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2003 Porter Physiology Development Committee Report
The Porter Physiology Development Committee is pleased
to provide this report of the Committee’s activities during the year. The
purpose of the Porter Physiology Development Program is to stimulate and
support the development of minority students engaged in graduate study in
physiology through the awarding of predoctoral fellowships. In addition, the
program provides assistance in the improvement of underdeveloped American
departments of physiology, particularly in those colleges and medical
schools with predominantly minority enrollment. Duties of the Porter
Physiology Development Program Committee are to: supervise administration of
the Porter Physiology Development Fund; approve visiting scientists and
professorships; approve teaching and training fellowships; recommend to the
William Townsend Porter Foundation specific needs for laboratory and
teaching equipment; counsel underdeveloped physiology departments on
curriculum and other improvements; provide annual written reports to Council
and the William Townsend Porter Foundation; rank applications of minority
students to attend meetings of the Society, which are collated by the
Executive Director and/or Education Officer; solicit outside funds for
support of the program.
This report includes information on the financial
status of the Porter Physiology Development Fund, travel applications
reviewed and approved, Porter Fellowships reviewed and approved, progress
reports on current Porter Fellows, and a summary of the Committee’s
discussions during its conference call held in place of its normal annual
meeting at Experimental Biology 2003.
On March 31, 2003, The Porter Physiology Development
Committee Fund had a budget of $209,954. During 2002, the fund received the
following contributions: $20,000 from Merck, $100,000 from the William
Townsend Porter Foundation (including a one-time donation of $50,000),
$40,000 from the APS, and $308 in private contributions in revenue. The
Committee expresses its sincere appreciation for this continued support that
makes the important work of the committee possible.
Minority Travel Fellows Selection
In January 2003, the Committee served as the review
panel for the APS Minority Travel Fellowship Awards. Fifty-one (51) travel
fellows were funded to attend Experimental Biology 2003 in San Diego.
Fourteen (14) additional travel fellowships were awarded to attend various
APS conferences.
Committee Meeting
Due to travel conflicts for a number of committee
members, the annual meeting of the Porter Physiology Development Committee
was held via conference call rather than during EB2003. Participating in the
conference call were: Pamela Gunter-Smith (Co-Chair), H. Maurice Goodman
(Co-Chair), Mouhamed Awayda, Sarah England, Rayna Gonzales, Cynthia Jackson,
Irving Joshua, Terry Thrasher, Martin Frank (APS, ex officio) and Melinda
Lowy (APS, by invitation). Committee members not able to participate
included Susan Kandarian and Marsha Matyas (APS, ex officio). The following
agenda items were discussed during the call: implementation of action items
approved by APS Council last year, the continuing need to investigate
potential sources of new funding with the greater number of high-quality
applications being received, possible revisions to the application form and
development of review criteria, and review of fellowship applications.
Porter Fellowships
The Committee is pleased to report a significant
increase in the number applications received. The number of new applications
increased from nine for the January 2002 deadline to 12 for the January 2003
deadline, an increase of 33%. The number of new applications for the June
deadline also rose substantially, from 4 in 2002 to 11 in 2003, an increase
of 175%. Presently, funds are not sufficient to fund all meritorious
applications. In addition, given the NIH recommendation of an increase in
predoctoral stipends to $26,573 by 2006, the number of Porter fellowships
available will decline if the Porter stipend level is to keep pace with
these changes. Thus, there is an urgent need to raise additional funds to
support Committee goals. Last year, Council approved an increase in APS
contributions to the fund of $9,000 providing that the William Townsend
Porter Foundation matched this amount. These funds were not distributed,
however, as the foundation provided a one-time additional contribution of
$50,000 rather than committing to a “matching” donation.
Presently, there are two application deadlines for
Porter Fellowships, January 15th and June 15th. While both applications
dates are open to predoctoral fellows requesting “new” funding, fellows
requesting a second year of funding are required to submit renewal
applications for the January cycle. The June 15th deadline serves
predoctoral students who have an unanticipated need or incoming predoctoral
students for the fall. As mentioned earlier, this year the Committee
received substantially more new fellowship applications in both cycles than
in previous years. When reviewing the funding available this year (enough
for seven to eight fellowships because of the additional one-time Porter
Foundation donation) and next year (enough for six fellowships), the
Committee decided to award a total of seven fellowships this year, which
will allow for seven fellowships to be awarded next year as well. One
renewal application and two new applications were funded from the January
2003 pool of 12 applicants. Decisions for six additional new applications
were deferred and four were not approved. The decision to defer a funding
decision was made so that there would be sufficient funds available for
awards for the June applicant pool. Deferred applicants were informed that
their applications would be reviewed with the June applications. Four
fellowships from the June pool will be awarded, including two possible
renewal applications that were deferred from the January pool. This means
potentially only two of the 11 new applications will be approved, leaving
several meritorious applications not approved because of limited funding. In
a similar vein, the designation of the Merck and Ison-Franklin fellows was
also deferred to include the June 15th awardees.
The Committee has successfully reached its goal of
increasing the applicant pool. However, the increased number of applications
has raised additional challenges. The Committee recognizes the need to
increase the amount of Porter Physiology Development funds to keep pace with
current Committee goals. In addition, the Committee continues to consider
whether it needs to rethink the Porter Fellowship application deadlines for
the future.
