Minutes of Board Meetings
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – September 28, 2009
The following members were in attendance: Jeff Ross (president), Jef French (president elect), Cindy Innes (treasurer), and Kristine Witt.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
Abbreviated minutes were noted by Cindy Innes in the absence of Jayne Boyer.
Cindy presented the treasurer’s report.
Old Business
In preparation for the Fall 2009 meeting, Cindy was asked to send Jef French a hard copy of the program, remind Carolyn Harris to bring an updated membership list to the meeting, take the checkbook to the Friday Center, and ask Jayne Boyer about an instructional letter for the talk winner to receive their travel award.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – August 31, 2009
Jeff Ross called the meeting to order at 3:07 pm. The following Board members were present: Jeff Ross (president), JE French (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Cindy Innes (treasurer), Jacqueline Bower, JD Wilson, Perpetua Muganda, Stephanie Smith-Roe, Dan Shaughnessy, Carol Swartz, and Steve Little.
Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes for the August 10, 2009 meeting were approved.
Cindy Innes presented the GEMS financial summary.
Fall meeting financial summary and Eventbrite site: Cindy reported that she spent a lot of time to combine data from PayPal and Google Payment sites. She also noted that Google automatically sends money to our bank account but we must request our money from the PayPal account.
Old Business
Fall Meeting: The Friday Center is booked for October 5, 2009. Jef French reported the final list of speakers: Timothy Graubert (Washington University, St. Louis), Alexander Reymond (University of Lausanne), and James Evans (University of North Carolina).
Peppy will distribute the meeting announcement and a call for abstracts via email to the members. Frank will update the GEMS website and provide a link to the Eventbrite registration site. Jef said that the NIEHS has our meeting posted on its calendar and will send out an all-hands email reminder. Dan requested paper flyers to post at NIEHS. Jef will email him a copy of the announcement and also to Joel Myers at Duke University. Jef also plans to send announcement emails to various departments at UNC, NC State and biology departments in small North Carolina colleges. Jackie agreed to contact the appropriate people at UNC to have the GEMS meeting added to their announcement emails (including the postdoctoral association).
Jef has a signed contact from the Friday Center at UNC. Cindy promised to send Jef an excel file of registrants from last year’s meeting for an accounting of the normal distribution of students versus full price ticket buyers. Jef provided a handout of estimated costs and revenues for the Fall Meeting. Honoraria were increased to $300 per speaker for a total of $900. Speaker travel expenses were estimated. Funds were budgeted for presentation and poster winners, plaques for outgoing BOD members, a sponsor gift basket, meals and refreshments. Revenues were estimated (including a grant from NIEHS).
Corporate Sponsors: JD Wilson has no interested sponsors yet. He sent an email to about 35 companies and plans to send 15 more. There is a corporate sponsor form on the GEMS website but he also asked Jayne to add another category to the Eventbrite site for the sponsors ($250 for a table and two representatives).
Judging of posters and presentations: Joel and Dan volunteered to act as judges. Jeff Ross has created an evaluation form for oral and poster presentations. He plans to email comments to presenters after their compilation. This is to provide educational feedback to the presenters. He also plans to email the form to the presenters prior to the meeting so that they will be aware of the judging criteria.
Eddie Ball (NIEHS newsletter) and Steve McCaw (photographer) will be invited to attend the Fall Meeting gratis. Cindy will add them to her list of attendees but will not put them on the Eventbrite site so as to avoid the fees.
Nomination Committee: 6 BOD positions are available for the 2009 elections: 3 councilors, Secretary, Treasurer, and President-elect. Jackie Bower reported that all open positions have a full slate of candidates except president-elect that has one candidate. She has volunteered to set up and run the Election website. She has chosen Sept. 7 – Sept 21, 2009 for the open election period. There is a question about who is eligible to vote. She will ask Carolyn for a list of eligible voters (ie, those current on their membership dues). Jackie plans to email members to announce the elections, set the dates of voting, and also a last-day-to-vote reminder.
New Business
None.
Next BOD meeting: Next meeting is scheduled for Monday Sept 28 2009 at 3:00 pm at the EPA.
The Board adjourned at 4:00 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – August 10, 2009
Jeff Ross called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm. The following Board members were present: Jeff Ross (president), JE French (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Cindy Innes (treasurer), Jacqueline Bower, Joel Meyer, JD Wilson, Ram Ramabhadran, and Steve Little.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes for the May and June meetings were approved.
The Treasurer’s report presented by Cindy Innes was accepted.
Old Business
Fall Meeting: The Friday Center is booked for October 5, 2009. Jef French reported that Evan Eichler has not confirmed. He hopes to replace him with Phil Hastings from Baylor, if necessary. Oliver Smithies initially confirmed but may have to cancel. Jef has suggested Jim Evens from UNC as his replacement. He will try to confirm the speakers for the meeting announcement as soon as possible. Jef provided a working estimate of costs for the Fall Meeting. He proposed raising the honoraria to $300 from $200. The facilities charges for 150 registrants would be $4,125, lunch would be $2,625, and reception about $1,500. Menus will be selected at a later date. A cash bar at the reception was discussed. Kristine Witt will order the plaques for award winners, speakers, and outgoing BOD members. Jayne will purchase the Corporate Sponsor gift basket to be raffled at the Meeting. The agenda may be modified depending upon the number of outstanding abstract received for student talks. Jef will draft an email announcement of the meeting/call for abstracts and send it to BOD members for approval. The abstract application should include 1) The type of presentation (poster vs talk), 2) Whether it will be included in the competition, and 3) the position of the presenter (student/postdoc/technician). The BOD was asked to provide email contacts for universities or other laboratory venues to which the announcement can be advertised. Flyers will also be printed for local postings.
It was suggested that we need more detailed and formal feedback forms for judging student presenters. Jayne asked Frank Church at UNC for his poster form. We will need 3 poster judges and 3 seminar judges.
J.D. Wilson will contact vendors for corporate sponsorship. He will send a file of the form to Frank Stack to post on the GEMS website.
Jayne and Cindy set up the Fall Meeting information on the Eventbrite website. It has a fee schedule, meeting agenda, locator box, and registration tally. Registrants will be able to pay by Paypal and Google for a fee (2.5% of ticket price by Eventbrite, 2.2% + 30 cents by Paypal or 2.9% +30 cents by Google) or by check via mail or at the door. The fees will be paid by GEMS. The website was demonstrated to the BOD and it was approved with some edits. The registration price was lowered by $10 from the 2008 Fall fees.
