ASIA PACIFIC BIOINFORMATICS NETWORK


www.apbionet.org/

Contact: Dr. Tan Tin Wee, Founding Convenor, APBioNet Secretariat. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Geographical area included: Asia Pacific

Goal: Fostering the Growth of Bioinformatics and allied disciplines in the Asia Pacific region

Structure
Dr. Shoba Ranganathan (President)
Dr. Yang Ueng-Cheng (Vice President)

Founded: 1998

Membership: APBioNet has more than 20 organizational and 300 individual members from over 12 countries in the region, and members include those from industry, academia, research, government, investors and international organizations. Members join by online registration, and receive a wide range of services and benefits including APBioNet fellowships, opportunities to participate in APBioNet endorsed events such as InCoB (International Conference on Bioinformatics) and APBC (Asia Pacific Bioinformatics Conference).

Information infrastructure: Mailing list, www.apbionet.org/list.shtml

Activities planned and/or past: APBioNet has coordinated or co-organized more than 30 international and national meetings in cooperation with members in different economies. InCoB (International Conference on Bioinformatics), the flagship conference of APBioNet has been held in countries throughout the region: Bangkok (2002), Penang (2003), Auckland (2004), Busan (2005), Delhi (2006), HongKong/Hanoi (2007), Taipei (2008), Singapore (2009) and Tokyo (2010). APBioNet also provides various services such as BioMirror project with APAN (Asia Pacific Advanced Network) as well as APBioBox (a suite of shrink-wrapped software) a project funded by IDRC Canada, and BioSlax in collaboration with the National University of Singapore. We are also active in ASEAN nations, particularly acting as liaison for the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Biotechnology. We are currently working on promoting more conference journal issues including those in BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Genomics and Bioinformation, as well as in partnership with other professional organisations in other impact-factored journals. APBioNet is also spearheading another interesting initiative, MIABi standards, the minimum information about a bioinformatics investigation.

Last updated April 28, 2010.

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BIOINFORMATICS IN INDIA


www.bioinformatics-india.com

Contact: Ashwin Naik This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Leadership: Dr. Ashwin Naik

History: Bioinformatics-india.com was founded in March 2000, when interest in bioinformatics was surging throughout the world. Indian bioinformatics professionals needed a single platform to interact, share ideas and discuss issues and developments related to bioinformatics.

Membership size and services: 2000+ members, regular e-updates, personalised
space and news about bioinformatics, jobs/resume databaseActivities planned and/or past: National Bioinformatics Conference in July 2004.

Goal: To Provide a Hub for Bioinformatics Professionals of Indian Origin

Geographical area included: India

Mailing Address: 14120 Castle Blvd #101, Silverspring, MD 20904, USA

Structure & Activities: Bioinformatics in India has no official or elected leadership. It is run as a virtual group, with all activites including discussions and exchange of ideas online. Users can signup for free through the online registration form.

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JAPANESE SOCIETY FOR BIOINFORMATICS


www.jsbi.org/

Contact:
Name : Ms. Asako Suzuki (JSBi Officer)
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: +81-3-5793-4431
Fax : +81-3-5793-4432

Geographical area included: Japan

Goal/Mission:
The purpose of JSBi is to perform research in bioinformatics, conduct investigations into its techniques, and exchange research and knowledge in the field in order to promote these and related activities, as well as contribute to the field's educational base.

Leadership:
President: Hideo Matsuda (April 2010 - March 2011)(term: 1year)
Vice President: Kiyoshi Asai (April 2010 - March 2011)(term: 1 year)

Board of Directors (20 members, term: 2 years)

Method of electing or selecting leader(s):
The members of Board of Directors are elected by the members of JSBi.
The President is elected by the members of Board of Directors.
The Vice President is appointed by the president.

History:
JSBi was founded on 11 December, 1999. Minoru Kanehisa inaugurated as the first president of JSBi. JSBi was mainly formed by the members involved with the Genome Informatics Project.

