From the President  

It’s time once again to invite you to spend a few moments enjoying this Spring Edition of the 2016 CRB newsletter.

The year for me is rapidly winding down, although looking back, it’s clear we have much more to accomplish. There are, and always have been, many potholes on our journey to influence and develop policies related to the field of Reproductive Laboratory Technology. Consider, for example, the ever-growing interest and determination by the FDA to oversee LDTs. The question being is the FDA the best resource for this oversight, or should these tests fall under the traditional regulatory reach of CLIA? And what about licensure? Sure, it can be a pain in the tush to worry about maintaining proper credentials, so it should be a top priority that we remain aware of efforts to marginalize credentialing bodies, such as the ABB, or otherwise qualified classes of candidates such as those entering the lab after serving their country in the military. At least it’s been a relatively slow year for personhood mandates (knock on wood). Take a peek at the column put together by our Chair of the Legislative Committee, Shane Zozula, BS, TS (ABB). He’s been working to put together an advocacy kit geared specifically towards providing laboratorians with the necessary tools to keep and eye on, and report on, regulatory activity that may impact our field.

Preparations are in the final push before our annual meeting, and as for past meetings, this year’s CRB Symposium promises to be an event filled with exciting and relevant talks, timely discussions, and networking opportunities with colleagues, vendors, and friends. I absolutely love the CRB symposium. It isn’t hard to understand why. The CRB Symposium represents the gathering of our like-mindedness, our common interests if you will, and affords us a proper venue for the size and scope of our membership. Each year we evaluate the venue for the upcoming meeting. Once again, the value and ease of travel has made the Red Rocks Resort in Las Vegas, the venue of choice.

I can attest from personal experience that our Meeting Committee Chair, Carli Chapman, has been working feverishly to put together a great meeting. Starting an organizational process well before the 2015 meeting had even concluded, Carli has sketched out an impressively aggressive series of talks and workshop ideas. Over the past year, the symposium has gelled into a gathering of world-class speakers focused on an overall theme of laboratory quality. It would be difficult to find another meeting concentrated on our daily bench-level needs with so much take-home practicality. Additionally, the initial call for abstracts has been recently announced. We are hopeful many of you will work diligently to mine that last bit of data and submit your abstracts. Submitted abstracts will be eligible for prizes and publication! Last year the competition was close and came down to just a few points separating the winners from the group. Exciting! I hope to see you there, especially as you present your data! For more on the meeting, please look for more information from Carli in her segment of this newsletter.

While at it, do take the time to read through each of the sections. Feel free to send us your feedback, your ideas, and newsworthy topics for future editions, but until then…

Stanley G. Harris, B.S., T.S. (ABB), E.L.D. (ABB)
CRB President