ESSCB will hold a regular business meeting on June 27, 2008, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the DOH offices (4th Floor at 90 Church Street, New York, NY). (1)
View a webcast of the meeting at http://www.nyhealth.gov/events/webcasts/
Meeting Agenda highlights excerpted from NYSTEM's website:
The Ethics Committee meets from 10am-noon. Their agenda includes a presentation concerning "Oocyte Donation Risks" by Catherine Racowsky, Ph.D., HCLD, (High-complexity clinical lab director)(2) and a discussion of standards and next steps of the “Informed Consent for Gamete Donors New York State Tissue Banking Statute and Regulations Committee”
A Full Board Meeting is scheduled to start at 12:30. Their agenda includes a presentation about secondary school initiatives by Samuel Silverstein, M.D. At 1:30 they will discuss the Strategic Plan, public comments on it and possible adoption. At 2:30 a discussion (and possible approval) of the Annual Report will be conducted. And at 3:00 there will be an update on the 2009 NYSTEM Grantees Conference
The Funding Committee meets at 3:30. Among other items, their discussion will focus on:
--Proposal Development Discussion: Assessing the Economic and Other Benefits of the NYSTEM Initiative,
-Discussion: An Open Request for Applications and Other Funding Mechanisms.
My editorial comment: The NYSTEM meetings webcasts have been exciting to watch as the Board members and Wadsworth staff have dealt with complex issues of the day in their public discourse. There is no substitute for listening in order to understand. It is obvious that Judy L. Doesschate, Esq., the Director of Board Operations helped the Board achieve amazing benchmarks in the first 9 months. To me, the substance of the draft Strategic Plan itself shows the critical thinking needed to take action as contemplated under the Public Health Law which enabled ESSCB to administer the empire state stem cell trust fund. I really hope everyone is proud of this public endeavoring and that the submitted public comments show appreciation for the long road that has produced this considerable tangible advancement towards the goals of public health.
We will see then tomorrow.
Stay tuned here on Supra for some musings on popularizing science in a nutshell pulled from the trunk in the old fashioned world of the philosophy of science. Some old ideas reveal just how value may be added by trained scientists as they build knowledge. Could scientific citations become the next customer list phenomenon? And where might HESC projects fit in the continuing development and growth of how organizational entities—whether they are for profit or not for profit, conduct their business--these posts will be sketches of context only--no advice will be given, no hypotheticals explored. But it might be interesting anyway.
(1)http://stemcell.ny.gov/events_funding_committee_meetings.html
(2)http://www.aab.org/hcld.htm see below for HCLD certification requirements
Certification Standards for High-complexity Clinical Laboratory Director (HCLD)
To be eligible for certification as a High-complexity Clinical Laboratory Director (HCLD), an applicant must:
1. Meet the qualifications as a laboratory director of a laboratory performing high complexity testing under the CLIA ’88 regulations, Subpart M, Section 493.1443.
OR
2. Hold an earned doctoral degree* from an accredited institution (see rule 10 under General Regulations) with a chemical, physical, biological, or clinical laboratory science as the major subject and have successfully completed 32 semester hours (minimum) in chemistry or the biological sciences acceptable to the Board.
In addition, applicants for HCLD certification must:
1. Have a minimum of four years of clinical laboratory training or experience on human specimens, or both, including at least two years of experience directing or supervising high complexity testing;
For the specialty of Embryology, experience must include 60 personally performed, completed assisted reproductive procedures in humans.
AND
2. Pass an ABB examination in General Knowledge and in at least one of the following clinical laboratory disciplines or specialties: Andrology; Chemistry (including urinalysis, endocrinology and toxicology);.Diagnostic Immunology; Embryology; Hematology (including flow cytometry); Microbiology (includes bacteriology, parasitology, virology, and mycology); and Molecular Diagnostics.
* Individuals with an M.D. or D.O. degree, or the equivalent, must also be licensed to practice medicine in at least one state in the U.S.