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AOCS Biotechnology Division
Newsletter February 2007

Biotechnology Division Events at the AOCS Annual Meeting
by Tom McKeon

This year, we meet from May 13 through 16 in Québec City, where our Annual Meeting will be held jointly with the Japanese Oil Chemists' Society (JOCS), the Canadian Section of AOCS (CAOCS), and the International Society of Fat Research (ISF). Currently, five of our six Biotechnology Division sessions will be held jointly with JOCS, and we have approximately 50 talks scheduled in these sessions.

Our Division's oral presentations this year include three Biocatalysis sessions (Monday a.m. and p.m., and Tuesday p.m.), a session on Novel Oils (Tuesday p.m.), a session on Biobased Surfactants and Oleochemicals held jointly with JOCS and the Soaps and Detergent Division (Wednesday a.m.), and a General Session ending the meeting on Wednesday afternoon. A Biotechnology Division Honored Student, Shane Lal of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, is scheduled to present Wednesday at 4:40 p.m. in BIO 5. Click here for a complete schedule of oral presentations.

We also have a poster session scheduled on Monday from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. There will be approximately 30 posters presented there. It looks to be a very good and full schedule! Click here for a complete schedule of poster presentations. Please check back, as these schedules are still subject to change.

The Biotechnology Division Dinner will be held at the Hotel Delta Québec on Tuesday, May 15, 2007, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. As in the past, we will start with a no-host Happy Hour from 6:30 to 7:30, and a feast for the next two hours, during which we will introduce the newly-elected Division officers, and recognize Student Award recipients and the Lifetime Award recipient, Dr. Yuji Shimada. We will wrap up the evening with an after-dinner talk from Professor John Harwood, Head of the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Wales. The talk is entitled "Fascinating Lipids: From Brain to Plants and Back to Brain."

Professor Harwood's research interests throughout his career have related to the metabolism and function of acyl lipids. Current areas of interest include medical aspects of lipids (pulmonary surfactant, peritoneal dialysis, endotoxic shock, inflammation, role of dietary lipids in arthritis and Alzheimers), agricultural aspects (herbicides, control of metabolism, oil quality), and environmental effects (temperature, atmosphere constituents, heavy metals and xenobiotics). He is the author of over 500 scientific publications, a founding and continuing co-editor of The Lipid Handbook (presently going into its 3rd edition), a member of the editorial board for three journals, and a recipient of numerous scientific honors. John is also famous for his brief stint as the disc jockey "Avocado Johnny" during a sabbatical at the University of California, Davis. His talk will include observations on his research career, the meeting, some jokes and perhaps a song. It's guaranteed to be an informative and fun talk.

In addition to the Dinner, there are two other scheduled networking events for Biotechnology Division members. The Board Meeting is Sunday, May 13, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Roundtable Discussion is Tuesday, May 15, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. You may purchase tickets to social events when registering.

Updates and other conference information can be found at the official Annual Meeting webpage.

To receive the early registration fees, be sure to register by April 13, 2007. Click here for registration information.

Don't forget to think about proposals for Hot Topic Symposia. You'll find several Hot Topic Symposia already planned for this year's meeting on the Hot Topics Symposia webpage on the AOCS website. Additional proposals can be made until April 20 at the link at the bottom of the Hot Topic Symposia webpage.

Other stories in this newsletter:

International Symposia on Biocatalysis and Biotechnology (ISBB)

Division Awards

New Board Members

Obituary

AOCS, 2710 S. Boulder, Urbana, IL 61802-6996 USA