The RNA Society is a non-profit, international

scientific society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership may ...

that serves to facilitate the dissemination of scientific results and concepts in ribonucleic acid (RNA) research. The society was founded in 1993 and currently consists of over 1800 members.

History

The RNA Society was founded in 1993. By Olke Uhlenbeck's account, the society spawned from a group of scientists studying

RNA processing Transcriptional modification or co-transcriptional modification is a set of biological processes common to most eukaryotic cells by which an RNA primary transcript is chemically altered following transcription from a gene to produce a mature, f ...

which first grew from a meeting at

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base and Japanese internment c ...

in 1974 and held annual meetings at Cold Spring Harbor starting in 1982. The society was formed for

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

reasons following a surplus of money from a 1992 RNA processing meeting in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

. The first president was Tom Cech,

Joan Steitz Joan Elaine Argetsinger Steitz (born January 26, 1941) is Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is known for her discoveries involving RNA, incl ...

was the first vice-president and president-"elect", Chris Greer was the first CEO, and Uhlenbeck was the first secretary/treasurer. In 2005, after more than 20 years of the society's existence,

John Abelson John Norman Abelson (born 1938 in Grand Coulee, WashingtonNicole Kresge, Robert D. Simoni and Robert L. Hill, 2009DNA Transcription and tRNA Ligase: the Work of John Abelson The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 284, e20-21.) is an American molec ...

deemed it a big success through its unique journal and annual meeting styles.

Organization

The RNA Society is governed by an elected

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

and a

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, as well as an unelected

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and

CFO The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

. Presidents and directors serve two-year terms; the current president is Anna Marie Pyle. In addition to these society officials, society affairs including the annual meeting and awards are accomplished by a number of chairs and committees. Since 1995 the RNA society has facilitated the peer-reviewed journal ''RNA'' through

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press was founded in 1933 to aid in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's purpose of furthering the advance and spread of scientific knowledge. CSHL Press publishes monographs, technical manuals, handbooks, review volumes ...

with the

editor in chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

being Timothy W. Nilsen. The society hosts annual meetings and since 2016 has funded RNA salons for regional meetings throughout the year. The society also gifts annual awards, including Travel Fellowships, a Young Scientist Award, Early- and Mid-career Awards, and the

Elisa Izaurralde Elisa Izaurralde (20 September 1959 in Montevideo, Uruguay – 30 April 2018 in Tübingen, Germany) was an Uruguayan biochemist and molecular biologist. She served as Director and Scientific Member of the Department of Biochemistry at the Max Pla ...

Award.

References

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External links

Biology societies Scientific societies based in the United States

History

Organization

See also

References

External links