Review of Porter Fellowship applications. The Porter
Development Committee reviewed three renewal applications and 12 new
applications from the January 15, 2003 application deadline. One of the
renewal applicants was awarded a second-year fellowship; the other two were
deferred to the June 15 deadline to allow them to present more complete
applications. Two new fellowships were awarded and decisions for six were
deferred until the June cycle.
New Awardees
Johanna Vallejo, third-year graduate student,
Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Missouri at
Columbia; Research mentor: Christopher Hardin; Dissertation project,
“Functional role of caveolae in the compartmentation of carbohydrate
metabolism;” Claudio Villanueva, second-year graduate student, Biomedical
Sciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco; Research
Mentor: Robert V. Farese, Jr.; Dissertation project, “Mechanisms by which
DGA1 deficiency alters energy metabolism;”
Renewal Application Awardee
Rashad Belin, fourth-year graduate student, Department
of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois at Chicago; Research
mentor: P. de Tombe; Dissertation project, “Molecular mechanisms of
depressed myofilament function in heart failure.” Rashad has completed his
course work and been cleared by his committee to proceed with his mid-thesis
presentation later this year. He is expected to defend his thesis in about
two years.
Final Reports
Wendy Brisbon, fourth-year graduate student, Depart-ment
of Anatomy and Physiology, Meharry Medical College; Research Mentor: John T.
Clark; Research area: Physiological effects of estrogen, particularly its
involvement in the regulation of blood pressure in postmenopausal women.
Brisbon finished her course work and successfully completed her dissertation
research proposal and preliminary exams. She is expected to defend her
dissertation by June 2005.
Jorge Gonzalez-Perez, third-year graduate student,
Department of Pharmacology, University of Puerto Rico; Research Mentor:
Maria J. Crespo; Dissertation title, “Effects of toremifene on the vascular
status of ovariectomized rats.” Gonzalez-Perez has passed his comprehensive
exams and successfully presented his research proposal to his thesis
committee. He continues to present his work at local meetings, the
Experimental Biology meeting and the Society of Gynecological Investigation
meeting. He also has submitted a paper for publication on his work.
Becky Marquez, fifth-year graduate student, Depart-ment
of Physiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Research Mentor: Susan
Suarez; Dissertation project, “Regulatory mechanisms of mammalian sperm
motility.” Marquez is working full-time on her research, collecting data for
her dissertation. She has presented her work at the annual Cell Biology
meeting and has a manuscript ready for submission. She recently received a
two-year NIH fellowship.
Carmen Padró, fifth-year graduate student, Department
of Physiology, University of Puerto Rico; Mentor: Miguel Rivera;
Dissertation project, “K+ channel genes in chromosome 11 and genetic
polymorphisms.” The results of her work have been submitted for publication
and presented at the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting and
the upcoming APS Physiological Genomics conference.
Maurice Williams, fifth-year graduate student,
Department of Integrative Physiology, University of North Texas Health
Science Center at Forth Worth, Fort Worth, TX; Mentor: Patricia A Gwirtz;
Dissertation project, “Renal hypertension impairs coronary hyperemia during
exercise in dogs.” This spring Maurice successfully defended his
dissertation proposal, officially qualifying him as a PhD candidate. He also
completed a first-author manuscript that has been submitted for publication.
He also made several presentations including a poster at the Annual Research
Appreciation Day at the University of North Texas Health Science Center
(where he was awarded fourth place out of 120 posters). Other poster and
oral presentations have occurred at the annual meeting of the American
College of Sports Medicine. In addition to his research activities, Williams
is active locally as Treasurer of the UNTHSC Graduate Student Association
and President of the Black Graduate Student Association. He also is a
student member of the Diversity Task Force Committee and the McNair/Smart
selection committee at UNTHSC. Nationally, Williams co-founded and is
currently co-chair of the Minority Health and Interest Group of the American
College of Sports Medicine.
Porter Reception
Council approved and provided funding for the
Committee’s recommendation for a reception for travel fellows and their
mentors and past and current Porter Fellows. This recommendation was made
with the goal of building stronger connections between minority students and
the larger community of APS scientists, especially minority scientists. The
reception was very successful with more than 125 people in attendance.
Importantly, the reception continued for more than two hours as participants
interacted and networked with one another. Given the success of the
reception, the Porter Committee requests continued funding of this event.
Goals for Next Year
Discuss/develop review criteria for Porter Physiology
Predoctoral Applications: The increase in the number of meritorious
applications for a limited amount of funds has significantly increased
competition for these awards. The development and articulation of a common
set of factors to be considered in reviewing applications would be helpful
in reaching a consensus regarding funding decisions.
Re-examine the current activities of the Porter
Physiology Development Committee with respect to the charge given to the
Committee by APS: Although eight duties are listed, currently the Committee
primarily functions in reviewing and administering the minority predoctoral
and travel fellowships. A review of Committee duties will provide an
opportunity for the Committee to make recommendations to Council for
possible revisions to its charge, perhaps removing some activities and
expanding others.
Pamela J. Gunter-Smith, Co-Chair
Council Actions
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Council accepted the report of the Porter Physiology
Development Committee.
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Council
approved the requested funding for APS awards for students at the Annual
Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students.
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Council
approved funding for a reception for the Porter Fellows at EB 2004.
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