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2004 Women in Physiology Committee Report
Meetings: The Committee held a luncheon Business
meeting at the Experimental Biology (EB) 2004 in Washington, DC on April 19,
2004 and also conferred by conference call to discuss the Bodil
Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award on November 14,
2003, Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Award
applications on January 30, 2003. In addition, members conferred by
teleconference on August 21, 2003, September 29, 2003 and February 10, 2004
to discuss committee activities, plans for the EB 2004 workshop cosponsored
by the Women in Physiology Committee and ASPET Committee on Women in
Pharmacology and other committee business.
Bodil Schmidt Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and
Scientist Award. Six nominations for the first Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen
Distinguished Mentor and Scientist award were received by APS office and
reviewed by the Women in Physiology Committee. W. Clinton Webb of the
Medical College of Georgia was selected as the awardee. The award carries a
stipend of $1,000 plus travel expenses to attend the EB meetings. The
awardee gives a 30-minute lecture on mentoring to young physiologists and
their mentors and writes an article based on the lecture for publication in
The Physiologist. The lecture followed a luncheon to which were invited
Bodil Schmidt-Nielson, former mentees of Webb, APS council members, and
others specified by the awardee.
APS/ASPET Workshop on Mentoring: One of the roles of
the APS Women in Physiology Committee is to coordinate activities with other
such committees within FASEB. For EB 2004, the Women in Physiology
Committee co-sponsored a workshop with ASPET Committee on Women in
Pharmacology on “Life After the PhD: Finding a Postdoctoral Fellowship.”
Two representatives from the Women in Physiology Committee (Carole Liedtke
and Kathleen Berecek) and a member of the Committee on Women in Pharmacology
(Joan Lakoski) served as co-organizers. The workshop was designed to inform
young physiologists of decision-making and goal setting in considering a
postdoctoral fellowship as the next step in their professional development.
Four speakers discussed the following topics: Kathleen Berecek, “To Be or
Not To Be a Postdoc;” Angela Grippo, “Searching for a Postdoctoral Position:
How to Find What is Right for You;” Lisa Nisenbaum, “Types of Postdocs: What
Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?;” and Donna Korzick, “Interview and
Follow-Up.” Due to an accident, Berecek did not attend EB 2004. Sue
Barman, former chair of the Women in Physiology Committee, presented
Berecek’s talk. Over 200 young and more senior scientists attended the
session, with many remaining for discussions during a breakout session of
six groups. Each group was well represented by members of APS (E. Zambraski,
D. Silverthorn, B. Goodman, D. Seals) and by members of the APS Women in
Physiology Committee and ASPET Committee on Women in Pharmacology. Each
attendee to the workshop received a handout of resource material for the
topics discussed by the speakers. Comments after the session were very
enthusiastic.
Plans for an APS/APSET Workshop on Leadership Skills
and Development. APS Women in Physiology and ASPET Women in Pharmacology
Committees will once again partner to organize a mentoring workshop for IUPS/EB2005
in San Diego, CA. One of the charges to the Women in Physiology Committee is
to distribute information to young scientists regarding strategies for a
successful career in science. Another is to coordinate activities with
other such groups within FASEB. This workshop will fulfill the charge to
the Women in Physiology Committee and, in addition, bolster the career
development goals of the ASPET Women in Pharmacology Committee. The focus of
the workshop is Leadership Skills and Development with specific topics yet
to be designated. The target audience is young scientists to junior faculty
of both genders interested in learning skills for their future careers. The
workshop also offers a venue for networking between junior and senior
scientists.
Mentoring Program: Under the aegis of the APS Education
Office, an APS Mentoring Program has matured into a program directed toward
young physiologists in training and to junior faculty. Working with Melinda
Lowy, committee members committed themselves to a six month period to review
and assist in matching mentor-mentees.
Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional
Opportunity Awards: The Women in Physiology Committee received 106
applications for the Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional
Opportunity Awards. This number of applications is comparable to that
received in the past few years. These awards provide monetary ($500) prizes
and complimentary registration for graduate students and postdoctoral
fellows of either gender who give presentations at the EB meeting. The
applications include an abstract submitted for presentation at EB and a
supporting letter from the applicant indicating the goals of their research
project, their specific role in the project described in the abstract, and
the reasons why they are deserving of the award. Each Committee member
critically reviewed and rated 36 applications (each application was reviewed
by three Committee members). The Awardees were invited to attend the APS
Business Meeting where they each received a certificate and a check for
$500. The Committee is grateful to Council for funding the 36 fellowships;
members again noted that with this number of awards certainly most, if not
all, of the highly deserving candidates were able to receive an award.
FASEB Excellence in Science Award: The Chair of the
Women in Physiology Committee serves as the APS representative to the FASEB
selection committee for this prestigious award that carries a $10,000 cash
prize (supported by Eli-Lily) and the opportunity to present a plenary talk
at a FASEB-sponsored meeting. Competition is very rigorous for this award,
and most nominees have extensive dossiers documenting their numerous
contributions to research, education, service, and mentoring. Janet Rossant
of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute in Toronto, Canada was selected
the winner of the 2004 award.
Serving on APS Committees: The Women in Physiology
Committee actively encourages women to be active members of the APS by, for
example, serving on APS Committees. The Committee is particularly interested
in those women who are elected within sections to leadership positions. The
Committee is delighted that this year Carole M. Liedtke joins two women
currently serving on APS Council, Helen Raybould and Virginia Miller. The
committee also commends Kim Barrett for her service as Councillor from 2001
to 2004. The Committee also noted that Barman chairs the Section Advisory
Committee and at least three sections are chaired by women.
APS Graduate Skills project: A task force consisting
of the Chairs of the Education, Women in Physiology, and Career
Opportunities Committees and three members of the Association of Chairs of
Departments of Physiology completed a project on Core Competencies. The
document details nonacademic professional skills necessary for young
physiologists to learn during their formal training.
Other activities: The Women in Physiology Committee
remains active through conference calls to identify ways to promote the
advancement of women and young physiologists in APS, to engage in the
identification of mentors and mentees, to encourage nomination of women for
committees of APS and for APS and FASEB awards, and to select awardees for
the Bodil Schmidt-Nielson Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award and
Caroline tum Suden Opportunity Award.
Carole M. Liedtke, Chair
Sirbhinya Benyajati, Incoming Chair
Council Actions
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Council accepted the report of the Women in
Physiology Committee.
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Council approved the funding for a lunch and lecture
by the Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Awardee at
the 2005 IUPS Congress.
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