Membership Dues Increase

At the Board of Governor's end of year quarterly meeting they voted to increase individual membership dues from $75, to $90 for the 2019 membership year. This is the first increase in membership dues since 2015. The price of the journal subscription remains unchanged at $185 for 6 issues over 12 months. 

The additional funds will go towards supporting the recently created Young Investigator Award, which will be available to enter by young professionals <10 years post-PhD. The award will carry an honorarium of $5,000, and the opportunity for the winner to present their research in a plenary session or symposium at the Society's Annual Meeting. 

The next anticipated review of membership dues will be in 2022. 

CRYO2019 Call for Abstracts 

The first call for abstracts for CRYO2019 has been released on November 26, 2018. Abstract submission will close on March 4, 2019. 

For more information and to submit your abstract please visit the CRYO2019 website. 

2018 Election

Top: John G. Baust, Rob Ben, Ali Eroglu
Botton: Xiaoming "Shawn" He, Peter Kilbride, Estefania Paredes, Gang Zhao

This year's Society for Cryobiology election will be held October 15-29, 2018.  The election is for three Governor-at-Large positions for a three year term, commencing January 2019 and ending December 2021.

DOWNLOAD CANDIDATE BIOGRAPHIES

SLTB 2018 Meeting Report 

Guest Post by Alasdair Kay, University of York, United Kingdom 

CRYO2018 Report 

CRYO2018, which took place July 10-13 at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid, Spain, was one of the Society's largest meetings in recent memory, attracting 300 abstract submissions and 250 delegates from 35 countries worldwide.

For full details of the program download the electronic copy of the program book and abstract supplement. You can also view all the photos from CRYO2018. 

Program
The meeting featured 175 oral presentations and over 100 poster presentations, across 5 plenary sessions, 10 symposia, 17 sessions and 2 poster sessions. Alongside traditional sessions exploring cell and tissue preservation, ice formation, tools and technologies, and plant cryopreservation, there were several sessions which stood out as sessions of note. These included three sessions organized jointly with the Organ Preservation Alliance on the current situation and future research required for organ preservation, and cryopreservation of reproductive tissue for cancer survivors. Additionally, due to the expertise of the local organizing committee, the meeting also included sessions on Cryobiology in Food Science and Technology and Challenges in Cryobiology for Microorganisms. 

Election 2018

Nominations are now open for the 2018 election for 3 governors 2019-2021

The nominations committee is now inviting nominations from all Society members in good standing for the position of Governor 2019-2021. There are 3 posts available. 

Please register your interest in standing for election with Nicole Evans by June 1, 2018. A detailed biography and candidate statement outlining your vision for the Society will be requested thereafter. 

The 2018 nominating committee is: 
Adam Higgins (Chair; President-Elect)
Dayong Gao (President)
Greg Fahy (Governor)
Erik Woods (Governor)
Ido Braslavsky (Governor)

Please note all nominations are subject to approval by the nominations committee. This does not affect your right to nomination by petition as outlined in the society's bylaws. 

Royan Institute Cryobiology and Biobanking Symposium 

The Royan Institute held their second cryobiology and biobanking symposium on Feb. 14, 2018, in Tehran, Iran.

The Royan Institute was established in 1991 as a public non-profit research institute for reproductive biomedicine and infertility treatments. Today Royan consists of three research institutes: 

Cryobiology and Biobanking Symposium in Tehran

The Royan Institute is a non-profit research institute for reproductive biomedicine and infertility treatments in Tehran, Iran. On February 14, 2018 they are holding their second Cryobiology and Biobanking Symposium. 

Dr. Jason Acker, immediate Past President of the Society for Cryobiology will be speaking, along with a number of local cryobiology and biobanking experts.  

For more information please contact: 

Vahid Asgari, PhD
Intl' Business Affairs
Consultant and Instructor
[email protected]
+98-9123007955

Bylaws Revision Complete

A guest post by Jason Acker  
 
I would like to thank all of you for taking time to participate in the discussions and for voting on the proposed revisions to our Society’s bylaws.  As one of the important documents which guides who we are as a Society and how we choose to operate as an organization, our bylaws need to be up to date and reflect current best practices and laws governing not for profit corporations. The proposed changes were the culmination of more than a decade of discussion, debate and consultation with subject matter experts.

I am happy to report that the motion to ratify the revisions to the Society’s bylaws was carried. The final voter turnout was 59% (153/260 members), with 149 of the voters in favour of adopting the revised bylaws (57% of the membership as a whole). 

I would like to personally thank Jens Karlsson, John Armitage, Art Rowe, John Baust, the members of the Bylaws and Policies Working group (Greg Fahy, Steve Mullen, Andy Picken, Elena Salvaterra), Ed Kordoski, Nicole Evans, our advisors at Maryland NonProfits and all current and past members of the board who have contributed to making this outcome a reality.

I would like to acknowledge that throughout this process there were members who felt strongly that some of the proposed changes were not in the best interest of the Society.  I would like to assure you that your feedback was heard and that it was carefully considered.  Some of the feedback that was received that is not reflected in the revised bylaws will be included in the policies and procedures that are now a focus of the Working Group. 

Now that the Society has established a mechanism for reviewing and updating our bylaws, we should undertake a process to regularly review them and update and adapt them as needed to ensure that they reflect who we are as a Society and how we choose to deliver on the important mission for which our Society was established.

As I transition off of the board and assume my new role as a general member of the Society, I would like to thank all of your for your support during my tenure on the board and as your President. I look forward to continuing to engage with all of you at our scientific meetings and on the various committees and working groups that I may have the privilege of serving on with you.

View the Revised Bylaws

Free Safety Webinars

The Cryogenic Society of America is offering a series of free cryogenic safety webinars during January and February 2018. 

The topics are: 

Call for Abstracts 

SLTB Meeting September 19-20

Guest Post and Photos by Estefania Paredes | Photo Gallery courtesy of Alasdair Kay

Meet Your Election Candidates

First Row: Adam Higgins, Tiantian Zhang, Zhiquan (Andy) Shu, Yuansheng (Tony) Tan
Second Row: Yuksel Agca, Ido Braslavsky, Ram Devireddy, Igor Katkov
Third Row: Peter Kilbride, Krishnaa Mahbubani, Estefania Paredes, Barbara Reed
Fourth Row: Peter Wilson, Erik Woods, Gang Zhao

This year's Society for Cryobiology election is for the elected executive officer positions of President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer for a two year term (2018-2019) and three Governor-at-Large positions for a three year term (2018-2020).

Download candidate biographies and vision statements

The election will open for voting on Monday October 23, 2017 for a two week period. Voting will be online. All current members of the Society will receive an email containing their personalized voting link before the election opens. No log in is necessary as each personalized link provides you with a one time use election ballot. Please check your ballot carefully before you submit as you are not able to edit your vote once it has been submitted. If you have not received your voting link by the time the election has opened please check your spam/junk email folder and then contact Nicole Evans.

Voting will close 23:59 US/Eastern Monday November 6, 2017. 

The candidates in full are: 

President-Elect

Getting Social at CRYO2017!

After the science wrapped up at CRYO2017, the local organizers arranged a banquet of traditional Chinese fare, including potent local spirit Baijiu. After dinner the student award winners were announced and our outgoing board members recognized for their service to the Society.

Over the following few days a variety of tours were offered by the local organizing committee, including tours to Lake Chaohu, Sanhe Village, an ancient water village, and Mount Huangshan and Hongcun Village, a UNESCO world heritage site. 

Click the thumbnails below to view the high res image. 

Organ Banking Summit Event Report

Guest Post by Jason Acker, President of the Society for Cryobiology.