In 2004, the Communications Committee, chaired by Andrea Gwosdow, furthered its goal of developing programs and tools to garner more publicity for the Society and physiological research.  The six-person committee monitored Communications Office activities, developed a new program to increase the Society's visibility, and is in the process of organizing the third consecutive Communications symposium.  The Committee looks forward to a successful 2005 working with the new APS Communications Officer Mayer Resnick to promote APS research news and with Communications Specialist Stacy Brooks who focuses on internal communications initiatives. 

Year At-A-Glance

APS continues to aggressively distribute press releases and materials on the research reported in its journals and APS awards and programs.  The Communications Office performed a newspaper clip analysis of the thousands of clips collected since 2001.  The analysis showed that the Society's media outreach efforts have contributed significantly to the amount of media coverage attained. 

The Timeline of Physiology has been printed and is becoming a popular marketing tool for increasing the Society's visibility. 

Recognizing that the website is an increasingly important public face of the Society, the Committee is studying how to best group materials pertinent to general audiences in an easy-to-use format. 

The Committee successfully hosted its second EB symposium and is currently planning the symposium approved for IUPS 2005.  The Committee has begun to develop information modules on specific diseases, conditions and physiological issues that can be used as backgrounders for members, general audiences, or the media.  They also selected this year's APS-sponsored Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellow and performed an evaluation of the fellowship before recommending that Council continue to support the program.

Media Outreach

The Communications Office distributed monthly press releases highlighting new research in the APS journals.  To date, research from all APS journals has been promoted.  The Communications Office also performed media outreach for the 2003 APS Conference in Augusta, GA ("Understanding Renal and Cardiovascular Function Through Physiological Genomics") and for Experimental Biology 2004. 

Additionally, the Communications Office continues national and local distribution of press releases and announcements for APS awardees and other programs.  Press releases were written for the 2004 Young Investigators Awardees, the Frontiers in Physiology program, 2004 Distinguished Lectureship Awardees, the NIDDK Travel Fellows, the APS-sponsored AAAS Mass Media Fellowship, and the new 2004 APS President, President-elect and Councilors. 

The Communications Office also helped organize a press conference and developed materials for the release of the DC Principles, a free-access effort spear-headed by APS.

Physiological press releases have been well-received in recent years, partly in response to increased interest in health and science news. Clip data shows that the Communications Office efforts have steadily and positively influenced the amount of media impressions the Society and its journals have received over the past three years.  Stories written about APS research have run in hundreds of media outlets, including recent mentions in Time Magazine, Newsweek, Science Daily, San Diego Union Tribune, New York Post, and WebMD to name a few. 

Timeline of Physiology 

The Communications Committee guided the development of the APS Timeline of Physiology, which was printed in time for EB 2004. It was one of the most popular items at the APS booth and was received enthusiastically by APS members.  The Timeline is now available in HTML format on the APS website and the poster is available for purchase in the APS Store. The Public Affairs Office has requested additional copies to distribute to State Societies for Biomedical Research, which represents another way for APS to raise awareness of physiology and the accomplishments of the discipline to the wider scientific community. 

APS Website 

The APS website is the major tool we use to communicate with current members and to attract new members.  To successfully communicate physiology to the public, the website needs to be readable by different audiences and easy to navigate.  APS web site users include many non-scientists (or non-experts in a given field of physiology) looking to obtain valuable information about journal research and Society educational activities.

To cater to these users, the Communications Committee proposed the development of a Public Information website that would house information of public interest.  After development, the site could easily be linked to or incorporated into the APS Web site. 

Communications Symposium 

The Communications Committee hosted its second symposium entitled "Making Science News" at EB 2004.  The two-part program was intended to familiarize scientists with the media, demonstrate the steps involved in making physiology newsworthy, and provide practical tips for getting scientific research reported by the media.  The first part of the program featured a media panel comprised of Bethany Halford, (Chemical & Engineering News), Henry Fishman, (AP Broadcast and WMAL), and Kathy Fowler (ABC affiliate WJLA-TV) discussing the fundamentals of each medium and practical advice on presenting scientific information to journalists.  In the second section, Medical Publicist Donna Krupa led a workshop on how scientists can organize the components of one's research into a media-friendly format.   

The Communications Committee was pleased with its second symposium.  The symposium attracted a wide range of attendees, including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior and senior faculty, editors, industry and government scientists.  Twenty-one evaluation forms were collected.  The respondents rated the Communications symposium highly, with 96 percent (20/21) saying they obtained a greater understanding of the news process from the session.  The evaluations indicate the significance of holding this type of symposium at EB. 

The Committee is currently planning its next symposium, tentatively titled "Developing and Implementing a Communications Strategy: the Basics for the Basic Scientist."  The IUPS 2005 program would provide an overview of the key elements required to translate a basic science message to the public.  This session would be beneficial to basic scientists in institutional settings, particularly those with little or no experience interacting with institutional public relations staff or journalists from the media.

Physiology Information Modules

To communicate physiology to the public, the Communications Committee has begun an outreach program developing topic-based resource modules on a variety of physiological issues.  These units include new research papers "hot-linked" from APS journals, statistical data and a list of APS members who can serve as expert spokespeople.  The information can be modified to a number of uses including story ideas for the media and general audience resource documents.  Members can also use them as "get-smart" tip sheets in areas with which they may not be familiar.  So far, the Committee has developed modules for obesity, comparative physiology and the life and science of Ivan Pavlov.  The goal of this program is to inform, teach and gather public support for physiology research and to publicize physiological research to the public. 

Mass Media Fellowship 

The Communications Committee oversees this program that encourages an exchange between science and journalism.  This year, the committee evaluated 19 fellowship applications and recommended funding for Nicole Garbarini who spent 10 weeks at Scientific American in New York. Garbarini is an APS student member and a PhD candidate in neuroscience at Vanderbilt University.  She has returned to her graduate studies and plans to continue expanding public understanding of science through freelance scientific journalism.

2004 marks the sixth year of APS support of a Mass Media Fellow.  Now in its 30th year, this highly-competitive program has supported more than 450 fellows. The Communications Office contacted the seven former fellows to gather their thoughts about the program.  Four out of seven responded.  Whether remaining in science or pursuing a career in science journalism or communications, all sung the praises of the program. 

Kawanza Griffin (1999) finished her PhD studies and now works as a full-time medical reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  She wrote, "I believe that the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship is a great tool for scientists who are looking either for an alternative career or to strengthen their communications skills."  Alison Burggren (2003) will likely go back to bench research, but says, "I truly feel that my internship enriched my career path with a greater understanding of how scientists are interpreted by the general public."

Emily Singer (2002) said, "My summer at the L.A. Times was the best possible training I could get.  What I learned there about the profession in three months rivals what I learned at the University of California, Santa Cruz in nine months (in a graduate level science writing program)."  She is currently pursuing a career in science journalism that has included a stint at New Scientist magazine in London.  Rachel Davis (2001) said of her mass media internship, "The fellowship has given me more confidence in my writing and has taught me good reporting skills.  My life has certainly been enriched by this experience."  Davis returned to the research realm and is now working as a lab manager at Rockefeller University.  The Committee recommended continued funding of the program. 

Andrea Gwosdow, Chair

Council Actions

• Council accepted the report of the Communications Committee.

• Council approved the request for a Communications Committee sponsored symposium at the 2005 IUPS Congress.

• Council approved the necessary funding to print 2000 additional copies of the "Timelines of Physiology."