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ABRF EBrief

October 2025

ABRF Members,

I'm pleased to share a summary of the recent Executive Board meeting, held October 5-6, prior to the WACD meeting in Seattle.  This productive meeting included the following decisions and policy updates:

1. ABRF 2026 Budget and Future Scenarios.  The proposed budget was approved, which includes estimated net revenue of approximately $35,000.  The budget is based on a projected 10% decline in revenue due to limited travel funds for many ABRF institutions.  The 2026 budget holds membership dues and meeting registration fees constant and includes funding to support Strategic Investments to be identified by the Strategy Task Forces.  Potential Strategic Investments include developing an ABRF Data Warehouse with interactive reporting on compensation and metrics within shared research resources, along with updates to the ABRF web site's functionality.  ABRF also developed alternative budget scenarios for the next 3 years, to identify the range of potential budget changes required based on future revenue forecasts.  The ABRF Finance Committee will lead the effort to develop future ABRF budget options based on changes to membership and event revenue, including making recommendations for annual adjustments to membership dues and event registration rates.
2. FASEB membership.  The Board agreed to suspend ABRF's FASEB membership for 2026, due to the ongoing changes within FASEB and limited value for ABRF's significant investment. 
3. Updates to ABRF By Laws.  The Board agreed to recommend approval of updates to the ABRF By Laws, including a new 3-year term for members of the Executive Board, and related updates to the roles of ABRF President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past President.  Notice of the proposed changes will be circulated to all ABRF members for consideration at the March 2026 Members' meeting.
4. Updated Code of Conduct Procedures.  The Code of Conduct Committee completed updates to clarify the process for handling future Code of Conduct reports.  Updated language will be posted to the ABRF web site.
5. New producer for Journal of Biomolecular Techniques (JBT).  The Board approved moving the production of JBT to Scholastica, to provide improved submission management and review and reduce annual expenses.
6. Updates on ABRF Strategy Task Forces.  The Board discussed progress among the four Task Forces and worked to clarify the objectives and activities for Goals 3 and 4. Additional volunteers will be recruited to participate in these groups.
7. Research Groups and Committees.  The Board agreed to sunset the Proteome Informatics and Proteomics Research Groups.  Each RG and Committee will be invited to make a 1-minute presentation at the 2026 Annual Meeting to share updates on their work and to engage additional volunteers.
8. 2025 Executive Board Election.  The Nominations Committee is finalizing the set of nominees to recommend for the 2025 election, which will be completed by the end of the year.

I hope you find this update helpful.  Feel free to contact any member of the Executive Board if you have questions or suggestions.

Thank you for your continued support to ABRF.

Regards,

Kym Delventhal
President