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1999 Business Meeting Minutes
ASHG Business Meeting
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
October 5, 1999
MINUTES
President Francke opened the
meeting with a moment of silence for the
deceased members. They are: Herman Bleiweiss,
Sarah Bundey, Florence Char, David Fulker,
Elizabeth Koch, Donald Pious, Erlinda
Polvorosa, Robert Summitt, Louis Susca,
Carlo Tamburro, Mathew Thomas.
She then welcomed the new members of the
Board (Jane Gitschier, Jim Lupski, Lou
Kunkel) and thanked those whose tenure will
end December 31, 1999 (S. Warren, John
Carey, Judith Miles) for their distinguished
service and wisdom they have shared.
President Francke also announced that the
new president-elect for 2000 is Huntington
Willard.
In addition, the positions of Treasurer and
Editor are changing. On behalf of the
Society, Francke thanked both Steve Goodman
and Peter Byers for all their hard work
through the years. They were each presented
with a gift.
SECRETARY'S REPORT –
Ann Walker
Nominating Committee report
Walker thanked the members of the Nominating
Committee for the 1999 election: Roberta
Pagon, Chair; Anne Bowcock; Victoria Cox;
Harry Dietz; and Roderick McInnes. Of the
4,533 ballots mailed, 1,496 (33%) were
returned, an increase in the number of
ballots received (1,440) over last year.
Minutes Approval
The minutes of last year's business meeting
were sent by e-mail to the membership and
corrections solicited. Walker asked for a
motion to approve the minutes. It was
seconded. There were no objections.
Membership Report
As of October 6, 1999, there were 6,114 paid
members and 606 unpaid members. This brings
the total paid and unpaid membership to
6,114. Seventy-three percent are from the
US, an additional 5% from Canada, 0.5% from
Mexico and 21% representing other countries.
The membership increased modestly (about
0.3%) from 1998, due mostly to an increase
in foreign members. The numbers of US
members declined. Seventy-one percent s are
regular, emeritus, husband/wife, or life
members. Eighteen percent are overseas
affiliates, and 11% are students. On Monday
the board approved 318 new members. Another
group of new members was approved in April,
making a total of 583 new members.
Walker presented the data on the
pre-registration figures for the end of
September. At that time there were 3,317
pre-registrants. The meeting attendance is
now 5,247. Of the pre-registrants, only 52%
were members of the Society; about half of
the nonmembers were students. Sixty-eight
percent engage in basic or clinical
research, 25% described involvement in
clinical activities – providing either
treatment, diagnosis or counseling -- or
identifying themselves as practicing
physicians. There were about 7% in other
categories. Sixty-one different countries
were represented among abstract authors and
60% of submissions came from people who were
not members. Student members submitted only
7% of all abstracts.
Walker reported that there was general
concern among board members that membership
appeared to be leveling off somewhat. There
was greater concern that students have not
joined at the same rate as in previous
years. The board decided to restructure the
registration fee to encourage more students
to join the Society. There will now be a
sizable difference between registration fees
for student members and nonmembers that will
offset the price of membership. A student
membership with the Journal is $60. However
if one registers for the meeting as a
student member, the registration fee is only
$25.00, vs. $85 for a nonmember student.
TREASURER'S REPORT –
S. Goodman
Dr. Goodman stated that this
was his last Board report. He has been
working with Jan Friedman, his successor,
throughout the year to provide a smooth
transition for the new treasurer. In
general, 1999 has been a good year
financially, with profits made from the
journal and a projected over-budget profit
from the 1999 annual meeting.
For 1999 there is projected revenue of
$3,090,867, which includes (among other
things) $832,000 from nonmember journal
subscriptions, $330,000 from dues and
$1,233,350 from the annual meeting. The
projected total expense for 1999 is
$2,945,276, leaving net projected revenues
of $145,591. This revenue is fairly high
compared to some previous years: 1994 -
$185,932; 1995 – ($88,361); 1996 –
($12,199); 1997 - $118,846; 1998 - $191,618.
Related to these numbers is the fund
balance, a ratio that shows holdings related
to expenses. Currently the fund balance is
59% of total expenses. The percent fund
balance has continued to grow since 1996. A
fund balance of 59% is considered to
represent good financial health. Even if
2000 expenses increase by 5% and the revenue
remains stable, ASHG should still break
even.
Membership income is leveling off and income
from reprints, author charges and
advertising revenue are below budget. Four
expense categories are projected to be
somewhat higher than budgeted, particularly
editor's office expense. However, even with
these variances, a clear profit is still
projected. Future journal income is
difficult to estimate and is a potential
source of concern because it is not known
how electronic publication will affect
long-term financial health. As long as the
meeting and the journal continue to show
large profits, the Society will remain in
sound financial condition.
