JUL 2 1 1989

Society for the Study of Reproduction

Newsletter Vol. 6. Number 2 July 1989

The Way It Was in the proportion of women attending the meetings. At my first meeting, there must have been a 20: 1 ratio of males to females. It seems to me that we were close to achieving a 1: 1 ratio at the Seattle meeting.

_,.--.,,;~St-;.;u:;d~e~n~ts=w:::h~o~a~ff-=e=n;:d~th:=::is~~~e~a~r~'sri-a~n~n:.;:u;-;a~/ ttmje~e~t/~·nr:=-=-4'h" ' e----wn=meeting hotM"24Tese-arch rep-orts In-S simul-will find themselves among nearly (](X) participants, taneous sessions, whereas the 1988 meeting had 438 confronted with several simultaneous slide sessions, research reports in 4 simultaneous sessions as well as and acres of poster presentations. Students who at- poster sessions. tended annual meetings when our Society was much Many things have not changed over the pqst 1 ~ younger had a very different experience. Sandy years. The SSR is still a very friendly society that makes Michael has agreed to share her memories of one of newcomers feel accepted and welcome. Over the those early meetings. years I have been to meetings of about 20 other

-Editor societies, but never have I been as warmly welcomed

My first meeting was at Michigan State University in 1972. At the time I was a post-doctoral fellow with I. I. Geschwind and G. E. Bradford at University of California-Davis. It was to be my first presentation at a national meeting but I was the only one from Davis attending. I left for the meeting feeling a little lost and without emotional support.

At the opening reception I met Gil Greenwald. In what other society would an "unknown· like me have met that year's current president at the annual meet­ing? Gil introduced me to the group from Kansas who were kind enough to include me in their social activ-

as at my first SSR meeting. No matter how my research interests evolve, I will always consider the SSR as my ~home· Society, and if I could only attend one meet­ing each year, it would be the SSR.

Sandy Michael S.U.N. y', Binghamton

From the ASCB NewsleHer

ities. In those days we didn't have a series of planned Representative Joseph Early (D-Mass.) out­ovoning ,€Wonts? so -!sooiel--ecti'v'ities· FneaFIki5it-i""~~'--i=-lIllrln"""'t:::ur-?i'l1Er'Sfe~elffNtR~saDility TO fund the off-campus pubs. Through the Kansas group that research grants with its budget. Early pOinted out year, my Circle of acquaintances widened to include that the payline for awarding competing grants people from Georgia, Charlie Barraclough and col- has gone from 170 in FY 1988, to 160 in FY 1989, leagues from Baltimore, and Neena Schwartz from and will be 150 for FY 1990. The decline follows in Chicago. Neena was chairing my session and meet- the percentage of approved grants that were ing her beforehand In a social setting helped to ease awarded, going from 35.4% in FY88, to 29.2% in my anxiety about my presentation. FY89, down to 24.3% in FY90. Early concluded by

When I look back and compare that 1972 meet- outlining the declining number of competing ing with the 1988 meeting in Seattle, there have been grants funded, from 6,213 in FY88, 5,324 in FY89, many changes. The most obvious, of course, is the and was told by Dr. Wyngaarden that the num-increase in the number of people attending. This year ber would be 4,719 in FY90. Early concluded his there were at least 30 people from University of Cali- questioning of Dr. Wyngaarden by saying how fornia-Davis alone! But there were many other differ- ~ Iucky· NIH is to be considered such a ~ prlority· ences as well: an increase in younger scientists by President Bush. attending (I refuse to believe that this impression is an artifact of my being 16 years older), and an increase

Bylaws CommiHee

The SSR Bylaws Committee has been working on a number of changes in the Bylaws this year. These changes will be presented to the Board of Directors at this year's annual meeting in August, 1989. Any proposed change must be voted on for approval; each SSR member's vote holds important weight in making decisions whether to accept these proposed changes.

I want to bring to your attention the issues we have been working on in order for you to better decide how to place your vote. The Bylaws is printed in the back of the 1988 SSR Directory.

