Letter from the President
Dear IZFS members:
Welcome to the summer 2026 edition of the News Splash! Read on for Member News, Science Spotlight articles on new advances in Base Editing and new discoveries about conserved features of regeneration. In Alternative to Academia we profile Ana Beiringer, a former zebrafish researcher who has forged a career in scientific illustration. Also, for U.S. zebrafish researchers, read about the proposed new rules from the Trump administration governing federal grants. As always, many thanks to our volunteer writers and editors for their contributions to the News Splash!
This issue of the News Splash also highlights the results of the recent IZFS Board Election. Filippo Del Bene has been elected President-elect and will take over as President in 2027 after Karuna Sampath has completed her term. Wiebke Herzog will serve as Treasurer, and Fumi Kubo, Nicholas Foulkes, Zhaoxia Sun and Rubén Marín Juez will all serve as Regional Representatives for the next three years. You can read more about each of them below. Thanks to all the members who stood for election, and congratulations to the winners. Your service to the international zebrafish community is much appreciated.
Although there is no IZFS conference this summer, your IZFS has been busy planning two conferences in 2027: the SCZI “PI” meeting in Merida, Mexico January 10-13 and the 20th International Zebrafish Conference in Daejeon, Korea June 26-30. We are excited to be bringing both meetings to new venues, and for the opportunity to highlight the zebrafish research that is happening there. Early registration for SCZI Merida opens July 13. Also, planning is already underway for a big 5-day joint IZFS-ZDMS (Zebrafish Disease Model Society) conference in Madison in 2028.
Finally, the IZFS leadership is excited to announce a new initiative: the IZFS Knowledge Exchange Grant. These are awards of up to $5,000 to help zebrafish researchers at any career level to travel to another zebrafish lab to learn a new technique or approach that they can then bring back to enrich the research program of their home lab. IZFS will be awarding two grants in the first year, with the hopes of expanding the program in the future. The application site will open on August 5th with the application deadline on October 5th. Awards will be announced in November and must be used within one calendar year.
Sincerely,
Cecilia Moens