2022 Election
Category: Events
Sep
30
The Society for Cryobiology 2022 election will be held November 1st - 14th, 2022.
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Filtered by author: Nicole Evans Clear Filter
The nominations committee is now inviting expressions of interest from all Society members in good standing for the following positions
Society for Cryobiology Governors take an active role in the decision making that guides the Society. Governors participate in quarterly Board meetings and take on leadership responsibilities in various Society committees. They may also be involved in leadership roles in other Society activities of their interest, for example the Annual Meeting, or ad hoc projects.
To express your interest or for an informal discussion regarding the various roles please email Executive Director, Nicole Evans. 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.
If your candidate nomination is accepted or you are nominated by petition you will be required to provide a detailed biography, statement outlining your vision for the Society, and a photograph for the election materials.
The deadline to express your interest in standing as a candidate for Governor is Monday August 16, 2021. The election will be held October 11-25, 2021.
WEBINAR - ENDING COVID-19: THE VACCINE, TECHNOLOGY, AND LOGISTICS CHALLENGES
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.
Firstly, my sincere thanks go to my fellow Board of Governors, and particularly the Executive Committee members: Dr. Adam Higgins (President-Elect), Dr. Andy Shu (Treasurer) and Dr. Yuksel Agca (Secretary). The Executive and Board of Governors give their time freely and generously for the betterment and advancement of the Society, for which we cannot thank them enough.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank Executive Director, Nicole Evans, for her continued and distinguished work in leading planning, development and administration for the Society. I must also thank the tireless and outstanding work of Dr. David Rawson, Editor-in-Chief, of Cryobiology and the excellent Editorial Board, who contribute their tremendous time and efforts to review the journal’s submissions to ensure the high quality and publication standard.
The Society has made many great strides during my term as President. I am exceptionally proud to have overseen the introduction of two new awards of our Society, both inaugurally awarded in 2019. Firstly, the Dayong Gao Young Investigator Award (sponsored by the GoldSim) to recognize a most outstanding young researcher in their early career, and secondly, the Arthur W. Rowe Cryobiology Best Paper Award, to recognize the most outstanding research article published in the journal each year. Furthermore, the Board of Governors is currently finalizing the Peter Mazur Prize (a Lifetime Achievement Award), which will recognize individuals who have reached the highest level of devotion and achievement in the field of cryobiology.
I have continued to focus on forging new collaborations and strengthening and renewing familiar ties, with a number of signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with ISBER, ISCT, Knect365, and others. One of the most exciting collaborations of the last two years has been the co-publication with ISBER of the freely downloadable Liquid Nitrogen Best Practices Addendum. If you have not yet had the chance to read it, I highly recommend it.
With regard to the Annual Meeting, the Society for Cryobiology has now completed the transition period from local organizing committee to in-house organization, with Nicole leading logistics for CRYO2018 in Madrid, and logistics and fundraising for CRYO2019 in San Diego. She will continue to lead logistics and fundraising for CRYO2020 in Chicago, and beyond. One of her current focuses is to establish and cement relationships with key industry individuals to secure the financial viability and profitability of the meeting.
As cryobiologists, we are entering a new era when cryobiology has a unique and significant contribution and impact on almost every major biological/biomedical research and application area. A once opaque science shrouded in mystery (and liquid nitrogen vapors!) has captured the attention of the public through mainstream news/articles on tissue engineering, biobanking, cellular-gene therapy, artificial organs, tissue-organ transplantation, regenerative medicine, and precision-personalized medicine. With this diverse range of applications and growing public acknowledgement, this is an exciting time for the field, its scientists and end users, and the Society for Cryobiology.
Lastly, I must thank you, our members for electing me to the position of President and allowing me the opportunity to lead the Society for Cryobiology. As each President builds upon the momentum of his predecessor, I trust I leave the Society healthy, strong, and resilient for new incoming President, Dr. Adam Higgins, who takes the reins 2020-2021.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Cheers,
Dayong Gao, Ph.D
President,
Society for Cryobiology
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.