Eddie Ball (NIEHS newsletter) and Steve McCaw (photographer) will be invited to attend the Fall Meeting gratis.
Nomination Committee: 6 BOD positions are available for the 2009 elections: 3 councilors, Secretary, Treasurer, and President-elect. Jackie Bower reported that all open positions have a full slate of candidates except president-elect which has no candidates. Jackie will send the list to Frank to set up the election website.
New Business
Jeff Ross will represent GEMS at the 2010 EMS meeting in Fort Worth, TX. He will be on a committee to propose topics for future EMS meetings. He asked the BOD for suggestions for topics.
Next BOD meeting: Next meeting is scheduled for Monday August 31, 2009 at 3:00 pm at the EPA.
The Board adjourned at 4:35 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – June 1, 2009
Jeff Ross called the meeting to order at 3:25 pm. The following Board members were present: Jeff Ross (president), Cindy Innes (treasurer), Jackie Bower, Joel Meyer, Perpetua Muganda, Stephen Little, JD Wilson, and Ram Ramabhadran.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes for the May meeting were not available. They will be approved during the August meeting.
The Treasurer’s report presented by Cindy Innes was accepted.
Old Business
Fall Meeting: Evaluation forms for student poster and oral presentations were discussed. It was suggested that the evaluation forms be Xeroxed and handed out to the presenters after the fall meeting in order to give the students more feedback. It was also suggested that the evaluation forms be included in the call for abstracts for the fall meeting in order to give the participants an idea of what the judges are looking for in a presentation. A judges panel will also need to be formed before the fall meeting.
Webforms and Paypal for Membership and Meeting Registrations: Jeff has found out that our current web service provider will not charge any additional usage costs to set up a webform for membership applications or meeting registrations. Once a registration is received through the webforms, a Paypal invoice can be sent to the registrant. The paypal account will not require any service or setup fees on GEMS’ end. However, a percentage of the amount received through paypal (approximately service fees of $3.50-$4.00 per $100 of paypal transaction). Therefore, we will only be charged if we use the Paypal account. A motion was made by Joel to implement the webforms and paypal usage, and seconded by Peppy and Cindy. The board voted to implement the webforms and paypal accounts.
Nomination Committee: Jackie Bower has one nominee for secretary (Jayne Boyer), one nominee for treasurer (Cindy Innes), and two nominees for coucillors (Rebecca Fry and Thomas Hughes). We are in desperate need of someone to run for president elect. All GEMS board members are encouraged to contact Jackie if they know anyone who may be interested in running for a GEMS board position. Reminder emails will be sent to the nominating committee in the next week and it is hoped that a full slate of nominees can be produced by June 15th.
Corporate Sponsors: Anyone who might have a person to contact regarding corporate sponsorship is encouraged to let JD know.
New Business
Alternative Meeting Attendance for Some GEMS Meetings: It was suggested that possibly conference calls and/or email may be useful as a replacement for or supplemental way to attend some meetings. Jeff will check the bylaws to see if this is allowed.
Next BOD meeting: Next meeting is scheduled for Monday August 3, 2009 at 3:30 pm at the EPA.
The Board adjourned at 4 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – May 4, 2009
Jeff Ross called the meeting to order at 3:20 pm. The following Board members were present: Jeff Ross (president), JE French (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Cindy Innes (treasurer), Jacqueline Bower, Joel Meyer, Dan Shaughnessy, Carol Swartz, JD, and Steve Little.
Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes for the March and April meetings were approved.
The Treasurer’s report presented by Cindy Innes was accepted. Cindy also provided details of the income and expenses for the Spring Meeting and dues payments. There were 103 registrants and 10 no-shows. Forty-seven people have paid their 2009 dues (with 12 new members.
Old Business
Fall Meeting: The Friday Center is booked for October 5, 2009. Jef French announced the speakers: Tim Robere, Evan Eichler, and Oliver Smithies. The BOD discussed the virtues of a sit-down vs. buffet lunch and decided on a buffet based on cost and time. The Friday Center has a very nice buffet. Jef will look into dividing the lunchroom so that the business meeting can be held there. He will also report on details of materials that are available from the Friday Center for use at the meeting (e.g., pens, paper, poster boards etc). The BOD discussed raising the honorarium above the current $200 but did not make a decision.
We also discussed spending more time recruiting students from local universities like East Carolina and UNC-Wilmington. Carol will get a contact list from small universities, and a company list from the RTP Foundation and NC Biotechnology Center.
It was suggested that we need more detailed and formal feedback forms for judging student presenters. Jayne volunteered to ask Frank Church at UNC for his poster form.
Nomination Committee: Jackie Bower has drafted a letter to the nomination committee and will send it to them. 6 BOD positions are available for the 2009 elections: 3 councilors, Secretary, Treasurer, and President-elect.
Corporate Sponsors: No news.
Next BOD meeting: Next meeting is scheduled for Monday June 1, 2009 at 3:00 pm at the EPA.
The Board adjourned at 3:55 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – April 6, 2009
Jeff Ross called the meeting to order at 3:05 pm. The following Board members were present: Jeff Ross (president), JE French (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Cindy Innes (treasurer), Jacqueline Bower, Joel Meyer, Perpetua Muganda, Stephanie Smith-Roe, Dan Shaughnessy, Carol Swartz, Carolyn Harris, JD Wilson, Kristine Witt, and Ram Ramabhadran.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes for the March meeting were not available. They will be approved during the May meeting.
The Treasurer’s report presented by Cindy Innes was accepted.
Old Business
Spring Meeting: Jef French will send an email to RTI, ILS, the Hamner Institute and the NC Biotechnology Center to as a reminder for the Spring Meeting and an announcement of the Fall Meeting.
A slide is needed to acknowledge NIEHS for the $10,000 grant for the Spring and Fall meetings.
An attendee list is needed for the catering service by the Thursday before the meeting (about 85 are registered so far) and a list of names and affiliations for security (Joseph Williams) by April 7. Jef announced and change in speakers since Allison Harrill could not make the meeting. David Threadgill will speak in her stead. Frank Stack will post a new flyer on the website with the change.