(1) It has been suggested that a new class of mem­bership be created called ~Honorary Members· so thaCf{artman awardees may be included as SSR members. (2) The SSR is currently a ~501(C)(6Y not-for-profit organization. C6 organizations can accept dona­tions, but these donations are not tax deductible to the donor. The SSR is applying for ~501(C)(3)· status which allows tax-deductible contributions. To qualify for this change in status we must amend the bylaws in two ways:

a) There must be an addition to the purpose clause specifically stating that we are an educational or scientific organization.

b) There must be an addition to the dissolution clause specifically stating that if and when our society dissolves, our assets will be given to another desig­nated 50 1 (C)(3) organization. (3) An issue of the procedures and responsibilities of the Nominating Committee has come up. There have been some concerns in the area of nominating offi­cers; we are trying to find a better solution. (4) There seems to be some overlap in the jobs of Treasurer and Executive Secretary as it stands now (Article X, sections 11 and 13) and this needs to be clarified; also we are proposing to eliminate the sec­tion on Assistant Treasurers (Article X, section 12).

These are the major issues. I would encourage each SSR member to use your voting rights at the business meeting. If you have any questions concern­ing the Bylaws please feel free to contact me. Ad­dress: Standard University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Room S-253, Stanford, CA 94301; telephone 415/853-1357 or 415/725-6641.

Meredith L. War.shaw Chairperson, Bylaws Committee

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Mail Woes

We have learned that some members (board members Included) are routinely failing to receive mail from the Society. Apparently, the U.S. Postal SeNice has a predilection for losing second class mail somewhere between Champaign, IL and Kansas City, KS or Ann Arbor, MI, to name just two of the ~trouble spots.· We would like to know how extensive this problem is. Listed below are the mailing dates for the items normally distributed to the membership each year. If you fail to receive any of these items, please let Bob Schmidt know. His phone number in the Society's Business Office is 217/356-3182. (Of course, this newsletter is being sent second class mail, so if you are one of the unfortunates you probably won't receive this notice either!)

MAIUNG

Membership Renewal Notice Ballot Annual Meeting Registration Call for nominations for director Call for awards nominations Call for annual meeting papers Newsletter Newsletter

Public Affairs CommiHee

September 15 April 15 Apr1120 October 1 November 15 December 1 Midwinter Early Summer

The Public Affairs activities of our Society have continued at an accelerated pace throughout the past year. We have developed close working rela­tionships with other scientific societies with a specific interest in research in the reproductive sciences as funded through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). We have also developed relationships with various other scientific grouJ,:>s with a specific interest In the Congressional funding for the NICHD.

Our Congressional write-in campaign regarding the funding for research in the reproductive sciences through the NICHD has been extremely well sup­ported by the members of our SOCiety. Numerous letters have been sent to specific members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees re­garding the appropriations for the NICHD for fiscal year (FY) 1990. Although it is too early to accurately determine the total extent of participation by our members, preliminary indications at this time are that the participation by our Society members this year is far greater than it was last year. The final count will be included in our next Newsletter. I would like to person- r ally thank all who have taken time to participate in this important write-in campaign. This Is an extremely

effective mechanism whereby the members of our Society can become involved in informing Congress of our concerns regarding the funding for research in the Reproductive Sciences.

On April 27, 1989, the Chairman of the Public Affairs Committee testified on behalf of our SOCiety before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies of the U.S. House of Representatives. We requested that the Subcommittee reject the budget of $444. 1 million for the NICHD for FY 1990 which is being recommended in the President's budget, and instead adopt a budget of $584.6 million for the

Competitive Research Project Grants Comparison

NICHDvs. NIH ~, .,,,,ro ~, .ftft"

....... ", • •• 77V

NICHD

Competitive Funding Grants Rate

Fiscal year Funded (Percentile)

FY 1985 Actual 469 28.2 FY 1986 Actual 490 27.1 FY 1987 Actual 545 35.6 FY 1988 Actual 450 27.0 FY 1989 Estimate 438 25.3 FY 1990 Estimate 352 19.7

NIH

Competitive Funding Grants Rate

Fiscal year Funded (Percentile)

FY 1985 Actual 6.246 37.3 FY 1986 Actual 6.211 36.1 FY 1987 Actual 6A47 38.3 FY 1988 Actual 6.213 35.3 fY 1989 Estlroato:. Ji~2A ?O '~

FY 1990 Estimate 4.819 24.4

NICHD for FY 1990. This higher budget for the NICHD would include substantially increased funds to sup­port basic and clinical research in the reproductive sciences by the NICHD during FY 1990. The Chairman also made numerous visits on Capitol Hill to personally encourage Congress to adopt the higher budget for the NICHD for FY 1990.

