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2010 Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished
Mentor and Scientist Awardee
M. Harold Laughlin, Ph.D.
University of Missouri-Columbia
The APS Women in Physiology Committee is pleased to announce that M. Harold
Laughlin, Curators' Professor and Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences,
College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, has been
selected as the seventh 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.
Laughlin received his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. He did his
postdoctoral training also at the University of Iowa and then at the USAF
School of Aerospace Medicine. In 1980, he was hired as an Assistant
Professor of Physiology at Oral Roberts University Medical School in Tulsa.
In 1985, Laughlin moved to the Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of
Veterinary Medicine, and the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center at the
University of Missouri-Columbia. In 1987 he received a joint appointment to
the Department of Physiology in the School of Medicine at the University.
Laughlin was named interim chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences in
1992 and then Chair in 1994. In 2007, he received the title of Curator’s
Professor.
Laughlin is currently regarded as one of the world leaders in research on
the adaptations of the coronary and skeletal muscle beds to physical
activity and inactivity, both in normal animals and in a variety of
pathophysiological models of disease, in particular atherosclerosis. In
addition, he has made his department one of the leading departments in
integrative physiology in the country. Laughlin has more than 230
publications in peer-reviewed journals, including some of the most highly
cited reviews in the field (including a chapter in the Handbook of
Physiology). The seminal nature of his work has been recognized by an
unusual number of named and plenary lectureships. His laboratory has been
continuously funded by the NIH since 1981 and he has the longest funded NIH
Program Project Grant ever awarded to the University of Missouri.
Laughlin’s success as a mentor has been through three primary roles: as an
instructor, as a mentor, and as chair of the Department of Biomedical
Sciences at the University of Missouri. As an instructor, Dr. Laughlin
serves as a role model to both students and faculty alike. Despite being
Chair, Dr. Laughlin continues to teach Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology
courses on a voluntary basis because he considers teaching an integral
component to the scientific process, for both student and instructor. As a
mentor, Dr. Laughlin has worked for over 20 years to provide resources and
foster independence in aspiring graduate students, veterinary residents, and
postdoctoral fellows. A central component of his mentoring strategy is
unwavering support of his trainee’s individual goals. Consequently Laughlin
trainees have been successful in careers outside of research, including
teaching, medical practice, and administration. As chair of the Department
of Biomedical Sciences, Dr. Laughlin has had the unique opportunity to
directly impact faculty development. He implemented an individualized
faculty mentor panel that advises each new faculty member as they navigate
the challenges for new faculty within and outside of the University.
Laughlin holds membership in numerous scientific societies, and is very
active in the Exercise and Environmental Physiology Section of APS. He has
served on editorial boards for major journals in the field, including two of
APS’ journals, Journal of Applied Physiology and American Journal of
Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology. He has also served as
Association Editor twice for Journal of Applied Physiology and for Medicine
& Science in Sports & Exercise. Dr. Laughlin has committed years of service
on NIH and Canadian study sections.
There will be a reception in Dr. Laughlin’s honor at which he will give a
talk on mentoring during the 2010 Experimental Biology meeting in Anaheim,
CA. It will be held on Monday, April 26 at 12:00 pm at the Marriott Anaheim
Hotel. All trainees and mentors are invited to attend.
APS congratulates Dr. Laughlin on this well-deserved honor.
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