Prof. Katkov received his education as a Biophysicist in the former “Cryobiological Capital of the World” Kharkov, Ukraine (to use Igor's wording). After completing his PhD on the correlation between the tolerance of bovine sperm to electroporation and freezing, Prof. Katkov undertook a post-doctoral fellowship with Peter Mazur at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1996-1998), researching osmotic and cryotolerance of mouse sperm. He then went on to work with Victor Bronshtein in San Diego, researching high temperature vitrification by drying without lyophilization.
From 2001 - 2007 he worked at the University of California, San Diego (department of Pediatrics), developing a technique of freezing adherent pluripotent stem cells directly in multi-well dishes. During this time he developed a novel Relativistic Permeability approach, which calculates the exact level of maximum shrinkage during freezing and swelling during dilution. He was the first person to show that a permeable solute may behave paradoxically and have a bi-phasic pattern: moving in and then out during addition (hypersaturation effect) and out and back in the cell during dilution (hyperdiliution effect). In 2001 Prof. Katkov also founded Celltronix and served as Chief Scientific Officer, and from 2015 he combined this with the role of Head of the Laboratory of Amorphous State at Belgorod University (Russia) - serving in both roles until his death. Prof. Katkov’s most recent work has been the development of the concept of and building equipment for kinetic vitrification by hyperfast cooling, namely designing the K-VF KrioBlast™ in cooperation with V. F. Bolyukh from Ukraine.
In 2012 Prof. Katkov edited Current Frontiers in Cryobiology and Current Frontiers in Cryopreservation, the first major update to cryobiology literature since the publication of Life in the Frozen State (2004). During his career he published more than 160 research articles, and was granted 5 patents in the United States and Russia.
To send a message of condolence please contact Nicole Evans who will pass all messages on to Prof. Katkov's family.
The inaugural winner and recipient of the Young Investigator award was announced as Leandro Godoy, Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, for his research on the application of biotechnologies to reproduction of aquatic organisms, the development of protocols for gamete and embryo cryopreservation and the effects of cryopreservation on reproductive cells metabolism. His research has applications in both aquaculture and conservation of endangered aquatic species through the establishment of germplasm banks. Dr. Godoy, who is leader of the ReefBank Project, plans to use the $5,000 honorarium for the ReefBank Project, specifically to assist with creating the first bank of coral gametes in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Arthur W. Rowe, founding member of the Society, and Cryobiology editor-in-chief for 24 years, delivered a presentation on the journal's history before the announcement of the winner of the eponymous best paper award - James D. Benson (University of Saskatchewan) et al. for "A toxicity cost function approach to optimal CPA equilibration in tissues" Cryobiology vol. 80. This research explores a numerical approach to adapt cell-based CPA equilibration damage models for use in a classical tissue mass transport models, and found that there are fundamental differences between protocols designed to minimize total CPA exposure time in tissues and protocols designed to minimize accumulated CPA toxicity.
CRYO2020 will take place July 21-24, 2020 in Chicago.
Cryobiology Highlighted in Forbes
Category: Member News
Sep
30
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.
Leadership Opportunities
Category: Member News
Mar
30
- President-Elect (2022 - 2023) --> President (2024-2025)
- Treasurer (2022 - 2023)
- Secretary (2022 - 2023)
- 3x Governors (2022 - 2024)
Society for Cryobiology Governors take an active role in the decision making that guides the Society. Governors participate in quarterly Board meetings and take on leadership responsibilities in various Society committees. They may also be involved in leadership roles in other Society activities of their interest, for example the Annual Meeting, or ad hoc projects.
To express your interest or for an informal discussion regarding the various roles please email Executive Director, Nicole Evans. 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.
If your candidate nomination is accepted or you are nominated by petition you will be required to provide a detailed biography, statement outlining your vision for the Society, and a photograph for the election materials.
The deadline to express your interest in standing as a candidate for Governor is Monday August 16, 2021. The election will be held October 11-25, 2021.
Webinar Feb. 18: Ending COVID-19
Category: Events
Feb
11
WEBINAR - ENDING COVID-19: THE VACCINE, TECHNOLOGY, AND LOGISTICS CHALLENGES
Feb. 18, 2021 11AM PT / 2PM ET / 8PM CET / 3AM NEXT DAY CST
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Call for Fellow Nominations
Category: Events
Jan
28
Fellow Nominations Open
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].