Kristine Witt has ordered and received the speaker plaques. She will order a new one for David Threadgill. Jeff reserved a laptop for the meeting that runs a 2003 Windows PowerPoint program. Jef will contact the speakers about their PowerPoint compatibility. Cindy reported that she is making the name badges as people register by mail.
Fall Meeting: Jef reported that the Friday Center is booked for October 5, 2009. He will make a slide for the Spring Meeting announcing the Fall Meeting.
Someone suggested contacting the NC Biotechnology center to see if they offer grants for scientific meetings. GEMS could apply for one for the Fall Meeting.
Nomination Committee: Jackie Bower has a list of members that are on the nominating committee.
Corporate Sponsors: JD Wilson did not anything to report. He plans on contacting Ann Williams to help with recruitment.
New Business
NIEHS Career Fair: The fair will be held in May. Joel and Carol will have a table to represent GEMS. We donated $100 to the fair last year and will do so again this year.
On-line meeting registration: Several GEMS members suggested that GEMS offer online payment of registration and dues. Frank Stack was not present to comment on this, however there was much discussion among the Board. These types of services require a fee. Some services generate an Excel list of payees that would be useful. What are the issues of Microsoft vs. Unix hosting? Our present web host has a gateway for online payment but it uses Pay Pal. Government employees are prohibited from using this method. Papal also has high fees for transactions. Jeff Ross said that there are other sites that are less expensive for non-profit organizations. Jeff Ross will consult with Frank and will have a list of payment options for next meeting.
Next BOD meeting: Next meeting is scheduled for Monday May 4, 2009 at 3:00 pm at the EPA.
The Board adjourned at 4:10 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – February 2, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm by Jeff Ross. The following Board members were present: Jeff Ross (president), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Cindy Innes (treasurer), Perpetua Muganda, Stephanie Smith-Roe, Frank Stack, Kristine Witt, Carolyn Harris, Steve Little, and Jacquelyn Bower.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the January 5, 2009 meeting were approved.
The Treasurer’s report presented by Cindy Innes was also accepted.
Old Business
Tax Filing: Cindy believes that Heather Floyd may have submitted the federal tax form for 2007. She will email her for confirmation. Cindy reported that the gross income for GEMS for 2008 was $17,988.45 – well under the $25,000-averaged-over-3 year-limit.
GSK GIVE program: JD Wilson and Jeff Ross’s wife will be contacted to see if GSK announced their gift to GEMS for their volunteerism. It is possible that GEMS could receive $500 per GSK employee volunteer.
Spring and Fall meetings: Jeff Ross read a note from Jef French concerning the NIEHS grant for which he applied for the Fall Meeting. The grant was approved in the full amount of $10,000! The money will be transferred soon to GEMS. The Friday Center has been reserved for Monday, October 5, 2009 for the Fall Meeting. He will confirm the speakers for both meetings by mid February.
Jeff Ross suggested lowering registration fees for both meetings if GEMS receives all of the donated monies.
Nominating Committee: Jackie Bower announced that a nominating committee of 5 people, 3 of which cannot be BOD members has been formed. As soon as there is a slate of candidates, she will email the list and their biographies to the committee.
Membership maintenance: Jeff Ross will wait on the dues reminder email until speakers are confirmed for the two meetings. This will be included in the dues request. He will encourage the membership to take advantage of lifetime memberships for $100. Frank Stack commented that it is more difficult to keep current emails on lifetime members since they don’t pay dues regularly.
The BOD discussed organizing membership lists into 1) active and current on dues, 2) active and not current on dues, and 3) inactive but still gets our emails. Peppy, Frank, and Carolyn will discuss merging and comparing email lists.
There still is a problem getting members to confirm their email address on the 1on1.com list since it takes 2 emails to confirm, and that the email has a German address and may look like spam. These emails may also be blocked by spam filters. Jeff suggested looking into other email groups. Carolyn suggested bringing a laptop computer to the meetings so that members can do their first sign-up section at the meeting with instructions on how to complete it later. She will also send instructions on how to sign up to our newest members.
Workshops: The BOD discussed setting up a poll on the website or providing a paper poll at the meeting for workshop suggestions. A jobs bulletin board on GEMS website was discussed. Frank Stack suggested posting a link to professional sites like jobs.com rather than trying to manage our own. His experience with a similar site on the EMS webpage in the past was underutilized.
New Business
Cindy Innes researched various RBC bank CDs for which GEMS to invest. The BOD approved placing $10,000 of money market funds into a CD that has a withdrawal window of 3 days every 6 months up to 24 months. The interest rates increase every 6 months starting from 2.0% reaching 3.25% at 24 months. The BOD suggested making a note of the 6 month anniversaries so that the BOD could meet prior to the 3 day window of withdrawal.
The Board adjourned at 4:12 pm.
Next BOD meeting
The next meeting will occur on Monday, March 2, 2009 at 3 pm. (Jeff will try to hold future meetings on the first Monday of the month). He will try to reserve the new NIEHS location (Room 1003A, 530 Davis Drive). Kristine was the sponsor of this meeting but will not be present at the March meeting. Jeff will ask Frank, Cindy or Jef to be the employee sponsor.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – January 5, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm by Jeff Ross. The following Board members were present: Jeff Ross (president), Jef French (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Cindy Innes (treasurer), Kristine Witt, Joel Meyer, Carol Swartz, J.D. Wilson, Steve Little, Jacquelyn Bower, and Ram Ramabhadran.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the January 5, 2009 meeting were approved.
The Treasurer’s report presented by Cindy Innes was also accepted.
Old Business
Spring Meeting: Jef French presented a proposal to organize the topic of “Copy Number Variation” into two programs, which would be presented at the Spring and Fall meetings. The subtopic for the Spring meeting would be “Genome Architecture: The role for copy number and structural variation” and the Fall meeting would be “Dissecting the Genome Structure, Genetic Traits, and the role of mutagenesis in environmental exposures and complex disease”. The BOD liked the continuity between the Spring and Fall meeting programs and approved the proposal. Jef has invited 4 speakers for the Spring (Petes or Resnick, Pardo-Manuel de Villena, Rusyn, and Lee) and feels that most are probably available. He has also spoken to 3 potential speakers for the Fall meeting (Threadgill, Eichler, and Smithes) who are most likely available on October 6. It was suggested to announce the Fall meeting agenda at the Spring meeting so that attendees could mark their calendars. Jef will contact the Friday Center about booking a date for the Fall Meeting. Jeff Ross will provide notes from the last meeting held at the Friday Center and will also provide the catering information from the EPA for the Spring meeting.