Investment Report
As of September 30 there is $2.3M (up from
$1.8M at the same time last year).
During1998, the value of investments
increased from $1.6M at the end of 1997 to
$2.033M at 1998 year end. Stock market
performance has continued to significantly
raise the fair market value of investments
in 1999 so the projection for 1999
unrealized gains is good. The actual numbers
will be included in the year-end report and
discussed at the spring Board meeting.
2000 Budget
The budget shows total income at $3,170,265,
total expenses at $3,042,049, for a net of
$128,216. This is based on a flat revenue
picture for both membership and journal
income streams. The price of an
institutional journal subscription is being
raised from $495 to $525, which will
increase income. All subscriptions include
free access to the electronic journal.
Some expenses are projected to rise. One
large increase comes from the change in the
editor's stipend from $15,000 to $30,000 per
year. Another projected rise is in the cost
of computer support services, both for
software development and network
maintenance. A new expense is the Society's
dues payment to FASEB. This will cost ASHG
about $38,000 per year. This amount will be
partially offset by savings from discounted
services that amount to about $26,000.
EDITOR'S REPORT – P.
Byers and S. Warren
Dr. Byers stated that the
journal is very healthy and that the rate of
submission is going up. Last year 27
articles were rejected without review, many
more than in previous years. The
distribution of articles' topic areas is
similar this year to what it has been
before. The web site is very active with
18,000+ user sessions per month. Byers
stated that when he began, there were 468
submissions per year. Submissions now have
tripled. Acceptance rate has dropped to
about 38%, down from roughly 50% from when
he first started.
Over 1000 reviewers evaluated manuscripts
this year. One-third of all manuscripts
published are on molecular characterization
of diseases, with the second highest
category disease locus mapping. The Genetics
99 series that John Ashkenas is doing
included reviews on psychiatric genetics,
sexual development, immunogenetics,
neurogenetics, protein biosynthesis and
transport, molecular evolution, chromosome
genetics.
Electronic Publication
The entire text of each issue, along with
the table of contents and editorial
comments, is published electronically two
weeks before the print edition is mailed.
About 30 percent of users are from
international sites and about 46 percent are
from the US with the remainder unknown. This
ratio has remained stable over the past
year.
Citation Index
With an impact factor of 10.869 the journal
ranks sixth out of 103 genetics journals
indexed by ISI. Last year the journal ranked
fourth, with an impact factor of 10.244.
Circulation
As of September 30, 1999, there were 6,719
member subscribers, up from 6,095 last
year,. Robert Shirrell said that
institutional subscriptions are down about
8% this year. It is not known if this number
reflects a downturn in actual subscribers or
in the multiple copy orders that may be
falling. The general downward trend predates
the change in subscription rates and is
being experienced by other journals. It is
possible that this is an effect of
electronic publishing. The number of site
licenses continues to rise (476 compared to
1496 hard copy orders) but is curiously low
considering they are free.
Subscription Rates
The US subscription rate for institutions
rose from $495 in 1998 to $525 in 1999. The
Board will revisit the subscription rate for
2001 at the spring Board meeting in 2000.
Editorial Board
Four Associate Editors will leave the Board
at the end of this year: Gregory Barsh,
Diane Cox, Richard Spielman and Barbara
Weber. The four new Associate Editors for
the term 2000-2002 are Christopher Amos,
Steve Narod, Allen Bale and Bernice Morrow.
Old Editorial Office
The Seattle Office will continue to process
manuscripts submitted before July 1, 1999,
and maintain the office through October 31,
1999. Byers stated that the journal fellow
position is an excellent mechanism for
identifying and developing new talent as
well as facilitating much of the editorial
office activity. The current fellow, John
Ashkenas, will be moving to JCI as
scientific editor and will be replaced by a
recent Ph.D. from Emory as stated below.
New Editorial Office
Steve Warren has established an editorial
office at Emory University and began
accepting manuscripts July 1, 1999. Over 300
manuscripts have been received to date. The
staff includes Catherine Alden, Managing
Editor; Carissa Craig, Assistant Managing
Editor; and Kate Beauregard, Editorial
Fellow.
Warren stated that no radical changes are
planned, and that the office is making
rigorous efforts to reduce the time it takes
from submission to acceptance. This effort
will target time in the editorial office for
handling the manuscript, time for review,
and time it takes for authors to return
revisions. He solicited specific suggestions
from the membership to help make the journal
process more effective. Warren said that he
intends to do press releases on selected
articles to give the Society and the journal
more visibility. The press releases would be
put on the web page for additional exposure.
