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2009 Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished
Mentor and Scientist Awardee
Brian R. Duling, Ph.D.
University of of Virginia Health Sciences Center
The APS Women in Physiology Committee is pleased to announce
that Brian R. Duling, Robert M. Berne Professor of Cardiovascular Research
and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center, Departments of Molecular
Physiology & Biological Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University of
Virginia Health Sciences Center, has been selected as the sixth recipient of
the Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award. The
Committee was extremely impressed with both his mentoring excellence and his
outstanding contributions to physiological research.
Dr. Duling received his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. He did his
postdoctoral training at the University of Virginia School of Medicine
before being hired as an Instructor and then Assistant Professor in the
Department of Physiology. He moved up through the ranks, including terms as
Vice-Chair and Acting Chair of the Department, until being named the Robert
M. Berne Chair in Cardiovascular Research in 1992 and then Director of the
Cardiovascular Research Center in 1993. He continues to hold those positions
today, in addition to acting as Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Studies
in the School of Medicine.
Dr. Duling’s research focuses on the integrative biology of the vascular
system, with two broad areas of excellence. First, he is interested in the
cellular and molecular basis of the regulation of arteriolar tone and blood
flow, especially in striated muscle. Second, he seeks to understand the
factors that control tissue oxygenation, and particularly the ways in which
red cells are distributed among the microvessels. The excellence of his
research has been recognized by the APS (including the Wiggers Award and the
Robert M. Berne Distinguished Lectureship, both awarded by the
Cardiovascular Section), but also the Microcirculatory Society (Zweifach
Award), the European Microcirculatory Society (Malpighi Award), and The
University of Virginia (Distinguished Scientist Award), among others.
Dr. Duling has successfully mentored 35 postdoctoral fellows, 3 clinical
fellows, and 7 predoctoral students. His mentees have gone on to successful
and prominent positions (including 2 chairs, Senior Vice President, Chief
Medical Officer, NIH Program Officer, among others) in a variety of careers:
academia, industry, clinical centers, and government with national funding
and numerous awards among themselves.
Dr. Duling’s success as a mentor was four-fold, according to the people
writing his supporting recommendation letters. 1) He provided excellent
guidance to trainees holding a range of career aspirations. He gave equal
attention to trainees who desired to follow in his career footsteps and to
those who aspired to an alternate career path. By spending the time to
understand his trainees’ career goals, Dr. Duling took steps to best
facilitate each trainee’s future success. 2) He constantly demanded the best
of his trainees. He stimulated individuals to work harder and think deeper
than they thought possible. 3) Through his enthusiasm in hosting visits from
national/international scientists, Dr. Duling illustrated to his trainees
that science transcends geographical boundaries and that colleagues can
become lifelong friends in the journey of scientific discovery. This led to
a great diversity in individual strengths of the researchers in his lab and
generated a strong international ‘spirit’ within the lab. 4) He engendered
an air of ‘family’ with members of his lab. He maintains continued contact
with previous lab members by holding an annual Duling lab dinner at the
yearly EB conference.
There will be a reception in Dr. Duling’s honor at which he will give a talk
on mentoring during the 2009 Experimental Biology meeting in New Orleans,
LA. It will be held on Monday, April 20 at 12:00 pm at the Hilton Hotel. All
trainees and mentors are invited to attend.
APS congratulates Dr. Duling on this well-deserved honor.
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