2020 Election
Category: Member News
Sep
29
2020 Election
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
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Dec
23
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. Firstly, my sincere thanks go to my fellow Board of Governors, and particularly the Executive Committee members: Dr. Adam Higgins (President-Elect), Dr. Andy Shu (Treasurer) and Dr. Yuksel Agca (Secretary). The Executive and Board of Governors give their time freely and generously for the betterment and advancement of the Society, for which we cannot thank them enough.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank Executive Director, Nicole Evans, for her continued and distinguished work in leading planning, development and administration for the Society. I must also thank the tireless and outstanding work of Dr. David Rawson, Editor-in-Chief, of Cryobiology and the excellent Editorial Board, who contribute their tremendous time and efforts to review the journal’s submissions to ensure the high quality and publication standard.
The Society has made many great strides during my term as President. I am exceptionally proud to have overseen the introduction of two new awards of our Society, both inaugurally awarded in 2019. Firstly, the Dayong Gao Young Investigator Award (sponsored by the GoldSim) to recognize a most outstanding young researcher in their early career, and secondly, the Arthur W. Rowe Cryobiology Best Paper Award, to recognize the most outstanding research article published in the journal each year. Furthermore, the Board of Governors is currently finalizing the Peter Mazur Prize (a Lifetime Achievement Award), which will recognize individuals who have reached the highest level of devotion and achievement in the field of cryobiology.
I have continued to focus on forging new collaborations and strengthening and renewing familiar ties, with a number of signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with ISBER, ISCT, Knect365, and others. One of the most exciting collaborations of the last two years has been the co-publication with ISBER of the freely downloadable Liquid Nitrogen Best Practices Addendum. If you have not yet had the chance to read it, I highly recommend it.
With regard to the Annual Meeting, the Society for Cryobiology has now completed the transition period from local organizing committee to in-house organization, with Nicole leading logistics for CRYO2018 in Madrid, and logistics and fundraising for CRYO2019 in San Diego. She will continue to lead logistics and fundraising for CRYO2020 in Chicago, and beyond. One of her current focuses is to establish and cement relationships with key industry individuals to secure the financial viability and profitability of the meeting.
As cryobiologists, we are entering a new era when cryobiology has a unique and significant contribution and impact on almost every major biological/biomedical research and application area. A once opaque science shrouded in mystery (and liquid nitrogen vapors!) has captured the attention of the public through mainstream news/articles on tissue engineering, biobanking, cellular-gene therapy, artificial organs, tissue-organ transplantation, regenerative medicine, and precision-personalized medicine. With this diverse range of applications and growing public acknowledgement, this is an exciting time for the field, its scientists and end users, and the Society for Cryobiology.
Lastly, I must thank you, our members for electing me to the position of President and allowing me the opportunity to lead the Society for Cryobiology. As each President builds upon the momentum of his predecessor, I trust I leave the Society healthy, strong, and resilient for new incoming President, Dr. Adam Higgins, who takes the reins 2020-2021.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Cheers,
Dayong Gao, Ph.D
President,
Society for Cryobiology
1 Comments
Election Results
Category: Member News
Nov
20
The results are in from the 2019 Election, and we are pleased to notify members of the following results:
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Death of Igor Katkov
Category: Member News
Sep
26
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. Prof. Katkov received his education as a Biophysicist in the former “Cryobiological Capital of the World” Kharkov, Ukraine (to use Igor's wording). After completing his PhD on the correlation between the tolerance of bovine sperm to electroporation and freezing, Prof. Katkov undertook a post-doctoral fellowship with Peter Mazur at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1996-1998), researching osmotic and cryotolerance of mouse sperm. He then went on to work with Victor Bronshtein in San Diego, researching high temperature vitrification by drying without lyophilization.
