Section News

Section News

Introducing William Chilian
Introducing Charles H. Lang

Introducing William Chilian

    William M. Chilian was elected Chair of the Cardiovascular Section and assumed duties in April 2001, succeeding Kathleen Berecek. Chilian has previously served the Cardiovascular Section as Secretary Treasurer, as a member and Chair of the Nominating Committee, as Chair of the NHLBI Liaison Committee and on the Steering Committee. Chilian has also served on the APS Education Committee and on a working group to evaluate APS sections and groups. Chilian is presently an Associate Editor of the AJP: Heart and Circulatory Physiology, and had previously served as an Associate Editor from 1993 through 1995. Chilian is also active in the American Heart Association where he is on the Executive Committee on the Council for Basic Cardiovascular Sciences, and a member of the Marcus Award Selection Committee.
    Chilian is presently a Professor in the Department of Physiology and Associate Director of the Cardiovascular Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Previous to his appointment at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1996 he was on the faculty at Texas A&M University from 1987 through 1995. Chilian received his PhD from the University of Missouri in 1980, and did postdoctoral work at the University of Iowa. Chilian’s research focuses primarily on acute and chronic regulatory mechanisms involved in the control of the coronary circulation. The acute aspects of regulation focus on regulatory mechanisms involved in the control of coronary resistance and coronary vasomotion. This research blends a variety of physiological approaches with electrophysiology and mathematics. The study of chronic regulatory mechanisms focuses on molecular mechanisms underlying coronary collateral growth. These efforts have allowed identification of key growth factors involved in the development of coronary collaterals and the elucidation of anti-angiogenic factors as hindrances to collateralization in models of endothelial dysfunction. The goal of these efforts is the development of genetic therapies designed to mimic the natural program for coronary collateral growth.
    As the newly elected Chair of the Cardiovascular Section, Chilian has several goals for the next three years. The first goal is to invigorate existing sub-sections of the Cardiovascular Section, and evaluate the need to create new ones. Since 1981 there have been two sub-sections of the Cardiovascular Section: Splanchnic Circulation Group and Cardiac Mechanics Group. However, cardiovascular science has changed significantly during the last two decades, integrating molecular biology, genetics, imaging, biophysics and mathematical modeling (to name a few) with physiology. Thus, the Section will consider formation of new sub-sections to reflect these new directions in cardiovascular sciences.
    A second goal of the chair is to improve the quality of programming for the Experimental Biology meeting. During the last several years, much cardiac and vascular physiology and pathophysiology has drifted away to other groups and meetings, e.g., International Society for Heart Research, North American Vascular Biology Organization, and this trend must be reversed. New venues and initiatives must be entertained to strengthen the content of the Experimental Biology Meeting. To do this effectively, we must work with other APS Sections for jointly programmed symposia, and embrace contributions from societies outside of FASEB as guests to the Experimental Biology meeting.
    Chilian believes it is important to increase the voice of the Cardiovascular Section within APS. The third goal is to increase the participation of the Cardiovascular Section on APS committees. The Cardiovascular Section is the largest section, but currently there are no officers (president, councillor) in the APS who are primarily affiliated with our section. Thus, the voice of the largest section of APS has not been evident in the recent past. To reverse these trends, the chair asks all members and fellows to volunteer time, efforts, and to vote and nominate members of our section to APS offices and committees.
    A fourth, and perhaps the most critical, goal is to increase the involvement of young scientists in the section. The Cardiovascular Section will look to all of its members to help recruit young scientists, and for suggestions as to how to increase the involvement of young scientists. We are planning on asking for the involvement of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows on some sectional committees, and will have reduced ticket prices for fellows and students at the annual banquet. We have recently initiated a Featured Topic session that is to be organized by the previous winner of the Section’s Young Investigator Award. The 2001 winner, Jefferson Frisbee of the Medical College of Wisconsin, is programming a featured topic entitled, “Parallel Mechanisms Regulating Vascular Tone” for the 2002 Experimental Biology Meeting.
    Chilian and the Steering Committee of the Cardiovascular Section are committed to these initiatives. The collective goal is to invigorate the section, and establish a template for the active involvement of scientists engaged in cardiovascular research.

