The goal of the Porter Physiology Development Program is to encourage diversity among students pursuing full-time studies toward the PhD (or DSc) in the physiological sciences and to encourage their participation in the American Physiological Society. The program provides one to two year full-time graduate fellowships. The program is open to underrepresented ethnic minority applicants who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its territories.
2008-2009 Porter Physiology Fellowship Program: In 2008-2009, the program provided funding for six fellows. Nearly all of the 2008-2009 Porter Fellows presented a poster at EB 2009, 83% have completed at least one of the APS Professional Skills Training Courses, and two participated in K-12 outreach activities through PhUn Week.
2009-2010 Porter Fellowships-New and Renewal Applications: The number of new applications received for Porter Fellowships declined this year. A total of 10 new and three renewal applications were submitted for the January 15 deadline. The Committee noted the increase in quality of applications being received, but was disappointed that the number of applications did not increase this year.
Stipend Amount: Over the past few years a number of students who were selected as Porter Fellows declined the fellowship due to receipt of other awards. In many cases, the stipend for the Porter Fellowship was less than that of other fellowships. The Committee researched graduate stipends and benefits at various academic institutions and found that a least 30% of the institutions provided some benefits in addition to the stipend (tuition, fees, and/or health insurance). At many institutions, stipends increased as students progressed in their programs. In terms of stipend, the starting stipend at all of the respondents' institutions was more than that provided by the Porter Fellowship. However, several respondents noted that their institutions provided additional stipend funds to students to receive outside funding for fellowships. The stipend paid to the Porter Fellows for 2009-2010 will be $23,500, consistent with the NIH scale.
Minority Travel Fellows Program: Four travel fellows received funding to attend the APS conference, �2008 APS Intersociety Meeting: The Integrative Biology of Exercise V,� Hilton Head, SC, September 2008. In January 2009, the Committee selected 40 travel fellows to attend EB 2009 in New Orleans, LA. Again this year, the Committee was pleased that former Porter Fellows and past Travel Fellows volunteered to be mentors for the younger Travel Fellows.
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) Awards: The APS exhibited at the 2008 meeting in Lake Buena Vista, FL, promoting graduate study in physiology and the APS programs for minority students. The APS provided $2,000 for cash awards for the most outstanding undergraduate presentations in physiology research.
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) National Conference: In 2008, SACNAS celebrated its 35th anniversary with a conference focused on International Polar Year & Global Change, especially climate change & the peoples it most directly affects. The conference attracted 2,500 conference attendees (44% professionals, 36% undergraduates, 17% graduates, 3% postdocs, special guests, and local community participants). The SACNAS exhibit hall hosted approximately 300 exhibiting organizations, 600 registered exhibitors and showcased 600 student research poster presentations over a two-day period. The APS was an exhibitor during the national conference in Salt Lake City from October 9-12, 2008.
The K-12 Minority Outreach Fellows Program: In its third year, the program supported two fellows, TanYa Gwathmey, Hypertention/Vascular Research Center, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Keisa Mathis, Department of Physiology, LSU Health Sciences Center. During their fellowship they attended the 2008 Experimental Biology meeting at served as a Physiologists-in-Residence at the APS Science Teaching Forum (July 20-27, 2008, Warrenton, VA); participated in 2008 PhUn (Physiology Understanding) Week activities; Gwathmey represented APS at the 2008 SACNAS National Conference; Mathis represented APS at the 2008 ABRCMS meeting; both Fellows attended the 2009 Experimental Biology meeting at the end of their fellowship year to help conduct outreach activities for teachers and students; and both presented posters on their physiology research and were Minority Travel Fellows.