Press Release

APBioNet VICE PRESIDENT SHOBA RANGANATHAN IS ELECTED TO THE ISCB BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE 2002-2005 TERM

Edmonton, Canada. 6 August 2002.
At the annual Board meeting on August 5, 2002, the Board of Directors of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) voted APBioNet's Vice President, Professor Shoba Ranganathan, for a three year term as Board Director.

ISCB President, Professor Philip Bourne said that Dr Ranganathan was elected based on the Board's belief that she will make a significant contribution to the Society, which currently stands at 1600 members.

A few months ago, ISCB invited APBioNet to be more formally associated with ISCB. This was formally approved by APBioNet membership and APBioNet became an official Regional Affliate of ISCB.

ISCB currently has responsibilities to a growing and very vibrant group of scientists. Its efforts at making the Society more professional and better recognized are beginning to pay off. In the same way, APBioNet's involvement as Regional Affiliate has also paid off. A few weeks ago, APBioNet signed an Agreement with the international S* Life Science Informatics Alliance as a regional driver for Bioinformatics Education.

With the election of APBioNet's Vice President to ISCB Board, it is expected that the profile of Asia Pacific bioinformatics will increase in a rapidly growing field dominated mainly by the West.

In particular, Dr Ranganathan will be playing a key role in the organisation of the ISMB2003 conference scheduled to be held in Brisbane next year. She will also be expected to expand her current role as founding Chairperson of the popular Workshop on Education in Bioinformatics (the WEB'01 and WEB'02 series at the ISMB conference) to play a more active role in the Education Committee of ISCB.

ISCB holds regular board meetings. Through Dr Ranganathan, APBioNet members can look forward to a stronger voice speaking out for the needs of the Asia Pacific region over the next three years.

Said Dr Ueng-Cheng Yang, one of the early members of APBioNet from the National Yang Ming University, "I was at ISMB this year. I felt honoured to have an Asian representative on the borad of ISCB. APBioNet's achievements have gained the appreciation of the international community." ---
Media Contact:
APBioNet Secretariat:
sec@apbionet.org

About APBioNet
The Asia Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNet) is a non-profit, non-governmental, international organization founded in 1998. It focuses on the promotion of bioinformatics in the Asia Pacific Region. Since 1998, its mission has been to pioneer the growth and development of bioinformatics awareness, training, education, infrastructure, resources and research amongst member countries and economies. Its work includes the technical coordination, liaison and/or affiliation with other international bodies such as the EMBnet and ISCB. APBioNet has more than 20 organizational and 400 individual members from over 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region. It is spearheading a number of key bioinformatics initiatives in the region in collaboration with international organizations such as APAN, APEC, S* Alliance and A-IMBN and with industry partners. More about APBioNet can be found at: http://www.apbionet.org/.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2002

Media contact: BJ Morrison McKay, tel. 858-822-0852, 

THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY ELECTS NEW BOARD
MEMBERS
Annual board meeting covers board elections as well as major
administrative changes

SAN DIEGO, CA -- The International Society for Computational Biology
has announced the election of six new board members who were voted in
during an annual Board meeting, held August 5, 2002 in  Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada. The previous Board of Directors elected the new Board
members based on nominations gathered from the membership. The new
members were elected to three-year terms as four other members
completed their service to the Society.

"I am pleased to welcome the new Board members. They demonstrate the
depth, scientifically and geographically, of the Society as a whole,
and will particularly enhance the voice of the Society in their
regions while providing an international representation on the Board
of Directors," said ISCB President Philip E. Bourne.

NEW BOARD MEMBERS

·	Steven Brenner, Ph.D.,assistant professor plant and microbial
biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, USA. 

·	Rita Casadio, Ph.D., professor of biophysics, University of Bologna,
Bologna, Italy.

·	Roderic Guigo, Ph.D., associated professor at the Institut Municipal
d'Investigacio Medica, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Centre de Regulacio
Genomica, Barcelona, Spain.

·	Goran Neshich, Ph.D., group leader, EMBRAPA Informatica
Agropecuaria, Campinas, Brazil.

·	Shoba Ranganathan, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and
biological sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

·	Burkhard Rost, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and
molecular physics, Columbia University, New York City, USA.

The ISCB Board of Directors consists of 30 members, who lead
committees on awards, conferences, education, finance, nominations,
and publications. Society members nominate potential Board members,
which are then elected by the current board during the annual meeting
of the Board of Directors. During this year's annual meeting, the ISCB
Board of Directors also voted to maintain the administrative office of
the Society in San Diego, California, through 2005, as well as to
promote Administrative Officer BJ Morrison McKay to the position of
Executive Officer.

About ISCB
----------
The ISCB is a scholarly society dedicated to advancing the scientific
understanding of living systems through computation, with an emphasis
on the role of computing and informatics in advancing molecular
biology. Founded in 1997, the ISCB serves a global membership with the
goal of increased understanding of the significance of bioinformatics
in the scientific community, government, and the public at large. More
about the ISCB can be found at: http://www.iscb.org/.


BJ Morrison McKay, Executive Officer
International Society for Computational Biology
c/o San Diego Supercomputer Center
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0505
Phn: 858-822-0852; Fax: 858-822-5407
E-mail: admin@iscb.org
Web: www.iscb.org


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