Introducing Charles H. Lang
    Effective April 2001, Charles H. Lang succeeds David H. Wasserman as Chair of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Section of the APS. As a member of the APS since 1983, Lang has served the past three years as the Section’s representative on the Joint Programming Committee. He also currently serves on the Membership Committee and is chair of the Book Advisory Committee. He also served on the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism from 1994 through 2000. Lang has also been involved in the Shock Society serving as a Basic Science Councilor, Chair of the Membership Committee, and member of the editorial board for the society’s journal Shock. Lang has served on the Surgery, Anesthesiology and Trauma Study Section at NIH, and been a member of the NIGMS Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) for Large-Scale Collaborative Projects as well as the SEP for Research Training in Trauma and Burn, Systems and Integrative Biology, and Pharmacological Sciences.
    Lang was appointed as professor and vice-chairman of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, and professor of Surgery at the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine in Hershey in 1997. He completed his undergraduate degree in Biology from Westminster College (PA) and received his Master’s and PhD degree from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia in 1979 and 1981, respectively. His dissertation research investigated the effects of bacterial endotoxin on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in the canine small intestine. After his graduate studies Lang was a NIGMS-funded postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans under the guidance of John J. Spitzer, MD. During this time he developed one of the early animal models of chronic bacterial infection. Using this model he focused on elucidating the mechanisms mediating sepsis-induced alterations in hepatic and muscle glucose flux and insulin resistance. Lang was promoted to Assistant Professor of Physiology at LSUMC in 1985, and in 1989 was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at the same institution. In 1992 he moved to the Department of Surgery at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook where he assumed the position of professor and director of Surgical Research. While at Stony Brook the direction of his research shifted and began to focus on the regulatory role of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and the various IGF-binding proteins, and the interaction between this system and various proinflammatory cytokines in mediating the sepsis-induced changes in muscle protein metabolism. Also, at this time he collaborated on several clinical investigations whose goal was to unravel how various endocrine disturbances influenced the IGF system. This general area of research continues to be the focus of the Lang laboratory at the Penn State College of Medicine and has been expanded in recent years to also include investigation of the IGF system and translational control of muscle protein synthesis in response to chronic alcohol abuse.
    This is an exciting time for those involved in programming and section leadership. Over the past several years the Joint Programming Committee (JPC) has overseen the transition from a “top-down” to a “bottom-up” mode of programming. The various sections now have complete control over program content, but also increased responsibility and accountability. This new programming philosophy must be viewed as the beginning and not the end. It is now the responsibility of the JPC and individual sections to meet this challenge by providing the ideas for the continued growth of EB. As such, it is the responsibility of each section to be proactive in matters related to EB programming and APS conferences. Our programming effort and hence the EB meeting itself is only as strong as the level of commitment and enthusiasm of the sections’ members. Your input and participation are important and valued in the Endocrinology and Metabolism Section. In keeping with the emphasis of the APS on young investigators and translational research, we are looking to expand the membership of our Steering Committee to include a more junior level investigator and a scientist involved primarily in human investigations. It cannot be over emphasized that our Section will only continue to grow and prosper if we maintain our membership’s commitment to the Section. The Steering Committee’s goal is to provide all of our members an opportunity to participate. In order for the Section to be responsive to the needs of its members, we need your participation. If you would like to be considered for APS committee assignments or the section Steering Committee, or have ideas for future symposia at EB please contact any of the Steering Committee members at http://www.the-aps.org/sect_groups/endo/steering.htm.
    The Endocrinology and Metabolism Section is fortunate to have outstanding individuals on the Steering Committee. David H. Wasserman, past-chair, has provided the Section with superior leadership during the past three years during which time the sections have been given more control over programming the EB meeting; Virendra B. Mahesh, new representative to the Joint Programming Committee, has been instrumental in developing innovative symposia and featured topics of interest to our section; Owen P. McGuinness, Secretary/Treasurer, has done an extraordinary job of keeping our section members informed of APS happenings through the section newsletter and has helped develop our first web site; Jacob (Jeb) E. Friedman, Councilor, who chairs the committee responsible for selecting the Berson Awardee and the various student awards; and Johnny R. Porter, our representative to Committee-on-Commit-tees, who has worked tirelessly to place section members on the various APS committees. Finally, we would like to welcome our newest Steering Commit-tee member Amy E. Halseth, Liaison with Industry, who will help us bridge the gap between academia and industry.