ABRF EBrief
January 2026
ABRF Members,
Over their past few meetings, the ABRF Executive Board has made several important decisions that we would like to share with you to improve the ABRF membership experience, including:
- Holding 2026 Annual Meeting Registration Rates – to support greater attendance at the 2026 Annual Meeting, the early registration rates will remain in effect through the meeting.
- Extended opportunities for Poster and Late-Breaking proposals – ABRF members are invited to submit Poster abstracts and program proposals by January 30 to secure a speaking opportunity at the upcoming meeting
- Stepping back from FASEB. After thorough consideration, ABRF will step back from membership in FASEB while they continue to restructure and focus ABRF resources to advance the ABRF Strategy. ABRF has also joined Research!America to continue to access timely policy information and contribute to federal advocacy efforts.
- 2025 Executive Board Self-Assessment – to support continuous improvement, the Board completed its annual self-assessment and identified several areas for potential improvement to increase transparency and engagement with all ABRF members (including through this regular EBrief message).
- ABRF Strategy. The Board clarified the objectives related to Strategy Goals 3 and 4 to distinguish between Professional Development and Standards initiatives. To support Goal 1, ABRF will develop an informational video on the Value and Impact of Shared Research Resources, targeted at external audiences, including researchers and policy makers.
- Benchmarking Studies. ABRF will conduct two benchmarking studies in 2026 on Compensation and Metrics for Shared Resources. These will be designed to create an overview of the scope and scale of the SRR community, as well as updated information on prevailing compensation for key roles within shared facilities.
- Funding for Strategic Initiatives. ABRF has allocated $50,000 for new initiatives that will add to ABRF's capacity or support new resources (e.g., Benchmarking Studies).
- Annual review of ABRF Fees. The Finance Committee will annually review ABRF dues, registration, and sponsorship fees and recommend adjustments to the Executive Board.
- ORCID membership. ABRF will join ORCID to elevate members' recognition by tying their ABRF contributions (including presentations, publications, and volunteer roles) to their ORCID profile.
- New Award to honor Spencer Shorte. ABRF and CTLS will present a new award to recognize a member's efforts to uplift the community. The inaugural award will be presented at the 2026 annual meeting.
- Updates to ABRF By Laws. The Executive Board approved the recommendations of the By Laws Task Force to clarify the ABRF By Laws regarding Board terms, roles, and responsibilities. This will include returning to a 4-year term for new Board members and specifying the roles of the ABRF President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past-President. These updates will be proposed for adoption at the 2026 Members' meeting in Pittsburgh on March 31.
- ABRF Policies & Procures Task Force. This new group will review existing ABRF policies and procedures and make recommendations for updates.
While this is not an exhaustive list of the Executive Board's actions over the last few months, we wanted to share these with all members and invite your feedback.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions. I hope to see you at the 2026 Annual Meeting or one of the regional Chapter meetings this year.
Thank you for your continued support of ABRF.
Regards,
Kym
Kym Delventhal
ABRF President