Fall 2000 Newsletter
Our new President Elect is John Edmond, USA. The new Council members are: Bernard Zalc of France; John Steeves of Canada; Danielli Condorelli of Italy; and Julio Moran of Mexico. We all owe thanks to Claude Jacque (France; 1996-2000), Simo Oja (Finland; 1996-2000), and Juana Pasquini (Argentina; 1996-2000) for their past services to the Society as they retire from Council.
New ISDN Task Force
Given that academic institutions around the world are undergoing changes to match the ongoing revolution in communication, technology and education, there are bound to be changes in national and international societies that should result in better service to their core missions. In consultation with Council, the Officers of the Society have appointed Dr. Norbert Koenig of Montpellier as the Chair of a Task Force that is to assess the present state of the Society and devise strategic plans for the future. The 3 person Task Force (Norbert Koenig, Arne Shousboe, and Vittorio Gallo) will meet on a regular basis via email and seek information as required from the membership at large or via bilateral discussions with similar task forces from other societies.
Treasurer's Report
The finances of the Society are in good order thanks to income derived from membership dues and income from the journal of the Society, the International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. The bulk of the expenditures are related to the biannual meetings and their organization. At the present time the Society has a bank balance in the neighborhood of $35,800. Suitable advances will be made to the organizers of ISDN 2002 and ISDN 2004. Total financial commitment to any given meeting will remain in the $20,000 range to insure long-term solvency.
Secretary's Report
The office of the secretary has continued to process applications for membership and in consultation with the Council is instituting a student membership category at a cost of $25 for students and postdocs, which will not include a subscription to the journal of the society, the International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. The addresses of all attendees at ISDN 2000 will be transferred to the Secretary's office and attendees will be invited to join the Society and will be offered the Fall 2000 ISDN Newsletter. As in the past, 3 newsletters will be distributed during 2000-2002, via postal and electronic mail as well as posting on the ISDN Website. As part of the planned expansion of Council, to insure appropriate representation, four new Council members were elected to replace three outgoing members. Elections were carried out via electronic balloting. All electronic ballots were counted by the Secretary's Assistant, Ms. Donna Masters, who passed the results on to the Secretary. Our new President Elect is John Edmond. The new Council members are: Bernard Zalc of France; John Steeves of Canada; Danielli Condorelli of Italy; and Julio Moran of Mexico. The secretariat also began discussions with ASN and ISN officers to better serve our respective constituencies. Discussions with other regional and international societies over the next few years should better define how ISDN could best carry out its educational and scientific missions.
IJDN Editor's Report
IJDN has undergone a change in format during the last year with a new attractive multicolored cover and larger page format. A further change is the introduction of a referencing format that is more in line with that used by other neuroscience journals. IJDN is available "on line" as part of the Elsevier packet being negotiated with Institutional subscriptors worldwide. Individual electronic submission and subscription will soon be available to ISDN members. Watch this space for future announcements. Viktor Hamburger Award. The awardee for the Viktor Hamburger award for 2000 is Dr. Ronald Oppenheim of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dr Oppenheim will be honored at an Elsevier-sponsored reception for members of the IJDN Editorial and other guests at the 2000 Society for Neuroscience Meeting in New Orleans and as part of the award he has been invited to publish a position paper in a Special Issue of IJDN celebrating the 100th Birthday of Viktor Hamburger. Dr. Oppenheim and Dr. Jean Lauder, also of Chapel Hill, will be Guest Co-Editors of this very Special Issue. The 2000 Editorial Board Meeting of IJDN was hosted by Elsevier, Publishers of IJDN, at a working luncheon during ISDN 2000. During the luncheon past progress and future plans were discussed. The Editorial Board agreed to make recommendations to the Editor for the timely replacement of Board Members whose terms expire. It was suggested to the Publishers that the Table of Contents of issues to come should be emailed to all members of the Society. The role of Associate editors was also discussed and it was agreed that they should retain the function of independent handling of manuscripts that are submitted to their offices in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief. Also, a new Editor for MiniReviews is to be appointed in the near future.
ISDN 2002 Meeting
Sidney, Australia ~ January 31 February 4, 2002
President (2000-2002) Ian Hendry discussed plans for ISDN 2002 in Sidney, Australia, with Council. It was announced that in addition to the Chair of the Organizing Committee, Dr. Phil Waite of Sydney, Dr. Ralph Bradshaw of Irvine has agreed to serve as Chair of the Program Committee. ISDN 2002 is to be a meeting taking place back-to-back (with a one day overlap in the program) with the Australian Neuroscience Society (ANS) The President of the ANS, Dr. Perry Bartlett of Melbourne, is working closely with his ISDN counterparts to insure an outstanding program both during the overlapping day and the remainder of the meeting. Dr. Hendry emphasized his commitment to insure optimal participation by young investigators throughout and will be devoting much of his energy to secure funding for this purpose. The meeting will take place at the Darling Harbor Convention Center in Sidney. At present, themes for two parallel sets of symposia are being developed. Suggestions from the membership for topics and speakers should be communicated directly to Drs. Ian Hendry and/or Ralph Bradshaw. Those interested in organizing satellite meetings should also contact Dr. Hendry promptly in order to better coordinate events. Start planning your trip down under and remember the February Meeting will be a Summer Meeting! ISDN 2002
Program Committee: Ralph Bradshaw (Chair), Perry Bartlett, Lynn Beasley, Ira Black, Ian Hendry, Caryl Hill, Kazuhiro Ikenaka, Paul Pilowsky, Michael Sendtner, Giulio Taglialatela, Phil Waite.
VISIT THE ISDN 2002 MEETING WEBSITE
ISDN 2004 ~ Scotland!
Dr. John Edmond, President-Elect, discussed with Council plans for ISDN-2004 to take place in Edinburgh, Scotland at the end of July- beginning of August (the week before the Edinburgh festival) of 2004. The meeting will take place at the Edinburgh Conference Center a short 11 km from the heart of the City and not far from St. Andrews, Mecca for golf enthusiasts. Dr. Robert Miller has agreed to serve as Program Chair and appropriate committees are being formed.
Closing Comments
The coming year will be a critical one for the Society and the Journal it sponsors. It is perhaps more important than ever that you let us know your thoughts as to what directions you think our Society should follow. The Secretariat will transmit all messages received on a monthly basis to the Officers and Council of ISDN and will strive to provide answers, when possible, to all queries posed. Please feel free to communicate with any of the officers. Specifically, do contact Ralph Bradshaw if you ideas about the program for 2002. I know he looks forward to hearing from you.