Meetings: The Committee held a luncheon Business meeting at the Experimental Biology (EB) 2004 in Washington, DC on April 19, 2004 and also conferred by conference call to discuss the Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award on November 14, 2003, Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Award applications on January 30, 2003. In addition, members conferred by teleconference on August 21, 2003, September 29, 2003 and February 10, 2004 to discuss committee activities, plans for the EB 2004 workshop cosponsored by the Women in Physiology Committee and ASPET Committee on Women in Pharmacology and other committee business. 

Bodil Schmidt Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award. Six nominations for the first Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist award were received by APS office and reviewed by the Women in Physiology Committee. W. Clinton Webb of the Medical College of Georgia was selected as the awardee.  The award carries a stipend of $1,000 plus travel expenses to attend the EB  meetings.  The awardee gives a 30-minute lecture on mentoring to young physiologists and their mentors and writes an article based on the lecture for publication in The Physiologist.  The lecture followed a luncheon to which were invited Bodil Schmidt-Nielson, former mentees of Webb, APS council members, and others specified by the awardee.          

APS/ASPET Workshop on Mentoring: One of the roles of the APS Women in Physiology Committee is to coordinate activities with other such committees within FASEB.  For EB 2004, the Women in Physiology Committee co-sponsored a workshop with ASPET Committee on Women in Pharmacology on "Life After the PhD: Finding a Postdoctoral Fellowship."  Two representatives from the Women in Physiology Committee (Carole Liedtke and Kathleen Berecek) and a member of the Committee on Women in Pharmacology (Joan Lakoski) served as co-organizers.  The workshop was designed to inform young physiologists of decision-making and goal setting in considering a postdoctoral fellowship as the next step in their professional development. Four speakers discussed the following topics: Kathleen Berecek, "To Be or Not To Be a Postdoc;" Angela Grippo, "Searching for a Postdoctoral Position: How to Find What is Right for You;" Lisa Nisenbaum, "Types of Postdocs: What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?;" and Donna Korzick, "Interview and Follow-Up."  Due to an accident,  Berecek did not attend EB 2004. Sue Barman, former chair of the Women in Physiology Committee, presented Berecek's talk.  Over 200 young and more senior scientists attended the session, with many remaining for discussions during a breakout session of six groups.  Each group was well represented by members of APS (E. Zambraski, D. Silverthorn, B. Goodman, D. Seals) and by members of the APS Women in Physiology Committee and ASPET Committee on Women in Pharmacology.  Each attendee to the workshop received a handout of resource material for the topics discussed by the speakers. Comments after the session were very enthusiastic. 

Plans for an APS/APSET Workshop on Leadership Skills and Development.  APS Women in Physiology and ASPET Women in Pharmacology Committees will once again partner to organize a mentoring workshop for IUPS/EB2005 in San Diego, CA. One of the charges to the Women in Physiology Committee is to distribute information to young scientists regarding strategies for a successful career in science.  Another is to coordinate activities with other such groups within FASEB.  This workshop will fulfill the charge to the Women in Physiology Committee and, in addition, bolster the career development goals of the ASPET Women in Pharmacology Committee. The focus of the workshop is Leadership Skills and Development with specific topics yet to be designated.  The target audience is young scientists to junior faculty of both genders interested in learning skills for their future careers.  The workshop also offers a venue for networking between junior and senior scientists. 

Mentoring Program: Under the aegis of the APS Education Office, an APS Mentoring Program has matured into a program directed toward young physiologists in training and to junior faculty.  Working with Melinda Lowy, committee members committed themselves to a six month period to review and assist in matching mentor-mentees. 

Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Awards: The Women in Physiology Committee received 106 applications for the Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Awards.  This number of applications is comparable to that received in the past few years.  These awards provide monetary ($500) prizes and complimentary registration for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows of either gender who give presentations at the EB meeting.  The applications include an abstract submitted for presentation at EB and a supporting letter from the applicant indicating the goals of their research project, their specific role in the project described in the abstract, and the reasons why they are deserving of the award.  Each Committee member critically reviewed and rated 36 applications (each application was reviewed by three Committee members). The Awardees were invited to attend the APS Business Meeting where they each received a certificate and a check for $500. The Committee is grateful to Council for funding the 36 fellowships; members again noted that with this number of awards certainly most, if not all, of the highly deserving candidates were able to receive an award.

FASEB Excellence in Science Award:  The Chair of the Women in Physiology Committee serves as the APS representative to the FASEB selection committee for this prestigious award that carries a $10,000 cash prize (supported by Eli-Lily) and the opportunity to present a plenary talk at a FASEB-sponsored meeting.  Competition is very rigorous for this award, and most nominees have extensive dossiers documenting their numerous contributions to research, education, service, and mentoring.  Janet Rossant of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute in Toronto, Canada was selected the winner of the 2004 award. 

Serving on APS Committees: The Women in Physiology Committee actively encourages women to be active members of the APS by, for example, serving on APS Committees. The Committee is particularly interested in those women who are elected within sections to leadership positions. The Committee is delighted that this year Carole M. Liedtke joins two women currently serving on APS Council, Helen Raybould and Virginia Miller.  The committee also commends Kim Barrett for her service as Councillor from 2001 to 2004.  The Committee also noted that Barman chairs the Section Advisory Committee and at least three sections are chaired by women. 

APS Graduate Skills project:  A task force consisting of the Chairs of the Education, Women in Physiology, and Career Opportunities Committees and three members of the Association of Chairs of Departments of Physiology completed a project on Core Competencies.  The document details nonacademic professional skills necessary for young physiologists to learn during their formal training. 

Other activities: The Women in Physiology Committee remains active through conference calls to identify ways to promote the advancement of women and young physiologists in APS, to engage in the identification of mentors and mentees, to encourage nomination of women for committees of APS and for APS and FASEB awards, and to select awardees for the Bodil Schmidt-Nielson Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award and Caroline tum Suden Opportunity Award. 

Carole M. Liedtke, Chair
Sirbhinya Benyajati, Incoming Chair

Council Actions

• Council accepted the report of the Women in Physiology Committee.

• Council approved the funding for a lunch and lecture by the Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Awardee at the 2005 IUPS Congress.