The Gulf Coast Physiological Society held its inaugural meeting at the Health and Environmental Research Building at Tulane University School of Medicine on November 19 and 20. The meeting was co-sponsored by the Departments of Physiology at Tulane University School of Medicine and the Louisiana State University Health Science Center. This exciting event was attended by nearly 130 investigators and interested individuals from Tulane University, LSU New Orleans, LSU Shreveport, University of South Alabama, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Southern University of New Orleans, Xavier University, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Ochsner Medical Foundation, University of New Orleans, and Auburn University. The meeting began with introductory remarks from L. Gabriel Navar and John Spitzer. During these remarks, emphasis was placed on the primary focus of the society to foster greater interaction among the member institutions in the areas of teaching and research. Consistent with this teaching mission was the strong need to encourage and support the training of young graduate students toward careers in physiological investigation and to reach out to undergraduate students to expose them to the career opportunities that physiology can offer. These topics were followed by discussion and ratification of the bylaws and solicitation of nominations for society officers.
Dr. Salvador Moncada (center) with Dr. L Gabriel Navar (left) and Dr. John Spitzer (right). Dr. Moncada presented the keynote address entitled "Nitric oxide and the physiology and pathophysiology of cell respiration".
Representatives from the Charter Institutions of the Gulf Coast Physiological Society. (From the left) Aubrey Taylor, University of South Alabama; John Spitzer, L.S.U New Orleans; Neil Granger, L.S.U. Shreveport; Joey Granger, University of Mississippi Medical Center; L. Gabriel Navar, Tulane University School of Medicine.
With the essential introductory and business matters completed, the group settled in to hear the keynote address delivered by Salvador Moncada, Director of the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research at the University College of London. Moncada graciously agreed to speak to the group and was the guest of The Oxygen Society. The title of the featured presentation was "Nitric oxide and the physiology and pathophysiology of cell respiration". His talk was enthusiastically received by a capacity crowd and was followed by many questions and points of discussion.
The afternoon was rounded out by a poster discussion session featuring the work of 45 presenters representing students and investigators from the attending institutions. Research presentations encompassed all organ systems, and experimental investigations ranged from whole animal studies to cell and molecular physiology. Attendance and discussions between meeting attendees and poster presenters were excellent and reenforced the positive aspects of fostering such an interaction among members of regional research and undergraduate institutions.
One of the highlights of the meeting were the short presentations given by representatives of the charter institutions. Individual presentations were presented by John Spitzer from the LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans; Aubrey Taylor, from the University of South Alabama; Joey Granger from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Neil Granger from the LSU Medical School in Shreveport; L. Gabriel Navar from Tulane University School of Medicine, and Timothy Hammond from the Astro Biology Center at Tulane University School of Medicine. These presentations provided an overview of the research interests of the faculty at the respective institutions and to expose regional investigators to the research opportunities that are available at these institutions.
The opening day of the meeting concluded with a reception and dinner at The City Energy Club of New Orleans. This reception was attended by the meeting registrants and was kindly sponsored by the Astra Zeneca Pharmaceutical Company. We gratefully acknowledge their generous support. Carlos Romero of the Department of Physiology at the Mayo Medical School closed the evening with a dinner presentation entitled, "The role of angiotensin II and oxidative stress in renovascular hypertension." In his talk Romero highlighted what is currently known about the multifaceted roles that oxidative stress and oxygen radicals play in influencing the cardiovascular and renal function during hypertension.
The Saturday schedule began with a short meeting to attend to the necessary business of the society. The primary item on the agenda was the election of officers. Joey Granger, Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center was elected to a two-year term as president of the GCPS. Edward Inscho, Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology at Tulane University School of Medicine was elected as Secretary/Treasurer. Neil Granger from LSU Shreveport, Kathleen McDonough from LSU New Orleans, Joey Benoit from the University of South Alabama, and Jane Reckelhoff from the University of Mississippi Medical Center will serve as councillors. L. Gabriel Navar and John D. Imig from Tulane University School of Medicine, Ron Korthuis from LSU Shreveport, Mike Levitzky from LSU New Orleans, Jim Downey from the University of South Alabama, and Robert Hester from the University of Mississippi Medical Center make up the nominating committee. Following election of officers, Martin Frank addressed the meeting attendee�s to provide a report on the activities of the American Physiological Society and the importance of developing strong, active regional physiological societies. In addition, he discussed new initiatives being undertaken by the American Physiological Society to provide a mechanism to support meaningful research experiences for interested undergraduate students. Following the business meeting, our APS-sponsored speaker, Brian Duling, of the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, presented an exciting talk entitled "Gap junctions in the arteriolar wall integrate smooth muscle and endothelial cell function." He gave a unique glimpse into the mechanisms of endothelium-vascular smooth muscle interactions at the microvascular level.
This initial meeting of the GCPS was a tremendous success and bodes well for continued growth in the coming years. The site, meeting dates and program for the second annual meeting of the Gulf Coast Physiological Society remain to be determined. In the interim days, I encourage all members of the Gulf Coast region to contact any of the society officials to register your ideas for society programming, goals or methods to stimulate participation of all graduate and undergraduate institutions. Your contributions will be greatly appreciated.
Edward W. Inscho
Tulane University School of Medicine