At the recent Experi-mental Biology meeting in San Diego, the Career Opportunities in Physiol-ogy Committee sponsored a Careers Symposium entitled "The Drug Discovery Process: Opportunities for Industry-Academia Collaboration." Four scientists from academia, the pharmaceutical industry, and the US Food & Drug Administration spoke to an audience of about 100 undergraduates, pre-doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows. They spoke about their experience in industry or in government or academia with regard to their interactions with the pharmaceutical industry. The session included an overview of the various steps in the drug development process. The speakers gave an overview of their jobs and responsibilities and also spoke about the personal factors that led them towards these positions. The program was well-received. The PowerPoints from the session are available on the Careers Web site (http://www.the-aps.org/careers/careers1/GradProf/symp2003.htm).

The APS Undergraduate Summer Research Fellow program is entering its fourth year. Last year's awardees attended the Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego, with several presenting posters or talks on their research from last summer. This year, we received another large number of excellent applications, and a new class of 12 awardees was granted research opportunities for this summer. Many of the fellows are leaning towards a career in research, and it is our hope that the research experience afforded them by this program will stimulate their interest and commitment to this path.

Our new APS Careers Brochure entered production during this past year. It is a handsome pamphlet that is informative for students between middle school and college, and for the general public. Copies of the brochure are available from the APS Education Office. A new Careers Poster, based on the brochure design, was also produced this year and will be distributed to undergraduate campuses this summer to encourage students to consider a career in physiology. The poster emphasizes the new Careers website as a valuable source of information.

This year, the Committee is focusing on developing an outreach presentation package that APS members can use to speak to school groups and the general public about physiology. The package will consist of one or more PowerPoint presentation files that would incorporate a variety of illustrations and informational slides about career opportunities in physiology and the importance of physiological research. The concept is that these files would contain slides appropriate for different age groups, so that individual APS members could select the items relevant for the specific topic and audience they were addressing. The package will also contain slide templates so that each member can add his or her own illustrations and text to fit the specific group that will be addressed. It is hoped that these will be made available to APS members via the APS Web site.

The Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee and the Education Office launched a major revision of the APS Careers Web site early this year as a resource for students (from middle school through graduate school) and recent graduates from physiology programs who are seeking to learn more about educational programs and career opportunities in the physiological sciences. APS members are encouraged to explore this site and to recommend it to their students, as well as use it for themselves. You can access the site from the APS home page (keep choosing the �Careers� option in the menus presented) or access the site directly at http://www.the-aps.org/careers/careers1/index.html.

Francis L. Belloni, Chair

Council Actions

• Council accepted the report of the Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee.

• Council approved the Careers in Physiology symposium at EB 2004.

• Council approved the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program for 2004 and agreed to fund up to 12 fellowships in 2004.

• Council approved the funding for a fall Committee meeting in Bethesda, MD.