Tax Filing: Jeff Ross researched the tax status and responsibilities of a non-profit organization as GEMS. In 2007, a law was passed that requires a cap on the gross receipts for a year (must be <$25,000 over a 3 yr average). GEMS must also file Form 990N e-postcard yearly, but there is not a late penalty. GEMS needs to file for 2007 and 2008. Cindy will try to find 2007 financial information. There should be scanned copies of the financials from Heather Floyd for that year. Jeff will contact the State of North Carolina to determine if we need to file the 990 or 990EZ form as well. The BOD suggested that GEMS may need to hire an accountant.
Nominating Committee: A nominating committee of 5 people, 3 of which cannot be BOD members must be formed. Jackie Bower agreed to be the Chair and James Allen also volunteered. Jayne will give Jackie a list of past nominating committee members.
Cindy thought that the by-laws had a different schedule of elections for the Treasurer. When the by-laws were checked, it was confirmed that the Treasurer takes office January 1 (the beginning of the fiscal year) instead of in the fall, and that the election slate must be chosen by July.
Membership maintenance: A reminder must be sent to the membership for dues to be paid in January. Carolyn Harris has the membership list and Peppy Muganda or Frank Stack will send out the emails. It was suggested to also include the Spring meeting announcement with the reminder. Jef will lock in the speakers so that the program can be included.
Workshops: A few topics for workshops were suggested: High throughput sequencing and CV writing. The BOD discussed setting up a poll on the website or providing a paper poll at the meeting for workshop suggestions.
Jeff Ross will talk to Frank Stack about the suggested employment page.
New Business
None.
The Board adjourned at 4:10 pm.
Next BOD meeting
Jeff Ross will contact the BOD with the time and location of the next meeting.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – December 2, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 3:07 pm by Jeff Ross. The following Board members were present: Jeff Ross (president), Jef French (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Cindy Innes (treasurer), Stephanie Smith-Roe, Carol Swartz, J.D. Wilson, Steve Little, and Ram Ramabhadran.
Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the November 3, 2008 meeting were accepted.
The Treasurer’s report presented by Jayne Boyer was also accepted.
Jayne mailed documents for the GSK gift grant that should total $1000, if granted. GSK awards grants to non-profit organizations where GSK employees and their spouses volunteer.
Jayne inquired as to whether there would be a problem with GEMS’ non-profit status if we have assets totaling more than $25,000. Jeff Ross will research the rules.
Cindy Innes received approval by NIEHS to volunteer as the GEMS treasurer. She will take over for the remainder of Heather Floyd’s term.
Old Business
Spring Meeting: Jef French will apply for a meeting grant (up to $10K) from the DIR conference committee at NIEHS for either both or just the Fall Meeting. Applications are due in December and will be reviewed in January. He will use Rose Anne McGee’s notes as a guide for the application. The Spring Meeting will take place on April 13, 2009 at the US EPA. The BOD approved the topic of “Copy Number Variation” for the meeting. Jef will provide a slate of speakers for the next BOD meeting.
Fall Meeting: The venue for the Fall Meeting will most likely be the Friday Center at UNC, however, Jef will evaluate costs of various locations. He will also talk to Oliver Smithes about presenting at the Fall Meeting.
GEMS email list: Jef will speak to Frank Stack about updating and consolidating the list.
The sharing of our email list was discussed after several corporate sponsors inquired about getting a copy. GEMS policy is to share the membership list as a benefit of sponsorship with the caveat that the sponsor has to collect email addresses from interested members at the Fall Meeting.
Dues: Jeff Ross reported that the bylaws state that dues are due January 1 and past-due members will get a notice in June to request that they re-join. Email reminders should be sent in January to current members (except those that are lifetime members). It was also suggested that the email contain a pre-announcement of the Spring Meeting so that members could mark their calendars. He also suggested making a list of non-members who might want to attend meetings but not join the organization. Updates about the meeting could be emailed every month or so. The BOD also discussed the possible use of a web log (blog).
Jeff Ross reminded the BOD that we would have to pay for program printing now that Rose Anne McGee is no longer on the BOD. NIEHS used to provide the paper, and she and others would put together the programs.
Archiving: Jeff Ross will determine how many more documnets need to be scanned into the archives. Rose Anne McGee had begun the process this year.
New Business
The BOD discussed methods on how the society can be more valuable to the membership and to keep members active in hard economic times. Three suggestions were made: 1) Employment opportunities: provide a space on the website for employers to post positions, 2) Edit the judge’s form for the talk and poster sessions to include feedback for the presenter, and 3) Sponsor workshops: possible topics will be discussed at the next meeting.
The Board adjourned at 4:15 pm.
Next BOD meeting
The next meeting will take place in Room B101 at the US EPA. Jeff Ross will email the BOD with the time and date.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – November 3, 2008
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – November 3, 2008 The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm by Jeff Ross. The following Board members were present: Jeff Ross (president), Jeff French (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary, interim treasurer), Jacquelyn Bower, Stephanie Smith-Roe, Cindy Innes, Dan Shaughnessy, Carol Swartz, Kristine Witt, J.D. Wilson, and Peppy Muganda.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the September 8, 2008 meeting were accepted.
The Treasurer’s report was also accepted. Since many of the expenses for the Fall 2008 meeting had not been on the latest bank statement, Jayne made a list of expenses and income which indicated that the meeting was monetarily self-sufficient.
Old Business
Outreach
Rose Anne and Dan are still planning to go to UNC and NC State to talk to students about the goals of GEMS and the benefits of membership.
Fall Meeting: Jeff Ross was congratulated for having organized a well-attended and interesting Fall Meeting on “Inflammation and Cancer”. The Board discussed some of the problems that were noted with the mechanics of the meeting. There were problems with the A/V system in the morning, the quality of the lunch was disappointing and serving time too slow (if we used the Radisson again, we may want to try the buffet), and vendor space is too small. Jeff noted that the total price for the Radisson was not much less than that for the Friday Center at UNC. Jeff suggested booking nest year’s venue as soon as possible because large meeting facilities get booked early and well-known speakers’ calendars also fill up. Jeff French will look into a new venue for the Fall 2009 Meeting. Dan suggested the Sheraton in Chapel Hill. Jeff will also inquire at the Friday Center. It was suggested to send out a NIEHS- and EPA-wide email announcement a month before a GEMS meeting to alert possible registrants early.
There were 116 pre-registrants, 5 walk-ins, 19 vendors, 1 photographer, 1 news-writer, and 3 speakers.
Rose Anne McGee delivered a box of archived GEMS materials, much of which were scanned and copied onto CDs for easier storage. Who will continue to scan old GEMS materials? Steve Little was suggested as a candidate archivist. Stephanie suggested hiring Kinkos to scan the archives.
New Business
GEMS needs our email list(s) updated and consolidated. There are several lists with different purposes. Frank, Carolyn, and Peppy are working together on this project.
Jayne suggested changing membership dues acceptance dates to once-a-year because it is too complicated to keep track of dues submitted at different times during the year. Jeff thinks that it may already be in the by-laws. He will check on this.
A thank-you letter was received from Dana Dolinoy, a 2007 best talk winner, for the GEMS-sponsored meeting that she attended. It was suggested that we publish the letter in the Spring Meeting program and also use it in the Outreach Program.
Spring Meeting: The Spring Meeting will be held at the US EPA and will be a half-day event. It was suggested to have the check-in table at the top of the steps near the guard table to ease the process. The BOD was asked to check on conflicting dates in the spring (eg, SOT, AACR, Lineberger Cancer Center meetings, religious holidays). Jeff will check on open dates at the EPA. The meeting will be similar to that of last spring, starting with lunch, several hours of talks and ending with a reception. Possible topics include: copy number variation and mitochondrial diseases.
Jeff Ross cannot apply for the NIEHS meeting grant for the Spring Meeting because he is not an employee. Jeff French will talk to Rose Anne McGee about the due dates for meeting support grants from NIEHS. He will also inquire about NC Biotechnology Center meeting grants. It was suggested that Oliver Smithes might be a good addition to the Fall line-up. His calendar fills quickly and should be consulted soon.
Ann Williams from Bartlett-Williams Sci Res. has agreed to replace Julie Ginsler as the corporate sponsor.
The Board adjourned at 4:30 pm.
Next BOD meeting
The next meeting time and place will be announced by Jeff Ross via email.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – September 8, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm by Rose Anne McGee, president. The following Board members were present: Rose Anne McGee, Jeff Ross (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary, interim treasurer), Cindy Innes, Dan Shaughnessy, Carol Swartz, Kristine Witt, J.D. Wilson, Steve Little, Joel Meyer, and Peppy Muganda. Rose Anne generously provided snacks and drinks.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the August 4, 2008 meeting were accepted.
The Treasurer’s report was given by Jayne Boyer. The report was accepted by the BOD.
Old Business
Corporate Sponsor Report: JD and Kristine reported that Julie Ginsler would like to resign as Corporate Sponsor. They have been contacting potential sponsors for the Fall Meeting. Rose Anne asked to give the sponsors a cut-off date for placing ads in the Abstract book (September 25).
GEMS Elections: Elections were reported by Frank Stack to be going well. Frank emailed the BOD an update that 23% of the membership had voted thus far.
Outreach: Rose Anne and Dan are planning to go to UNC and NC State to talk to students about the goals of GEMS and the benefits of membership. Jayne will speak to Fernando de Pardo (Genetics Dept., UNC) about giving them 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the Wed. seminar.
Fall Meeting: The Fall Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 6, 2008. The approved topic is Inflammation and Cancer. The meeting will be organized similarly to the Fall 2007 meeting. Jeff Ross has three confirmed speakers. They are Leona Sampson (MIT), Elaine Lin (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), and Patricia Moorman (Duke University).
Rose Anne reported that she has received 4 abstracts for posters and 4 for talks.
Jeff will look into a sign to advertise the meeting for the lobby of the Radisson.
He hasn’t received flight information from the speakers yet.
Minnie McNary would like to give a poster of students’ work that have already left her laboratory. Poster and talk judges are Carol, Peppy, Dan, Les Recio, Joel and Kristine.
Jayne Boyer will purchase the Southern Season basket for the corporate sponsor drawing.
New Business
Rose Anne suggested that GEMS give gifts of appreciation to Frank Stack, Diane Spencer and Julie Ginsler. She will arrange to purchase gift cards.
Jeff suggested a new venue for future GEMS BOD meetings. He could reserve a room at the EPA but security issues would have to be addressed for non-governmental BOD members. Carol said that she might also be able to get a room at ILS.
Rose Anne has copied 2 years of GEMS archives onto CDs. She plans to finish soon.
Next BOD meeting
The next meeting will be Monday, Nov. 3, 2008 at 3:00 pm in NIEHS 4401 Building Room 122.
The Board adjourned at 4:00 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – August 4, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 3:05 pm by Rose Anne McGee, president. The following Board members were present: Rose Anne McGee, Jeff Ross (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Heather Floyd (treasurer), Cindy Innes, Dan Shaughnessy, Carol Swartz, Kristine Witt, J.D. Wilson, and Peppy Muganda. Rose Anne kindly provided sandwiches and drinks.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the July 7, 2008 meeting were accepted.
Heather Floyd reported GEMS financial activities for July 2008. Heather reimbursed Carleitta Paige for her Travel Award and sent Dana Delinoy funds towards her chosen meeting. The financial reports were accepted by the BOD. Heather announced that she has accepted a new position and resigned as Treasurer. Jayne Boyer volunteered to be Interim Treasurer until October when Cindy Innes will take over the duties until the end of Heather’s term. Heather gave the Treasury materials to Jayne after the meeting. The BOD presented Heather with a gift of appreciation.
Old Business
Corporate Sponsor Report: J.D. had correspondence from RJ Reynolds about becoming a corporate sponsor for the Fall Meeting. Rose Anne suggested that the corporate sponsor form be updated before giving it to Julie to disseminate. Kristine Witt volunteered to contact Julie Ginsler to determine her level of involvement with corporate sponsorship for the Fall Meeting.
GEMS Elections: Jayne and the Election Nomination Committee will approve the list of candidates and Frank Stack will place the biosketches on the GEMS website. Jayne will confirm that the candidates are members in good standing. It was reported that there is a problem with the current GEMS membership email list. Some email addresses of members have changed. We need to determine the current addresses so that the members will be able to vote. RA suggested that the BOD divide up the list and test the validity of the addresses. Ballots need to be ready by Sept. 5, the first day of elections. Members will be given 10 days (Sept. 5-15) in which to register their vote online. The BOD called Frank Stack to discuss the election details. Heather Floyd has the list of newest members (those that joined Spring 2008) and will give to Jayne, Rose Anne, and Frank. Frank said that members must be on the One-on-One list in order to use the election site. Jeff Ross suggested putting a link on the GEMS website to add a member’s email address to the list. Rose Anne will ask Frank about this possibility.
Outreach: Rose Anne and Dan are planning to go to UNC and NC State to talk to students in September about the goals of GEMS and the benefits of membership.
Fall Meeting: The Fall Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 6, 2008. The approved topic is Inflammation and Cancer. The meeting will be organized similarly to the Fall 2007 meeting. Jeff Ross has three confirmed speakers. They are Leona Sampson (MIT), Elaine Lin (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), and Patricia Moorman (Duke University). Jeff has reserved hotel rooms for the out-of-town speakers.
Jeff presented a spreadsheet of itemized meeting costs. If we get between 125 and 150 registrants, he predicts that the cost to GEMS will be close to $0. This includes a $5000 NIEHS grant.
Posterboards (10 double-sided) won’t be delivered until 6am the day of the meeting. This should not be a problem.
Jeff wrote a statement about the Fall GEMS Meeting for the NCSOT Newsletter.
Judges for the poster and short talk presentations are needed. Carol, Peppy, and Dan volunteered.
Cindy noticed that the no-refund disclaimer was not included on the registration form.
Next BOD meeting
The next meeting will be Monday, Sept. 8, 2008 at 3:00 pm in NIEHS 4401 Building Room 122.
The Board adjourned at 4:10 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – July 7, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm by RoseAnne McGee, president. The following Board members were present: RoseAnne McGee, Jeff Ross (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Heather Floyd (treasurer), Cindy Innes, Steve Little, Dan Shaughnessy, Mac Law, Carol Swartz, Kristin Witt, and Peppy Muganda. Rose Anne kindly provided sandwiches and drinks.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the June 2, 2008 meeting were accepted with a minor change.
Heather Floyd gave an overview of the GEMS financial activities for the past two months. Detailed reports were provided for May and June 2008. GEMS currently has a checking account balance of $11,568.09 and a money market account balance of $17,572.78. The financial reports were accepted by the BOD.
Carleitta Paige reported that she overspent her travel award and has requested additional funds from GEMS to cover them. The BOD voted to deny the request because the award is given as a set amount. Heather will request Carlietta’s receipts for the trip and the remaining $750 will be sent to her. Dana Delinoy, the second award recipient, has chosen a meeting to attend. Heather will send her a $750 advance payment.
Old Business
Corporate Sponsor Report: J.D. is still trying to contact Julie Ginsler about corporate sponsors for the Fall Meeting.
GEMS Elections: Rose Anne and Carol Harris, with Frank Stack’s help, will set up the online election ballot. Current members and those one year out-of-date from paying dues will be permitted to vote. RoseAnne will send another email to the membership asking for nominations. Jayne Boyer will chair the nomination/election committee. Jayne will remind Jackie Bower, Stephanie Smith-Roe and Dennis Simpson to submit their professional biographies and dues prior to the election.
Fall Meeting: The Fall Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 6, 2008. The approved topic is Inflammation and Cancer. The meeting will be organized similarly to the Fall 2007 meeting. Jeff Ross is contacting potential speakers. Thus far, Leona Samson (MIT) has accepted the invitation. Three others have declined and three have not responded.
Jeff submitted a draft announcement and registration form to the BOD which was accepted. It will be placed on the website by Frank Stack. Peppy Muganda will email these forms as well as a “call for abstracts” to the membership and key individuals at various universities. The suggested discount for postdocs was not included on the registration form because of logistics.
Jeff will work on street directions to the Fall Meeting and providing an easel for room directions to be placed in the hotel lobby
Jeff presented the BOD with a draft agenda for the Fall 2008 Meeting. The all-day meeting will start at 8:30 am and end at 5:00 PM. He also estimated the total cost for the meeting to be $5000 - $7,000 for 100-225 attendees. Rose Anne announced that NIEHS awarded GEMS a $5000 grant for the Fall Meeting. Congratulations, Rose Anne! Thank you for your efforts!
Carol Swartz, Heather Floyd, and Jayne Boyer will man the registration table. Jayne will purchase the corporate sponsor basket from A Southern Season.
NCSOT requested a paragraph about our Fall Meeting for their newsletter. One will be provided to them when speakers are confirmed.
Other:
Carleitta Paige provided the BOD with a report on her GEMS-sponsored trip to the 2008 American Society for Microbiology in Boston, MA. She presented a poster on her work describing the characterization of an essential gene in Bacillus anthracis as a novel target for therapeutic intervention.
Next BOD meeting:
The next meeting will be Monday, August 4, 2008 at 3:00 pm in NIEHS 4401 Building Room 3162.
The Board adjourned at 4:00 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – June 2, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 3:15 pm by RoseAnne McGee, president. The following Board members were present: RoseAnne McGee, Jeff Ross (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Heather Floyd (treasurer), Cindy Innes, JD Wilson, Dan Shaughnessy, and Peppy Muganda. Rose Anne provided fruit, appetizers, and drinks.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the May 5, 2008 meeting were accepted.
Heather Floyd gave an overview of the GEMS financial activities over the last month. Several checks were written by Jayne Boyer which included a deposit for the Radisson for the Fall Meeting, partial payment to Carleitta Paige for her travels and a few other miscellaneous expenditures. She did not have a copy of the Treasurer’s Report for May 2008 but will bring a summary of May and June to the July meeting.
Old Business
Corporate Sponsor Report: J.D. will contact Julie Ginsler about corporate sponsors for the Fall Meeting. The Fall 2007 meeting had 17 sponsors.
GEMS Elections: RoseAnne sent out a call for nominations for the BOD. She received only one nomination and biosketch for councilor. Board members made a few suggestions for nominations and promised to urge others to summit names for the election. RoseAnne has asked Carol Harris and Greg Stewart if they would like to volunteer to run the electronic election. She has not heard back from either.
Fall Meeting: The Fall Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 6, 2008. The approved topic is Inflammation and Cancer. The meeting will be organized similarly to the Fall 2007 meeting. Jeff Ross is making a list of possible speakers and will contact several soon.
Jeff estimates the cost for 150 attendees will be about $10,000. The cost of the room rental at the Radisson will be $2500. Audio/visual supplies including 2 microphones, a mixer, and a 10x10 screen will cost $245. Jeff will bring a projector and laptop computer. He will also inquire about a podium for the lunch-time business meeting. The Radisson will provide a break package of morning coffee and pastries, soft drinks at the break, and afternoon break drinks and snacks for $23 per person. A sit-down lunch ($23/person) of Chicken Marsala was chosen. Various menu items were discussed for the after-meeting reception. Other costs for the meeting include: poster boards, honoraria, awards, corporate sponsor gift basket, programs, and speaker travel and lodging.
The BOD accepted an adjusted fee schedule for the meeting. Registration will be $50 (paid before Sept 6, 2008) or $60 for members. Nonmembers’ fee will be $65 (paid before Sept 6, 2008) or $75 and students (not including post-docs) will pay $5. It was suggested that as an incentive for post-docs to submit a poster, they be given a $10 discount on their registration if an abstract is submitted by Sept. 5, 2008. The Board discussed the need for more posters at the meeting. It was suggested that an emphasis be made in the Call for Abstracts that the posters can be on any topic – not just those related to the meeting topic. As in the past, the prize for best poster in each of 3 categories (graduate student, technician, and post-doc) is $250. The best talk prize is $1500 towards attendance of a scientific meeting. Jeff will send a Call for Abstracts by email soon.
It was noted that a box for a vegetarian meal choice needs to be added to the registration form.
Other Items:
RoseAnne has submitted a grant proposal to NIEHS for funding for the Fall Meeting. The NIEHS committee that decides funding will meet in June.
Frank Stack has requested a reduction in some of his GEMS duties. Peppy Muganda has volunteered to take over the membership announcement emails.
Next BOD meeting
The next meeting will be Monday, July 7, 2008 at 3:00 pm in NIEHS 4401 Building Room 122.
The Board adjourned at 4:20 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – May 5, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm by RoseAnne McGee, president. The following Board members were present: RoseAnne McGee, Jeff Ross (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Heather Floyd (treasurer), Joel Myer, Cindy Innes, Mac Law, Carol Swartz, JD Wilson and Kristine Witt. Rose Anne provided pizza, chicken wings, and drinks.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the April 7, 2008 meeting were accepted.
Heather Floyd reported on GEMS financial summary.
Old Business
Spring meeting:
The Spring Meeting was well attended (over 100 registrants). Congratulations were given to organizers, Jeff Ross and RoseAnne McGee as well as other helpful Board members.
An article about the meeting will be published in the NIEHS Factor by Eddie Ball.
Corporate Sponsor Report: None available.
GEMS Elections: RoseAnne will send out a call for nominations for the BOD.
Young Scientist Outreach Program: Dan Shaughnessy and RoseAnne McGee spoke to about 50 students at NC A&T Wednesday, April 9 about GEMS activities. This was arranged by Board member Perpetua Muganda, professor at the university.
Jayne Boyer will ask Terry Magnuson, Chair of Genetics Dept at UNC, if GEMS can do a short presentation to students and postdocs at their weekly seminar series on Wednesdays at noon.
Other members with venue suggestions for the Outreach program are asked to contact RoseAnne McGee.
Fall Meeting: The Fall Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 6, 2008. The approved topic is Inflammation and Cancer. Jeff requested the Board to email speaker suggestions to him. The meeting will be organized similarly to the Fall 2007 meeting. The Radisson will provide morning coffee, soft drinks at the break, a sit-down lunch ($14-$20/person) and an end-of-meeting reception. Jeff Ross will investigate whether to use the Radisson’s audio/visual services or contract with Image Associates. Proposed registration fees are $50-$60. The increase in fees are due to the higher Fall Meeting expenses.
Because of past problems with requests for refunds for registrants that don’t attend, the Board has agreed to eliminate this practice and to print a disclaimer on the registration form. Those who requested refunds for the Spring 2008 meeting will be allowed to apply it to the Fall meeting.
Call for Abstracts for the Fall meeting will occur around June 15, 2008. Abstracts will be due Friday, September 12, 2008. The first six requests by students or postdocs to give a talk will be given a time slot. The remainder will be assigned a poster.
RoseAnne will submit a grant proposal to NIEHS for funding for the Fall Meeting.
NIEHS Career Fair: GEMS sponsored a table at the career fair April 25, 2008. Joel Meyer and Carol Swartz manned the table. GEMS also donated $100 to the Fair. Dan Shaughnessy prepared a tri-fold poster for the event and Carol made flyers about GEMS. Membership forms and flyers were made available at the table. Extra flyers are available for future events.
Webmaster: Frank Stack has requested to retire from this position. The BOD will search for a suitable replacement.
Next BOD meeting:
The next meeting will be Monday, June 2, 2008 at 3:00 pm in NIEHS 4401 Building Room 122.
The Board adjourned at 4:15 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – April 7, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm by RoseAnne McGee, president. The following Board members were present: RoseAnne McGee, Jeff Ross (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Heather Floyd (treasurer), Steve Little, Joel Myer, Perpetua Muganda, and Dan Shaughnessy. Rose Anne provided a delicious array of cheese, crackers, fruit salad, and drinks.Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
The minutes from the March 10, 2008 meeting were accepted.
Heather Floyd reported on GEMS financial summary and the treasurer’s report was accepted by the Board. Heather is still looking into a better money market rate.
Jayne Boyer is now able to use the GEMS banking accounts.
Old Business
Spring meeting:
The EPA catering group needs the number of Spring meeting registrants and speakers one week in advance. Heather will bring checkbook for the honoraria checks. Jeff suggested using the EPA catering for the reception also. They can provide cookies, brownies and soft drinks for $5/person. The Board discussed the lateness of the meeting and how long participants were likely to stay. It was suggested that 50% might stay for the reception and that the numbers given to the catering company reflect this expectation.
