Council members called in to a conference call at 4:00 on Thursday, January 31^st

Members present on the call were J. Friedman, President; Wm. Slikker, Vice President; R. Tyl, Vice-President-Elect; R. Kavlock, Past President; G. Dearlove, Secretary; T. Knudsen, Councilor; C. Chambers, Public Affairs Committee Chair; and T. Masson, Executive Director

The first item on the agenda was the Strategic Planning Session scheduled for March 14 and 15, 2002 in Nashhville. The budget was reviewed and the number of suggested attendees was discussed. Discussion ensued concerning overall costs weighed against a full representation of the membership. The final resolution was a motion to limit the number of attendees to 20 and to limit the allocated expenses to a total of $25,000; motion carried unanimously.

Discussion of the President’s response to the proposed FDA Guidance document (the "wedge") was put on hold until Council members who had attended the FDA workshop on the wedge could present an update of the current FDA position.

Renaming the Journal was discussed and the results of the membership survey were reviewed. Discussion regarding re-launching the Journal as a three-part journal ensued.

Following review of the membership responses to the survey, Council voted to proceed with completion of the contract with the publisher (J. Friedman is to sign the contract for a three part Journal to be known as Birth Defects Research). Council also voted to establish a search committee to identify candidates for Editor-in-Chief of each of the two new parts being rolled into the Journal re-launch. The suggestion was made to ask the current search committee for suggestions and recommendations in the regard.

Discussion followed concerning the titles of the three component parts of the Journal. The membership survey was reviewed and Council voted to approve the titles selected on the majority of the ballots that had been returned.

Part A will be Clinical and Molecular Teratology,

Part B will be Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology and

Part C will be Reviews in Embryology.

Following completion of the Journal names discussion, one of the Council members excused themself from the call to permit Council to discuss the selection of a new Editor-In-Chief for what will become Part A of Birth Defects Research.

Council discussed the three candidates selected by the search committee Chaired by R. Miller and reviewed the documentation prepared by the committee. Credentials and recommendations for each candidate were thoroughly discussed and each Council member was asked to rank the candidates. Following further discussion, Council selected Dr. Phil Mirkes for be the next Editor-in-Chief of Teratology.

J. Friedman will call the candidates to thank them for submitting their credentials for consideration and encourage them to participate in the selection process for the Editor-in-Chief positions for the new Parts B and C.

The call was terminated after completion of this business.

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