Chapter News

As originally published in The Physiologist
Volume 45, Number 5, October 2002, page 399

Second Meeting of the Gulf Coast Physiological Society
Nebraska Physiological Society Holds Fifth Annual Meeting

Second Meeting of the Gulf Coast Physiological Society

    The Gulf Coast Physiological Society held its second meeting at the University of Mississippi Medical Center on March 1 and 2, 2002. The meeting was co-sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Cardiovascular-Renal Research at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The event was attended by nearly 140 investigators and interested undergraduate students from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Louisiana State University (LSU), Shreveport, LSU?New Orleans, Tulane University, University of South Alabama, Tougaloo College, Jackson State University and Seminary College. Joey Granger, President of the Gulf Coast Physiological Society, organized the meeting. The organizing committee also included Robert Hester, Raouf Khalil, and Jane Reckelhoff.
The meeting began with welcoming remarks from Dan Jones, Associate Vice Chancellor of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The first session began with the Gertrude and Florian Nelson Cardiovascular Research Lecture. Sanjiv Ghambir of UCLA School of Medicine presented an exciting lecture on ?Multimodality Molecular Imaging with Applications in Biology and Medicine.? The American Physiological Society, the American Heart Association, and the Center for Excellence in Cardiovascular-Renal Research sponsored the lecture.
    Ghambir?s lecture was followed by a two-hour poster session. The session included 60 poster presentations by faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The meeting consisted of four major sessions that included 30-minute state-of-the-art presentations from faculty representing all major institutions of the GCPS. Following the lectures were 10-minute presentations from junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate and undergraduate students.
    The meeting also included a presentation by the President of the APS, John Hall. Hall discussed new and exciting initiatives at the APS. 
    One of the highlights of the meeting was the GCPS banquet that was held at the elegant Fairview Inn in Jackson. The banquet was held in honor of Aubrey Taylor, University of South Alabama and John Spitzer, LSU?New Orleans. Both Taylor and Spitzer served as Chairmen of their respective physiology departments for over 25 years. Harvey Miller of LSU, New Orleans, summarized Spitzer?s accomplishments. Neil Granger presented Taylor?s achievements to the GCPS group. The evening concluded with Martin Frank presenting Spitzer and Taylor with a plaque from the APS in recognition of their contributions to the APS and the discipline of physiology.
    The meeting concluded on Saturday, March 2, with a brief business meeting. New officers were elected and included Mary Townsley as President and James Parker as Secretary and Treasurer. Both Townsley and Parker are from the University of South Alabama. The new Councillors of the GCPS include Heather Drummond, University of Mississippi Medical Center; Lisa Harrison-Bernard, