1998 NATIONAL
DROSOPHILA BOARD MEETING
1. SUMMARY
OF MINUTES
2.
APPROVAL OF THE 1997 MINUTES
3. 1998
BOARD MEMBERSHIP AND ELECTIONS
a)
Current Composition
b)
Changes for 1999
4. REPORT OF THE 1998 PROGRAM COMMITTEE (Terry Orr-Weaver, Kristen White, Laurel Raftery)
5. REPORT
OF THE SANDLER LECTURER COMMITTEE (R. Scott Hawley)
6. REPORT
OF THE 1999 PROGRAM COMMITTEE (Barbara Wakimoto, Susan Parkhurst and Marsha
Ryan)
7. REPORT OF THE GSA
COORDINATOR (Marsha Ryan)
a)
1998 meeting summary
b)
future meetings (1999, 2000, 2001)
8. REPORT
OF THE TREASURER (Allan Spradling)
a)
1998 meeting finances report
b)
general account balance
c)
Sandler account / investment
9. BOARD
DISCUSSION OF MEETINGS AND FINANCES
a)
change to business meeting format
b)
management of the General Fund - how to avoid the 125 K GSA
'cap'
c)
management of the Sandler Fund
10. REPORT
OF STOCK CENTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (Hugo Bellen)
a)
general report
b)
species stock center
11.
BLOOMINGTON STOCK CENTER REPORT (Kathy Matthews and Thom
Kaufman)
12. DIS
REPORT ( Jim Thompson)
13.
BERKELEY GENOME PROJECT REPORT (Gerry Rubin)
14.
FLYBASE (Bill Gelbart)
15. OTHER
BUSINESS
1. SUMMARY
OF 1998 MINUTES
The 1998 North American Drosophila Board Meeting convened from 2-6 PM, Wednesday March 25, 1998, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Here we present the reports from several members of the board, and pertinent discussions, as described in the table of contents. In general, the scientific and financial health of the Drosophila community appears to be solid, and the community resources are performing admirably. Major issues discussed at the board meeting were 1) revamping the business meeting to emphasize yearly reports from various community resources, 2) using saved money for providing funds for graduate students to attend the annual meeting and to seed community resources, 3) the need for user surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of community resources, 4) the need for a nomenclature committee to standardize gene names, and 5) the importance of lobbying NIH, NCI and NSF to obtain funds to maintain and expand community resources. Another major issue concerned the merger of the informatics components of FlyBase, BDGP and EDGP, which the board received with great enthusiasm.
2.
APPROVAL OF THE 1997 MINUTES
A motion to approve the minutes of the 1997 Board Meeting, as posted on Flybase by past president Bill Gelbart, was proposed and approved.
3. 1998
BOARD MEMBERSHIP AND ELECTIONS
a)
Current Composition
The current composition of the Board is as follows; members not in attendance are indicated with an asterisk.
Regional Representatives:
Arthur Hilliker Canada ahillike@uoguelph.ca
Susan Zusman Great Lakes zusman@sbz.biology.rochester.edu
Hannele Ruohola-Baker Northwest hannele@u.washington.edu
Michael Bender Southeast bender@bscr.uga.edu
Scott Hawley California shawley@netcom.com
Steve Wasserman Heartland stevenw@pooh.swmed.edu
Steve DiNardo New England dinardo@rockvax.rockefeller.edu
Debbie Andrew Mid-Atlantic debbie_andrew@qmail.bs.jhu.edu
Pamela Geyer Midwest pamela-geyer@uiowa.edu
Officers:
Gary Karpen President karpen@ salk.edu
Bill Gelbart Past President gelbart@morgan.harvard.edu
Allan Spradling Treasurer spradling@mail1.ciwemb.edu
Ex
Officio:
Bill Gelbart FlyBase gelbart@morgan.harvard.edu
Gerry Rubin BDGP gerry@fruitfly.berkeley.edu
Thom Kaufman Bloomington SC kaufman@sunflower.bio.indiana.edu
Kathy Matthews Bloomington SC matthewk@indiana.edu
Ronny Woodruff Mid-America SC rwoodru@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Jim Thompson DIS jthompson@ou.edu
Michael Ashburner Europe ma11@gen.cam.ac.uk
Hugo Bellen SC adv. comm. hbellen@bcm.tmc.edu
Celeste Berg at-large berg@genetics.washington.edu
Claire Cronmiller at-large crc2s@virginia.edu
John Lucchesi at-large lucchesi@biology.emory.edu
Chuck Langley at-large chlangley@ucdavis.edu
Dan Lindsley* at-large dlindsley@ucsd.edu
Scott Hawley Sandler Lect.1998 shawley@netcom.com
1998 Meeting
Organizers:
Kristin White kristin_white@cbrc.mgh.harvard.edu
Laurel Raftery lraftery@cbrc.mgh.harvard.edu
Terry Orr-Weaver weaver@wi.mit.edu
1999 Meeting Organizers:
Barbara Wakimoto wakimoto@u.washington.edu
Susan Parkhurst* susanp@fred.fhcrc.org
GSA
Representatives:
Elaine Strass* Exec. Dir. estrass@genetics.faseb.org
Marsha Ryan Mtg. Coord. mryan@genetics.faseb.org
b)
Changes for 1999
Larry Goldstein was elected by the Board to be President in 1999. Steve Wasserman was elected Treasurer for 3 years, replacing Allan Spradling. Four new regional representatives were inducted.
The 1999 Drosophila Board includes:
Regional Representatives:
Paul Lasko Canada, 2002 Paul_Lasko@maclan.mcgill.ca
John Belote Great Lakes, 2001 jbelote@mailbox.syr.edu
Hannele Ruohola-Baker Northwest, 2000 hannele@u.washington.edu
Rick Fehon Southeast, 2001 rfehon@acpub.duke.edu
Scott Hawley California, 1999 shawley@netcom.com
Bob Boswell Heartland, 2002 boswell@beagle.colorado.edu
Claude Desplan New England, 2001 desplan@rockvax.rockefeller.edu
Steve Mount Mid-Atlantic, 2001 sm193@umail.umd.edu
Jeff Simon Midwest, 2002 simon@molbio.cbs.umn.edu
Officers:
Larry Goldstein President lgoldstein@ucsd.edu
Gary Karpen Past President karpen@ salk.edu
Steve Wasserman Treasurer stevenw@ucsd.edu
Allan Spradling Past-Treasurer spradling@mail1.ciwemb.edu
Ex
Officio:
Bill Gelbart FlyBase gelbart@morgan.harvard.edu
Gerry Rubin BDGP gerry@fruitfly.berkeley.edu
Thom Kaufman Bloomington SC kaufman@sunflower.bio.indiana.edu
Kathy Matthews Bloomington SC matthewk@indiana.edu
Ronny Woodruff Mid-America SC rwoodru@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Jim Thompson DIS jthompson@ou.edu
Michael Ashburner Europe ma11@gen.cam.ac.uk
Hugo Bellen SC adv. comm. hbellen@bcm.tmc.edu
Celeste Berg at-large berg@genetics.washington.edu
Claire Cronmiller at-large crc2s@virginia.edu
John Lucchesi at-large lucchesi@biology.emory.edu
Chuck Langley at-large chlangley@ucdavis.edu
Dan Lindsley at-large dlindsley@ucsd.edu
Bill Sullivan Sandler Lect.1999 sullivan@orchid.ucsc.edu
1999 Meeting
Organizers:
Barbara Wakimoto wakimoto@u.washington.edu
Susan Parkhurst* susanp@fred.fhcrc.org
2000 Meeting
Organizers:
Pam Geyer pamela-geyer@uiowa.edu
Lori Wollrath lori-wallrath@uiowa.edu
GSA
Representatives:
Elaine Strass Exec. Dir. estrass@genetics.faseb.org
Marsha Ryan Mtg. Coord. mryan@genetics.faseb.org
4. REPORT OF THE 1998 PROGRAM COMMITTEE
(Terry Orr-Weaver, Kristen White, Laurel Raftery)
First, we wish to thank
Marcia Ryan for her excellent work in organizing all the non-scientific aspects
of the meeting, and to commend her to the Flyboard. One large-scale example out of many: last fall she
re-negotiated to get larger rooms assigned for the concurrent slide sessions;
the original rooms assigned were far to small.
Plenary
sessions:
Here is an updated list
of the plenary speakers for the last 8 years.
Susan Abmayr
1995
Kathryn Anderson
1993
Deborah Andrew
1997
Chip Aquadro
1994
Spyros Artavanis
1994
Bruce Baker
1996
Utpal Bannerjee
1997
Michael Bate
1992
Phil Beachy
1998
Hugo Bellen
1997
Celeste Berg
1994
Marianne Bienz
1996
Seth Blair
1997
Andrea Brand
1991
Ross Cagan
1998
Sean Carroll
1995
Susan Celniker
1992
Lynn Cooley
1992
Claire Cronmiller
1995
Claude Desplan
1992
Michael Dickinson
1995
Chris Doe
1996
Ian Duncan
1991
Walter Eanes
1992
Bruce Edgar
1997
Bill Engels
1992
Anne Ephrussi
1992
Ron Evans
1993
Martin Feder
1998
Janice Fischer
1998
Barry Ganetzky
1991
Maurizio Gatti
1991
Bill Gelbart
1994
Bill Gelbart
1991
Pam Geyer
1996
Michael Goldberg
1992
Larry Goldstein
1991
Iswar Hariharan
1998
Tom Hayes
1995
Ulrike Heberlein
1996
Martin Heisenberg
1994
Jules Hoffmann
1998
Joan Hooper
1995
John Jaenike
1992
Lily Jan
1993
Gary Karpen
1993
Thom Kaufman
1992
James Kennison
1991
Dan Kiehart
1992
Christian Klämbt
1998
Marty Kreitman
1991
Mitzi Kuroda
1997
Chuck Langley
1991
Cathy Laurie
1997
Ruth Lehman
1993
Maria Leptin
1994
Mike Levine
1993
Bob Levis
1997
Haifan Lin
1995
Susan Lindquist
1991
Javier Lopez
1991
Tony Maholwald
1993
Kathy Matthews
1991
Dennis McKearin
1996
Bruce McKee
1991
Mike McKeown
1996
Denise Montell
1993
Steve Mount
1992
Ruthann Nichols
1992
Roel Nusse
1997
David O'Brohta
1997
Pat O'Farrell
1993
Terry Orr-Weaver
1996
Terry Orr-Weaver
1992
Mike Palazzolo
1995
Susan Parkhurst
1991
Nipam Patel
1991
Mark Peifer
1997
Karen Perkins
1991
Leslie Pick
1994
Jim Posakony
1991
Elizabeth Raff
1991
Pernille Rorth
1995
Gerry Rubin
1998
Helen Saltz
1994
Babis Savakis
1995
Paul Schedl
1998
Gerald Schubiger
1996
Trudi Schupbach
1992
Lillie Searles
1992
John Sedat
1991
Amita Sehgal
1996
Allen Shearn
1994
Mike Simon
1993
Marla Sokolowski
1998
Allan Spradling
1991
Hermann Steller
1992
Ruth Steward
1996
Bill Sullivan
1998
John Sved
1997
Barbara Taylor
1996
Bill Theurkauf
1994
Carl Thummel
1992
Bob Tjian
1993
James Truman
1992
Tim Tully
1995
Barbara Wakimoto
1991
Steve Wasserman
1996
Kristi Wharton
1994
Kalpana White
1992
Eric Wieschaus
1996
Chung-I Wu
1991
Carl Wu
1992
C. Ting Wu
1997
Tian Xu
1997
Larry Zipursky
1991
Susan Zusman
1998
Abstract submissions
and selection of talks:
There were 345 requests
for 144 slide session talks (42% granted). Overall, we were impressed by the high quality of the
science represented in the abstracts submitted for talks.
Using the data on slide
requests under the 15 topics from the 1997 meeting as guidelines, we provided
11 topics as choices for abstract submission. These topics were maintained for the poster session, but the
final slide session topics were selected based on the areas of strength among
the submitted abstracts.
Abstract submission
topics:
Slides
Posters
Total
1st choice
======
===== ==========
1st (2nd)
1. Pattern formation
60 (38)
79
139
2. Cell biology
63 (108)
106
169
3. Transcriptional and post-
51 (59)
61
112
transcriptional
gene regulation
4. Neural development
40 (31)
43
83
5. Neurophysiology &
behavior
20 (9)
23
43
6. Population and evolution
15 (15)
19
34
7. Transposable elements
&
DNA
repair
18 (10)
12
30
8. Cell cycle
15 (9)
13
28
9. Organogenesis &
muscle
development
15 (27)
31
46
10. Gametogenesis
21 (17)
48
69
11. Chromosome structure &
function 27 (22)
49
76
===
===
===
345
484
829
Although we reviewed all
abstracts for suitability and topic assignment, we are indebted to the
following people for reviewing abstracts in specific fields: John Tower (gene regulation and
chromatin structure), Sam Kunes (neural development), Laurie Tompkins
(neurophysiology and behavior), Dave Rand (population and evolution), Don Rio
(transposable elements and DNA repair), and Sue Abmayr (organogenesis and
muscle development).
Workshops:
Of the 8 workshops
organized for the meeting, 4 are repeats and 4 are new. Availability of rooms for workshops was
initially an issue, but Marcia negotiated for additional rooms last
fall.
Projection
of videos:
We declined 2 requests
for video projection equipment for slide sessions, due to the cost and the room
size, outlined below. Given the
advances in microscopy of live specimens, we believe that video projection will
be an important medium for presenting data in the future.
Computer
projection: Recommended for a room seating up to 300 theater style was a Sony
Data Projector #1272 (Multisync).
Cost per unit per day is $1275. The cost includes the projector, stand,
screen and cable to connect to the speaker's lap top
computer.
Standard
televised video projection: A
big-screen TV would only be visible to about 1/3
the audience, and would
cost $1200/day.
Meeting information on
the Web:
Many members of the
Drosophila research community turn to FlyBase to obtain information about
upcoming meetings. We recommend
that the GSA and FlyBase formalize an arrangement so that FlyBase posts the
URL's for the GSA fly meeting websites.
Electronic submission
of abstracts:
There seemed to be no
hitches in the change-over to electronic submission of abstracts.
Keyword search for
online abstracts:
We developed a list of
keywords that was provided to abstract authors, who could select up to 5 on
their abstract submission form.
This was intended to facilitate on-line searches of the meeting
abstracts. Feedback on the utility
of the keywords and any suggested changes should be sent to Marcia Ryan or next
year's meeting organizers.
5. REPORT
OF THE SANDLER LECTURER COMMITTEE (R. Scott Hawley)
This
year's committee was R. Scott Hawley (chair), Ken Burtis, Helen
Salz,
Allen Shearn, and Paul Szauter. There
were 10 nominees (all great), 3 finalists
whose theses we read, and 1 winner who
lectured at the beginning of the fly
meeting.
Next
year's chair is Bill Sullivan, UC Santa Cruz.
1998 Sandler
Lecturer Results
Finalist/Advisor-------------------------------
Nir
Hacohen/Mark Krasnow
Adina
Bailey/James Posakony
Lisa
Maves/Gerold Schubiger
Lecturer/Advisor-------------------------------
Nir
Hacohen/Mark Krasnow
6. REPORT
OF THE 1999 PROGRAM COMMITTEE (Barbara Wakimoto, Susan Parkhurst and Marsha
Ryan)
The next
Drosophila meeting will be held from March 24-28, 1999 in Bellevue Washington,
. The major difference from
previous meetings is that we will be housed in four hotels, rather
than one. Our plenary sessions will be held in
the Meydenbauer Convention Center.
The facilities are within easy access of each other, with a maximum
distance of 5 blocks between the two largest hotels. The Double Tree Inn will serve as our headquarter
hotel and will be the site all of the sessions except the plenary sessions on
Wednesday and Thursday. The hotel
room rates for the four hotels range from $93 to $126 per night for double
occupancy. Marsha will be
finalizing the hotel and convention center contracts within the next
month. Over the next 11 months,
Susan and Barbara will organize the scientific program and will investigate the
restaurants in Bellevue.
7. REPORT OF THE GSA
COORDINATOR (Marsha Ryan)
a)
39th Annual Drosophila
Research Conference
Advance registrations for
the 1998 meeting indicate that overall registration numbers will be
approximately equal to 1997. Total
registration in 1997, after deducting cancellations, totaled 1,382. Hotel room rates for singles in 1998
are the same as in 1997, at $128.
Room pickup on peak night at the three conference hotels totals
598-slightly lower than the original 625 rooms blocked.
The Omni Shoreham was
unable to deliver the number of rooms originally blocked in the contract
because renovations are still incomplete.
When notified by the Omni last October that they had to reduce our block
to from 600 to 435 rooms, we were able to pick up an additional 100 rooms at
the Sheraton Washington where we were already holding 25 rooms for
overflow. The two hotel
blocks were
sold out by February 22. By that
time we had reserved an additional block of 60 rooms at the Holiday Inn in
Chevy Chase, Maryland. Several
hotels in various locations of Washington offered room blocks in varying
numbers and at various prices.
After comparing locations of these hotels and the room rates offered,
the Holiday Inn seemed the safest and most economical choice for Drosophila
attendees. The rate is $119 per
night. The Holiday Inn is located
within less than 2 blocks from a Washington, DC Metro rail station and is on
the same line as the Omni.
However, because the Metro stops running at 11:00 pm, shuttle vans are
being supplied for the 40 or so individuals staying at the Holiday Inn. The shuttle service has been booked
beginning at 10:00 pm with the last trip from the Omni scheduled for 1:00 am
nightly. The vans will depart the
Omni every half hour. The cost is
$1,600 for the vans. Though there
is no recourse for this situation included in the Omni contract, it is hoped
that we can recoup the cost of the shuttle from the Omni.
As this report is
written, it should be noted that the Omni Shoreham reservation department has
not equaled the service expected.
The Convention Services Manager has been extremely willing to
accommodate the meeting's needs, but his department seems to be scantily
staffed. However, no significant
problems are anticipated due to the hotel's services.
The only notable concerns
are the capacity and layout of the concurrent slide session rooms. Rooms set maximum seat only up to 500
and there is no predicting which sessions participants will choose to
attend. Secondly, there are
columns in some of the concurrent session rooms which could obstruct the some peoples' view of slides.
Geographic distribution
statistics follow that were garnered from 1997 and 1998
pre-registration.
DOMESTIC
FOREIGN
1997 1998