AGENDA

1. Call to Order

2. Approval of Agenda

3. Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting, November 2, 1997 (attached).

3.1 Business Arising

• Burroughs-Wellcome Visiting Professorship Competition, 1998 (process and results) – Peter Anderson
• By-Laws

4. Report of the Executive Director -- Paul Hough

4.1 Science Policy Summary (attached)

5. Report of the Honourary Secretary - Peter Anderson

5.1 Edmonton Meeting
5.2 Winnipeg Meeting
5.3 Plans for 2000
5.4 By-Laws: status and possible changes

6. Report of the Honourary Treasurer – Arthur Hilliker

6.1 Budget (attachment)

7. President’s Report – Peter Dolphin

7.1 CFBS Present & Future

8. Report of the Program Committee Chair – Linda McCargar9. Reports by Board Representatives

9. National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) – CFBS representative is now Randy Johnston

10. Other Business

Adjournment

1. Action: The president will solicit members to create an Awards Committee.
2. Action: P. Hough will inform Burroughs Wellcome of the change in CFBS composition, and that reference in the brochure to plant physiology and immunology should be taken out prior to printing the brochure for the 1999 competition.
3. Action: the president to form a By-Laws committee to prepare a comprehensive set of proposed changes for presentation to the Board in 1999.
4. Action: P. Hough is to notify Robert Barclay that he is invited to make his presentation at the Winnipeg meeting.
5. Action: P. Hough was asked to send a note to GSC members outlining the sources of revenue for CFBS and the fact that the Annual Meeting subsidizes the operations.
6. Action: J. Anderson and P. Hough to pursue the suggestion that members petition their American societies to direct a portion of their fees to support lobbying in Canada.
7. Action: P. Hough to obtain the FASEB membership list that is broken down by country.
8. Action: L. McCargar to provide a summary of the expenses paid through the suppot obtained from the AHFMR.

1. Call to Order: 7:45 a.m..

2. Motion to adopt the Agenda by A. Hilliker: carried.
   
   
3. Motion to accept the minutes of the November 1, 1997 Board Meeting by A. Hilliker: carried.
   

   3.1 Business Arising
   Burroughs Wellcome Visiting Professorships
   P. Anderson provided a brief history of this program, including the fact that he had contacted Burroughs Wellcome to suggest that a Canadian organization, specifically CFBS, should handle the Canadian component of this program.

A total of nine (9) applications were received of which a maximum of 5 could be put forward for support. The original guidelines specified that two of the five could be from outside of Canada, but as only one Canadian was nominated, a request went to Burroughs Wellcome to allow for up to four such individuals in this competition. This was agreed to by Burroughs Wellcome.

The nominations fell into four natural groupings, genetics, physiology, pharmacology and biochemistry. The two or three nominations in each category were then reviewed and ranked by the presidents (or their designates) of the four societies, people who had no connection with either the nomination or the institution making the nomination.

As per the attached table, the first ranking nomination in each category, along with the second one in genetics which had three nominations, were recommended by P. Anderson for putting forward to Burroughs Wellcome as the five selections by CFBS. This motion was carried.

An objective of this program is to have the awards spread out over as many institutions as possible and over several disciplines. With the five nominations recommended, these objectives are met.

P. Anderson suggested that two actions be taken:

1. that a French version of the brochure be prepared and distributed.
2. that the nominations for a given year should go to the CFBS offices. Once received, an Executive member should form a committee to conduct the evaluation of the nominations received.

The president noted that he would like to have an awards committee identified to handle this process, along with other award decisions by CFBS.

Action: The president will solicit members to create an Awards Committee.

Discussion also ensued of the fact that the disciplines that are eligible for consideration must be those represented by the societies that make up CFBS, as is the case with FASEB in the U.S.

Action: P. Hough will inform Burroughs Wellcome of the change in CFBS composition, and that reference in the brochure to plant physiology and immunology should be taken out prior to printing the brochure for the 1999 competition.

1. CFBS By-Laws

P. Anderson has conducted a review of the By-Laws and has determined that a number of changes are needed. He has produced a summary of such changes. A. Hilliker proposed that a committee be formed, chaired by the president, to look at this question. This would be composed of three or four members with P. Hough an ex-officio member, and would meet at the call of the chair.

