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  • Australia
  • Bangladesh
  • China
  • Chinese Taipei
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Malaysia
  • New Zealand
  • Pakistan
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam

The Minutes of the APPA Council Meeting (May 18, 2014)

  1. Member representatives met at 18:40 at the International Conference Center, Jeju, Korea
    1. Zengyi Chang, President and Chair (China)
    2. Young Kee Kang, President Elect (Korea)
    3. Yuji Goto, Past-President (Japan)
    4. Haruki Nakamura (Japan)
    5. Fumio Arisaka (Japan)
    6. Po-Huang Liang (Chinese Taipei)
    7. Yun-Ru (Ruby) Chen (Chinese Taipei)
    8. Kyou-Hoon Han (Korea)
    9. Alex Law (Singapore)
    10. Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd. Rahman (Malaysia)
    11. Kurt Krause (New Zealand)
    12. Ray Norton (Australia)
    13. Bambang Sugiharto (Indonesia)
    14. Ming Lei (China)
    15. Weontae Lee (program co-chair & new representative (Korea)
    16. Jayant B. Udgaokar (India, attending in place of Council members)
    17. James R. Ketudat-Cairns (Thailand), representative & note-taker
    Absentees (unable to come):
    1. Phan Van Chi (Vietnam)
    2. Juliet Gerrard (New Zealand)
    3. Mohan Rao (India)
    4. Dinakar Salunke (India)
    5. Richard J. Simpson (Australia)
    6. Jianxing Song (Singapore)
    7. Jisnuson Svasti (Thailand)
    8. Arief Witarto (Indonesia)
    9. Ruiming Xu (China)
  2. First order of business: Introductions and reports of member societies
    • 2.1. Report from the Chinese Protein Society, Part of the Chinese Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, by Zengyi Chang.
      • 2.1.1. The last meeting had approximately 500 participants.
      • 2.1.2. The Chinese government has committed a substantial investment in protein research, with the current plan running from 2008-2020, which bodes well for protein research activities and strengthening of the protein society in China.
    • 2.2. Malaysian report by Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd. Rahman: Malaysia does not currently have a protein society, but there are several groups conducting protein research, including the Enzyme and Microbial Research Center, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. A brochure for this center was distributed to the APPA council members in attendance.
    • 2.3. Indonesia Protein Society report by Bambang Sugiharto: The Indonesian Protein Society was started in 2006 and has had 2 national meetings. A Congress of the society is scheduled next. (I would appreciate it if Prof. Sugiharto can fill in the details here, since my notes seem to miss some points).
    • 2.4. Report on Protein Science Society of Japan (PSSJ) by Haruki Nakamura: PSSJ was founded in 2001, and the total member is currently more than 1000. The 13th annual meeting in 2013 was held in Tottori, Japan, 12-14 June, 2013, and the 14th annual meeting will be held in Yokohama, Japan, 25-27 June, 2014.
    • 2.5. Report on Indian Protein Society byJayant B. Udgaokar : The Indian Protein Society started 10-12 years ago, but has since dispersed. Due to increasing activity in protein research, the society is likely to be restarted soon.
    • 2.6. Report on Protein Science in Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) by Po-Huang Liang and Ruby Chen: Taiwan does not have an official protein society, but protein scientists are represented by the Taiwan Biophysical Society, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Society and Proteomics Society, with the Protein Society interacting with the Biophysical Society. In this year, in August, these societies will help host the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/Federation of Asian and Oceanic Biochemists and Molecular Biologists Congress in Taipei.
    • 2.7. Report on protein science in New Zealand by Kurt Krause: There are 7 universities in New Zealand, 5 of which conduct the majority of protein research, with approximately 50-75 group leaders in protein research. There is no protein society for New Zealand, but the scientists are represented by the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology society and the structural biology community comprises approximately 120 people.
