2004 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; and solicit outside funds for
support of the program
The Porter Physiology Development Committee Fund
(Financial Status)
On March 2004, The Porter Physiology Development
Committee Fund had a budget of $216,317. During 2003, the fund received the
following contributions: $20,000 from Merck, $85,017 from the William
Townsend Porter Foundation, $40,000 from the APS, $210 in private
contributions and $497 from interest revenue. The Committee expresses its
sincere appreciation for this continued support that makes the important
work of the committee possible. Given remaining commitments for 2002-2003
Porter Fellows of $37,500, the fund had a balance of $176,817 for new
fellowships and activities.
Minority Travel Fellows Selection
In January 2004, the Committee served as the review
panel for the APS Minority Travel Fellowship Awards. Fifty-five (55) travel
fellows were funded to attend Experimental Biology 2004 in Washington, DC.
Thirteen (13) additional travel fellowships were awarded to attend various
APS conferences.
Committee Meeting
The Porter Physiology Development Committee met April
18, 2004 during EB ’04. Attending the meeting were: returning members,
Pamela Gunter-Smith (Co-Chair), Rayna Gonzales, Marsha Maytas (ex officio)
and Brooke Bruthers (APS); and new members, Johnny Porter and Heidi Collins.
The Committee thanks former members Mouhamed Awayda, Cynthia Jackson and
Irving Joshua for their years of service to the Committee.
Porter Physiology Development Fellowships
The number of new applications received for Porter
Fellowships continues to reflect the substantial increase noted following
the change in fellowship guidelines approved by Council several years ago.
Present funds are sufficient for eight fellowships, four renewal and four
new fellowships. The Committee’s ability to award eight fellowships can be
attributed, in part, to the generous and recent one-time supplemental
contribution made by the William Townsend Porter Foundation. The number of
Porter Fellowships that the Committee can support will soon decline, a trend
that will accelerate if the Porter stipend is to keep pace with the level
recommended by the NIH for predoctoral stipends ($26,573 by 2006). Thus, the
Committee’s need to raise additional funds to support and expand Committee
goals is becoming increasingly more critical.
Review of Porter Fellowship Applications
The Porter Development Committee reviewed two renewal
applications and seven new applications from the January 15, 2004
application deadline. Both of the renewal applicants were awarded a
second-year fellowship. Two new fellowships were awarded and decisions for
three were deferred until the June cycle. Given current practice, at least
two new fellowships will be funded during the next round of reviews. In
addition, the opportunity exists to fund two additional non-renewable (e.g.,
terminal graduate school year) new fellowships.
Renewal Application Awardees
Adrienne Bratcher (MERCK Fellow), second-year graduate
student, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Louisville
School of Medicine; Research mentor: Irving G. Joshua; Dissertation project:
The role of dietary salt in the changes in arteriolar responsiveness with
the development of hypertension.
Gary Morris, fifth-year graduate student, Department of
Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Missouri at Columbia;
Research mentor: Stephen Beebe; Dissertation project: Structure function
differences between the catalytic subunits Ca
and C¡ to the cAMP-dependent
protein kinase.
New Awardees
Jessica Clark, third–year graduate student,
Physiological Sciences Interdisciplinary Program, University of Arizona
Health Sciences Center, College of Medicine; Research mentor: Bohuslav
Dvorak; Dissertation project: The protective role of epidermal growth factor
in neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis.
Damon Jacobs, third-year graduate student, Department
of Cell and Molecular Physiology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,
School of Medicine; Research mentor: Richard Cheney; Dissertation project:
Identification of Myo5c associated organelles and Myo5c function. Damon is
our first Native American Porter Fellow.
Review Criteria for Porter Physiology Fellowships
The increase in the number of meritorious applications
for a limited amount of funds has significantly increased competition for
these awards. Council charged the committee with the development and
articulation of a common set of factors to be considered in reviewing
applications to assist the Committee in reaching a consensus regarding
funding decisions. The Committee developed a set of guidelines and criteria
based upon those used by other APS fellowship review committees and a
historical perspective of Porter Committee practices.
Porter Reception
Council approved and provided funding 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 Porter reception was extremely
successful with an increase in attendance. Importantly, the reception
continued for more than two hours as participants interacted and networked
with one another. In addition there was an increase in the number of former
Porter Fellows who attended.
APS Awards for Undergraduates at the Annual Biomedical
Research Conference for
Minority Students (ABRCMS)
This meeting attracts minority undergraduate and
graduate students across the country and provides an opportunity to recruit
students into the physiological sciences and the APS. The Committee
requested and received $1,000 for four $250 cash awards for the most
outstanding undergraduate presentations in physiology.
Presidential Award
On May 6th, the American Physiology Society received
the 2004 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and
Engineering Mentoring. The award was given to APS based upon its
longstanding commitment to increasing the representation of minorities in
the sciences through various educational programs including those supported
through the Porter Physiology Development Committee. The Committee takes
great pride in its role in this achievement. Committee Co-Chair, Pamela
Gunter-Smith, was on hand for the awards ceremony along with APS
President-Elect Douglas Eaton and APS staff members Martin Frank and Marsha
Matyas. The $10,000 award will be applied to Porter Physiology Development
fund for continuation of its programs.
Goals for Next Year
This report marks the last that I will give as the
committee’s Co-Chair. On behalf of the Committee, I welcome the new
Co-Chair and look forward to the new directions and ideas s(he) will bring.
Pamela J. Gunter-Smith, Co-Chair
Council Actions
-
Council accepted the report of the Porter Physiology
Development Committee.
-
Council approved the funding for the APS awards at
the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS).
-
Council approved the necessary funding for a Past
Porter Fellows reception at the 2005 IUPS Congress.
-
Council approved the new “Guidelines for Reviewers of
Porter Physiology Fellowships.”
|