As I mentioned in my Public Affairs Update of April 1989, if the President's budget is adopted by Con­gress, the number of competing grants which will be funded by the NICHD during FY 1990 will decrease from 438 competing grants funded this year (FY 1989;

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$76.1 million) down to only 352 competing grants funded next year (FY 1990; $68.0 million). In FY 1988 the NICHD funded 450 competing grants, and in FY 1987545 competing grants were funded. The deCline from FY 1987 to FY 1990 (President's budget) would be a decrease of 35.4% in the funding of competing grants by the NICHD. Comparably, for the NIH as a whole, the President's budget will decrease the num­ber of competing grants from 5,324 during FY 1989, down to 4,819 during FY 1990. During FY 1988 the NIH funded 6,213 competing grants, and during FY 1987 6M7 competing grants were funded by the NIH. The decrease in competing grants funded by the NIH from FY 1987 to FY 1990 will be 25.3%. The adjacent table demonstrates the serious downward trend in the funding of competing grants by the NICHD an d the NIH.

As of this date (early June) Congress had not ye t Ae---1'1l"1l"1rf"l'.It:"rI +no fi",,..,1 k IrI:O+ fl"\~ NIl=! i !=lGlblGi~

NICHD for FY 1990. The appropriations process gener ally proceeds throughout the spring and summe r

s months, and we should have some nearly final figure by the time of our annual meeting in Columbia.

t Please plan to attend the Public AffalrslStuden Affairs Forum regarding the federal funding for re search in the reproductive sciences at our annua I

t m d

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meeting. The forum will be held on Tuesday, Augus 8, 1989, from approximately 8: 15-9:30 p .m. The foru will follow the Awards Ceremony, and will be followe by an evening social event. The forum will be c hosted by Student Representative Ann Miller an d myself. PartiCipants will include Dr. Duane F. Alexan der, Director of the NICHD; Dr, Rosemary Grady of th e U.S. Department of Agriculture; Dr. Lanelta Dorflinge of the U.S. Agency for International Development; D~ Gary C. Ellis; formerly of the Office of Technolog Y

h ss n e

Assessment of the U.S. Congress, and currently wit the Institute of Medicine. Each partiCipant will discu the funding of the reproductive sciences by their ow respective federal agencies. The audience will hav an opportunity to become involved by asking ques t lons of the partiCipants and sharing their own per sonal concerns and experiences. The social even t following the forum will provide an arena for the direct interaction of Society members with the partic­ipants. Please plan to attend this first-time and unique event sponsored by your SOCiety.

If you would like to discuss in greater detail any of the items which I have mentioned above, please feel free to contact me at any time at the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin, Suite 3.204, Houston, 1X 77030. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you at the annual meeting in Columbia.

James P. Pres/ock, Ph.D. Chairman, Public Affairs Committee

1989 Faculty-Trainee Luncheon

The annual Faculty-Trainee Luncheon will be held this year on Tuesday, August 8, 1989 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p .m. during the annual meeting of the Society in Columbia, Missouri. Graduate students, undergrad­uate students and postdoctoral trainees are encour­aged to participate. Each faculty participant of various backgrounds and expertise in the general field of reproductive biology will share a relaxed and informal lunchtime with two to four trainees in the Brady Commons Mall dining hall. Trainees should visit the FTL desk during registration or the first few days of the meeting and sign up to meet one of the faculty participants. Please sign up as soon as possible prior to the luncheon date, because trainees will be as­signed to a particular faculty participant on a first­come, first-served basis. Because there is no financing of this event, you will need to use your meal ticket if you have purchased a meal plan or purchase your lunch as you enter the line in the dining hall. Signs will be posted In Brady Commons to assist you to the dining rooms and your table. Faculty whom have graciously accepted an invitation by the FTL commit­tee to participate this year include:

Dr. David F. Albertini Dr. Harold R. Behrman Dr. Thomas E. Curry, Jr. Dr. Dharam S. Dhindsa Dr. Phillip Dziuk Dr. Christopher J. Hubbard Dr. P. Landis Keyes Dr. Jeffrey V. May Dr. Gordon Niswender Dr. Kevin G. Osteen Dr. Anita H. Payne Dr. Michael W. Vernon Dr. Thomas H. Welsh, Jr. Dr. Phyllis M. Wise

Questions regarding the luncheon may be ad­dressed to Gary Piquette, Department of Reproduc­tive Medicine, M-025, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, telephone 619/534-4210.

Trainee Affairs CommiHee

Trainee members of SSR are invited to attend an informal breakfast meeting scheduled for Wednes­day, August 9 at 7:00 a.m. at the Heidelberg Restau­rant on the University of Missouri campus. We will be discussing Trainee programs and plans forthe coming

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year. If you would like to join us please stop by the placement service desk during the meeting or con­tact Annie Miller (301/496-9416) or Justin Lamsa (508/842-8921).

From Your President

In the February issue of the Newsletter, Dr. Miguel Garcia Winder from the Colegio de Postgraduados in Chapingo, Mexico requested back issues of Biology of Reproduction which he has been unable to pur­chase because of a financial crisis that exists at his institution. On April 11 ,1989, I received a warm letter from Dr. Garcia Winder in which he expressed his gratitude to members of the SOCiety who responded to his request. He received man,! offers, not only for back issues of Biology of Reproduction, but for other scientific journals as well. The response of our mem­bership to the needs of one of our colleagues was very impressive. Thank you.

The annual meeting is shaping up to be a good one. The SSR board meeting will be held on Sunday, August 6, 1989. Deadline for submission of items to be included on the agenda for discussion at the board of directors meeting will be July 15, 1989. Please send these requests to me. My address is listed in the SSR Directory.

John A. Resko, President

Fiscal CommiHee

The SSR Fiscal Committee made the following recommendations to the board of directors at its February meeting:

(1) That the Society complelely and promptly disso­ciate itself from any savings and loans institutions and that it limit itself to federally insured faCilities.

(2) That imminently maturing CD's be promptly rolled over to higher yield instruments.

(3) That the Society adopt an investment philosophy and that this article be written up in the form of a document which the board could then endorse. Such policy, preferably simple and straight forward, should go a long way towards assuring continuity in light of the changing of Society officers. A draft of such investment policy was provided so that consid- f-"'"

eration be given to further diversification with the intent of increasing returns. Consideration was also

given to the possibility of employing a professional money manager to organize the Society portfolio.

Eli Y. Adashi, M.D. Chairman, SSR Fiscal Committee

New Investigator Awards

I want to get input from the readership of the SSR Newsletter regarding the format for selection of the New Investigator Awards. The New Investigator Awards are given to the best presentation by a pre­doctoral student or a postdoctoral trainee at the annual meeting. The postdoctoral trainee must have completed a doctoral degree within 2 years or less at

__ the time the abstract was submitted. First and second "'--place awards are glveh-:Tffne S u enf wisn es 0 en er

the competition, the new investigator box is checked on the abstract form at the time of submission. Prior to evaluation of abstracts, the new investigator box is blackened out on all abstracts. This is done so that evaluations will be unbiased relative to whether the paper will be presented by a new investigator or not. Each abstract is given a score and the best scores are selected for presentation at the annual meeting. The top 15-20 'new investigator' abstracts are identified

,,- after evaluation, the names and addresses of the investigators are removed from the abstracts and

Nominating CommiHee

The Nominating Committee was charged with preparing a ballot with candidates for President­Elect, Secretary and two Directors for the SOCiety. Nominations of society members for these positions were accepted until November 4,1988. There were 57 members nominated for President-Elect, 75 mem­bers nominated for Secretary and 147 members nom­inated for Director. A ballot was prepared from these nominations and distributed to the membership on April 24, 1989. By the deadline of May 26, 1989, 735 ballots had been received from the membership. The race for each of the officers was very close and the following individuals were elected.

Anita Payne . . Qaone.,Forh loe

Mike Griswold Fred Karsch

. . . President-Elect ~~. SeGr.etOl¥-~

. Director .. Director

Terry Nett Chairman Nominating Committee

Future Workshops

each is given a 'coded' number. The 15-20 'coded' The 1988 and 1989 annual meetings of the Society abstracts are submitted to all members of the Awards have featured a Molecular Biology Workshop ar-Committee for further evaluation. The top six ab- ranged by the Education Committee that was stracts are invited to make oral presentations at an chaired by Dr. Diane Suter and Dr. Anne Hirshfield, evening session at the annual meeting and the re- respectively. The 1988 workshop was very successful maining abstracts are placed in a poster session des- and judging from the response to the 1989 program ignated New Investigator Finalists so that recognition it appears that this workshop will be a continued is given to these very good abstracts. The Awards success. It is the intent of the Education Committee Committee then makes a final evaluation of the six to make this an annual event. best abstracts at the evening oral presentation in Since the title ~Molecular Biology Workshop· is

~--eFE**,ro-seIeeHAe-2- 'wiAAiAg!"prescntotions. - Umited-iA-sGGpe and the-~urpose of-4Ae-weFk-sAop-i~--As an alternative, should the top 15-20 New Inves- to have established investigators discuss current tech-

tigator abstracts compete in a poster session rather niques, the title of future workshops will reflect this than have the top 6 compete in an oral presentation? intent. In order to ensure the continued success of this This process might allow more one-on-one interaction program we absolutely need your input as members, between the student and the judges. It might also i.e .. what techniques and topics you would like to see give a more indepth view of the research. I would presented, is the time and format of the workshop appreciate your thoughts, concerns and comments. acceptable, etc. Please put your ideas and thoughts Please feel free to contact me at the Department of on paper and send them to me or let me and other Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kan- members of the Education Committee know how you sas City, KS 66103. feel at the meeting in Columbia, MO. We need your

Paul Terranova input and we look forward to hearing from you. You can contact me at the Department of Obstetrics/Gy­necology, University of Illinois, 840 South Wood Street, Chicago, IL 60612, telephone 312/996-0994.

Asgi T. FazJeabas

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Awafds CommiHee

The SSR Awards Committee has completed the arduous task of choosing the recipients of the Carl G. Hartman Award, SSR Research Award and the SSR Distinguished Service Award. This year the committee received 11 nominations forthe Hartman Award, 8 for the Research Award and 5 for the Distinguished Ser­vice Award.

The nominees for each of the awards were all distinguished scientists, which made the selection of the winners most difficult. The committee extends a special thanks to all who were involved in nominating these highly qualified individuals. The 1989 recipients of the awards are as follows: Dr. Richard J. Blandau, Carl G. Hartman Award; Dr. JoAnne S. Richards, SSR Research Award and Dr. Philip J. DziUk, SSR Distin­guished Service Award. The recipients of the Young Investigator Awards will be chosen from among the six finalists at the annual meeting. The membership is encouraged to attend the awards ceremony at the annual meeting to honor the recipients.

Fredrick Stormshak Chairperson, Awards Committee

1989 Program CommiHee

An exciting program is in store for members and guests attending the 22nd annual meeting of SSR in Columbia, Missouri, August 6-9, 1989. It will feature a symposium on Frontiers in Estrogen Biology and three state-of-the-art lectures on neural transplants, gene transfers and genetic diseases, and prospects for gene therapy. The scientific program will include pre­sentation of 371 submitted papers in 28 sessions. These papers were selected by the program committee (10 members...oUhe..-Sociei¥-.-aidedb¥-l-9-Gthermerneers­of an ad hoc committee) from 384 which were sub­mitted in February.

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The program format incudes one significant change from prior years. Poster sessions will be held each morning, while it is still cool. since the Rothwell gymnasium is not air-conditioned. Oral sessions will all be presented in air-conditioned auditoriums.

Third International Ruminant Reproduction Meeting

Following ' earlier conferences at Leura, Australia in 1982 and Cornell University in 1986, the Third Inter­national Ruminant Reproduction Meeting will be held from Sunday, March 25 through Wednesday, March 28, 1990 at the Hotel Beach Regency, Nice, France.

Sessions of Invited papers and poSters are pro­posed in the following topics:

1. Maternal recognition of pregnancy 2. Luteal function 3. Inhibin 4. Nutrition/growth factors and reproduction 5. and 6. Manipulation of the oocyte and embryo

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In addition to a number of invited poster presen­tations, delegates will be invited to submit poster r abstracts by the end of November for consideration by the Programme Committee on any of the above topics and discussions on posters will form an integral part of the programme.

Negotiations are in hand for the full text of invited papers, one-page abstracts of invited poster presen­tations, and 2(X}word abstracts of submitted poster presentations to be published as a supplement to the Journal of Reproduction and Fertility.

If you are interested in further information, please send requests to: Mrs. P. M. Blythe, University of Not­

-tjn€JF-Iam-,Sutton-BeAjA@te'r.t-et:l~Aoore(;lgA.'=E 12-SRD, United Kingdom. Telephone: 0602/484-848, ext. 8275; telex: 37346 UNINOT G; fax: 0509/673917.