2008 Conference Committee Report
Traditionally, the APS conferences have been the
responsibility of the Joint Programming Committee (JPC) in terms of
solicitation, evaluation, and selection of proposals. Although this has
worked adequately, APS conferences have not been the main focus of the JPC.
In addition, as the responsibilities of the JPC have grown, it has become
increasingly apparent that there was a need for a dedicated committee to
oversee the APS conferences program. This need was addressed by the last APS
long-range strategic planning committee, which proposed the formal
establishment of the APS conference committee (APSCC).
The Committee has had extensive discussions regarding
the history of the APS conferences both in terms of scientific content and
financial costs. It was felt that conferences that had a somewhat broader
range of appeal tended to be more successful. The Exercise and the
Endothelial Meetings are examples of successful conferences. Although the
members of the APSCC felt that organizing conferences on new and exciting
topics should be strongly encouraged, it was also recognized that
establishing a cohort of highly successful meetings that are held
periodically would help to solidify the APS conference program and move it
towards an equal footing with the Gordon and FASEB summer conferences. The
by-product of enhancing the stature of the APS Conference Program would be
to attract new and innovative conference proposals.
With regards to the financing of conferences, the
Committee agreed that previous APS Conferences relied too heavily on invited
speakers that were given funds for travel expenses, etc. Instead, APS
Conferences should be abstract driven meetings with only a few invited
speakers. This would help to reduce the overall financial obligations and
hopefully provide revenue through registration fees. APSCC felt strongly
that the APS funding should remain at $30,000, but that organizers should be
encouraged to try to obtain government and pharmaceutical support for the
conferences. The organizers should be encouraged to use resources to
support students, postdoctoral fellows and new investigators, and funds
should be used to facilitate and encourage the participation of minorities
and women in these Conferences.
The Committee reviewed the current conference
application process. The Committee agreed that the application procedure was
very labor intensive. Conference organizers were asked to plan the entire
meeting and confirm all the invited speakers before submitting their
proposals to the JPC. In an effort to make the submission process easier, an
online submission form has been created. Only preliminary information is now
required from the conference organizers. The conference proposals will be
evaluated by the entire APSCC. Once the proposal is approved by the APSCC,
it will be submitted to Council for final approval.
After a conference proposal has been approved the
Conference Committee and the APS Council, two members of the APSCC will be
assigned to that Conference. The APSCC members will work with the conference
organizers to develop the program. This will allow the APSCC to have direct
interaction in the development of the program and have some oversight into
the scientific and financial planning of the meeting.
There are two APS conferences scheduled in 2009. The
first conference is the ET-11: APS International Conference on Endothelin
and is headed by David Pollock and Pedro D’Orleans-Juste. The second
conference for 2009 is headed by Jane Reckelhoff and Christine Maric and is
entitled: Sex Steroids and Gender in Cardiovascular-Renal Physiology and
Pathophysiology.
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