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60th APS President (1987-1988)
Harvey V. Sparks, Jr.
(b. 1938)
Harvey V. Sparks, Jr. is the 60th President of the American Physiological
Society. Sparks, who has been active in Society affairs since 1970, succeeds
Franklyn G. Knox as the APS's chief elected officer.
Born in Flint, Michigan, Sparks received his MD degree cum laude from The
University of Michigan in 1963. While a medical student, he worked with
David F. Bohr. He then did postdoctoral work with A. Clifford Barger at
Harvard Medical School and Bjorn Folkow at the University of Goteborg in
Sweden. In 1966 he returned to The University of Michigan as an Instructor
in the Department of Physiology, where he established a research laboratory
for the study of the local regulation of blood flow. He also became involved
in medical education, serving as Assistant Dean for Admissions and as
Chairman of the Steering Committee of The University of Michigan's
Integrated Premedical-Medical Program. He became a Professor of Physiology
in 1974. In 1979, Sparks became Professor and Chairman of the Department of
Physiology at Michigan State University. During the 1986-1987 academic year,
he was Visiting Professor of Physiology at the University of Zimbabwe.
Although his research has touched on many aspects of vascular physiology,
Sparks' main interest has been the mechanisms of active hyperemia in heart
and skeletal muscle. His recent work has focused on the role of adenosine,
but he has also done studies on potassium ion, prostaglandins, oxygen,
carbon dioxide, and the myogenic mechanism. His interest in the regulation
of the interstitial concentration of these metabolites has led to the use of
mathematical models describing their capillary transport. He has authored
over 90 publications on these and related topics.
Within the American Physiological Society, Sparks has served as a member
of the Porter Development Committee, Governmental Affairs Network, Liaison
With Industry Committee, Centennial Committee, and as Chairman of the
Committee on Committees. He has been a member of Council since 1984. He
served on the editorial board of Federation Proceedings, representing
APS. He was Chairman of the Cardiovascular Section in 1983-1984 and served
on the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology from
1974 to 1986. He co-edited the Handbook of Physiology on vascular
smooth muscle.
Sparks has served on the editorial boards of Annual Review of
Physiology, Blood Vessels, and Pfluegers Archiv and as a member
of review committees of the National Institutes of Health. He has
participated in the activities of the American Heart Association as a member
of the Executive Committee of the Council on Circulation and a Research
Study Committee. His interest in medical education has continued as
indicated by his membership on accreditation survey teams of the Liaison
Committee on Medical Education, the National Board of Medical Examiners, and
on one of the Working Groups that produced the GPEP Report. He has also
written two texts for medical students. His commitment to the promotion of
use of animals in research is evidenced by his membership on the Board of
Directors of the Michigan Society for Medical Research. Sparks is the
recipient of a Fulbright Lectureship for the purpose of promoting graduate
research training at the University of Zimbabwe.
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