FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Donna Krupa
Office: (301) 634-7209
dkrupa@the-aps.org
@Phyziochick
Dean Franklin Young Investigator Award Sponsored by Data Sciences International
American Physiological Society to Select Awardees
Bethesda, Md. (Sept. 14, 2011) – The American Physiological Society (APS) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Dean Franklin Young Investigator Award, sponsored by Data Sciences International (DSI), in recognition of Franklin’s role as a pioneer in noninvasive instrumentation to monitor physiological function in research animals and humans.
The award recognizes a post-doctoral scientist or junior faculty member pursuing in vivo physiological research and who is in the process of establishing an independent laboratory. The award recipient receives a travel award of $1,500 to attend the APS annual meeting at Experimental Biology (EB) to present his/her work, and an Institutional Grant providing the awardee’s institution with a DSI Instrumentation Starter Kit, valued at approximately $20,000. The APS Awards Committee will be responsible for selecting the award recipient through applications submitted online. The award is funded for five years, beginning in 2012. Additional information is available on line. The application is available at http://www.the-aps.org/awardapps.
Honoring a Leader in Noninvasive Health Care
Dean Franklin developed the first instruments to measure blood flow and heart dimensions in conscious animals using ultrasound. These breakthroughs helped pave the way for the development of devices capable of measuring physiological function in human patients non-invasively. He also pioneered the use of radiotelemetry to monitor heart and blood vessel function from ambulatory animals, which was also later applied to human subjects. His contributions, including the invention of the Doppler flow meter, led the way to the development of non-invasive clinical monitoring such as echocardiography and the obstetrical Doppler fetal monitor, used in doctors’ offices today.
R. Dustan Sarazan, a former student of Franklin’s and DSI Vice President, said the award ties together the innovations of the past and present: “The concepts originally formulated by Dean Franklin continue to serve as the inspiration behind many of DSI’s systems today.” Sarazan has chronicled Franklin’s accomplishments in an article, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Dean Franklin and His Remarkable Contributions to Physiological Measurements in Animals,” co-authored with Karl T.R. Schweitz.
According to Martin Frank, APS Executive Director, “Dean Franklin’s innovation has added an enormous amount to what we know about physiology and how the body works in health and disease. Physiologists have been able to build on these discoveries and translate them into efforts that improve patient care.” He added, “We are delighted to partner with DSI to honor his work.”
Application Deadline
The deadline for new applications is November 13, 2011. The presentation will be made at the APS business meeting during EB 2012. The meeting marks the 125th anniversary of the society’s founding in America.
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Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create health or disease. The American Physiological Society (APS; www.the-APS.org/press) has been an integral part of the discovery process since it was established in 1887.
The Story of The Development of Noninvasive Heart Care
Released September 14, 2009 - Fifty-one years ago the average American home cost $30,000, Elvis Presley wooed listeners with Hard Headed Woman, and the hula hoop was introduced. That same year, 1958, a team comprised of a groundbreaking engineer -- Dean Franklin -- in concert with two exceptional physicians -- Drs. Robert Rushmer and Robert Van Citters -- was laying the foundation for what would eventually become a radical new approach to health care: the noninvasive imaging and treatment of the heart. The discoveries of these pioneers would eventually lead to a doctor's ability to see the heart without cutting open the body; allow patients to have their hearts monitored despite being miles away; and provide reassurance to parents that a fetus' heart was normal rather than waiting until the offspring was born.