Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award
Eight nominations were received for the seventh Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist award. M. Harold Laughlin, University of Missouri, Columbia, was selected as the 2010 awardee. Laughlin gave a talk on mentoring entitled: “Mentoring as a Player Coach,” and an article based on the lecture will be published in The Physiologist.
Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Awards
The Women in Physiology Committee received 141 applications for the 2010 Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Awards. The Committee was able to fund 36 tum Suden Awards. Two Steven M. Horvath Awards were given to the top two underrepresented minority tum Suden Awardees.
Career Mentoring Website
Over the past year, the Committee developed six articles for The Physiologist with related bulletin board discussion topics at the mentoring website. Additional articles/discussions are planned for the coming year. All articles are also catalogued in the APS Archive of Teaching Resources.
MentorNet Mentoring Program
The Committee launched the APS MentorNet collaboration in October 2007. The program was publicized this year via APS and trainee listservs, APS exhibits at meetings, and at APS-sponsored workshops at EB and the APS Professional Skills Training Courses. The Committee will continue to recruit students and mentors in the coming year and anticipates additional program growth as students become aware of the program.
EB Mentoring Workshop
For EB 2010, the workshop was entitled, “A Primer for the New PI: How to Herd Cats AND Keep Your Boss Happy.”
The EB 2011 workshop will be entitled, “Work/Life Balance: Every Choice Matters.” The participants will be Sue Duckles (“Can I have it all? Synchronizing the Mind and Heart”); Francisco (Paco) Andrade, University of Kentucky (“Time Management: Key to Effective Balance”); and Jennifer and David Pollock, Medical College of Georgia (“Advice We Give our Students”). A panel discussion will follow the presentations.
Women Serving on APS Committees and Sections
In reviewing the membership of the APS Section Advisory Committees (SACs) and other Society committees, it was found that the representation of women on the general Society committees was very good. There are three female Councillors (total of nine Councillors), SAC has a female chair, and three out of 12 section chairs are women.
FASEB Excellence in Science Award
For the 2011 award, 38 applications were received, down again from previous years. Dr. Gail Martin, University of California, San Francisco, who studies development, will be the recipient for 2011. She is a member of the AAAS and the National Academy. Since its inception, there have been 22 winners, only one was a primary APS member. Primary ASBMB winners number 14 of the 22 (64%). The Committee will continue to work with APS members to enhance their nomination packets. In addition, the Committee is discussing strategies to increase the number of APS women who are National Academy of Science members, as that is a critical element for successful candidates for this prestigious award.