    • 2.8. Report on Australian protein science by Ray Norton: There is no official Australian protein society, but the need for communication on protein research is largely fulfilled by the Lorne Conference that was started in 1975 and has approximately 400-450 participants per year. In 2015, there will be a 40th anniversary meeting. Proteomics is separately represented by the Australasian Proteomics Society, and this and other meetings in cancer, genomics and immunology flank the Lorne Protein Conference each year.
    • 2.9. Report on protein science in Korea by Kyou-Hoon Han: The Protein Society of Korea started in 2010. There are 229 Korean participants at the current APPA meeting, which is a joint conference with the Korean Protein Society (Section D being the KPS meeting).
    • 2.10. Report on protein science in Singapore by Alex Law: Despite the outstanding achievements of the protein science community in Singapore, there is currently no dedicated meeting or society for protein science in Singapore.
    • 2.11. Report on protein science in Thailand by James R Ketudat-Cairns: The Protein Society of Thailand has an annual international symposium with approximately 200-300 attendees. Recently, a few APPA council members have been invited to speak each year. This year is the 9th International Symposium of the Protein Society of Thailand and is being held as a joint meeting with the Asia-Oceania Human Proteome Organization (AOHUPO) Congress August 6-8, 2014. The meeting includes talks by two Nobel laureates, Ada Yonath and Kurt Wüthrich, in addition to a number of other outstanding plenary and invited speakers. The PST also has a Facebook page with just over 300 members (mostly students).
  3. Report on the 4th APPA meeting by Young Kee Kang: A summary of the scientific and general program, organizing committee, budget and break-down of participants by country was provided on a handout by Prof. Kang. A total of 366 participants attended, compared to the plan for 400-450. A few other details are noted below:
    • 3.1. The number of invited speakers increased from the initial plan to the 90 invited and 15 orals, so the invited speakers could not be fully supported due to the budget limitations with this large number of speakers.
    • 3.2. Some companies provided sponsorship, but did not set up a booth, due to the cost of bringing representatives to Jeju to staff the booths.
    • 3.3. Korean rice cakes and doughnuts were provided in the morning and subsidized lunches were provided for sale at a nominal charge (3000 Won) to help make it more affordable for students.
    • 3.4. The photos and reports should be posted on the KPS and APPA websites.
  4. Report on the 2017 Protein Symposium by the Protein Society (USA) and discussion whether to have a joint meeting with APPA.
    • 4.1. The Protein Society Council decided to hold the 2017 Protein Symposium in Shanghai, China in their meeting on February 1, 2014. It will be held at the Shanghai International Conference Center.
    • 4.2. It was asked whether the APPA should make it a joint meeting, since the APPA should have a meeting the same year, according to the schedule. The APPA Council voiced general support for the idea of a combined meeting.
    • 4.3. Ray Norton questioned how it would be organized.
      • 4.3.1. Zengyi Chang suggested having APPA sessions and overlapping sessions.
      • 4.3.2. Zengyi Chang noted the issue may be addressed at the July, 2014 Council meeting of the Protein Society.
      • 4.3.3 It was noted that the Protein Symposium would likely be 3-4 days and a longer meeting by overlapping a semi-separate meeting of the APPA would be too long for many participants.
      • 4.3.4. Ray Norton suggested that APPA sessions may be competing with PS speakers, and if they are high profile, it may be hard to compete. It was later suggested that a mixture of PS and APPA speakers should be included in the same sessions.
      • 4.3.5. The question was raised as to how many Americans/non-Asians are likely to come and suggestions of 50-100 or 100-200 were made.
      • 4.3.6. Haruki Nakamura noted that the organizing committee should include APPA members, including some from outside China, and Ray Norton noted this is especially relevant for the Program Committee.
      • 4.3.7. Yuji Goto noted that the 2015 Protein Symposium will be held in Spain and observing how the speakers are selected for that meeting could give us an idea how the Protein Society plans to proceed. He noted that the Program Committee seemed to consist only of scientist with positions in America.
