IXB: The International Xenopus Board
International Xenopus Board
The Xenopus research community has held a biennial scientific conference for more than 30 years. It rotates between North America and Europe. Initially the community was small and less than a hundred individuals would attend the conference, allowing it to be organized in an informal fashion. However, the community has grown considerably, and attendance at the conference is now typically over 300 individuals. Consequently, organization of the conference has become too large a task for any one individual, and the need to solicit external funding from grants and companies has greatly increased. Furthermore, the international community has initiated several new activities that are having a dramatic impact on the community as a whole, such as stock centers, workshops and “Resources and Emerging Technology” meetings. Therefore, a formal organization to assist in managing the organization of these activities and the finances of the different endeavors became warranted. In 2015, the International Xenopus Board was incorporated (see “Certificate of Incorporation”) as a tax-exempt, non-profit organization registered in Washington DC, USA. It is governed by By-Laws (view PDF).
The Board of Directors consists of the Officers and selected members of the community who have previously served as Officers and/or have been IXC organisers.
The Officers currently are:
President: Mustafa Khokha (Cedars-Sinai, LA)
Secretary: Sarah Woolner (University of Manchester)
Treasurer: Amy Sater (University of Houston)
The Board consists of the above Officers and:
Carole LaBonne (Past President; Northwestern University)
Sally Moody (Past Treasurer; George Washington University)
Anna Philpott (University of Cambridge)
Kris Vleminckx, (Ghent University)
Aaron Zorn (Cincinnati Children’s)
Matthew Good (University of Pennsylvania)
Ann Miller (University of Michigan)
Matthew Guille (University of Portsmouth)
IXB Young Investigator Award
The International Xenopus Board (IXB) Young Investigator Award recognizes an outstanding junior faculty member from any country who has made significant scientific achievements using Xenopus as a model. Awardees will be recognized at the International Xenopus Conference in Portsmouth, UK (August 17th-21st, 2025) where they will present an award lecture. Awardees also will receive funds from the IXB toward travel to the meeting.
Nominations for the Young Investigator Award should be submitted to the IXB at Xenopus@Xenopus.org.
Submit the application in a single PDF file that includes:
• A letter of nomination describing the candidate’s research using Xenopus, and its importance to the field.
• The nominee’s C.V.
Nominations must be received by June 20th 2025.
IXB trainee award recipients:
19th International Xenopus Conference, 2023, Chesapeake Bay USA
Best Trainee: Rachel Mckeown, University of Cambridge.
Best Poster, 1st place: Lila Hoachlander-Hobby, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Best Poster, 2nd place: Rachel Mckeown, University of Cambridge.
Best Poster, 3rd place: Leslie Sepaniac, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Gurdon Best Student Presentation: Kato Soichiro, RIKEN.
Gurdon Best Postdoc Presentation: Coral Zhou, UC Berkeley.
Gurdon Outstanding New Investigator: Miler Lee, University of Pittsburgh.
18th International Xenopus Conference, 2021, Portsmouth UK (virtual).
Gurdon Outstanding Speaker Award: Alice Godden.
2nd European Amphibian Conference, 2019, Leucorea Germany.
Best student presentation: Kelli Grand, University of Zurich.
Best student poster: Deiter Tulkens, University of Ghent.
Report on the creation of the IXB
Minutes from the 2016 Resources and Emerging Technologies meeting
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IXB Certificate of Incorporation (view/download PDF)
IXB By-Laws (view/download PDF)
Last Updated: 2025-05-14