One member asked the Board to summarize the
arguments against making the journal freely
available to anyone in the world who has
access to the Internet. The individual also
asked if the Board would find it helpful to
have a non-binding vote from the membership
on this issue. Byers addressed this question
and commented that the journal could be
available to everyone on line with a flip of
a switch, but that the issue is, to a large
degree, a financial one. A significant
amount of the income to keep the journal
robust actually comes from library
subscriptions. The Society's income from
library subscriptions this year is about
$822,000. What is not known is what impact
there would be if the on-line version were
free or how this would affect library
subscriptions down the road. If the Society
could maintain its library subscriptions of
about 700 at the present rate, it would
breakeven. However, if library subscriptions
dropped to zero because the journal was
on-line, authors would end up paying
$140-150/page to publish because journal
production would have to be supported
entirely by page charges (and/or
advertising). This would shift financial
responsibility for publications to the
author, a move with very real consequences
in terms of grant-funding mechanisms. It
would mean that there would have to be a
rather dramatic revision of fund allocation,
because instead of funding publications
through indirect funds (as is now done),
publication costs would come from direct
funds. Byers noted that Harold Varmus has
suggested that this may be an alternative,
but that it would require a substantial
change in review councils and other cultures
to achieve. The other concern is about
creating a single central repository. If
many journals remain independent and have
their own electronic sites, this would mean
there would be duplicate publications, in
turn creating other problems.
There are intermediate possibilities such as
making the journal available to
non-subscribers through the journal's own
website three months after publication. This
would be structurally slightly different
from making it available through PubMed
Central. It is not clear what the advantages
and liabilities are, and the Board is trying
to explore what it is that PubMed Central
would do for and to AJHG that is not being
done otherwise. These issues have not yet
been resolved and sorted out through PubMed
Central. The Board will know much more
within the next year. Byers stated that the
journal does have to protect its
individuality and identity because the
journal office h adds value through our
editorial process, and it costs money to do
that.
President Francke thanked Byers and said
that the Board will continue to discuss this
within the next few months. A decision may
be made between now and the next meeting.
SOCIAL ISSUES
COMMITTEE REPORT - Jane Gitschier
Dr. Gitschier reported that the
Committee dealt with three issues at its
most recent meeting. The first is that the
committee has developed a policy statement
on genetic testing and adoption. This
statement, which was written by Mark
Rothstein, Chair, and Mary Kay Pelias, was
presented to the Board and approved. It will
be published in the AJHG and the text will
also be posted on the Web. The Society is
asking for the ACMG's and the NSGC's
endorsement of this statement. The committee
would like to make its existence known to
pediatricians and adoption agencies.
Secondly, the committee asked the Board for
permission to go forward on a position paper
on the use of DNA testing in forensics. This
paper will focus on whose DNA should be
tested and whether that DNA be stored in
perpetuity (which would increase the chance
of its being studied in ways that were not
originally intended). The position paper
will be done as a collaborative effort of
ACMG, NSGC, ISONG and ASHG.
Thirdly, should there be a policy paper on
the duty to recontact subjects who have
participated in studies by providing DNA
samples. These would mainly be people
affected with various inherited disorders
and their family members. This turns out to
be a complex issue that has to do with the
way in which informed consent is granted.
IRB approval varies widely from University
to University. The board also has a joint
committee with the Genetic Alliance, which
John Carey chairs. Consumer concerns
identified by that committee were also of
concern to the Social Issues committee, and
both of these groups decided to propose a
workshop for next years meeting.
Kurt Hirschhorn, who was present in the
audience and who serves on the ACMG Social,
Ethical and Legal Issues Committee for the
College, expressed enormous gratitude from
the ACMG for the opportunity to work
together formally and officially. He said
that he hopes this is a forerunner of a
permanent, single committee. The adoption
paper is not just simply being backed by the
College, but was also done in collaboration
with the ACMG.
INFORMATION AND
EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORT - Paula Gregory
Dr. Gregory reported that the
committee has two new members, Bruce Korf
and Carol Christianson.
She went on to explain that this year the
outreach program for students was modified
slightly in that only teachers and not
students were invited. Forty San Francisco
Bay area teachers attended. Based on this
number of teachers, the program should have
an impact on about 4,000 students per year.
The board approved the program for teachers
and also agreed to hold the workshop on the
Saturday of the annual meeting in order to
ensure a much larger attendance. (To take a
day off during the week, teachers have to
pay for their own substitutes.) Gregory
asked for volunteers from the membership to
help plan and participate in next year's
workshop.
The committee continues to represent ASHG at
the National Coalition of Health
Professionals in Genetics and in the
Association of Professors of Human/Medical
Genetics. The committee is working on
revising the guidelines for genetics content
in medical school that were first published
in 1995, based on new board scores, etc.