Action: the president to form a By-Laws committee to prepare a comprehensive set of proposed changes for presentation to the Board in 1999.

4. Report of the Executive Director

   4.1 Science Policy
   P. Hough made reference to the attached report on science policy activities, and then focused on anticipated directions. In particular, the concept proposed by the MRC for a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has a lot of appeal in that it would bring significant more funding for biomedical research as well as substantially enhancing the support for other aspects of health research. Numerous organizations and groups, especially the large charities, are calling for the CIHR concept to be defined as a broadly based one that will include many health research areas that are not currently supported through the MRC. The session on Saturday, June 20^th on this concept was noted as an important opportunity for CFBS members to become familiar with it and to provide their views to senior MRC representatives.

5. Report of the Honourary Secretary, P. Anderson

   5.1 Edmonton Meeting
   The problems that arose due to the Gordon Kaplan Award winner not being able to attend the meeting were summarized, and P. Anderson apologized to the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the fact that they had to scramble to rearrange the meeting schedule. In fact, the recipient had been notified in January, but was on sabbatical in Australia and had already made arrangements to return to Canada at the end of June.

   P. Dolphin proposed that the 1998 Gordon Kaplan choice be honoured at the 1999 meeting in Winnipeg. He would also like to invite Mrs. Kaplan to present the award. However, as CSBMCB will not have a large presence in Winnipeg, this might not be the best way to proceed.

   Action: P. Hough is to notify Robert Barclay that he is invited to make his presentation at the Winnipeg meeting.

Overall, the Edmonton meeting has been well organized, is taking place in the first rate facilities of the Shaw Convention Centre, and has attracted 22 exhibitors.

5.2 Winnipeg
See the report of the Program Committee Chair

5.3 Plans for 2000
Hilliker noted that the Genetics Society of Canada (GSC) is meeting in Vancouver in 2000, with the American Genetics Society. This might provide a good opportunity for CFBS.

L. McCargar stated that it will be important to have the 2000 LOC represented at Winnipeg and to be involved in the planning of both Winnipeg in 1999 and wherever in 2000.

6. Report of the Honourary Treasurer, A. Hilliker

   6.1 1999 Budget
   In reference to the two page budget summary and proposal for 1999, A. Hilliker made note of the following points:

• The costs of operating CFBS had been cut back very considerably, to the point where little if any additional savings could be realized.
• It is apparent from the figures that the revenue from the Annual Meeting is critical to the operations of CFBS – membership fees are not adequate to cover operating costs.
• While there appears to be a bit of a cushion at the moment, if CFBS was to lose the MRC or the PMAC grants, the viability of the Federation would be in jeopardy.
• The departure of CSPP and of CSI as of 1999 will have an impact on the revenues as reflected in the proposed 1999 budget. This means that the objective that A. Hilliker has of reducing the fees can not be considered until such time as more members are attracted to CFBS. P. Anderson has written to both presidents noting that these two societies must still remit the fees for 1998.
• The proposed budget for 1999 is a conservative budget.

Discussion points that were raised included:

• J. Weiner suggested that any significant bank balance be invested in T-bills or some other investment route that can be accessed in 24 hours.
• R. Hodgetts noted that the GSC can not raise its fees due to the costs of its journal.

Action: P. Hough was asked to send a note to GSC members outlining the sources of revenue for CFBS and the fact that the Annual Meeting subsidizes the operations.

• Discussion of other potential sources of revenue raised the point that CFBS must be careful not to undermine the sources of its constituent societies. Different levels of corporate sponsorship could be offered, and indeed Platinum, Gold and Silver categories were developed a few years ago but not marketed well. A fund-raising committee is required. Both D. Andrews (Member-at-Large) and K. Rogers (Exhibitor Liaison Committee Chair) were suggested as possible chairs. G. Biro was also noted as a possible person for this activity. The president should be ex-officio.

A motion was made by P. Anderson to accept the report of the Hon. Treasurer and to approve the proposed budget for 1999. Carried.

