Once again, greetings from the Biological Stain Commission. This is the second in our series of monthly newsletters. We hope you enjoy it.
It’s been a busy month for many of us, as we work towards goals established at our annual meeting last November. Here are the highlights of what I think are exciting developments:
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- Biotechnic and Histochemistry
Like The New Yorker, we are celebrating our 100th year of continuous publication. Founded by Harold Conn and his associates in 1926 as Stain Technology, the journal has provided a forum for publication of results in all aspects of staining methods, chemistry and results. The name change, to Biotechnic and Histochemistry, occurred in 1991, reflecting our desire to broaden its scope to include reports on all aspects of biological visualization.
The editorial board, in conjunction with our publisher Taylor and Francis, is working hard to catch up on the backlog of submitted manuscripts that developed in 2024, as well as screening new manuscripts as they come in. T&F has been very helpful in customizing the manuscript submission process so that review of and decisions about manuscripts occur on a timely basis. The editors have a goal of having the backlog cleared and the new review processes fully operational by the end of this year.
One of the truly exciting developments has been the establishment of a Trainee Editorial board. This board currently consists of eleven graduate students, postdocs, and residents who are assisting with manuscript reviews. We see this as a great way that we can both expand our reviewer pool and to provide a professional development opportunity for members of the board. If, as members of the current board complete their studies, you may wish to nominate a trainee for this board, or are interested in being considered yourself, please contact Brad Turner for further information.
- Biotechnic and Histochemistry
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- Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting Planning Committee has begun working on planning for the 2025 meeting, to be held at Georgia State University in Atlanta Georgia in November of this year. We are waiting to hear from GSU about venue availability before we can set an exact date, but we have decided that the theme of the meeting will be “Methods and Application in Staining, Biomarkers, and Therapeutics”. More details will be posted on our current website as they become available, and registration will open when we roll out the new website, most likely sometime in May.
- Annual Meeting
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- Web Page Update
The web design committee is working with the design team at Mason Digital to build a website theatis visually attractive, easy to navigate, and which provides ready access to resources for vendors, stain users, and BSC members. We have almost finalized the home page layout and site map, and will be moving into the actual design and navigation-building stages very soon.
- Web Page Update
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- News From and About Members
We were excited to learn that M. Lamar Jones, a former BSC member and trustee, has been named to be the President of the National Society for Histotechnology. This is one of the leading national societies of histotechnology professionals in medical and public health settings, and there are obvious overlaps and opportunities for collaboration between the NSH and the BSC. We have been in touch with Mr. Jones, and we all are looking forward to developing closer ties between our organizations.
- News From and About Members
- How You Can help
- Check your membership status, and consider renewing it. If you encounter glitches in doing so, please contact Chad Fagan or Bruce Cochrane. One of us will be happy to assist you.
- Consider submitting a manuscript to Biotechnique and Histochemistry. Information on doing so can be found here.
- Volunteer to join a BSC standing committee that fits with your interests and expertise. These include committees focused on Membership, the Laboratory, and the Website Redesign and Updating. Please email either Carol Bain or Bruce Cochrane for further information.