The Liaison with Industry Committee (LWIC) met at the EB 2007 meeting in Washington, DC. The Committee 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 Strack, Neural Control and Autonomic Regulation; Ken Olson, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology; Jeffrey Zachwieja, Environmental and Exercise Physiology; Craig Plato, Renal; Christine Schnackenburg, Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis; Michael Finley, Central Nervous System; Joshua Anthony, Endocrinology and Metabolism; Shaila Basavappa, Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology; Cheryl Watson, Teaching of Physiology; Adrienne Zion, Cardiovascular; Chahrzad Montrose, Cell and Molecular Physiology; and Doug Eaton, APS Councilor.
Symposium 2007
At EB 2007, the Committee sponsored a symposium titled, "Stem Cells in Physiology and Drug Discovery," chaired by Chahrzad Montrose-Rafizadeh and Brigid Hogan. Speakers were Timothy Allsopp, John McNeish, Aaron Chuang, and Betty Yan; topics covered included: stem cells and new medicines, pharmacology applications for stem cells in drug discovery, manipulating stem cells physiology for neurodegenerative disease therapy, as well as protein C pathway in human endothelial progenitor cells isolated from cord blood. This is the seventh symposium sponsored by the Committee and it was very well attended
Translational Symposium 2007
At EB 2007, the Committee also put forward a translational symposium titled, "Drug Discovery Efforts for Pain Indications: Ion Channels and GPCRs," chaired by Michael Finley and William Martin. Speakers were Chris Felder, Brigid Priest, Christopher Flores, and Ed McCleskey; topics covered included: therapeutic opportunities in endocannabinoid transport inhibition, peripheral nerve sodium channel blockers as analgesics, TRPM8 as a novel pain target, as well as ASIC and ischemic pain. This was the first translational symposium organized by the Committee and was very well received.
Education on Science and Career in Industry has been put forward by the Committee by creating two slide decks for the LWIC website. These slide decks will serve as teaching and mentoring tools for young investigators interested in learning about science in industry and exploring career opportunities in industry.
The 7th Annual Physiologists in Industry Mixer was held on April 29th. The attendance was good due to careful scheduling, as well as proactive advertisements by the APS office via "All APS News" and via the Industry ListServ. Promotional documents were distributed at the mixer, which was beneficial for recruiting potential new members. In addition, the slide deck created by the Committee was projected in the room which allowed discussions and mentoring of new scientists on Drug Discovery and Science in industry. The LWIC Committee would like to continue to distribute these handouts at the next year's mixer and include information on APS Websites, APS benefits, education and career programs, APS committees' nomination forms, as well as educational materials used by industry scientists.
Novel Disease Model Award
The award typically recognizes one graduate student and one postdoctoral fellow submitting the best abstract describing a novel disease model. Two students and three postdocs applied (a total of five abstracts were received, a clear decrease from 18 from last year). The top two abstracts included both a student and a postdoc and awards in both categories were given.
Symposium 2008
The LWIC wishes to continue its annual tradition of sponsoring high quality workshops/symposia relevant to industry and academic scientists and has proposed a symposium on "Recent Advances in the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System for the Investigation and Treatment of Hypertension" for EB 2008.
Chahrzad Montrose-Rafizadeh, Chair
Liaison with Industry Committee
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Council approved the necessary funding for an LWIC mixer at the EB meetings on an annual basis.
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Council approved the proposal to contact selected pharmaceutical companies for contributions to support the Novel Disease Model Award.