The Section Advisory Committee (SAC), chaired by Susan M. Barman, has held two meetings in the past 12 months in which 11-12 sections were represented. The major objective of the first meeting in Bethesda MD on December 13, 2004 was to assist the Society in preparation for the 2005 Strategic Plan meeting by identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) facing the APS.  In addition, John Williams (past president of the APS) updated SAC members on recent Council activities, and Martin Frank encouraged Section Chairs to include information on "Open Access" in Section Newsletters. Time was also spent discussing Section Award finances and ways to highlight trainees at Experimental Biology (EB) meetings.  The following  morning, section Chairs reconvened as the Nominating Committee to select candidates for President-elect and Council. The major agenda items for the second meeting of SAC on March 30, 2005 prior to the IUPS Meeting in San Diego, CA was to the review annual Section Reports and to discuss issues related to Section Awards and soliciting funds for Section activities.  Below is a summary of some of the changes made over the past year that are viewed as improvements in the operation of the Sections and areas where progress is still needed.

Section Awards

Section Steering Committees take great pride in being able to award trainees travel awards for attendance at EB meetings.  In response to a request to Council last year by SAC members, all Section-based Award winners names and photos (when available) will now be published in an issue of The Physiologist. 

Sections are interested in identifying mechanisms to increase the funds in these accounts through charitable contributions. Whereas some Sections have had considerable success in obtaining new funds annually for their awards, other Sections are concerned that the lack of additional funds might compromise their ability to sustain their awards.  APS members are encouraged to support their Section activities via making a donation to these funds.  For more information or to make a donation, see the APS web site.

Although some Sections report an increase in the number of outstanding applicants for their trainee awards, several sections again received no applications for their New Investigator Award (NIA).  A brief description of the Award criteria are: "Candidates should be investigators who have made meritorious contributions to the area represented by the APS Section to which they are applying. They should not be above the rank of Assistant Professor or a comparable position in a research track at an academic institution or in industry (e.g. Scientist, Sr. Scientist, Research Investigator, etc.). They should receive nominations from at least two regular members of the APS. Candidates will be judged on their publications, how the publications relate to the APS section to which they have applied, and evidence for independence and promise (grant funding, peer review activities, etc.)."  In an effort to highlight NIA recipients, they are encouraged to submit a mini-review to an appropriate APS journal for possible publication.  In an effort to increase the number of applicants for the NIA, SAC members have made a proposal to Council that would allow individuals to apply for this award at any point during the year, although the award would still be made the EB meeting.  Another proposed change in the process is that an individual would only be allowed to apply for an NIA offered by the Section they list as their primary affiliation.

Don Reis Memorial Fellowship

EB 2006 will be the start of a new annual Featured Topic session that will highlight the Don Reis Memorial Fellowship award winner.  The Cardiovascular, Central Nervous System, and Neural Control of Autonomic Regulation Sections have worked together to make this a reality. The three sections will rotate using one of their Featured Topic allotments for this session.  Six trainees (two from each of the Sections) will be selected on the basis of their abstracts to present in this session.  Their presentation will be judged to identify the Award winner.  Funds for this fellowship are from the Donald J. Reis Fund in honor of his outstanding contributions to the field of neural control of the circulation.

Role of APS Publications in Section Activities

While some Sections have had a long history of strong cooperation with their journal representative, just a few short years ago several Sections were very discouraged by the failure of their journal representative to take an active role in their Section activities.  Thanks in large part to the efforts of Dale Benos and the Publications Committee, this year all Sections reported favorable interactions with their journal representative. One example of a positive change was mentioned above regarding publication of a mini-review by NIA recipients.  Another example is that Alberto Nasjletti, editor of AJP: Heart Circulatory Physiology has implemented, on a trial basis, inclusion of the Chair of the Cardiovascular Section as an Associate Editor of the journal.

Trainee Members of the Sections

Over the past couple of years, Sections have encouraged trainee members of their steering committee to participate in section activities beyond those associated directly with their role on the APS Trainee Advisory Committee.  Trainee members are now serving on some Section Program Committee and are allowed to organize a Featured Topic.  Other Sections have included these members on other Section subcommittees (e.g., Awards) or included a Trainee page on the Section Newsletter.  SAC also discussed ways in which APS could help highlight trainee members' participation at EB meetings. Steering Committee members are encouraged to visit posters presented by trainees, reserve an evening where trainees could present their posters, or have a trainee-poster session in conjunction with the Distinguished Lecture.

International Physiologists role in Section Activities

In response to the request by the International Physiology Committee to increase participation of international members in APS activities, many of the Sections have included an international APS member on their steering committee. 

Getting Involved in APS Section Activities

APS members are encouraged to become active participants in their Section activities.  Each APS member can select one primary affiliation and as many secondary affiliations as fit their interests.  For those who are interested in becoming more involved in sectional activities, you can contact SAC members at: http://www.the-aps.org/committees/members/sac.htm.  For further information on the Sections, go to http://www.the-aps.org/sect_groups.htm.      

Susan M. Barman, Chair

Council Actions

• Council accepted the report of the Section Advisory Committee.

• Council approved a plan to seek greater return on the interest in the Sections� accounts used to support trainee travel to Experimental Biology Meetings.

• Council approved allowing individuals to apply only for awards offered by the Section that is listed as their primary affiliation. New Investigator Award (NIA) candidates would also only be allowed to submit applications to the Section listed as their primary affiliation.

• Council approved changing the deadline for the New Investigator Awards to be one month prior to the abstract deadline for the EB meetings.