World Pathology Foundation

Minutes of the Meeting (Meeting combined The Board of Trustees and The Board of Regents)

The combined meeting was held at Bermuda Level, Sunway Lagoon Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 16:25 - 17:25 on Tuesday August 21, 2007, immediately after the Bureau Meeting. Since Dr. B. Murphy, President, was unable to participate in the meeting due to his health condition, Dr. I. Sakurabayashi, Secretary, announced the opening of the meeting and took the items of “Apologies for absence”, “Review of the previous meeting minutes” and “Election of Officers”, with which Dr. Utz Merten was unanimously elected to the President. Dr. Utz Merten, new WPF President, then presided over all remainder of the meeting.

Attendance:

Secretary Dr. Ikunosuke Sakurabayashi Japan
Co-opted Members Dr. Marilene Melo Brazil (partly)
Dr. Henry Travers U.S.A.
Dr. Michael Oellerich Japan
Dr. Mikio Mori Germany
Dr. Utz P. Merten Germany
Dr. Robby Bacchus United Kingdom
Observer Dr. Masami Murakami Japan
Administrative staff Mr. Susumu Kanda Japan

1. Apologies for absence

Dr. Barrie Murphy, President, UK due to his health condition.
Dr. Marc-A. Viollier, Treasurer, Switzerland due to his health condition.

2. Review of previous meeting minutes

Minutes of Chicago Meeting held on July 29, 2006 at Swissotel, Chicago, USA was approved without any additions or deletions.

3. Election of Officers

(A) Since both Dr. B. Murphy, President, and Dr. I. Sakurabayashi, Secretary, will leave their offices after this meeting, election of officers were conducted and following officers were formally elected respectively by consensus.

President Dr. Utz P. Merten Germany
Secretary-Treasurer Dr. Marc-A. Viollier Switzerland
Co-opted Members Dr. Marilene Melo Brazil (partly)
Dr. Henry Travers U.S.A.
Dr. Michael Oellerich Japan
Dr. Mikio Mori Germany
Dr. Robby Bacchus United Kingdom
Dr. Masami Murakami Japan

(B) All members are requested to obtain their signature certified by public notary respectively, and send it to Ms. Madeleine Luetzelschwab as soon as possible.

(C) Acknowledged and confirmed was the resignations of the following officers who would leave their offices after this meeting:
Dr. Barrie Murphy, President of WPF
Dr. Ikunosuke Sakurabayashi, Secretary of WPF

(D) Dr. Utz Merten proposed and it was agreed that Dr. Barrie Murphy became the nonvoting Honorary President of WPF.

4. Reports from Officers

Treasurer

A) On behalf of Dr. M.-A. Viollier, Dr. Utz Merten reported the Treasurer’s Report as of December 31st, 2006 (Attachment 1). The year of 2006 was again satisfactory for the foundation which capital increased by CHF 17,239.05 to CHF 857,195.25. Three fellowships were financed by the achieved gains. The Board members accepted and expressed sincere thanks for his hard efforts and excellent management directed by him.

B) Dr. Utz Merten presented the proposal made by Dr. M-A Viollier that the WPF fund deposited in Swiss bank would be allowed to operate by a fund manager to save the high operating charges of the bank, though only bank officer has been allowed to handle the fund according to the existing charter. The proposal was duly examined, and it was advised that the reliable credential of such fund manager as well as the approval of Board of Trustee should be mandatory, because the security and safety of the funds are the top priority over everything else.

C) Dr. H. Travers asked to review the possibility to utilize the WPF fund to support certain educational activity provided that WPF could change in its by-laws to permit, and afford the fund in any given year because of few GSF awardees.

Secretary

A) Dr. I. Sakurabayashi reported the current status of 4 awardees for 2007as per the Attachment 2. Dr. R. Tirumalae was finished her training, Drs. Leticia Gresta and Aline Helen Da Silva are under the training, while Dr. Antonio Campos, Brazil, has not stared yet. Forty-one (41) awardees from 21 countries in 1975-2006.

B) To encourage more applicants for GSF, all reports of awardees 2002 and later are now on the website.

5. Selection of GSF in fiscal 2007

1. Dr. I Sakurabayashi reported the status of applicants and inquiries received from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007. We have 9 possible applicants remained after an initial screening, following two were unanimously accepted for their study in calendar year of 2008, based on the specific criteria applied in the consideration.

(1 ) The facilities are limited in applicant's own Country of Origin
(2) Consider limiting award to one candidate from each country
(3) Relevance of proposed study to applicant's facilities on return home;
(4) The degree of thought, effort and agreed arrangements, contained in the application.

A) Dr. Cristovam Scapulatempo Neto, Brazil.
B) Dr. Dr. Joseph Marie Mendimi Nkodo, Cameroon.

2. It is suggested to modify the application form to be more standardized.

6. Other business

A) Bylaws of WPF
It is recognized again that WPF should make it more clear the Constitution and Bylaws to which all decisions/activities should follow. Dr. Utz Merten will examine and review all existing legal documents and charters and organize them with an intension to update and get real if necessary.

(B) Transfer of WPF Administrative Business
As it is decided that those of WPF administrative business being partly carried out at WASPaLM Tokyo Administrative Office for years will be totally transferred to the office of Secretary-Treasurer, Switzerland, following actions.

(1) Ongoing projects including the contacts with 2 new GSF awardees will continue to be handled by Tokyo Office until the end of 2007.
(2) WPF contact address posted on WASPaLM website will be changed immediately to minimize the confusion for GSF applicants.
(3) WPF documents kept at Tokyo Office will be transferred to Swiss Office.

Date and time of next meeting

August 1-2, 2008 in Boston, U.S.A.

Attachment

(A) Treasurer's Report per December 31, 2006
(B) Current state: 2006 GSF Awardees


Note: This is a draft minutes to be formally agreed in final form at the next meeting of the WPF to be held in 2008 in Boston, U.S.A.

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