Biochemical Society Centenary: the Last 25 Years

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1 Biochemical Society Centenary: the Last 25 Years

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3 Biochemical Society Centenary: the Last 25 Years Edited by John Lagnado

4 Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society Portland Press Limited Third Floor, Charles Darwin House 12 Roger Street London WC1N 2JU U.K. Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) The Authors. Volume compilation 2011 Portland Press Limited All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1998, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any forms or by any means, only with the prior permission of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers at the above-mentioned address. Although, at the time of going to press, the information contained in this publication is believed to be correct, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for any errors or omissions herein contained. Opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors and are not necessarily held by the Biochemical Society, the editors or the publisher. All profits made from the sale of this publication are returned to the Biochemical Society for the promotion of the molecular life sciences. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN Typeset by Portland Press Limited Printed in Great Britain by Cambrian Printers Ltd, Aberystwyth

5 Contents Preface Contributors Abbreviations vii ix xi 1 Introduction 1 John Lagnado 2 Administrative and Corporate Developments 3 Chris Kirk 3 Communicating Biochemistry: Meetings and Events 23 Ian Dransfield and Brian Beechey 4 Education and Policy 51 John Lagnado 5 Publishing, Portland Press Limited and Portland Customer Services 75 Dianne Stilwell, with Appendix by Ian Dransfield 6 One hundred down and more to go: reflections on the present and future 105 Colin Kleanthous Index 111

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7 Preface This book was written to mark the Biochemical Society s Centenary, but it might never have seen the light of day without the support and encouragement of many colleagues and friends at critical stages throughout the project. Though conceived in 2009, the book project really took off following a meeting between the Society s Chief Executive Chris Kirk and myself (in a pub next to Charles Darwin House, of course!) in August 2010 when he offered to contribute the chapter on administrative and corporate developments and then went on to persuade Ian Dransfield to write the chapter on the evolution of the Society s meetings programme. I should like to thank Chris, Ian and all the other authors for their informative and perceptive contributions to the Centenary history. May I also take this opportunity of thanking Pauline Starley, Head of the Editorial Department at Portland Press Limited, for her guidance and gentle prodding which kept the project moving throughout, and Mike Cunningham, Head of Production at Portland Press, who achieved the near impossible task of getting the book into print in time for the Royal Society Centenary Event on December of this year. That is a remarkable achievement given that the complete manuscript was only delivered in September 2011! Thanks also to Carol Hastings who was responsible for the cover design and page layout. John Lagnado November 2011 vii

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9 Contributors John Lagnado graduated as a biologist from the University of Geneva (1953) and from McGill University with a PhD in Biochemistry (1957), before joining the MRC Neuropsychiatric Research Unit in Cardiff in His academic career which began in 1962 as a Lecturer in biochemistry at Bedford College, University of London, included a 4-year spell as Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Zambia, Lusaka ( ). He joined the Biochemical Society in 1958 and has been its Honorary Archivist since 2000 and Books Reviews Editor for The Biochemist since In addition, he has chaired the London Regional Section of PEC (Professional and Educational Committee) ( ) and acted as Secretary to the Society s Neurochemistry Group ( ). Chris Kirk was appointed Chief Executive of the Biochemical Society in June He obtained his PhD from Imperial College London in 1977 and spent most of his academic career at the University of Birmingham where he was Deputy Head of Biosciences, Deputy Dean of Health and Life Sciences and remains an Honorary Professor. He also held elected positions in Local Government, as well as positions in the private and charitable sectors. Before his appointment as Chief Executive, Chris had been a member of the Society since Ian Dransfield received his BSc degree from the University of York and a PhD from the University of Sheffield; he also worked for Professor S.V. Perry in biochemistry at the University of Birmingham. He is now Professor of Leukocyte and Lung Cell Biology at the University of Edinburgh, where he moved after working as a post-doc at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London. As a member of the Biochemical Society, he held the positions of Secretary and then Chairman of the Biochemical Immunology Special Interest Group and was Focused Meetings Co-ordinator from 2001 to 2006, before serving as Honorary Meetings Secretary ( ). Brian Beechey is an Honorary Professor of Physiology at the University of Liverpool. He joined the Biochemical Society in 1952 and since then he has had several roles within the Society including that of Honorary Treasurer ( ) and Honorary Meetings Secretary ( ). He was the inaugural Editor of Biochemical Society Transactions when it was launched in 1973 and served as a Non-Executive Director of Portland Press Limited. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Bioenergetics Group and has served as a Strategy Co-ordinator and a Pension Fund Trustee. Brian was awarded the Society s Distinguished Service Award in ix

10 x Contributors Dianne Stilwell started working for the Biochemical Society in 1985 and initiated an external relations programme that included schools education, careers, media relations and policy issues. She left the Society in 1997 to join the Institute of Physics. She has worked in various communications roles and is currently Communications Manager for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research. Colin Kleanthous obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Leicester in the mid-1980s and, after postdoctoral research at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Glasgow, landed his first academic appointment at the University of East Anglia in In 2002, he moved to the University of York as the Chair of Biochemistry. In 2012, he will be moving to the University of Oxford as the Iveagh Chair of Microbial Biochemistry. Colin is the currently Chair of the Biochemical Society s Executive Committee having previously held the role of Vice-Chair.

11 Abbreviations ALPSP ASBMB BASC BBSRC BSCB BSF BSI FEBS HEFCE HUBS ICSU IoB IT IUBMB LSfD MRS PEC PEPA PESC PPL SECC SIG UCL UKLSC Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Biochemistry Across the Schools Curriculum Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council British Society for Cell Biology Biosciences Federation British Society for Immunology Federation of European Biochemical Societies Higher Education Funding Council for England Heads of University Biological Sciences International Council for Science Institute of Biology Information Technology International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Learned Societies for Development Medical Research Society Professional and Educational Committee Policy, Education and Professional Affairs Professional and Educational SubCommittee Portland Press Limited Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre Special Interest Group University College London UK Life Sciences Committee xi