Cancellation of The ANRRC 2020 Meeting

Announcement: Cancellation of The ANRRC 2020 Meeting at RIKEN BRC in Tsukuba, Japan

Dear All Members of ANRRC,

I am Toshihiko Shiroishi, the director of RIKEN BioResource Research Center (BRC). It was very good to meet you in “The ANRRC 2019” which was held in Los Banos, Philippines.

I hope that all of you are well in these very difficult times. It is a very testing time for all of us.

At the Board Member Meeting of the ANRRC 2019, it was decided that this year’s ANRRC meeting would be hosted by RIKEN BRC in Tsukuba, Japan. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we regrettably decided that we have no choice but cancel the meeting.

In many Asian countries, the momentum of the spread of COVID-19 has slowed down, and there is a movement toward the resumption of some social activities. On the other hand, the 2nd and 3rd waves of COVID-19 are hitting many countries including Japan. Considering this situation and difficulty of traveling across national borders within this year, we have decided to cancel the ANRRC 2020 meeting. Besides, we have no plans to hold webinars and other events this year.

Meanwhile, I communicated with Dr. Lily Eurwilaichitr of National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) in Thailand to discuss about the next meeting, because the ANRRC 2020 was initially planned to be held in Thailand. Lily and I agreed that the next meeting, the ANRRC 2021, will be held either in Thailand or in Tsukuba, Japan, depending on the funding. We hope that the final decision will be announced in January 2021.

I appreciate your understanding and cooperation on scheduling the next ANRRC meeting.

Best regards,

Toshihiko Shiroishi, Ph.D.
Director of RIKEN BioResource Research Center