Greetings once again from the Biological Stain Commission. The big news this month is the completion of our 2025 Annual Meeting and exciting news regarding plans for 2026. So let’s dive in.
2025 Annual Meeting
The 44th Annual Meeting, held at Georgia State University on October 31, was a great success. Eight invited oral talks were presented along with 56 Student Posters. Our thanks go to GSU and the GSU Department of Chemistry for their support, and most importantly to Dr. Maged Henary, who labored long and hard to make the meeting a success. The complete program can be seen by clicking here or by scanning the QR code below; all of the poster abstracts can be found here.
In recent years, the BSC has recognized the best student and postdoc submissions in two ways. First, the Meeting Planning Committee reviews all submitted abstracts and selects two to invite the presenters to give oral talks during the scientific symposium. Second, awards are given to the best three undergraduate and graduate presenters, as determined by a panel of judges. This year the judges were members of the GSU faculty; we thank them for their service. Below is a list of the awardees, with links to their abstracts.
Invited Speakers.
1. Olivia Basant, Georgia State University. “Fluorescence with a Focus- One Scaffold, Two Triggers: Tailored synthesis of Aza-BODIPYs for pH and Metal Responsiveness for NIR potential bioimaging applications’”
2. Ankita Misra, Emory University. “Late-Stage Functionalization of Lysine to Organelle-Targeting Fluorescent Probes”
Undergraduate Posters
1. Mackenzie Austin, Georgia State University. “R325 as a key residue for substrate binding and catalysis in D-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1”
2. Sebastian Cruz, Georgia State University. “Synthesis and Characterization of Trifluoromethyl Modified Heptamethine Cyanine Dyes”
3. Cole Martin, Georgia State University. “Synthesis of Diethyl 1-[(4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl]-3-phenyl-2,2-aziridinedicarboxylate Derivatives from Benzaldehyde Precursors for Metal-Catalyzed [3+3]-Cycloaddition with Phthalazine Ylides”
Graduate Posters.
1. Shiva Challa, Georgia State University “Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Detection: Examining the Effects of Acetonitrile on Hydrogen Peroxide-Driven Oxidation”.
2. Thao Le, Georgia State University. “Conserved G-quadruplex structures in the RNA genomes of orthoflaviviruses. Potential therapeutic targets?”3. Guitao Bai, Georgia State University. “A Comprehensive MUC1 Glycopeptide Library Reveals Binding Details of MUC1 Antibodies”
3. Guitao Bai, Georgia State University. “A Comprehensive MUC1 Glycopeptide Library Reveals Binding Details of MUC1 Antibodies”
Congratulations to all of the awardees, as well as to the 50+ other poster presenters, and we look forward to learning more about your research as it progresses.
2026 Annual Meeting
Next year we are trying something different. We will meet jointly with The National Society for Histotechnology at their annual meeting, to be held September 26-29 in San Antonio Texas. This is something we have done in the past, but not for the last few years. We have had good discussions with their current President Lamar Jones (a former trustee of the BSC and current member) and Aubrey Wanner, their CEO, and we see this as potentially beneficial for both organizations. Histotechnologists are the largest users of certified stains, and the NSH attracts 700-800 to their Annual Meeting. We will showcase what we do in three ways – by sponsoring an invited presentation, conducting a one day workshop focusing on staining methods, and by having a booth at their vendor exhibits. More details will be forthcoming very soon.
2025 Wrap-Up
As we approach the holiday season, it is a good time to review what we have accomplished in the past year. These were the result of the efforts and dedication of many – the executive committee, Board of Trustees, the publisher and editors of Biotechnic and Histochemistry, the Assay Laboratory staff, and our colleagues at Mason Digital. All of them deserve our thanks for their efforts. These accomplishments include:
- Election of a new Executive Committee by the BSC membership.
- Appointment of a new editorial staff for Biotechnic and Histochemistry and working with our publisher Taylor and Francis to streamline the manuscript review process and catch up on backlogged submissions,
- Enhancing our online presence with the creation and deployment of a new website.
- Relocation of the Assay Laboratory to the first floor of the University of Rochester Medical Center.
- Planning and holding an outstanding annual meeting in Atlanta.
Based on what we have done so far, I am confident that we will continue to build on the legacy of Dr. Conn and his colleagues, who first recognized the need for stain standardization over 100 years ago, and of all of those who over the years since then have worked hard to make the BSC what is today, Thank you so much for your support, and may you have a wonderful holiday season
