The 2026 Society for Cryobiology election will be held November 2nd - November 16th. This election cycle will elect 3 members to the Board of Governors for a term beginning January 2027 and ending December 2029.
Dear Members, The 2025 Society for Cryobiology election will be held November 17th - December 1st.
The Royan Institute's 8th symposium on Applied Cryobiology Engineering took place on February 27, 2025, in Tehran. Presentations were given by local and international speakers from Iran, Canada, and Australia.
Read the full report here.
View Program.
The key topics of the symposium included:
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 election.
Thank you to the Nominating Committee, and to all candidates who stood for election.
The Society for Cryobiology 2022 election will be held November 1st - 14th, 2022.
Society for Cryobiology Past President (2018-2019) and Fellow Prof. Dayong Gao, and two of his group members Dr. Shen Ren and Dr. Zhiquan (Andy) Shu were recently interviewed by Forbes about the future of cryobiology. Prof. Gao leads the University of Washington's Center for Cryo-Biomedical Engineering and Artificial Organs in Seattle.
The article offers an overview of the history of cryobiology, cryonics, and cryogenics, as well as a glimpse into the future of cryobiology research.
The article touches on the work of deceased cryobiology giants such as Peter Mazur and Stanley Leibo. Also mentioned are current Society for Cryobiology President Greg Fahy, and Past Presidents Jason Acker (2018-2019) and Adam Higgins (2020-2021), as well as Society Fellows John Bischof and Bill Rall, and long time members and current and former Governors Boris Rubinsky, Kelvin Brockbank, and Gang Zhao.
Read the Full Article - Note the verbatim interview starts approximately half way down the page.
Feb. 18, 2021 11AM PT / 2PM ET / 8PM CET / 3AM NEXT DAY CST
CALL FOR CRYOFELLOW NOMINATIONS - DEADLINE MAY 31
Past - President, Jason Acker, presents Past-President Dayong Gao with the CryoFellow Medal at CRYO2017.
The CryoFellows Nominations Committee is now soliciting nominations for the appointment of new CryoFellows. This Committee, consisting of three members of the Board of Governors and two CryoFellows, evaluates the nominations and makes recommendations to the Board for approval of new Fellows.
Jan 30: Nominations Open
May 31: Nominations Close
June - mid-July: Evaluation of nomination materials by Fellow Committee
July 20: Board of Governors to vote on Fellow Committee recommendations
The Society for Cryobiology established an award and medal of CryoFellow just over a decade ago in recognition of members of the society and individuals from the cryobiology community at large who have had an outstanding impact on the field.
CryoFellows are awarded this prestigious status in recognition of: scientific impact of their research on cryobiology (50%); sustained nature of that impact (20%); generation of scientific offspring (20%); and service to the Society (10%).
There is no formal application form on which to make the nomination, but the documents you provide the committee should be of sufficient depth to support the candidate's contributions to the categories mentioned above in a clear and demonstrable way. Usually this will mean inclusion with the nomination:
(1) Supporting letters from members of the Society or other major contributors to cryobiology (including one from the nominator); and
(2) a detailed resume for the nominee. I suggest you contact the proposed CryoFellow to discuss their nomination before proceeding and to obtain the resume from the nominee.
Please note the nominated individual must be living at the time that he or she is nominated.
If there is someone you would like to nominate, or you would like to have an informal discussion before proceeding with a nomination, please email me at [email protected].
The Society for Cryobiology 2020 election will be held October 12 - 26, 2020. The election is for three Governor-at-Large positions for a term commencing January 2021 and ending December 2023.
All members in good standing will receive an email in advance of the election to the email address listed in their member profile. The email will contain a personalized one-time use voting link to cast your vote anonymously at simplyvoting.com. If you do not receive your voting email within 24 hours of the election opening please check your spam folder and then contact [email protected] urgently.
Voting Method
Each voter is assigned 100 points to allocate to one or more candidates e.g. a voting member could give one candidate all 100 points, or divide points between any number of selected candidates. All candidates are ranked by total number of points received, with the top 3 candidates named as the winners.
Meet the Candidates
As my term as President of the Society for Cryobiology draws to a close, I would to express my deep appreciations and to reflect on the achievements of our society during the previous two years. The results are in from the 2019 Election, and we are pleased to notify members of the following results:
It is with sadness that we must inform members and the wider cryobiology community of the sudden and unexpected death of Prof. Igor Katkov in early September 2019. At the time of his death Prof. Katkov was serving a term as Governor on the Society for Cryobiology's Board. 
University College London (UCL) and the Royal Free London Hospital have announced a new ovarian tissue bank to preserve the fertility of girls and women about to undergo treatment for cancer.
The publically funded initiative will be led by UCL academic Dr. Paul Hardiman (UCL Institute of Women's Health) and consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Royal Free Hospital in London, with consultation by Society for Cryobiology Fellow, Prof. Barry Fuller, head of research for the UCL Division of Surgery, and Prof. Mark Lowdell, UCL director of Cellular Therapeutics.
Worldwide there have been approximately 100 live births following ovarian tissue preservation and subsequent reimplantation on the remaining ovary or into the lining of the abdominal cavity.
