Histology Group of Victoria Inc.
Updated 11/03/2009
A brief history of the HGV
Over the years there have been several incarnations of a Victorian Histology Discussion Group. The current Histology Group of Victoria Inc. evolved from a committee formed by a group of like-minded senior histology scientists representing major public hospitals and private pathology providers in the state of Victoria. Their intent was to create a Histology discussion group that catered to the needs of all people with an interest in Histology. This was not to be limited to medical scientists, and had the primary goal of provision of education to local Victorian members. On August 6th 1997, the HGV officially became an incorporated association. The inaugural AGM of HGV Incorporated was on March 19th 1998. The elected committee was;
President: Tristan Roberts; Vice President: Sue Sturrock; Treasurer: John Mills; Secretary: Alan Sutton; Committee: Clare Christian; Irene Giouzeppos; Piero Nelva; Mike Rentsch; Clyde Riley; Ruth Wilkinson; Jane Witte. The last of these to depart was Piero Nelva in 2006.
The HGV has run several one-day seminars, the most recent in 1998, 2002 and 2007, a joint meeting with HGSA at Coonawarra in 2003 and 2007 and in 2005 hosted the 2nd National Histology Conference in Melbourne which broke all records with a peak attendance of 327.
The HGV is proud to remain a non-profit organization whilst maintaining free membership. Our membership base has grown from just over 300 in 1998 to 560 present day.
In 2006 we registered our own Association rules, changed our web address to www.hgv.org.au and formally began regular communications with the other state histology groups to grow Histology education at a National level.
Where are we now?
The HGV mission statement encapsulates our goal of "providing a dynamic continuing education program in which all persons with an interest in Histology and Histotechnology are freely invited to participate". Whilst we cater specifically for Victorians, we have a membership that includes all Australian states and territories and internationals from the UK, US, New Zealand, China, Italy, Sudan and Slovenia.
To further these aims we publish a bi-monthly newsletter - "Paraffinalia". The costs of its production are off-set by advertising from companies specializing in histology-related products. We have a mailing list of 560. The newsletter includes notification of scientific meetings, conference registrations, reports from previous scientific meetings, journal reviews, advertising, and other general histology news.
What's happening this year?
The National Histology conference returns to the calendar this year, with Adelaide hosting the conference in May. Locally, the HGV will again be providing a varied schedule of scientific meetings, and again run another workshop. Following last years success with an intermediate cut-up workshop, we will again be selecting specific specimens to present at this years workshop.
The committee will be working throughout the year to organise a ODS for March/April 2010, further details of location and time will be posted on our website in due course
