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79th APS President (2006-2007)
Dale J. Benos
(b. 1950)
 Dale J. Benos is Endowed Professor of
Physiology and Biophysics and Chairman of the Department of Physiology and
Biophysics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, AL. He
received a BA degree in Biology from Case Western Reserve University and his
PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology at Duke. He was an Andrew W. Mellon
Scholar in the Laboratory of Human Reproduction and Reproductive Biology at
Harvard Medical School, where he was both Assistant and Associate Professor
in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. After moving to the
University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1985, he was appointed Senior
Research Scientist in the Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research
Center, Senior Scientist in the Nephrology Research and Training Center, and
then in 1987 was appointed full Professor in the Department of Physiology
and Biophysics. Benos became Chair of the department in 1996. He has
subsequently obtained Senior Scientist positions in the UAB Center for AIDS
Research, the Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
Center, and the Center for Computational and Structural Biology. Benos also
holds secondary faculty status in the Departments of Cell Biology and
Neurobiology. In 2005 he was named UAB’s first holder of the Endowed
Professorship in Physiology.
Benos’ research interests include mechanisms of cation transport across
epithelial and cellular membranes: developmental aspects of ionic transport
and metabolic function in preimplantation mammalian embryos and cultured
neural and epithelial cell lines; isolation, reconstitution, and molecular
biology of Na+ and Cl- channels from epithelial membranes, including kidney,
lung, and trachea; pathogenesis of AIDS Dementia Complex; ion channels and
brain tumors. He has authored over 200 original articles and 80 invited
reviews, as well as edited four books. He has been the Principal
Investigator for 19 individual research grants, and he has a patent pending
for research efforts involving inhibition of inward sodium currents in human
cancer.
In addition to his research efforts, Benos has been a visiting professor,
distinguished lecturer, or invited speaker at more than 100 major national
and international universities or symposia, chairing seven Experimental
Biology symposia. Benos has been a member of eight NIH special study
sections, an ad hoc reviewer for seven NIH/CF study sections, and chaired
multiple site visits and special emphasis panels. He has been a member of or
chaired over 50 major committees at Harvard and UAB, including Curriculum
Design and Faculty Development at Harvard, Harvard’s Committee on
Postdoctoral Fellows, Dental Curriculum Re-Design at UAB, UAB Medical Center
Strategic Planning, UAB Medical Education Committee (serving in several
capacities including Chair), Minority Medical Education Program, Alabama
State Education Task Force, UAB Research Foundation Funding Flow Task Force,
chairing several scientific misconduct inquiry and investigation committees,
as well as serving on or chairing several chair search committees. Benos
presently serves on two editorial boards (American Journal of Physiology:
Cell Physiology and SHOCK); just completed six years as a
section editor for Biochemica et Biophysica Acta (Biomembranes);
a series editor for "Current Topics in Membranes"; and an associate editor
for Journal of Biological Chemistry. He is currently editor of APS’s
“Physiology in Medicine” series that is published in Annals of Internal
Medicine. He is a past associate editor, as well as editor-in-chief, for
American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology. He has served as
editorial board member for Journal of American Society of Nephrology,
Placenta, Biological Research, Current Cardiology Reviews,
and for almost 20 years on the board of the Journal of Biological
Chemistry. He was also associate editor for Comments on Molecular and
Cellular Biophysics. He has mentored 14 undergraduate students, eight
graduate students, 34 postdoctoral fellows, and numerous summer students in
his laboratory. Benos has lectured in 29 different graduate courses at Duke
University Medical School, Harvard Medical School, and the University of
Alabama School of Medicine. He was also a guest lecturer in medical
physiology at the Medical University of South Carolina, SUNY at Stony Brook,
Tulane, and University of Arkansas. Benos has been a two-time nominee for an
Excellence in Teaching award from Harvard and was a nominee for the Argus
Award for Best Small Group Leader in the Medical Physiology course at UAB.
Benos became a member of the APS in 1982. He has held many positions in the
Society, e.g., Councillor, Chair of the Awards Committee, Chair of the Joint
Managing Board (IUPS and APS), and Chair of the Publications Committee.
Because of his experience as Chair of the APS Publications Committee, he has
developed several courses at UAB addressing ethics in publications. In
particular, his seminar series for the Short Term Training Program at UAB is
mandatory for all medical and dental students who participate in summer
research programs. In addition to his APS service, Benos has been active in
other professional societies, including, Council of Science Editors, Society
of General Physiologists, The American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular
Biology, The American Society of Nephrology, Association of Chairs of
Departments of Physiology, Society of Neuroscience, New York Academy of
Sciences, the Biophysical Society, and the American Society of Cell Biology.
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