      • 4.3.8. Kyou-Hoon Han and others suggested that we specify 50% of the Program Committee should be from APPA and should aim for around 50% or more speakers from Asia/Oceania. It was noted that this may require a larger program committee than the 2-3 members elected by the Protein Society Council who typically work on this committee. This group of 2-3 from the PS could join a larger group including APPA representatives and representatives of Europe or other regions.
    • 4.4 It was expressed that the APPA should be represented in the Protein Society Council and that Young-Kee Kang should go to the next session as the President of the APPA. It was noted that the next PS Council meeting is the last one of Zengyi Chang’s and Haruki Nakamura’s tenures.
    • 4.5. It was expressed that the PS is basically an American organization and if they want to be truly international, they may need to do more than moving the Protein Symposium away from the USA every other year.
  5. President Zengyi Chang suggested the need for an additional position, such as “Secretary General” to work with the President of APPA on such tasks as developing agenda for council meetings, bylaw revisions, etc.
    • 5.1. The council generally seemed to agree that such a position was possible.
    • 5.2. (My personal note: “Secretary General” is the head of the U.N., so it seems a bit like a high position, similar to President. Maybe simply “Secretary” would be appropriate, since many societies have president, secretary and treasury, but the APPA does not have funds requiring a treasurer so far).
    • 5.3. The secretary (general) may be from another country (favored by most of the council, despite the possibility of less clear communication, as was noted by Ruby Chen).
    • 5.4. Job of secretary (general) is to help the president.
    • 5.5. The position should be separate from the President Elect, since the President Elect must organize the next meeting.
    • 5.6. Suggested duties include: Help with corporate memory and website, and manage the email list (or arrange for its management).
    • 5.7. A trial period was suggested for this position.
    • 5.8. Young-Kee Kang noted that it would be good to have a person younger (than himself, 61 years), since they need some energy for the task.
    • 5.9. The position should be added into the bylaws.
  6. It was noted that the renewal and replacement of council members is currently difficult to do with continuity, since many countries have a representative and associate representative that started at the same time. Also, it may be difficult to arrange, depending on the organization in the member countries, so the wording may need to be softened to allow member countries to designate as best fits their needs.
    • 6.1. Ray Norton noted that “back-up members” sounds strange, and the word “associate members” was suggested after some discussion.
    • 6.2. It was noted that it should be designated as one vote per country, so that the associate member has the right to vote in the absence of the full member.
    • 6.3. It was suggested to keep the terms for renewal flexible and allow the member countries to arrange it. In countries without a representative organization (Protein Society of the country or a BMB or Biophysical Society that is interacting with APPA), the current members may be allowed to suggest their replacements.
    • 6.4. It was suggested something like “it is recommended that members should serve 6 years, but it is left to the member country to decide.”
  7. The pronunciation of “APPA” was discussed, since “appa” may be pronounced as a word for “sick” in Korean. It was decided that the letters may be spelled out or the initial A should be pronounced as a long a, “āppa” or “aipa.”
    • 7.1. I have added this to the first bylaw in the table below, but if the members think this is unnecessary, too long or awkward, we need not add it.
  8. Kyou-Hoon Han suggested we should discuss producing a journal.
    • 8.1. Young Kee Kang noted that some journals by other societies, such as the Japanese Biophysical Society, have trouble getting paper submissions.
    • 8.2. It was noted that hiring a publishing company may increase the impact of the journal.
    • 8.3. It was suggested we could encourage members to publish in “Protein Science,” the journal of the Protein Society. Discussion continued to suggest we could request to put the APPA name on “Protein Science,” along with the Protein Society.
    • 8.4. Kyou-Hoon Han noted that it seems difficult for Asians to publish in “Protein Science.” There may be an attitude issue.
    • 8.5. Ray Norton noted that some prominent journals are beginning to have Chinese or other Asian editors, so we could request to have APPA members on the editorial board. Zengyi Chang and Yuji Goto noted that they are already on the “Protein Science” editorial board, but this primarily consists of reviewing papers.
    • 8.6. Yuji Goto noted that producing a journal brings financial responsibilities and one of the advantages of the APPA organization so far is the simplicity of organizing without financial commitments. There is no money over which to argue.
