2005 Liaison With Industry Committee Report
The Liaison with Industry Committee (LWIC) met at the
IUPS 2005 meeting in San Diego, CA. The Committee is composed of
representatives from most of the active Society sections, nominated to serve
by their sections.
Symposium 2005: At IUPS 2005, the Committee
sponsored a symposium titled: “Metabolic
Syndrome: From Clinical Insights to New Therapies” co- chaired by Christine
Schnackenburg and Chahrzad Montrose-Rafizadeh, held on the afternoon of
April 4, 2005. Speakers were Robert Hegele, Nicholas Oakes, Nancy
Thornberry and Sotirios Karathanasis; topics covered included:
Genetic and physiological insights into metabolic syndrome, PPARalpha/gamma
activation for the treatment of dyslipidemia and insulin resistance,
Dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibition for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and
the role of sphingolipids in atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome. This is
the fifth symposium sponsored by the Committee since its reorganization and
we are pleased to report that it was very well received. The topics of this
symposium will be published in a special issue of the American Journal of
Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.
The Fifth Annual Physiologists in Industry Mixer
was held April 3, with less attendance than expected. About 15 people
attended. The students and postdoctoral fellows that attended the Mixer had
a good discussion in learning about science in Industry and felt that it was
very beneficial to them. The time conflict with Career Committee workshop
may have impacted the overall attendance. We need to do a better job of
proactively advertising the Mixer in coming years, as well as trying to
avoid overlapping with other scheduled events.
Novel Disease Model Award: The award typically
recognizes one graduate student ($500) and one postdoctoral fellow ($800)
submitting the best abstract describing a novel disease model. Six students
and four postdocs applied (a total of 10 abstracts were received in 2004, an
increase by two from last year). The top two abstracts included both a
student and a postdoc and awards in both categories were given.
Symposium 2006: The Committee will continue its
annual tradition of sponsoring high quality workshops/symposia relevant to
industry and academic scientists. For EB 2006 the Committee proposed a
symposium on “Advances in Ion Channel Physiology.” The symposium is
organized by William J. Martin and has commitments from four scientists.
Action Items for Council
Liaison With Industry Committee, June 2005
Proposal # 1.
Sponsor a sixth Liaison With Industry Mixer for Industry scientists at EB
2005, including a mailing notice/invitation to appropriate individuals based
on mining of pre-registration data base and identifying registrants with
interests in Industry. Careful scheduling of the Mixer would be important;
proposals are to have the mixer event scheduled after the LWIC symposium and
avoid coinciding with the Career Committee organized events.
Proposal #2. LWIC requests the institution of
one named-lecture award in breakthrough science from an industry scientist
in translational research. The lecturer would present a one-hour lecture
during EB.
Proposal #3. Support a member from Education
Committee being a member of Liaison With Industry Committee and a member
from Liaison with Industry Committee being a member of the Career Committee,
attending Committee meetings.
Chahrzad Montrose-Rafizadeh, Chair
Council Actions
-
Council accepted the report of the Liaison with
Industry Committee.
-
Council approved the necessary funding for an LWIC
mixer at EB 2006.
-
Council approved adding
two ex officio members to the LWIC; one from the Education Committee and
one from the Careers Opportunities in Physiology Committee.
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