From 2001 - 2007 he worked at the University of California, San Diego (department of Pediatrics), developing a technique of freezing adherent pluripotent stem cells directly in multi-well dishes. During this time he developed a novel Relativistic Permeability approach, which calculates the exact level of maximum shrinkage during freezing and swelling during dilution. He was the first person to show that a permeable solute may behave paradoxically and have a bi-phasic pattern: moving in and then out during addition (hypersaturation effect) and out and back in the cell during dilution (hyperdiliution effect). In 2001 Prof. Katkov also founded Celltronix and served as Chief Scientific Officer, and from 2015 he combined this with the role of Head of the Laboratory of Amorphous State at Belgorod University (Russia) - serving in both roles until his death. Prof. Katkov’s most recent work has been the development of the concept of and building equipment for kinetic vitrification by hyperfast cooling, namely designing the K-VF KrioBlast™ in cooperation with V. F. Bolyukh from Ukraine.
In 2012 Prof. Katkov edited Current Frontiers in Cryobiology and Current Frontiers in Cryopreservation, the first major update to cryobiology literature since the publication of Life in the Frozen State (2004). During his career he published more than 160 research articles, and was granted 5 patents in the United States and Russia.
To send a message of condolence please contact Nicole Evans who will pass all messages on to Prof. Katkov's family.
CRYO2019 Report
Category: Events
Sep
26
CRYO2019, the 56th Annual Meeting of the Society for Cryobiology, took place recently July 22-25 in San Diego.
As climate change and population growth are of increasing global awareness and concern, CRYO2019 opened with a special conservation session detailing current research activities in preservation of genetic material from wild animal and plant species and agriculturally important crops. Speakers included Oliver Ryder, Kleberg Endowed Director of Conservation Genetics at The Frozen Zoo® of San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research, giving an overview on the Frozen Zoo's past, present and future conservation research and activities; Hugh Pritchard, Senior Research Scientist in Comparative Seed Biology, at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK), speaking on the importance of cryobiotechnology for conservation of wild plant species; and Bart Panis, senior scientist at KU Leuven (Belgium), on the realizations and challenges of ensuring the world's food supply through cryopreservation of vital crops, such as bananas, cassava, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. These topics were further explored throughout the meeting in a number of related sessions including animal conservation and germplasm preservation, and plant cryobiotechnology.
San Diego and the surrounding area is a well known biotechnology hub, and for this reason the second day of the meeting featured a dedicated cell therapy track, featuring a number of academic and industry speakers, including plenary speakers Robert Tressler, Vice President of the San Diego Blood Bank, and John Elliott, Principal Investigator at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Session themes throughout the day included preservation of cellular therapies and good manufacturing practice in cell therapy manufacturing development and commercialization, with industry speakers from Kite Pharma, GE Healthcare, Fate Therapeutics, BioLife Solutions, and Juno Therapeutics, among others.
Multiple sessions in fundamental cryobiology topics, cell and tissue preservation, tools and technologies, natural adaptation, and thermal medicine rounded out the scientific program, alongside several sessions organized in collaboration with the Organ Preservation Alliance and the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER). Full program information can be viewed at cryo2019.com/schedule.
During the meeting the Society for Cryobiology was pleased to announce the inaugural winners of two recently established awards, the Dayong Gao Young Investigator Award, named after current Society President and sponsored by GoldSim, which gifts $5,000 to a young researcher in the first 10 years of their post-PhD career, and the Arthur W. Rowe Cryobiology Best Paper Award, awarded to an outstanding research article published in the preceding year in Cryobiology, as decided by the journal's editorial board.
As climate change and population growth are of increasing global awareness and concern, CRYO2019 opened with a special conservation session detailing current research activities in preservation of genetic material from wild animal and plant species and agriculturally important crops. Speakers included Oliver Ryder, Kleberg Endowed Director of Conservation Genetics at The Frozen Zoo® of San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research, giving an overview on the Frozen Zoo's past, present and future conservation research and activities; Hugh Pritchard, Senior Research Scientist in Comparative Seed Biology, at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK), speaking on the importance of cryobiotechnology for conservation of wild plant species; and Bart Panis, senior scientist at KU Leuven (Belgium), on the realizations and challenges of ensuring the world's food supply through cryopreservation of vital crops, such as bananas, cassava, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. These topics were further explored throughout the meeting in a number of related sessions including animal conservation and germplasm preservation, and plant cryobiotechnology.
