Traditionally, the APS conferences have been the responsibility of the Joint Programming Committee (JPC) in terms of solicitation, evaluation, and selection of proposals. Although this has worked adequately, APS conferences have not been the main focus of the JPC. In addition, as the responsibilities of the JPC have grown, it has become increasingly apparent that there was a need for a dedicated committee to oversee the APS conferences program. This need was addressed by the last APS long-range strategic planning committee, which proposed the formal establishment of the APS conference committee (APSCC).
The Committee has had extensive discussions regarding the history of the APS conferences both in terms of scientific content and financial costs. It was felt that conferences that had a somewhat broader range of appeal tended to be more successful. The Exercise and the Endothelial Meetings are examples of successful conferences. Although the members of the APSCC felt that organizing conferences on new and exciting topics should be strongly encouraged, it was also recognized that establishing a cohort of highly successful meetings that are held periodically would help to solidify the APS conference program and move it towards an equal footing with the Gordon and FASEB summer conferences. The by-product of enhancing the stature of the APS Conference Program would be to attract new and innovative conference proposals.
With regards to the financing of conferences, the Committee agreed that previous APS Conferences relied too heavily on invited speakers that were given funds for travel expenses, etc. Instead, APS Conferences should be abstract driven meetings with only a few invited speakers. This would help to reduce the overall financial obligations and hopefully provide revenue through registration fees. APSCC felt strongly that the APS funding should remain at $30,000, but that organizers should be encouraged to try to obtain government and pharmaceutical support for the conferences. The organizers should be encouraged to use resources to support students, postdoctoral fellows and new investigators, and funds should be used to facilitate and encourage the participation of minorities and women in these Conferences.
The Committee reviewed the current conference application process. The Committee agreed that the application procedure was very labor intensive. Conference organizers were asked to plan the entire meeting and confirm all the invited speakers before submitting their proposals to the JPC. In an effort to make the submission process easier, an online submission form has been created. Only preliminary information is now required from the conference organizers. The conference proposals will be evaluated by the entire APSCC. Once the proposal is approved by the APSCC, it will be submitted to Council for final approval.
After a conference proposal has been approved the Conference Committee and the APS Council, two members of the APSCC will be assigned to that Conference. The APSCC members will work with the conference organizers to develop the program. This will allow the APSCC to have direct interaction in the development of the program and have some oversight into the scientific and financial planning of the meeting.
There are two APS conferences scheduled in 2009. The first conference is the ET-11: APS International Conference on Endothelin and is headed by David Pollock and Pedro D'Orleans-Juste. The second conference for 2009 is headed by Jane Reckelhoff and Christine Maric and is entitled: "Sex Steroids and Gender in Cardiovascular-Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology."