CRB Meeting Committee

In case you haven’t heard, the AAB-CRB Symposium for 2017 will not be in Las Vegas, but rather the beautiful cosmopolitan city of Houston, TX, a city known for urban cowboys, rocket ships, and Big Energy. The meeting will be May 18-20. Our venue for the meeting will be the Westin-Galleria, an upscale address offering many upscale activities such as shopping, dining, and city exploring. 

The theme for the coming meeting is “To infertility and beyond!!” and will be centered not only on the technology we use today, but also will look ahead to the technology that will propel us forward. The integral role Houston has played in the space program of this country will be on parade as our Keynote speaker for the CRB symposium will be Virginia Wotring, PhD, a researcher at the Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine. Our jobs may be difficult at times, but just imagine you had to do it in zero gravity. The meeting should provide something for everyone as we touch on technology associated with cryopreservation, embryo culture, genetics, and diagnostic/therapeutic strategies. 

The workshop for this year will focus on RLAP Inspector training, as well as introducing strategies for passing a successful CAP inspection. But before you exhale in a collective groan, consider that accreditation is a crucial facet of our daily operation, and one we cannot operate without acquiring. This workshop will not only help directors and supervisors sharpen their inspector skills, but also provide introductory training to junior staff, providing reasoning behind many of the questions they may have regarding lab management. I am extremely excited to take part in this workshop, so look soon for official meeting announcements! 

Regardless of all the wonderful opportunities this meeting will afford each of us in attendance, it is the commitment of the entire CRB Meeting Committee to assure everyone enjoys their time in Houston, even if we have to steal the keys to the space shuttle at Johnson Space Center and take everyone cruising up and down Westheimer. See you there!! 

Stanley Harris, ELD/TS (ABB)