Another group is working on an undergraduate
genetics curriculum (minimal competency) and
guidelines for undergraduate science and
non-science majors. Also being updated is
the Careers Brochure. Gregory asked the
membership to submit ideas for the new
brochure. The committee would like to make
the stories describing each career a bit
more 'three-dimensional'.
Gregory concluded by saying that Joe
McInerney is continuing to work on an
audio-visual history of human genetics, and
the committee will continue to organize the
education sessions for the meeting each
year. It also coordinates efforts along with
the Awards Committee in choosing the
Excellence in Education awardee each year,
and would very much like to increase the
visibility of this award in order to receive
more nominations.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
REPORT - Lynn Jorde / Doug Marchuk
Dr. Jorde reported that for the
San Francisco meeting the attendance was
5,200, a 10% increase over last year. Of the
attendees, 25% were from countries other
than the US. There were 190 exhibitors, a
record number. Three thousand abstracts were
submitted, approximately 500 more than were
ever received in past years.
One of the things that expedited the review
process was greater reliance on electronics,
not only for submission but for abstract
review as well. Jorde thanked all the
program committee members and external
reviewers who helped. He reviewed the
changes in format for this year: there are
now two plenary sessions instead of one. The
invited sessions are spread over two days
instead of one to alleviate overcrowding. In
addition, because of the limited exhibit
space in SF, all of the posters could not be
displayed for all four days. Instead, they
were ranked into two groups--one that got
two days for presentation and another that
got four days. Several members of the
committee are retiring this year: Pragna
Patel, Jennifer Puck and George Tiller.
Jorde thanked them for their service. The
new members are Richard Gibbs, Max Muenke,
Harry Orr and Val Sheffield.
Doug Marchuk, 2000 program chair, talked
about format changes for next year The
invited speakers will be distributed so that
they won't all be scheduled in one day and
there will be invited sessions on all days
of the meeting. Until now, there have been
two groups of either six or seven workshops
and symposia, allowing one to attend just
two sessions. In 2000, there will be three
groups with only five topics each, so that
attendees will be able to go to three
different ones. He reminded the membership
that when changes like these are made,
something has to give, but only 10-12 slide
sessions have been lost. In terms of timing
for submitting the abstracts and the date of
the meeting, the ASHG Administrative office
says the timing can't be scaled back any
more. He encouraged people to submit
suggestions for symposia and workshop topics
and speakers, reminding the members that
this is their opportunity to influence
meeting content.
FASEB REPRESENTATIVES
Uta Francke informed the
membership that the ASHG has joined FASEB.
She presented a slide listing ASHG members
who have agreed to serve on various FASEB
committees as ASHG representatives. These
representatives can be contacted directly if
there are any concerns, and it is hoped that
at some point they may be able to tell the
membership/board about what they have
learned/accomplished with respect to serving
within the FASEB organization.
INTERNATIONAL
FEDERATION OF HUMAN GENETICS SOCIETIES (IFHGS)
Dr. Francke gave an overview of
the IFHGS. There are three main member
societies: the European, American and
Australasian Societies of Human Genetics.
There are also 35 different countries who
are corresponding members. One of the tasks
of the organization is to organize the
annual International Congresses of Human
Genetics that are held every five years. The
next Congress will be in Vienna in May of
2001. It is being organized by the ESHG. In
2006 it will be in Brisbane, organized by
the Australasian Society.
AAAS CONGRESSIONAL
FELLOW - Carol Greene
Dr. Greene thanked the Society
for the opportunity to have this "truly
educationa"l experience. She talked about
the culture on "the hill", how things work,
and how best to have input into and have an
impact on that process. Congress has powers
far beyond legislation. It has the power to
oversee the implementation and regulation of
the laws, and it oversees all the policies
and practices of all federal agencies
including NIH, FDA, HCFA, etc. She is
working on the Kennedy staff, and he is the
ranking minority on the Public Health
Committee. Specifically with respect to
genetics, Dr. Greene has been able to
participate in redrafting legislation and
working on policy and regulations. She has
been involved in redrafting and strategizing
about legislation on genetic discrimination
and the new public health genetics
initiative. In other areas, she has gained
experience with issues of funding and
prioritizing of research at NIH, and
regulations within HCFA and HRSA. Dr. Greene
plans to use her new-found knowledge in any
way she can to promote the goals of the
Society, including educating the members
about legislative issues through workshops.
She strongly encourages both the Society and
individual members to become more active and
involved in the political process at the
local, state and national levels.
Dr. Francke ended the meeting by thanking
Elaine Strass and the staff in the ASHG
administrative office for all of the work
they have done throughout the year.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Walker, ASHG Secretary
Elaine Strass, Executive Director
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