The American Society for Cell Biology
Encyclopedia
American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is a learned society
that was founded in 1960.
Its mission statement states:
passed a resolution for the establishment of a "national society of cell biology to act as a national representative to the International Society for Cell Biology".
By 1963, the membership consisted of 9000 scientists.
In 2008 it was reported that ASCB had 11,000 members worldwide.
In 1963 the ASCB became the co-sponsor of a revitalised Journal of Cell Biology
, making it their official journal.
Upcoming Annual Meetings include:
The ASCB Education Committee focuses on promoting biology education, science literacy, and career development in biology-related fields, honoring educators Bruce Alberts Award for Excellence in Science Education, educating educators through sessions at the ASCB Annual Meeting including the Education Initiative Forum, Education Minisymposium, Education workshop on undergraduate teaching, K–12 Science Education (for local high school students and teachers), and developing careers. Additionally, the Education Committee serves as a resource to and sponsor of the Postdoctoral Subcommittee and furthers cell biology careers.
The ASCB Finance And Audit Committee, chaired by the ASCB Treasurer
, is responsible for evaluating the financial status of the Society, reviewing expenditures and recommending the annual budgets, reserve funds
, and investments. The Committee consists of three or more members of the Society and two ex officio members - the President
and President-elect
.
The major objectives of the ASCB International Affairs Committee are to broaden the base of the Society's international efforts by working with national cell biology societies and coordinating international activities; facilitating exchange between U.S. and international scientists; increasing cell biology training and capacity worldwide; and increaseing international membership and satisfaction in the ASCB.
The ASCB Membership Committee, chaired by the ASCB Secretary, reviews and recommends policies related to membership retention and growth.
The ASCB Minorities Affairs Committee (MAC) seeks to significantly support underrepresented minority scientists in all stages of their education and career.
The ASCB Program Committee develops the scientific program for the ASCB Annual Meeting, which is generally held in late Fall/ early Winter.
The ASCB Public Information Committee promotes education of the lay public in cell biology, directly and through the media.
The ASCB Public Policy Committee regularly educates the United States Congress
and the Administration
about the importance of basic biomedical funding and biomedical policy.
The major objective of the Women in Cell Biology Committee (WICB) is to provide opportunities and information useful to women• and men in developing their careers in cell biology. The WICB Committee also provides career development advice of value to all basic biomedical scientists.
The Cell: An Image Library is a comprehensive, easily accessible, public resource database of images, videos, and animations of cells from a variety of organisms, showcasing as well cell components and functions. The database will advance research on cellular activity with the ultimate goal of improving human health. For more information on contributing to The Cell, visit the Submit page.
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
that was founded in 1960.
Its mission statement states:
History
On 6 April 1959 the United States National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
passed a resolution for the establishment of a "national society of cell biology to act as a national representative to the International Society for Cell Biology".
By 1963, the membership consisted of 9000 scientists.
In 2008 it was reported that ASCB had 11,000 members worldwide.
Publications
Publications include:- Molecular Biology of the CellMolecular Biology of the CellMolecular Biology of the Cell is a scientific journal published twice monthly online by the American Society for Cell Biology. MBoC publishes original and scholarly research reports that contribute to the scientific understanding of the molecular basis of cell structure and function as well as...
: an online journal of scholarly research reports and essays published 24 times a year.
- CBE- Life Sciences EducationCBE- Life Sciences EducationCBE—Life Sciences Education is an online, quarterly journal owned and published by the American Society for Cell Biology, with funding from Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles on life sciences education research and evidence-based practice at the K-12,...
: An online quarterly journal addressing issues on how students are introduced to the study of life sciences.
- ASCB Newsletter: The ASCB's monthly newsletter updating members and policymakers on issues, public policy, society programs and events, grants, career advice, and more.
In 1963 the ASCB became the co-sponsor of a revitalised Journal of Cell Biology
Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Cell Biology is an international, peer-reviewed journal owned by The Rockefeller University and published by The Rockefeller University Press.- History :...
, making it their official journal.
Annual Meeting
Typically held within the first two weeks of December, the ASCB's Annual Meeting brings together scientists in the field of cell biology to highlight the latest research, techniques, products, and services, providing a venue for networking and career advice, offering research-tested educational approaches for high school teachers and professors who teach undergraduates, and to spur future discovery and collaboration. The Society also presents awards, poster sessions (where students, postdoctoral fellows, and independent scientists present their research and receive feedback), scientific sessions (Symposia, Minisymposia, Working Groups, Workshops, Translational Sessions, Special Interest Subgroups, Award lectures, and exhibits). Science Discussion Tables offer opportunities to discuss scientific topics with expert scientists, and the Career Discussion Roundtables offer a variety of career topic-themed tables addressed with expert facilitators. In addition, special sessions focus on advocacy, media and public outreach, and special issues of interest to women, minorities, gay, lesbian, and transgendered students/scientists, the media, etc. The ASCB Annual Meeting is the largest international meeting in the field of cell biology. It also showcases winning entries in the ASCB's annual Celldance contest for cell images.Upcoming Annual Meetings include:
- 51st Annual Meeting - December 3–7, 2011, Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. Colorado Convention CenterColorado Convention CenterThe Colorado Convention Center is a multi-purpose convention center located in Downtown Denver. The center opened in June 1990; the first event being the NBA Draft for the Denver Nuggets. The convention center was expanded in 2004 to include several meeting rooms, two ballrooms and an indoor...