  9. Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd. Rahman noted that it would be useful to have a letter/certificate signed by the President of APPA saying we are Council members, in order to fill out travel forms, apply workload and achieve recognition within our universities.
  10. It was noted that the bylaws could be amended to add promoting collaboration to our objections.
  11. Yuji Goto emphasized that the member societies should send their reports to the APPA website (via himself), in order to keep the webpage active. Reports including pictures and short descriptions with links to the member society or event websites are particularly encouraged.
  12. The meeting ended with a photograph session and a unanimous vote of thanks to Zengyi Chang for his job as president and chairing the meeting.
  13. In the course of the preceding discussions changes to the bylaws were suggested, so I noted my interpretations/attempts to modify these bylaws as requested below:
    Revised Version Former Version
    Article 1. Name
    The name of the association is Asia Pacific Protein Association (APPA in short, with the letters spoken out or spoken with a long initial A, “āppa”).     		Article 1. Name
    The name of the association is Asia Pacific Protein Association (APPA in short).
    Article 2. Objectives
    The objectives of APPA are to promote protein research, collaboration and education among Asia Pacific nations and regions.     		Article 2. Objectives
    The objectives of APPA are to promote protein research and education among Asia Pacific nations and regions.
    Article 3. Membership
    Membership in APPA shall be open to the Protein Communities in the Asia Pacific area. Application to join APPA shall be approved by more than half of the APPA Council members.     		Article 3. Membership
    Membership in APPA shall be open to the Protein Communities in the Asia Pacific area. Application to join APPA shall be approved by more than half of the APPA Council members.
    Article 4. Officers
    The Officers of APPA shall be President, President-Elect, Past-President , and Secretary. The President represents and runs APPA. The President-Elect shall be elected from the host organization to chair the upcoming APPA Symposium and approved by more than half of the Council members. At completion of APPA Symposium, the President-Elect will assume the position of President, and the President will become Past-President. The Past-President will serve until thecompletion of the next APPA Symposium. The Secretary will assist the president in maintaining the corporate memory, managing the email list and communicating news to the website.     		Article 4. Officers
    The Officers of APPA shall be President, President-Elect, and Past-President. The President represents and runs APPA. The President-Elect shall be elected from the host organization to chair the upcoming APPA Symposium and approved by more than half of the Council members. At completion of APPA Symposium, the President-Elect will assume the position of President, and the President will become Past-President. The Past-President will serve until the completion of the next APPA Symposium.
    Article 5. APPA Council
    The APPA Council shall be composed of two representatives from each APPA member. Each APPA member shall have the right to assign its representatives. It is suggested that the representatives serve a term of no more than six years, three years as an associate representative and three years as a full representative. Each member will have one vote, with the associate representativevoting in the absence of the full representative.     		Article 5. Executive council
    The APPA Council shall be composed of two representatives from each APPA member. Each APPA member shall have the right to assign its representatives. Each representative shall serve a term of no more than six years.
    Article 6. Activity
    The APPA will hold a Symposium once every three years and promote any other related programs.     		Article 6. Activity
    The APPA will hold a Symposium once every three years and promote any other related programs.
    Article 7. Finance
    Each member shall be financially responsible for its own activities, including hosting the APPA Symposium.     		Article 7. Finance
    Each member shall be financially responsible for its own activities, including hosting the APPA Symposium.
    Article 8. APPA Office
    The Office of APPA shall be placed in the Office of the Protein Science Society of Japan (PSSJ).     		Article 8. APPA Office
    The Office of APPA shall be placed in the Office of the Protein Science Society of Japan (PSSJ).
    Article 9. Amendments
    Amendments may be proposed by individual members of the Council. Amendments must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the APPA Council members.     		Article 9. Amendments
    Amendments may be initiated by individual members of the Council. Amendments must be approved by a majority of members in the APPA Council.
    *It was not really determined whether the Secretary General (or Secretary) would be selected by vote or by appointment by the president, general consensus or another method.