Symposia 2010
The Physiologists in Industry Committee (PIIC) sponsored a symposium titled “Novel Opportunities in the Treatment of Heart Failure” at EB10. This symposium focused on the pathophysiological processes and signaling mechanisms that underlie the development of heart failure, and novel and emerging therapeutic approaches to treat this debilitating and extremely costly disease. The symposium topics included recent developments in biology and potential therapeutic applications of miRNAs for heart failure; the pathophysiology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (diastolic heart failure); the biology of histone deacetylases and the preclinical efficacy of HDAC inhibitors in pathological cardiac remodeling and diastolic heart failure; biology and potential therapeutic approaches of novel natriuretic peptides and selective vasopressin antagonists; and the rationale and latest clinical trial data for the use of rolofylline, a selective adenosine 1 receptor antagonist to treat acute decompensated heart failure.
This is the tenth symposium sponsored by the Committee. Attendants said that they appreciated the mix of academia and industry provided in the symposium. The topic was perceived as timely due to recent advances in understanding and awareness of altered miRNA expression profiles and so-called “epigenetic modulation” of pathophysiological mechanisms in heart failure.
The PIIC also co-sponsored the Translational Physiology symposium entitled “Integrins: New Insights and Therapeutic Targets.” This symposium presented an overview of integrin biology, activation, signaling pathways and transduction and potential treatments utilizing integrins and displayed the “bench-to-bedside” scope of translational research interrogating this emerging therapeutic approach. The topics covered were the integrin activation, the pharmacological and toxicologic profile of the gastrointestinal-selective anti-inflammatory therapeutic vedolizumab in nonhuman primates, the signals regulating focal adhesion formation and cell mobility; and targeted siRNA delivery to leukocyte-implicated diseases. This was the fourth translational symposium organized by the Committee. Attendees gained an appreciation for the translational nature of studying and targeting this potentially very important biological target in a wide range of disorders including inflammatory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases.
Novel Disease Model Award (NDM Award)
This award recognizes one graduate student ($500) and one postdoctoral fellow ($800) submitting the best abstract describing a disease model that is novel or promises application to the drug discovery process. The Committee received four student and four postdoc applications, and awards in both pre- and post-doctoral categories were given. The Committee would like to increase awareness and numbers of applicants for the award. The Committee will employ several mechanisms as a means of increasing awareness of the award, including PIIC members submitting the NDM Award description to their former graduate and postgraduate departments; interfacing with the Chair of the APS Trainee Advisory Committee to advertise the awards through the trainee ListServ; and the PIIC Chair will work with the ACDP to disseminate information about the award.
Symposia for EB 2011
The PIIC will continue its tradition of sponsoring high quality symposia relevant to industry and academic scientists. The Committee will be sponsoring a symposium on “Stem Cells in Physiology and Drug Discovery” for EB11. The Committee will also be sponsoring a Translational Physiology symposium on “The Cardiac Sarcomere as a Therapeutic Target”.
Strategy Regarding Relationships Between APS and Industry
The Committee believed the best way to approach this issue was to consider “relationship” from the perspective of Value of the APS to Industry Physiologists, Value of Industry Physiologists to the APS, and identifying the gaps between traditional/academic physiologists and industry physiologists.
Value of APS Membership to Industry Physiologists. Membership provides access to leaders and leading research in the field of physiology; industry scientists are continually looking for innovations and breakthroughs that may impact their work and approaches; networking across physiology sub-disciplines for career development, job recruitment, etc.; and provide research that is varied, and can open up ideas for “thinking outside the box.”
Value of Industry Scientist APS members to the APS as a whole. The industry members can enhance the translation of basic research discoveries into real-world therapeutic development processes/applications, and there is the potential to inform basic research endeavors based upon results/findings from a therapeutic-focused research.
Gaps between Academic and Industry Physiologists. There is inherent mistrust of academic scientists for industry research motivations due in part to the lack of openness in terms of research publications and sharing of information. Other issues where gaps exist include differences in appreciation for challenges in performing “translational research” that leads to real therapeutic breakthroughs, and a disconnect between training in an academic setting and on-the-job performance in industrial settings. The cultural focus is inherently different too. The academic focus is long-term, narrowly focused and in-depth, while the industry focus has been, and is becoming even more short-term and wide-ranging. There are also communication and behavioral differences—information sharing within organizations, and team building and consensus vs. defending one’s independent research line.
The Committee believes that the above analysis indicates there is significant value to, and from the perspective of the Society and industry physiologists, although significant gaps exist.