.
Awards
- E. B. Wilson MedalE. B. Wilson MedalThe American Society for Cell Biology's highest honor for science, the E.B. Wilson Medal is presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for significant and far-reaching contributions to cell biology over the course of a career. It is named after Edmund Beecher Wilson.- Medalists :The following...
- Keith R. Porter LectureKeith R. Porter LectureThis lecture, named in memory of Keith R. Porter, is presented to an eminent cell biologist each year at the ASCB Annual Meeting. The ASCB Program Committee and the ASCB President recommend the Porter Lecturer to the Porter Endowment each year.-Lecturers:...
- WICB Junior and Senior AwardsWICB Junior and Senior AwardsThe Women In Cell Biology Committee recognizes outstanding achievements in cell biology by presenting two Career Recognition Awards at the ASCB Annual Meeting...
- E.E. Just Lecture
- MAC Poster Award
- MBoC Paper of the Year
- Young UK Cell Biologist
- Bruce Alberts Award for Excellence in Science Education
- Early Career Life Scientist AwardEarly Career Life Scientist AwardThe ASCB Early Career Life Scientist Award is for an outstanding scientist who earned his doctorate no more than 12 years earlier and who has served as an independent investigator for no more than seven years. The winner speaks at the ASCB Annual Meeting and receives a monetary...
- Merton Bernfield Memorial AwardMerton Bernfield Memorial AwardThe Merton Bernfield Memorial Award, formerly known as the Member Memorial AwardFor Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows, was established in memory of deceased colleagues donations from members of the American Society for Cell Biology. The winner is selected on merit and is invited to speak...
- Norton B. Gilula Award
- ASCB Public Service AwardASCB Public Service AwardThe American Society for Cell Biology's highest honor for Public Service, the ASCB Public Service Award is for outstanding national leadership in support of biomedical research. The awardees are selected by the ASCB Public Policy Committee.-Awardees:...
President
The ASCB presidents are:- 2011: Sandra Schmid
- 2010: Timothy Mitchison
- 2009: Brigid HoganBrigid HoganBrigid L. M. Hogan, PhD, FRS, is a distinguished British developmental biologist noted for her contributions to stem cell research and transgenic technology and techniques...
- 2008: Robert D. Goldman
- 2007: Bruce AlbertsBruce AlbertsBruce Michael Alberts is an American biochemist known for his work in science public policy and as an original author of the Molecular Biology of the Cell...
- 2006: Mary Beckerle
- 2005: Zena Werb
- 2004: Harvey LodishHarvey LodishHarvey F. Lodish is a molecular and cell biologist, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, and textbook author...
- 2003: Suzanne Pfeffer
- 2002: Gary Borisy
- 2001: Elaine FuchsElaine FuchsElaine V. Fuchs is an American cell biologist, famous for her work on the biology and molecular mechanisms of mammalian skin and skin diseases, and has led the modernization of dermatology. Fuchs also pioneered reverse genetics approaches, which assess protein function first and then assesses its...
- 2000: Richard Hynes
- 1999: Randy SchekmanRandy SchekmanRandy W. Schekman is an American cell biologist at the University of California, Berkeley and Editor-in-Chief of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2011 he was announced as the editor of a new high profile open access journal published by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the...
- 1998: Elizabeth BlackburnElizabeth BlackburnElizabeth Helen Blackburn, AC, FRS is an Australian-born American biological researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies the telomere, a structure at the end of chromosomes that protects the chromosome. Blackburn co-discovered telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes the...
- 1997: Mina BissellMina BissellMina J. Bissell, Ph.D., is an Iranian American biologist and a world-recognized leader in the area of the role of extracellular matrix and microenvironment in regulation of tissue-specific function, with special emphasis on breast cancer....
- 1996: J. Michael BishopJ. Michael Bishop-External links:**...
- 1995: Ursula GoodenoughUrsula GoodenoughUrsula W. Goodenough is a Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis and author of the best selling book Sacred Depths of Nature...
- 1994: J. Richard McIntosh
- 1993: Susan Gerbi
- 1992: Donald BrownDonald BrownDonald E. Brown is an American professor of anthropology . He worked at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is best known for his theoretical work regarding the existence, characteristics and relevance of universals of human nature...
- 1991: Marc KirschnerMarc KirschnerProfessor Marc W. Kirschner is an American cell biologist.- Biography :Kirschner graduated from Northwestern University in 1966 and in 1971 received his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. He held post-doc positions at Berkeley and at the University of Oxford in England. He...