A NIEHS sponsor slide is needed for the meeting.
RoseAnne will prepare a 1-2 page program for the meeting. Heather designed new name tags for Board members and will use the ribboned tags for the speakers. Kristine has ordered all of the awards.
It was mentioned that one of the invited speakers may not be able to attend the meeting and that we can adjust the schedule.
Corporate Sponsor Report: None available.
GEMS Elections: Steve Little will contact Errol Zeiger for legal advice.
Young Scientist Outreach Program: RoseAnne will speak to students at NC A&T Wednesday April 9 about GEMS activities. This was arranged by Board member Perpetua Muganda, professor at the university.
Grant proposal: RoseAnne reported that the new proposal for money for the Fall Meeting from NIEHS was almost complete and will be submitted soon.
Student Outreach: Rose Anne McGee and Dan Shaughnessey plan to promote GEMS to students to increase membership of younger scientists. They are looking into avenues to do so.
Fall Meeting: Jeff will attend some inflammation and cancer talks at the April 2008 AACR meeting to get ideas for speakers for our Fall meeting. Jeff requested the Board to email speaker suggestions to him.
NIEHS Career Fair: GEMS will sponsor a table at the career fair April 25, 2008. Joel Meyer offered to man the table. Carol Swartz needs a check for the table. The Board agreed to donate $100. Dan and Joel volunteered to prepare a tri-fold poster for the event. Membership forms will also be available at the table. It was suggested to include the Fall Meeting topic and past winners of student prizes on the poster.
RoseAnne is still doing GEMS archive scanning and recording onto CDs.
New Business
Carleitta Paige inquired about using the money that she won at the Fall Meeting towards attending a scientific conference. RoseAnne emailed her the rules about its use and referred her to the GEMS treasurer for funds. She will ask Carlitta for a short report of the American Society of Microbiology meeting that she will attend in Boston.
Jeff reported that GSK has a program for donating money to non-profit organizations based on volunteer hours by employees and family members. He may be able to earn GEMS $500 for his time on the Board.
The EMS requested information about GEMS be provided for their newsletter. RoseAnne will send them information about our latest Fall and Spring meetings and a short story about our student winners who attended the EMS meeting.
The next meeting will be May 5, 2008 at 3:00 pm in NIEHS 4401 Building Room 122.
The Board adjourned at 4:00 pm.
GEMS Board of Directors Meeting – February 12, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm by Rose Anne McGee, president. The following Board members were present: Rose Anne McGee, Jeff Ross (president-elect), Jayne Boyer (secretary), Heather Floyd (treasurer), Cindy Innes, Kristine Witt, John D. Wilson, and Steve Little. Rose Anne provided a lovely selection of Valentine and birthday snacks and drinks.
Reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
- Rose Anne spoke with Gloria Jahnke (former GEMS secretary) about whether minutes were recorded at the Fall Meeting. Gloria reported that none were usually taken. The Board suggested that this may be considered in the future. Jayne Boyer distributed the latest version of the minutes from December 2008 and they were accepted by the Board. Jayne will send a copy to Frank Stack to post on the GEMS website.
- Heather Floyd presented the Treasurer’s report. In December, NIEHS approved a donation of $4000 to GEMS to help to cover the costs of the Fall 2007 meeting. Since the money has not been received by GEMS, Heather will contact The Institute to see if it has been sent.
- Another co-signer of the GEMS checks is needed in case the Treasurer is not available. Heather will contact Jayne about meeting at the bank to arrange for this approval.
- The Board discussed looking into getting a better interest rate for our money market account.
- Dan Shaughnessy needs to be reimbursed for the $50 gift card that was given to Greg Stuart.
- The Treasurer’s report was accepted.
Old Business
- RoseAnne is still looking into a student outreach program. She will contact Bruce Casto about the possibility of giving a workshop.
- RoseAnne asked for and received a timeline to prepare for meetings from former President Tom Hughes. Jeff Ross has a copy and will set a timeline for the Spring and Fall meetings soon.
- Credit card payment for our meetings was found not to be a viable option because of cost. A 3-tiered payment option was approved by the Board.
New Business
- The Board is interested in recruiting younger scientists into the society. Rose Anne presented ideas about recruitment opportunities at universities in the area. She suggested presenting information about the society during a class. It was also suggested that we concentrate on recruiting at historically black universities. Along with recruiting younger members to GEMS, the Board also discussed expanding the sphere of our presentations to keep up with “modern” genetic toxicology.
- Rose Anne has begun to scan and save GEMS documents into CDs to decrease the volume of records. She has 25 years of check receipts but will save the last 7 years. Steve Little volunteered to scan a box of color photos.
- The Board discussed and approved John Wilson as our liaison to corporate members. Since our Corporate Board member is a volunteer position, we thought that it was better to have an elected Board member assigned to contact Corporate sponsors and the Corporate Board member.
- A scientist from Turkey expressed interest in joining GEMS. He will send the membership dues by mail.
Spring meeting
- Jeff Ross has set the date for the Spring Meeting for Monday, April 21, 2008 and it will be held at the US EPA from approximately 11:15 am to 5:00 pm. The title of the meeting is “Micro-RNAs in Disease”. There will be 4 speakers; he has contacted several local and outside researchers.
- Jeff will be out of town prior to the meeting and will need help for last minute preparations. He has spoken with the EPA catering group about providing food for the break and lunch. They have boxed lunches for $10 per person. The Board discussed providing our own food for the reception, however. Rose Anne who is a former caterer volunteered to coordinate the reception. We discussed the potential food problem of the meeting being held during Passover but decided that we could not accommodate the special food needs of the holiday. Jeff will give the caterer the head count a week prior to the meeting.
- The Board approved the Spring Meeting plans.
Fall Meeting 2008
- Jeff reported searching for a venue for the Fall Meeting. Many hotels are already booked for October. The Radisson is still available for a few Mondays in that month. He will tentatively reserve Oct. 6 at the Radisson while he waits to hear from other venues.
- The Board considered a few topics for the Fall Meeting (Cancer Stem cells, Inflammation and Disease, Infectious Disease and Cancer) before choosing “Inflammation and Disease” as a tentative title.
The next Board meeting was set for Monday, March 3, 2008 at 3:00 pm. April 7 has been chosen for the meeting after. The GEMS meeting was adjourned at 4:25 pm.