DSDB history

The “Institut International d’Embryologie” was founded in 1911 by Ambrosius Hubrecht, the first director of the Hubrecht Institute, in Utrecht.  It was a pioneer initiative to spread knowledge and know how in the field of Developmental Biology. This Institut International d’Embryologie was renamed International Society for Developmental Biology (ISDB) in 1968. It had its headquarters at the Hubrecht lab in Utrecht.

In 1972, the European Developmental Biology organization (EDBO) arose independently to represent several of the more local societies of Developmental Biologists.  It had its headquarters in Utrecht as well. A Netherlands Society for Developmental Biology (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Ontwikkelingsbiologie, NVOB) was created in the mid eighties.

In 1997, the ISDB became an umbrella organization for the different national societies, and its role became redundant with that of the EDBO, that entered a dormant state. The NVOB, which was connected with the EDBO in its administration, followed the EDBO and lost its activities.

An information request from Claudio Stern (President of the ISDB) in 2009 to Jacqueline Deschamps (former group leader at the Hubrecht Institute) catalyzed the re-birth of a Dutch Society for Developmental Biology, that was “baptized” by an inaugural meeting at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht in June 2011. Jacqueline Deschamps acted as the first president of the DSDB.