- 1990: Gunter BlobelGünter Blobel-Biography:Blobel was born in Waltersdorf in the Prussian Province of Lower Silesia. In January 1945 his family fled from native Silesia from the advancing Red Army. On their way to the West they passed through the beautiful old city of Dresden, which left deep impressions in the young boy...
- 1989: James Spudich
- 1988: Thomas Pollard
- 1987: Frank Ruddle
- 1986: Mary-Lou Pardue
- 1985: Daniel Branton
- 1984: Morris Karnovsky
- 1983: James D. JamiesonJames D. JamiesonJames D. Jamieson is a cell biologist and professor at Yale University. His early research in cell biology of pancreatic acinar cells in the lab of George Palade established the function of the Golgi apparatus in secretory protein trafficking....
- 1982: Marilyn FarquharMarilyn FarquharMarilyn Gist Farquhar is a pathologist and cellular biologist with a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. She has won the E. B. Wilson Medal and the FASEB Excellence in Science Award. She worked at Yale University from 1973 to 1990. She was married to Nobel Laureate George Emil...
- 1981: Helen A. Padykula
- 1980: Bill R. Brinkley
- 1979: David Sabatini
- 1978: Keith Porter
- 1977: Elizabeth Hay
- 1976: George Palade
- 1975: George Pappas
- 1974: T.C. Hsu
- 1973: Jean-Paul Revel
- 1972: Daniel MaziaDaniel MaziaDaniel Mazia was an American cell biologist, best known for his 1951 research with Katsuma Dan that isolated the cell structures responsible for mitosis....
- 1971: Saul Kit
- 1970: J. Herbert Taylor
- 1969: Montrose Moses
- 1968: Joseph G. GallJoseph G. GallJoseph Grafton Gall is an American cell biologist and winner of the 2006 Albert Lasker Special Achievement Award. He also won the 2007 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize...
- 1967: Philip Siekevitz
- 1966: David M. Prescott
- 1965: Van Potter
- 1964: Hewson Swift
- 1963: Alex B. Novikoff
- 1962: Don W. FawcettDon W. FawcettDon Wayne Fawcett was a pioneer of electron microscopy and one of its greatest practitioners for studying the organization of cells and tissues...
(first President)
Committees
- Education Committee:
The ASCB Education Committee focuses on promoting biology education, science literacy, and career development in biology-related fields, honoring educators Bruce Alberts Award for Excellence in Science Education, educating educators through sessions at the ASCB Annual Meeting including the Education Initiative Forum, Education Minisymposium, Education workshop on undergraduate teaching, K–12 Science Education (for local high school students and teachers), and developing careers. Additionally, the Education Committee serves as a resource to and sponsor of the Postdoctoral Subcommittee and furthers cell biology careers.
- Finance And Audit Committee:
The ASCB Finance And Audit Committee, chaired by the ASCB Treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
, is responsible for evaluating the financial status of the Society, reviewing expenditures and recommending the annual budgets, reserve funds
Reserve (Accounting)
In financial accounting, the term reserve is most commonly used to describe any part of shareholders' equity, except for basic share capital. Sometimes, the term is used instead of the term provision; such a use, however, is inconsistent with the terminology suggested by International Accounting...
, and investments. The Committee consists of three or more members of the Society and two ex officio members - the President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
and President-elect
President-elect
An -elect is a political candidate who has been elected to an office but who has not yet been sworn in or officially taken office. These may include an incoming president, senator, representative, governor and mayor.Analogously, the term "designate" An -elect is a political candidate who has been...
.
- International Affairs Committee:
The major objectives of the ASCB International Affairs Committee are to broaden the base of the Society's international efforts by working with national cell biology societies and coordinating international activities; facilitating exchange between U.S. and international scientists; increasing cell biology training and capacity worldwide; and increaseing international membership and satisfaction in the ASCB.
- Membership Committee:
The ASCB Membership Committee, chaired by the ASCB Secretary, reviews and recommends policies related to membership retention and growth.
- Minorities Affairs Committee:
The ASCB Minorities Affairs Committee (MAC) seeks to significantly support underrepresented minority scientists in all stages of their education and career.
- Program Committee:
The ASCB Program Committee develops the scientific program for the ASCB Annual Meeting, which is generally held in late Fall/ early Winter.
- Public Information Committee:
The ASCB Public Information Committee promotes education of the lay public in cell biology, directly and through the media.
- Public Policy Committee:
The ASCB Public Policy Committee regularly educates the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
and the Administration
Administration (government)
The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "Barack Obama administration." It can also mean an executive branch agency...
about the importance of basic biomedical funding and biomedical policy.
- Women In Cell Biology Committee:
The major objective of the Women in Cell Biology Committee (WICB) is to provide opportunities and information useful to women• and men in developing their careers in cell biology. The WICB Committee also provides career development advice of value to all basic biomedical scientists.
- The Cell: An Image Library:
The Cell: An Image Library is a comprehensive, easily accessible, public resource database of images, videos, and animations of cells from a variety of organisms, showcasing as well cell components and functions. The database will advance research on cellular activity with the ultimate goal of improving human health. For more information on contributing to The Cell, visit the Submit page.