Our first steering committee meeting
Today, we moved one step closer to setting up
an Australian/New Zealand Stem Society after a very constructive video-tele
conference between twenty-one scientists and administrators who work in the
area of stem cell research.
Calling the society the Australasian Society of
Stem Cell Research (ASSCR), was an unanimous vote.
We also all agreed on its aims, above.
The society intends to establish a stem cell research
network in Australia and NZ, with interaction within the Asia Pacific Region.
We could provide education about stem cell research and ethics, organise
meetings.
We all agreed that members of the Societies governing
elected committee should be inclusive, reflecting its membership. So, hopefully
representatives will include members from different States within Australia and
New Zealand as well as different research interests and disciplines. These may
include basic and clinical research on embryonic stem cells and adult stem
cells, ethics, and legal.
So, for the first steering committee meeting, it was a
pretty good turn out! Everyone seemed really enthusiastic.
The different Universities/Institutes represented
were: Uni of Queensland, QUT, Sydney IVF, Monash Institute of Medical Research,
Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories, University of Melbourne, Uni of
Auckland, University of NSW, Telethon Institute of Child Health, WA Institute
for Medical Research, Australian Stem Cell Centre.
It would be good to include anyone who
works on stem cell research in ACT, South Australia,Tasmania or Northern
Territories. So please get in touch!