APS presented two successful conferences in 2009. The first was “ET-11 APS International Conference on Endothelin”, in Montreal and the second was “Sex Steroids and Gender in Cardiovascular Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology”, in Broomfield, Colorado. In 2010, APS presented an intersociety meeting entitled “Global Change and Global Science: Comparative Physiology in a Changing World” in Westminster, Colorado and a conference entitled “Inflammation, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease” also in Westminster, Colorado.
For 2011, APS will be sponsoring the conference entitled “Aldosterone the ENaC/degeneration Family of Ion Channels: Molecular Mechanisms and Pathophysiology”. The conference entitled “Autonomic Regulation of Cardiovascular Function in Health and Disease” was originally scheduled for 2011 but has been moved to 2012, due to a scheduling conflict with an international meeting on this same topic.
There continues to be a problem with the number of new proposals for APS Conferences. The reason for lack of new proposals is not entirely clear, but may be related to the overall economy and the state of scientific funding. Many conference organizers also find it difficult to raise funds to support meetings, especially meetings that focus on basic science, and are not clinically driven. It has also become progressively more difficult to obtain NIH funding to support APS conferences. It is also apparent is that there is strong competition from several well-known and established summer conference programs and this has been a major impediment in establishing the APS Conference Program as one of the premier conference programs.