The Society’s 2011 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Friday, 1st April at Surgeons Hall, University of Edinburgh as part of the Genetics Society Spring Meeting “Transposable elements: their functional and evolutionary biology”.
1. Minutes of previous General Meeting (Friday 23rd April 2010); matters arising 2. President’s Report 3. Honorary Treasurer’s Report 4. Honorary Secretary’s Report and Business for Transaction a. Mendel Medal 2012: Eric S. Lander, MIT b. Balfour Lecturer 2012: Örjan Carlborg, Uppsala University c. Genetics Society Medal 2012: Stephen C. West, LRI (CRUK) d. Mather Prize: Kay Boulton, University of Edinburgh e. JBS Haldane Lecture 2011: No award was made f. Election of new members g. Election of new Committee members h. Election of new Executive sub-Committee members i. Changes to the Bylaws of The Genetics Society 5. Any other Business (AOB)
Motions 4f-i on the 2011 AGM Agenda require approval by the Membership. 1) Agenda item 4(f) – election of new members, click here to download full list. 2) Agenda item 4(g) – election of new committee members, with nominations shown below. 3) Agenda item 4(h) – election of new Executive sub-committee members, with nominations shown below. 4) Agenda item 4(i) – changes to the Bylaws of The Genetics Society are summarised below; a copy of the Bylaws and revisions can be downloaded here.
If you have specific and serious objections to the election of any of the NEW members being proposed for membership, then you should contact the Society’s President Veronica van Heyningen (v.vanheyningen@hgu.mrc.ac.uk) directly and without delay.
The Society's Committee has proposed the following nominations for Committee and Exec sub-Committee positions that fall vacant in April 2011. Posts are normally held for 4-years, unless otherwise indicated.
Area A (Gene structure, function and regulation) Rebecca Oakey, (to replace Anne Ferguson-Smith) Dept of Medical & Molecular Genetics, 8th Floor Tower Wing, King’s College London. SE1 9RT Research interests: My laboratory is interested in epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Our focus is on a group of imprinted retrogenes, understanding how they are regulated and what role DNA methylation plays in processes such as alternative polyadenylation. We extend this interest into comparative studies in human and apply this to genome-wide methylation analysis of human diseases and bioinformatics tool development. Area B (Genomics) Jane Rogers, (returning to stand for a full term) Director, The Genome Analysis Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich. NR4 7UH Research interests: The aim for The Genome Analysis Centre is to give the UK the lead in the sequencing and analysis of scientifically and economically important plants, animals and microbes. By understanding the genetic makeup of these organisms and combining this with the latest computing techniques we can make a huge contribution to the economic and social wellbeing of the UK in the coming decades.” Area C (Cell and developmental genetics) Ian Henderson (returning to stand for a full term) Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge. CB2 3EA Research interests: Meiotic recombination frequency is known to vary dramatically within genomes and between species. Despite the importance of crossovers for population genetics and breeding, the causes of variation in recombination frequency are poorly understood. To address this question we are generating a high resolution crossover map in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which will be correlated with abundant genomic information available in this species. As a first experimental step we are generating recombination maps in the absence of DNA cytosine methylation to test the influence of this epigenetic information on crossover patterns. Area D (Applied and quantitative genetics) Jon Slate, (to replace Dirk-Jan de Koning) Department of Animal & Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield. S10 2TN Research interests: My research group studies the evolutionary genetics of quantitative traits in wild populations. We use genome wide linkage and association analysis to identify loci responsible for fitness-related traits, and then attempt to understand the maintenance and microevolution of these traits. We mostly study wild populations where individual-based ecological and life history data have been collected over many decades.
President-Elect Enrico Coen John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich. NR4 7UK Research interests: I am interested in how diverse biological forms develop and evolve. We are using a combination of molecular, genetic, imaging and modelling approaches to understand how genes and growth interact to create specific shapes during development and how this is related to patterns of evolutionary diversity. We exploit Antirrhinum and Arabidopsis as model systems to study problems such as flower shape and asymmetry, leaf shape and plant architecture. Vice President Public Understanding of Genetics Chris Smith Division of Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge. CB2 1QP Research interests: I am a consultant clinical virologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and a senior research associate at Cambridge University. I assist in the running of the Cambridge HPA diagnostic microbiology laboratory and I have an interest in the mechanisms of novel disease emergence as well as epidemic and pandemic influenza. Also, within the University of Cambridge where I am also a fellow of Queens’ College, I run the Naked Scientists, which supports a group of five individuals who produce professional science media for worldwide broadcast, including on BBC Radio 5 Live and internationally in Australia and South Africa. Our outputs are also distributed as podcasts, which have won 7 awards internationally since 2006. I also write and have published four popular science books across the world in the last 5 years including Crisp Packet Fireworks, a guide to home experimentation! Scientific Meetings Secretary Dirk-Jan de Koning Division of Virology, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Research interests: My background is in QTL mapping, the detection of genome regions affecting complex traits with an interest in methodology, experimental design and analysis of actual data in Livestock. To date, many QTL have been published for a broad range of traits but only very few have been characterised at the molecular level. I have a special interest ‘Genetical Genomics’ which is similar to traditional QTL mapping except that instead of looking at tens of traits, we are now analysing thousands of gene transcripts. My interest in this area is twofold: 1) The methodological aspects of analysing thousands of genes and making meaningful inferences from the results. 2) The application of this novel concept to livestock species in an efficient manner.
Item 4(i). Changes to the Bylaws of The Genetics Society The Genetics Society Committee asks the membership to APPROVE the following Revisions to the Bylaws of the Genetics Society. A complete copy of the Bylaws with revisions can be Downloaded here. 1) Section F. Grants and Sponsorship of the Society Bylaws and relevant Appendices: The Committee seeks approval to remove from the Bylaws references to specific monetary values associated with the various grant and sponsorship schemes administered by the Society. Similarly, the Committee also seeks approval to remove references to the frequency with which an individual can receive awards. These revisions are primarily administrative and have been recommended to reduce the need to revise the bylaws each time funding and award schemes are modified. It should be noted that current funding information can otherwise be readily found on 1) the Society's website, 2) on all calls for funding and 3) on a separate funding matrix that will be provided as a new Appendix to the Bylaws. 2) Section F. Grants and Sponsorship of the Society Bylaws and relevant Appendices: The Committee seeks approval to remove a self-imposed restriction, which has prevented Committee members from sponsoring students for Genes & Development Summer Studentships. It was felt that the student, and not the sponsor, is the primary beneficiary of the award of a Genes & Development Summer Studentship. Note that these awards are routinely assessed by two committee members from institutions that are different from that of the applicant. 3) Section B5. Duties and Privileges of Honorary Officers and Committee members: The Genetics Society seeks approval to transfer the responsibility for making meeting sponsorship awards from the Office of the Honorary Treasurer to that of the Scientific Meetings Secretary.
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