Membership size and benefits:
JSBi currently has 550 individual members and 26 corporate members There is a dues structure which entitles members to the following benefits:
Reduced registration fee at the International Conference on Genome Informatics (GIW)
Free admission to JSBi SIG meetings Right to attend JSBi Summer School
Right to use the JSBi mailing list for academic and commercial annoucements
Student travel support for the GIW, ISMB, PSB, and RECOMB conferences

Activities planned and/or past:
Conferences The International Conference on Genome Informatics
(Annual meeting:http://giw.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ )

Publications:
Genome Informatics Series News Letters (2 issues per year)
Encycropedia of Bioinformatics (scheduled to be published in 2005)

Educational Activities:
JSBi Summer School (2003 - 2007, 2009 - )
Bioinformatics Curriculum Committee:
- The proposal for Bioinformatics Education Curriculum was made in 2002.
- The Bioinformatics Education Curriculum is under revision since 2004.
Special Interest Group on Systems Biology (2003 - )
Special Interest Group on Biological Information Network (2003 - )
Special Interest Group on Pharma Informatics (2004 - )
Special Interest Group on Ontology (2005 - )
Special Interest Group on Agribioinformatics (2008 - )

International Collaboration:
The First Symposium on Associations of Asian Societies for Bioinformatics (AASBi), Pacifico Yokohama, Japan, December 13, 2003. JSBi is a member of AASBi. Satoru Miyano was elected as the first president of AASBi for the year 2004.

Last updated April 28, 2010.

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KOREAN SOCIETY FOR BIOINFORMATICS (KSBI)


www.ksbi.org

Contact: Cheolmin Kim, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor,
Laboratory of Genomic Medicine Department of Biochemistry,
College of Medicine, Pusan National University, #10 Amidong-1-ga,
Seogu, Busan, 602-739, Korea
Tel 82-51-240-7725 (O), 82-51-242-4828 (L), Fax 82-51-248-1118,
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

S. June O, Ph.D. Head, Bioinformatics team / BRIC, TEL: +82-2-880-5890 / FAX: +82-2-883-9120,
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Su Jung Kim, Researcher, Biological Research Information Center (BRIC) TEL: 82-54-279-8196, Fax: 82-54-279-5540

Geographical area included: Korea

Goal/mission:

• Promotion of bioinformatics research and development in Korea
• Sponsoring bioinformatics-related academic events such as symposia, workshops, discussion forums, etc in Korea
• Participation in basic and advanced bioinformatics education in Korea
• Supporting technological and industrial development in the area of bioinformatics in Korea

Leadership: President: Dr. Hong Gil Nam; Vice President: Kwang H. Lee; Board of Directors & Committees

Year founded and brief history: In Oct., 1998, a group of experts in the areas of life science and bioinformatics recognizing the importance of bioinformatics in the coming decades founded KSBI. Since then, experts from non-biology areas such as computer science, mathematics and so on joined it.

Membership size and services: Membership: 1050 Regular Members as of July, 2003; Services: Daily industrial news, VOD, Forum etc,.

Activities planned and/or past: 1998. 10: KSBI Founded and the first president, Mun Hee Han, 1998. 11: Foundation memorial seminar, 1999. 2: DNA chip committee initiated, 1999. 10: Workshop, 2000. 2: Workshop, 2000. 11: The 1st International Symposium, 2000. 11: The second president, Sam Myo Kim, 2001. 2: New web site opened (www.ksbi.org), 2001. 3: Newsletter service, 2001. 6: 1st Workshop, 2001. 8: The 2nd International Symposium, 2001. 10: 2nd Workshop, 2001. 11: Incorporated association supported by Korean Ministry of Commerce, 2002. 1. 11: Board meeting, 2002. 2. 8: 2002 the 1st workshop, 2002. 3. 6: Board member meeting, 2002. 6. 27: 2002the 2nd workshop, 2002. 11.15-16: 2002 KSBI annual meeting, 2002. 11.15: The third president, Hong Gil Nam, 2003. 1. 10: 2003 Board member meeting, 2003. 2 : 2003 the 1st workshop, 2003. 5. 3 : 2003 the 2nd workshop, 2003. 7: 2003 the 3rd workshop, 2003. 8: 2004 the 4th workshop

