The Liaison With Industry Committee (LWIC) met at the EB 2006 meeting in San Francisco, CA. The committee is chaired by Chahrzad Montrose and is composed of representatives from most of the active Society Sections, nominated to serve by their sections. The current committee membership is composed of Alison M. Strack, Neural Control and Autonomic Regulation; Joe M. Szewczak, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology; Jeffrey J. Zachwieja, Environmental and Exercise Physiology; Craig F. Plato, Renal; Christine G. Schnackenburg, Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis; Michael F.A. Finley, Central Nervous System; Joshua C. Anthony, Endocrinology and Metabolism; Pamela I. Hornby, Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology; Arrie L. Golden, Teaching of Physiology; Adrienne S. Zion, Cardiovascular; Chahrzad Montrose-Rafizadeh, Cell and Molecular Physiology; and Doug Eaton, APS Councillor.
Symposium 2006
At EB 2006, the committee sponsored a symposium titled: "Advances in Ion Channel Physiology," chaired by William Martin, held on the afternoon of April 2, 2006. Speakers were Doug Krafte, Bernard Fermini, Fred VanGoor and Eric Nisenbaum; topics included ion channels in pain pathways in cardiac arrhythmias, therapeutic agent to rescue the mutant cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) function, as well as therapeutic potential of positive allosteric modulators of glutamate AMPA receptors. This is the sixth symposium, sponsored by the Committee since its reorganization and it was very well-attended.
Physiologists in Industry Mixer
The Sixth Annual Physiologists in Industry Mixer was held April 2. The attendance was very good due to careful scheduling, as well as proactive advertisements by APS office via "all APS News" and via the Industry ListServ. The participants had great interactions and the discussions were mutually beneficial. Some of the Industry scientists who attended the mixer showed the desire to become APS members. The LWIC Committee is considering distributing handouts at the next year's mixer to include information on the APS Website, APS benefits, education and career programs, as well as APS committees' nomination forms.
Novel Disease Model Award
This award typically recognizes one graduate student ($500) and one postdoctoral fellow ($800) submitting the best abstract describing a novel disease model. Nine students and nine postdoctoral fellows applied (a total of 18 abstracts were received, an increase by eight from last year). The top two abstracts included both a student and a postdoctoral fellow and awards in both categories were given.
Symposium 2007
Since the LWIC wishes to continue its annual tradition of sponsoring high quality workshops/symposia relevant to industry and academic scientists, the committee has proposed a symposium on "Stem Cells in Physiology and Drug Discovery" for EB 2007. The symposium is organized by Chahrzad Montrose-Rafizadeh and has commitments from four scientists.
Translational Symposium 2007
LWIC has also taken the opportunity given by Council and has put forward a proposal for Translational Symposium for EB 2007. The symposium on "Drug Discovery Efforts for Pain Indications: Ion Channels and GPCRs" is organized by Michael Finley and has commitments from four scientists.
LWIC Goals and Objectives
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LWIC would like to continue raising the profile and participation of Industry scientists in APS and programming.
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Participation of LWIC members in the sectional steering committee and programming committee.
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LWIC members would like to have the opportunity to propose speakers from industry when symposium topics are a good match to research conducted in industry. Timely communication within the section's programming committee and the LWIC representative would be a key element for success.
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LWIC members would like to be involved in Editorial Boards of AJP Journals.
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LWIC is committed to bring further understanding of innovation in science from industry.
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LWIC will continue to sponsor a symposium at EB 2008.
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LWIC would like to hold an annual mixer at EB 2008 to enhance interactions between scientists in industry and academia.
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Another major goal for LWIC is to bring better understanding of science in industry and career opportunities to students and trainees.
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LWIC would work closely with Education and Career committees to incorporate relevant information on science in industry and career in industry on the mutual web sites.