San Diego and the surrounding area is a well known biotechnology hub, and for this reason the second day of the meeting featured a dedicated cell therapy track, featuring a number of academic and industry speakers, including plenary speakers Robert Tressler, Vice President of the San Diego Blood Bank, and John Elliott, Principal Investigator at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Session themes throughout the day included preservation of cellular therapies and good manufacturing practice in cell therapy manufacturing development and commercialization, with industry speakers from Kite Pharma, GE Healthcare, Fate Therapeutics, BioLife Solutions, and Juno Therapeutics, among others.
Multiple sessions in fundamental cryobiology topics, cell and tissue preservation, tools and technologies, natural adaptation, and thermal medicine rounded out the scientific program, alongside several sessions organized in collaboration with the Organ Preservation Alliance and the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER). Full program information can be viewed at cryo2019.com/schedule.
During the meeting the Society for Cryobiology was pleased to announce the inaugural winners of two recently established awards, the Dayong Gao Young Investigator Award, named after current Society President and sponsored by GoldSim, which gifts $5,000 to a young researcher in the first 10 years of their post-PhD career, and the Arthur W. Rowe Cryobiology Best Paper Award, awarded to an outstanding research article published in the preceding year in Cryobiology, as decided by the journal's editorial board.
The inaugural winner and recipient of the Young Investigator award was announced as Leandro Godoy, Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, for his research on the application of biotechnologies to reproduction of aquatic organisms, the development of protocols for gamete and embryo cryopreservation and the effects of cryopreservation on reproductive cells metabolism. His research has applications in both aquaculture and conservation of endangered aquatic species through the establishment of germplasm banks. Dr. Godoy, who is leader of the ReefBank Project, plans to use the $5,000 honorarium for the ReefBank Project, specifically to assist with creating the first bank of coral gametes in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Arthur W. Rowe, founding member of the Society, and Cryobiology editor-in-chief for 24 years, delivered a presentation on the journal's history before the announcement of the winner of the eponymous best paper award - James D. Benson (University of Saskatchewan) et al. for "A toxicity cost function approach to optimal CPA equilibration in tissues" Cryobiology vol. 80. This research explores a numerical approach to adapt cell-based CPA equilibration damage models for use in a classical tissue mass transport models, and found that there are fundamental differences between protocols designed to minimize total CPA exposure time in tissues and protocols designed to minimize accumulated CPA toxicity.
CRYO2020 will take place July 21-24, 2020 in Chicago.
Jan
29
New UCL and Royal Free Ovarian Tissue Bank
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.
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John Armitage Awarded OBE
Category: Member News
Jan
27
W. John Armitage named Officer of the British Empire (OBE)
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.
CRYO2020 Location Announced
Category: Events
Jan
17
CRYO2020 Location Announced
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. 
New Website Launch
Category: Member News
Dec
13
New Website Launch
The Society for Cryobiology is pleased to announce the launch of their brand new website.
New Features
- Completely Updated Template - Mobile responsive template with a fresh, modern feel.
- Integrated Payment Gateway - Say goodbye to Paypal. You'll now stay on the Society's site while you check out using your credit or debit card.
- Automated Dues Invoicing - Dues renewal notices will be triggered automatically with each member receiving a customized invoice to pay online. Simply click the button in your email, and pay online with your credit card.
- Updated Membership Form - Apply or renew using the same form, with advanced field logic permissioning fields to appropriate applicants/users only.
- New Job Board - The Society has partnered with JobBoard.io who offer special pricing to Associations. Post your job on the Society's Job Board only, or push it out to the entire Zip Recruiter network. The choices is yours.
- Brand New Member Directory - Logged in members can search for members, or view the entire directory (members must opt in to the directory to be viewable).
- Updated and Revised Members' Area - Stay tuned as we add more members' only content over the coming year.
- New 'Industry' Menu Item - A call to action for industry professionals to get involved with the Society by supporting our Annual Meeting
- New 'Resources' Menu Item - New pages include 'Position Statements', 'Scientific Partners', and a soon to be added Press Release page.
