in government deliberations.
This is your newsletter and this is your space. Members are invited to contribute news and information, such as address changes, for publication in the newsletter. Let us know about your new jobs, promotions and success with grantsmanship. Also, please send in your "Positions Available". (Is it a sign of the times that no vacant positions have been advertised in the last five issues of the newsletter?)
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