Science Advisory Board celebrates 10 years

The Virginia, USA-based Science Advisory Board, a professional social network of more than 34,000 scientists and biomedical researchers from 62 countries, celebrated its 10th anniversary this month - making it one of the most enduring communities on the Internet, it claims.

The SAB is a division of BioInformatics, a research and advisory firm serving more than 300 clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, information technology, scientific publishing and finance industries.

The Board's web site was launched on September 12, 1997 with the goal of helping bridge the gap between the manufacturers and end-users of instruments, products and services used in advanced biological research and drug discovery. It was created because the traditional concept of a scientific advisory board often fails to accurately reflect the experiences, preferences and unmet needs of those professionals who actually use the products manufactured by industry. By utilizing the web as a communications medium, The SAB says it provides life scientists "in the trenches" with a prominent voice that helps drive the development of new tools and technologies for basic and applied research.