Tetrahymena Research Advisory Board (TetRA)

The Tetrahymena research community is a vibrant collection of scientists that employ this ciliate as a model system to investigate fundamental mechanisms of molecular and cellular biology, genetics, ecology and evolution. Recognizing the need for greater integration and communication to further members’ objectives, the community decided to establish an advisory committee charged with identifying and promoting specific initiatives that could benefit the community as a whole.

Election of officers


Six members of the board will be elected by a vote of the greater ciliate research community. Terms will be 4 years in length, with half of the committee members being elected every two years. The vote for the first selection of board members was held in September 2011 via an on-line survey sent through the ciliate list-serve. The six nominees that topped the vote tally formed the inaugural committee. At the first meeting the board members selected a chair and vice-chair to serve two-year terms, who are charged with setting meeting agendas and communicating committee actions to the greater research community. The board also extended an invitation to a scientist from outside the Tetrahymena community, who joined the board to offer a different, yet informed perspective.

Elected board members:

  • Jeff Kapler, Texas A&M, Chair
  • Doug Chalker, Washington University, Vice-Chair
  • Ted Clark, Cornell University
  • Robert Coyne, JCVI
  • Wei Miao, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan
  • Cristina Miceli, University of Camerino
  • Naomi Stover, Bradley University
  • Aaron Turkewitz, University of Chicago
  • Emily Wiley, Claremont Colleges Joint Science Department
  • Mark Winey, University of Colorado

Invited member:


  • Pamela Geyer, University of Iowa
The ten elected members and the one invited member represent the official voting body when issues are considered that require decisive action. Nevertheless, the committee's discussion of issues benefit from input from the entire community. Periodically, we will seek input from the community through surveys or other communications. Any member of the research community can contact board members to recommend issues to consider. Representatives from the Tetrahymena Stock Center, Tetrahymena Genome Database, and elected organizers of the Ciliate Molecular Biology conference will be considered ex officio members whose advice will be sought when their activities are relevant to committee actions.





The ex officio members:


Tetrahymena Stock Center


Theodore Clark

Tetrahymena Genome Database


Naomi Stover

Paramecium Genome Database


Linda Sperling

Ciliate Molecular Biology 2013 organizing committee


  • Aaron Turkewitz
  • Kazufumi Mochizuki
  • Eric Cole

Committee activities


The primary functions of the committee are:

  1. To act as advocates for the Tetrahymena research community, promoting community interests and advising funding agencies of resource needs.
  2. To seek out opportunities to increase the visibility of Tetrahymena research by connecting the community with other scientific communities.
  3. To promote enhanced interaction between the research community and central resources, including the Tetrahymena Stock Center and the Tetrahymena Genome Database.
  4. To work with organizers of the Ciliate Molecular Biology Conferences to ensure a successful bi-annual meeting and explore options for future meeting organization.

Meetings


Meetings are held monthly as conference calls using SKYPE. Currently, meetings are the second Friday of each month.