- Sponsor Widget - We can now recognize the sponsors of our Annual Meeting using a sponsor advertisement which will appear in the sidebar, or at the bottom of your screen.
- Donation Widget - A high visibility call to action asking site visitors to donate to the Society.
- Upgraded Events Calendar - Now dynamically displays event name, date and location in an automatically generated events calendar.
New Fellows Announced
Category: Awards
Dec
13
New Fellows Announced
The Board of Governors is pleased to announce the recent approval of two new Fellows of the Society for Cryobiology: Jason Acker and Janet Elliott. Janet and Jason will be presented with their Fellow medals during a special session at CRYO2019, held in San Diego, July 22-25, 2019.
Jason Acker 
Dr. Jason Acker is a Senior Research Scientist with the Canadian Blood Services and a Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. He received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science in Experimental Pathology and PhD in Medical Sciences degrees from the University of Alberta. In 2000, Dr. Acker completed a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Acker received a Master of Business Administration in Technology Commercialization program from the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta in 2009.
Focusing his research on understanding the biological response of cells to freezing and freeze-drying has allowed Dr. Acker to develop a solid foundation from which he has contributed to the design of new methods for the long-term storage of a number of cell types and tissues.
Dr. Acker’s research program over the past 15 years has continued to focus on expanding our understanding of the biological response of cells and tissues to freezing and freeze-drying. His work has specifically focused on the development of intracellular protectants as a novel class of molecules that can protect cells and tissues during freezing and drying. In addition to the seminal contributions to our understanding of cryoinjury that Dr. Acker has made, it has been the translation work that he is often most recognized for. In the area of transfusion medicine, Dr. Acker is a world leader in understanding the effects of blood component manufacturing and low-temperature storage on patient outcomes and has led many national and international efforts to improve the quality and safety of blood components. Dr. Acker’s blood services laboratory has responsibility for developing scientific and technical evidence to support innovative changes in blood product manufacturing, storage and utilization at CBS. Dr. Acker leads efforts to assess new technology, products and processes that can improve the efficiency, quality and safety of blood product manufacturing. Through his study of low temperatures, Dr. Acker has made, and will continue to make, significant contributions the practical aspects of cell and tissue banking.
Janet Elliott
Biography courtesy of University of Alberta
Dr. Elliott obtained her B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science (Engineering Physics Option) and her M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She has been a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics.
Dr. Elliott currently serves as Associate Editor of the journal Cryobiology, on the Editorial Advisory Board of The Journal of Physical Chemistry, and on the American Chemical Society Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry Executive Committee. She has served on scientific committees for international conferences in the areas of cryobiology, surfaces and colloids, and space physical sciences. She has served on grant selection committees for all three of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). She has served as a member of the Physical Sciences Advisory Committee for the Canadian Space Agency and on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering.
Dr. Elliott’s research has been recognized nationally in science and engineering by the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering Syncrude Canada Innovation Award (2008), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Doctoral Prize (1998), the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers Young Engineer Achievement Award (2001), the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Young Explorer’s Prize (2002) and Time Magazine’s Canadians Who Define the New Frontiers of Science (2002). Dr. Elliott has also received provincial and University awards including the University of Alberta Teaching Unit Award (2004, 2016). As one student put it, “She could convince rocks to study thermodynamics.”
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Membership Dues Increase
Category: Events
Nov
29
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
Category: Events
Nov
26
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.
Election Winners
Category: Member News
Oct
31
2018 Election Winners
Congratulations to the Society for Cryobiology 2018 election winners for Governor:
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Arthur W. Rowe Best Paper Winner & Honorable Mentions
Identification of a fundamental cryoinjury mechanism in MSCs and its mitigation through cell-cycle synchronization prior to freezing
Brian H. Johnstone et al.
Transcriptome assessment in 'Red Globe' grapevine zygotic embryos during the cooling and warming phase of the cryopreservation procedure
Quijada-Rivera M. et al.
Use of fine capillaries for cryopreservation of Caenorhabditis elegans by vitrification
Daniel Barranco et al.