On 12:00 p.m. on 6 April 2008, the HPG had its annual
Business Meeting in the Torrance Room of the San Diego Marriott. Following
lunch, Dr. Charles Tipton (Chair of the Group) called the meeting to order.
Individuals present then introduced themselves which included Ms. Donna
Krupa, APS Communications Director, and Professor Pawan Singal from the
University of Winnipeg. The 2007 minutes were approved by unanimous vote.
Dr. Sue Schneider reported the results of the Joint
Program Committee (JPC) Meeting held the previous day. The JPC continues to
encourage the sections to promote oral presentations by younger persons and
recommends that all symposia might contain one senior person with the
remainder being younger investigators. Schneider also reported that our
History Symposium for 2009 is as yet undecided but that there are currently
three proposals: 1) the history of thermoregulation, organized by George
Brengelmann; 2) a symposium to honor Ernest Starling (�100 years of
Starling�); and, 3) the history of arctic research laboratories, proposed by
Michael Koban. The program committee had previously scheduled a meeting with
representatives from the Water and Electrolyte Section immediately after
this meeting and will consider the proposals at that time.
Dr. John West, Chair of the APS History Book Committee,
reported that the biography of Ernest Starling has been published.
Additionally, a biography on Nathan Zuntz authored by Hanns-Christian Gunga
has been submitted to Elsevier. West also reported that Jay Dean continues
to work on the history of aviation physiology during World War II, and that
the Chair of the Department of Medical History at the Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences is interested in authoring a text that
explores the relationships between physiological advances and war. Finally,
he reported that Drs. Clark Blatteis and Jack Boulant continue to make slow
progress on a book detailing the history of temperature regulation. West
stated APS has yet to develop a strong tradition in promoting the history of
physiology and hoped that this situation will change in the immediate
future.
Ms. Donna Krupa, the Communications Director for APS,
reported that she has received the charge to revitalize physiology in
cyberspace. She wants to partner with the HPG to ascertain appropriate
individuals to create podcasts for the web site. Previously, two HPG
members have provided audio podcasts (Drs. John West and Jay Dean), and she
would like our help to further this program. In addition to the podcasts,
other facets of her program include the journal release program on APS-published
articles of interest to traditional medicine communities and the wider
public and revamping the web site physiologyinfo.org.
Dr. Tipton reported the Council did not approve the
proposal for APS to sponsor a Distinguished Lecture for the History of
Physiology. They did recommend that HPG integrate its program with those
being offered by the various Sections. Additionally, he reported that the
Living History program continues, but that production of each video costs
approximately $1500 meaning that the program needs a sponsor. Tipton also
reported that several biographical profiles of
distinguished members have been published in Advances in Physiology
Education and that progress is being made in securing sectional
endorsement of deserving individuals.
Subsequently, Dr. Schneider introduced Dr. Alan Hargens
of the Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery of the University of California at San
Diego. He presented an interesting and entertaining talk entitled �Pete
Scholander�s Legacy: Exploring Physiologic Frontiers with Homemade
Instruments and Tensile Solvent.� Hargens was the last graduate student of
Dr. Scholander and included numerous anecdotes and stories of their research
investigations with plants and animals in extreme environments that involved
voyages on the Alpha Helix to the Amazon, Guadeloupe Islands, and to Canada.
All appreciated Dr. Hargens discussions of Dr. Scholander�s contributions to
physiology and especially his personal reminisces and audio clips of
Scholander�s unique personality and character.
Following the talk, Dr. Tipton presented Dr. Hargens
with the 2008 HPG Recognition Award. In addition, Professor Pawan Singal
from the University of Winnipeg presented Dr. Hargens with a
recently-published book dedicated to Dr. Hargens by the International
Society for Adaptive Medicine in recognition of Dr. Hargens� leadership role
in establishing this new field of medicine.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:44 p.m.
Minutes of the Meeting of HPG Program Committee
After the History of Physiology Lecture, members of the
HPG Program Committee (Drs. Tipton, Schneider and Kathy Ryan) met with Drs.
Rafael Rubio and Jane Recklehoff (Water and Electrolyte Section). After
discussion, this ad hoc committee suggested that 2010 should be
designed the Year of Starling and be marked by development of a
cross-sectional symposium. At this point, the symposium was suggested to be
comprised of Dr. John Henderson (author of the recent Starling biography)
and members of the Gastrointestinal, Water and Electrolyte and
Cardiovascular Sections, who would each discuss Starling�s contributions to
their field. Drs. Rubio and Recklehoff will serve as co-chairs and Dr.
Recklehoff will begin to develop the symposium for submission to the JPC.
All agreed that, if accepted as a cross-sectional symposium, it would not be
counted as an allocated symposium for the HPG or the other involved
sections. Because of this action to honor Starling, the HPG program
committee decided to ask Dr. George Brengelmann to further develop his
proposal for a history of thermoregulation physiology for presentation as
the HPG 2009 symposium. Lastly, the HPG Program Committee recommended that
Dr. Edgar Folk Jr. be invited to speak at the 2009 HPG Luncheon and Business
Meeting on his arctic experiences.