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ASSOCIATION FOR MEDICAL AND BIO INFORMATICS SINGAPORE


www.ambis.org.sg

Contact(s):
Dr Tong Joo Chuan (President): This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr Tan Yung Ming (Vice-President): This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Geographical area included: Singapore

Goal/Mission:

• Provide a forum of discussion for bioinformatics and medical informatics
• Promote collaboration and exchange among Singapore bioinformatics and medical informatics practitioners through the organisation of conferences, meetings, seminars, workshops, symposia every year
• Stimulate collaboration between practitioners and scientists of different backgrounds
• Provide training in medical and bioinformatics

Leadership:
President: Dr Tong Joo Chuan
Vice-President: Dr Tan Yung Ming
Secretary: Dr Rick Chan
Treasurer: Ms Lim Shen Jean
Committee Member: Ms Angela Jean
Committee Member: Ms Tan Yue Ying
Committee Member: Mr Werner Van Huffel
Advisory Board Member: A/Prof Tan Tin Wee
Advisory Board Member: Prof Lun Kwok Chan

Year founded and brief history of how the group was formed:
The predecessor organisation of AMBIS was AIMS, founded in 1985, originally with a scope limited to health informatics. With the advent of Bioinformatics, and to regularise the fact that many of its members are bioinformatics practitioners, the association has succeeded in changing its constitution and having it approved and ratified by the Registrar of Societies, Singapore this year, i.e. 2003. Activities proposed or carried out:

The group plans to continue organising meetings that include both medical and bioinformatics, as well as separate meetings focussed on either medical informatics or bioinformatics and computational biology. Past activities included regular bioinformatics symposium, an annual lecture by expert speakers in bioinformatics and/or medical informatics and working with APBioNet to host the 8th International Conference on Bioinformatics 2009 in Singapore. We have sponsored members to attend a number of meetings in medical informatics and bioinformatics and will continue to do so, via our modest travel fellowship scheme.

The AMBIS website is now co-hosted with the APBioNet website, and we continue to collaborate with APBioNet to spearhead new initiatives such as providing a testbed for the BioSlax software package (including the for Linux platforms, in an easily installable and configurable form for developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, sponsor workshops and training sessions such as the EUAsiaGrid Master Class on High Performance Computing in Life Sciences, and work closely with the bioinformatics research groups in Singapore. Concurrently, AMBIS also works closely with the Asia Pacific Association for Medical Informatics (APAMI) which is affiliated to the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and we have been involved in Health Informatics conferences. AMBIS looks forward the future opportunities including the possibility of working with the International Society for Computational Biology to which it is affilated in holding more international conferences in Singapore, as well as to introduce the initiative to pursue higher standards in bioinformatics publication such as the Minimum Information about A Bioinformatics Investigation (MIABi) which the association is working with APBioNet on.

Last updated April 28, 2010

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BIOINFORMATICS SOCIETY TAIWAN

http://dblab8.csie.ncu.edu.tw/ (in Chinese)

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Goals: to promote the interaction of biologists and nonbiologist; to promote bioinformatics in Taiwan

Structure:

Chairman: Cheng-Yen Kao
Standing board members: Ueng-Cheng Yang, Chao Hsiung
Regular board members: 8
Treasure monitoring committee
Standing member: Johnsee Lee
Regular member: 2

Secretary: Jorng-Tzong Horng
Method of election: At annual meeting (If there are not sufficient members present in the meeting, mail-election is also acceptable.)

Method of renewal: Every other year. The chairman can at most be elected twice in series. The board members does not have any restriction.

Geographical area included: Taiwan

Information infrastructure: electronic bulletin boards
http://binfo.ym.edu.tw/idg/ (English & Chinese mixed)
http://domino.tmu.edu.tw/bioinfo.nsf/ (English & Chinese mixed)

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