7. President’s Report, P. Dolphin

The president stated the intention of focusing on the future direction of CFBS at the Sunday Board meeting, and therefore focused on a number of operating questions and requirements. These included:

• There is a need to formalize several activities through the formation of specific committees. A Nominating Committee is required to ensure that replacements are found for Executive, Board and Committee members as required. An Awards Committee is needed to handle the Burroughs Wellcome selection process, the Gordon Kaplan Award, the Malcolm Brown Award and others that come along. As mentioned, a Fund Raising Committee is required to try to put the Federation on a sounder financial footing. New people should be involved with each committee prior to their term starting, to become familiar with the activities.
• With respect to the need to revisit the By-Laws, it is appropriate that the duties of the Executive and the Board be examined and defined, but without regard to those currently in the positions.
• There is an urgent requirement to obtain nominations for both the Hon. Secretary and for the Vice-President.

Motion: A. Hilliker and P. Anderson moved that the Executive act as the Nominating Committee, with the president as chair. Carried.

• P. Dolphin asked that all society executives discuss the directions and activities of CFBS for presentation and discussion at the Sunday Board meeting. Perhaps the format of the Annual Meeting needs to be changed to one that has a more focused approach, but that will at the same time provide the necessary revenues to CFBS.
• The idea was raised of asking society members who are members of American societies to ban together and sign a petition to each American society to the effect that they want the component of their fees that goes to lobby support in Washington to instead be directed to CFBS.

Action: J. Anderson and P. Hough to pursue the suggestion that members petition their American societies to direct a portion of their fees to support lobbying in Canada.

Action: P. Hough to obtain the FASEB membership list that is broken down by country.

• J. Anderson suggested that CFBS should also publish a membership list that would be for sale.
• There was consensus that the abstracts from the meeting should be published. It then becomes a question of where. Both the NRC journal Canadian Biochemistry and Cell Biology and the Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology were mentioned as possible candidates. CSNS has published abstracts and award lectures in the latter journal. The aim is to have the abstracts in one place for reference purposes. No conclusions were reached.

8. Report of the Program Committee Chair, L. McCargar

This having been the first year that she was Chair, it has been a real learning experience. Several points re the Edmonton meeting were made in discussion:

• It turned out to be essential that the first meeting for Linda was held in Edmonton, her home base.
• The biggest challenge came from not having a mid-year meeting of the Program Committee, and not having an adequate level of contact with the Committee members. As a result, several important details came as surprises.
• The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) has been exceptionally helpful, not only in its level of direct support of the meeting, but also through their public relations group which provided a number of banners and other assistance. A list of the costs that AHFMR will cover will be available after the meeting.

Action: L. McCargar to provide a summary of the expenses paid through the suppot obtained from the AHFMR.

• Attempts were made to attract local science teachers – some are coming on Saturday – and the meeting has been promoted among some biotechnology companies. Thus, about 40 or more registrations have materialized during the final week up to the meeting.
• P. Anderson will introduce Robert Dugal from PMAC at the first PMAC Lecture, at which Dr. Dugal will make a few introductory comments.

Winnipeg, 1999

• The flier (copy attached) was prepared by Judy Anderson and the members of the Winnipeg LOC. Of the themes outlined, Developmental Biology is new, compared to previous theme descriptions. Motor Control and Human Performance is meant to include physiology, physical movement and neuroscience.
• The MRC grant application is normally put together by the past-president, but this year, Dennis Fitzpatrick is responsible for doing it. All the information re symposia and invited speakers must be available prior to the September 1^st deadline of the application.

9. Reports by Board Representatives

The reports from the representatives on the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) Board of Scientific Directors, and from the National Cancer Institute of Canada Board of Directors were accepted.

10. Other Business

1. Astra Pharma Inc. Program

• The request from Astra to administer the Request for Proposals (RFP) in molecular biology could develop into a fairly large program. There is a need to acknowledge all applications, to find appropriate external reviewers, and to provide at least an honorarium for them to conduct these reviews.
• Several aspects of the program were discussed, and Judy Anderson and Paul Hough were directed to enter into negotiations with Robert Jenkins from Astra during the meeting to work out the details. One of the concerns centred on the possibility that a large number of applications could be received, making the idea of a letter of intent attractive as a means of making a preliminary evaluation. Agreement has also yet to be reached on the level of support that Astra will provide for CFBS to administer this program.

1. A request for symposium support from CSPP was presented. The $500 sought is coincident with CFBS policy concerning constituent society meetings held separately from the Annual Meeting. This request was approved.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m.