Minutes of the 2002 Annual AAOB Business Meeting

Manchester Hyatt Hotel in San Diego CA
March 8, 2001

The 2002 Annual AAOB business meeting was held on Friday, March 8, 2001 from 12:15-1:30 PM in the Manchester Hyatt Hotel in San Diego CA.

Dr. Allen Otsuka, AAOB president elect opened the meeting and extended his appreciation to the AAOB officers for their input during the preceding year (Dr. Jonathan Garlick, AAOB president, was unable to attend the meeting).

The following issues were discussed:

Item 1: The minutes of the Thursday, March 8, 2001 annual business session held from 12:15-1:30 PM in the Truffles Room of the Hyatt Hotel in Chicago IL. Were distributed and approved.

Item 2: Secretary/Treasurer's Report – Dr. Frank Scannapieco, AAOB Secretary/Treasurer, reported that the balance of Association funds are:

Checking Account balance as of 3/05/02 = 7368.42
Money Market Account Balance as of 3/05/02 = 7368.42
Total funds held by AAOB = 13034.45

Dr. Scannapieco reported approximately 56 members have paid the Association dues of $12 for the 2002 calendar year. As in the past, the $70.00 subscription for the Critical Reviews in Oral Biology and Medicine will be handled directly with the publisher (IADR). Dues notices were sent out in January 2002.

Item 3: An extensive discussion centered on the current status of the Critical Reviews of Oral Biology and Medicine. It was reported that discussion in the AADR council recommended that CROBM become an on-line only journal. There was considerable sentiment voiced by AAOB members that the paper version of the journal should continue to be published. It was also noted that no input from AAOB was sought, despite the fact that the CROBM is the official journal of AAOB. It was suggested that an AAOB committee be formed to pursue other sources of funding to support CROBM (e.g. industrial sources). The committee will also draft a letter from AAOB to AADR leadership to protest the demise of the print version of the journal. A motion was forwarded and seconded and a unanimous vote in support received for such a committee, to be chaired by Steve London. The committee will also include Israel Kleinberg, Maria Ryan and Bjorn Steffensen.

Item 4: Student Recognition/Awards - Dr. Frank Dowd communicated through Dr. Otsuka that he once again contacted the deans of all dental schools in the US and Canada and solicited them to nominate one candidate for the AAOB Oral Biology award from their institution. Dr. Dowd reported that a graduating dental student from XXX dental schools in the United States and Canada received the 2000 AAOB Award in Oral Biology. Award winners will be listed on the CROBM.

Item 5: Dr. Otsuka reported on Dr. Garlick's efforts to stimulate communication between AAOB members regarding teaching by using Blackboard.com. This website will allow AAOB members to share teaching materials. A primer on the use of Blackboard was sent to all AAOB members.

Item 6: Dr. Kleinberg suggested that AAOB update the curriculum guidelines for oral biology. The guidelines have not been updated in over 10 years. He also suggested that an AAOB member become involved with the writing of national board questions. It seems that content pertinent to oral biology is overlooked for the boards. A motion was made, seconded and carried for a committee to be constituted to deal with issues of curricular guidelines and National Boards. Mark Wolfe volunteered to chair this committee.

Item 7: Website. There continues to be no official AAOB webmaster. Dr. Speilman will be contacted to update AAOB on the present status of the website. The leadership will need to identify an AAOB member willing to serve as webmaster.

Item 8: AAOB members voted to co-sponsor an ADEA-AADR Symposium (Integration of Basic Sciences in Clinic Teaching) with ADEA Basic Sciences at next year's San Antonio meeting.

Item 9: Dr. Kleinberg suggested that AAOB trace a survey done previously on Oral Biology courses, hours and content in Dental Schools.

Item 10: Election results. Dr. Mark Wolfe was chosen as President-elect. The secretary-treasurer will be Salomon Amar. The Elected Director will be Joel Rudney. Appointed directors will be Bjorn Steffensen and Sunday Akintoye.

With no further business items to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned at 1:45 PM.

Prepared and submitted by Dr. Frank A. Scannapieco Secretary/Treasurer.