The Liaison with Industry Committee (LWIC) met at the IUPS 2005 meeting in San Diego, CA.  The Committee is composed of representatives from most of the active Society sections, nominated to serve by their sections.

Symposium 2005: At IUPS 2005, the Committee sponsored a symposium titled: "Metabolic Syndrome: From Clinical Insights to New Therapies" co- chaired by Christine Schnackenburg and Chahrzad Montrose-Rafizadeh, held on the afternoon of April 4, 2005.  Speakers were Robert Hegele, Nicholas Oakes, Nancy Thornberry and Sotirios Karathanasis; topics covered included: Genetic and physiological insights into metabolic syndrome, PPARalpha/gamma activation for the treatment of dyslipidemia and insulin resistance, Dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibition for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and the role of sphingolipids in atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome. This is the fifth symposium sponsored by the Committee since its reorganization and we are pleased to report that it was very well received. The topics of this symposium will be published in a special issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

The Fifth Annual Physiologists in Industry Mixer was held April 3, with less attendance than expected. About 15 people attended. The students and postdoctoral fellows that attended the Mixer had a good discussion in learning about science in Industry and felt that it was very beneficial to them. The time conflict with Career Committee workshop may have impacted the overall attendance. We need to do a better job of proactively advertising the Mixer in coming years, as well as trying to avoid overlapping with other scheduled events.

Novel Disease Model Award: The award typically recognizes one graduate student ($500) and one postdoctoral fellow ($800) submitting the best abstract describing a novel disease model. Six students and four postdocs applied (a total of 10 abstracts were received in 2004, an increase by two from last year). The top two abstracts included both a student and a postdoc and awards in both categories were given.

Symposium 2006:  The Committee will continue its annual tradition of sponsoring high quality workshops/symposia relevant to industry and academic scientists. For EB 2006 the Committee proposed a symposium on "Advances in Ion Channel Physiology." The symposium is organized by William J. Martin and has commitments from four scientists. 

Chahrzad Montrose-Rafizadeh, Chair

Council Actions

• Council accepted the report of the Liaison with Industry Committee.

• Council approved the necessary funding for an LWIC mixer at EB 2006.

• Council approved adding two ex officio members to the LWIC; one from the Education Committee and one from the Careers Opportunities in Physiology Committee.