J. Paul Robinson - Candidate for President-Elect

Goals and Objectives

I have put a lot of thought into how ISAC needs to better engage itself with members.

Like most people, I consider that I have several different jobs – educator, researcher and core-director – I teach several university courses yearly; I have key research projects and maintain research funding. I am a core-manager – I run a cytometry core laboratory with several flow cytometers, as well as fluorescence, confocal and multiphoton microscopes on a daily basis. I am an academic advisor – I currently have 4 PhD students in my lab and I sit on the committees of over 30 current PhD students. I am an editor – I am the editor-in-chief of Current Protocols in Cytometry; I see real protocols every day in the lab. My office is in the middle of my lab - it is not across the hall, down the corridor, or away from the daily activities. These activities are what influence my goals and objectives. These activities are real things that cytometry people deal with every day. I believe that it is a crucial time for the International Society for Analytical Cytology and I would like the opportunity of leading the organization toward new objectives.

ISAC had a strong history with a rapid growth from just a few members in the late 1970s to almost 2000 members around 1998. However, the membership has slipped to less than 1450 members at present. The organization itself appears to be struggling to maintain identify with the membership and has not been able to bring in new members at a rate to maintain a reasonable growth or even stability. Times are changing and I believe that the organization is not as responsive as it should be to the changing face of science and technology around us. I believe that ISAC needs to respond to these changes and revitalize itself.

I feel very privileged to be nominated for the position of President-elect of ISAC. I am even more privileged because my nomination was driven by petition from you, the membership. I am personally devoted to both the science that depends on cytometry and the technology itself. I believe that the opportunities for further impact of cytometry are very high indeed. The next generation of cell sorters and analyzers produced by all the manufacturers are excellent instruments. They are truly great tools that all people can use. The most exciting technology opportunities may well be in the integration of cytometry and imaging and in the new cytomics where functional analysis brings out the most significant capabilities of the technologies that are our traditional areas in ISAC. This opens up exciting new areas for us to move toward.

1. ISAC can play an important part in this new integration. The Society must recognize the changing environment and shift its position to support and manage this change. There are several key things that ISAC needs to do better:
2. It should better recognize the vitality and importance of students and young members. This is more than providing a few travel fellowships. It must make the next generation of scientists the most important resource the Society has. If I am voted in as President-Elect, my tenure will focus on building student, postdoc and junior faculty level membership with active participation in the Society activities. We cannot survive as a society with 15 student members as we do now. We should have 100-150 student/postdoc members. I will drive this process with a well thought through action plan.
3. We have an outstanding number of high quality core facility managers and very talented technicians in our society. We have significant technical issues that we deal with on a daily basis and I think these issues should be treated at a much higher value level by ISAC. This aspect of Society activity should be elevated because there is a tremendous level of knowledge in this group and the society can also contribute to the support of these members. Core managers are a key component of our organization and they are one of the best assets we have. ISAC needs to create a platform from which core managers can be supported philosophically and practically so that they can better interact with their respective institutions. These people provide a majority of us with quality technology environments. We must give significant support to this group.
4. I will raise the level of importance of education and training to the forefront of Society activities. As an educator, I believe that we have a great opportunity that is not presently realized. Education should be seen as one of the most important functions of the Society. I believe it is currently hardly recognized.
5. I will require fiscal responsibility in the ISAC organization and re-focus the organization from a management-focused organization to a membership-focused Society. We spend more money on less people that we have ever spent. The cost of current meetings is unreasonable. Between-congress meetings are currently having significant problems that suggests we need to rethink this process. We will have to be more careful with YOUR money. We should be proactive and participatory.
6. I will maintain a constant and open interaction with the membership. You will have direct access to me as a regular member. My email is jpr@flowcyt.cyto.purdue.edu and I will always try to respond to your concerns. I am already in direct contact with a great number of you through the Purdue web site – this will continue. We are small Society – so we need to be participatory and constantly active. Inside my lab, my office door is never closed and nor is my office ever locked – likewise, my electronic door is open 24/7.
7. I will drive a program to solicit new members with knowledge and interests that will enrich ISAC.
8. I will strive to bring the ISAC organization into a position where it interacts with, and impacts other societies and current science policy issues. I value diversity and cultural differences greatly as well as international cooperation.
9. I will report directly to the membership on a frequent basis, and I will seek the opinions and ideas of members.

We request you vote for J. Paul Robinson for President-elect, and for Robert Zucker for Secretary. In addition, Alex Nakeff (running for Clinical Councilor), Lori Krueger (running for Clinical Councilor), Attila Tárnok (running for Biological Councilor) and Janos Szöllösi - Candidate for Cytometric Technology Councilor support this plan. We have carefully considered how we can serve ISAC as part of the executive team and council members. We have thought through these issues together and we think we have good ideas, energy and opportunity. All candidates listed here support the above platform.

ISAC has a rich history of technology development that has resulted in very real impact in many scientific fields. It is my belief that many of the results of technology are yet to come. The next few years promise great opportunities for development of single cell analysis as well as the integration of imaging technologies. Combining these technologies with new proteomics opportunities opens up the field of cytomics. ISAC has an opportunity to take a proactive position to bring academia and industry into new partnerships. To do this, the leadership of the organization must have a philosophical desire to change and approach the future with a plan. I would be privileged to have your support to implement my plan for ISAC during the next few years.

J. Paul Robinson