Dr. Hardiman, tissue bank director, said: “We have modelled our protocols on how it is done at the Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, one of the largest hospitals in Denmark, where they have been freezing human ovarian tissue since 1999. This is a well-established method in Europe, the US and Japan but the UK has lagged behind and patients often faced having to go abroad and pay to receive this treatment. At a time when patients need to concentrate on life-saving therapies this intervention needs to take place as quickly as possible.”
“What makes the Royal Free London so ideally suited to provide this service is that we have a unique mix of facilities and expertise in tissue freezing and cell therapy including Professor Barry Fuller, head of research for the UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science and Professor Mark Lowdell, director of Cellular Therapeutics. We are also a leading kidney and liver transplant centre and the principle UK centre for cell and tissue medicines which has helped facilitate approval from the Human Tissue Authority. We are very grateful for the support from the Royal Free Charity over the past seven years which funded Natalie Getreu*, a PhD student, who played an important role in enabling us to bring this to patients.”
*Society for Cryobiology student member, Natalie Getreu, presented her PhD research for the Ovarian Tissue Bank at CRYO2017 and CRYO2016.
Prof. W. John Armitage has recently been awarded an OBE for services to corneal transplantation in the Queen's New Year Honours list.
John is the Head of Research and Development for Ocular Tissue, NHS Blood and Transplant, Emeritus Professor, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, and former Director of Bristol Tissue Bank, which comprised the Bristol Eye Bank and Bristol Heart Valve Bank.
John completed his PhD in cardiac cryopreservation and research posts in Cambridge, UK and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA, before joining the Department of Opthamology in Bristol, UK, where he set up the Bristol Eye Bank to carry out research into corneal preservation.
The Bristol Eye Bank, one of the largest eye banks in Europe, is home to the UK's Corneal Transplant Service (CTS), which provides corneas to hospitals across the UK. Since 1986 the CTS has provided corneal transplants for over 70,000 patients through the UK's National Health Service (NHS). Although funded by the NHS, management of the eye bank remained at Bristol until 2015, at which time it was transferred to the National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), the public body overseeing all blood, organ, and tissue transplants in the UK.
One of the major breakthroughs of the CTS was the introduction of 34°C (93°F) organ culture storage, which extended the life of transplants from a few days, to approximately four weeks. This transformed the face of corneal transplantation in the UK by improving logistics and supply, allowing transplants to be scheduled weeks in advance, as opposed to emergency surgery.
Speaking of his award, John said, "I am delighted to have my work recognised in this way, which also reflects the significant impact of the work of the Bristol Eye Bank and acknowledges the collective effort of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and Bristol University staff, ophthalmology colleagues in Bristol Eye Hospital and hospitals throughout the UK, and the support of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. However, above all, it is the thoughtfulness and generosity of the families of eye donors, without whom corneal transplantation would not be possible, that truly merit the thanks of patients and their doctors."
John is the current President of the European Eye Bank Association, of which he was a founding member, Associate Editor of Cryobiology, and a long time member and former Governor of the Society for Cryobiology.
The Board of Governors is pleased to announce that the location for CRYO2020 is America's Windy City, Chicago.
Location
Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel and Conference Center
440 N River Rd, Rosemont, IL 60018, USA
Dates
Board of Governors Meeting/Evening Welcome Reception: Monday July 20, 2020
Annual Meeting: Tuesday July 21 - Friday July 24, 2020
Further details will follow in the second half of 2019. 
The Society for Cryobiology is pleased to announce the launch of their brand new website.
New Features
The Arthur W. Rowe Award recognises the most outstanding papers with the strongest scientific impact published in Cryobiology each year.
Winners are announced annually at the Society for Cryobiology's Annual Meeting, most recently, CRYO2026, held in Seattle, WA July 15-17, 2026.
2025 WINNER
Wowk, B.; Ting, A.; Phan, J.; Pagotan, R.; Sharif, A.; Chow, L.; Fahy, G.M., 55 MHz constant field dielectric warming of kidneys and ovaries cryopreserved by vitrification, Cryobiology 119, 105257 (2025). doi:10.1016/j.cryobiol.2025.105257
2025 RUNNER UP
Matsuo, S.; Yamazaki, K.; Yasui, M.; Abe, Y.; Uchida, T. Cooling-rate dependence of the cryopreservation of aquaporin-overexpressing cells with a non-permeable cryoprotectant, Cryobiology 119, 105237 (2025). doi:10.1016/j.cryobiol.2025.105237
2025 HONORABLE MENTIONS
Campos, S.; Rodriguez, U.; Souza Troncoso, J.; Paredes, E. Understanding osmoregulation, cryoprotectant toxicity, and cold tolerance in sea urchin eggs: Implications for cryopreservation, Cryobiology 119, 105235 (2025). doi:10.1016/j.cryobiol.2025.105235
Ahmadkhani, N.; Sugden, C.; Benson, J.D.; Eroǧlu, A.; Higgins, A.Z. High-throughput evaluation of cryoprotective agents for mixture effects that reduce toxicity, Cryobiology 121, 105316 (2025). doi: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2025.105316
Meiss, A.; Chometon, G.; Greinwald, J.; Gautzsch, L.; Hennes, K. Combination of trehalose and inulin efficacy as lyoprotectant for the preservation of human monocytic cell line, Cryobiology 120, 105287 (2025). doi:10.1016/j.cryobiol.2025.105287
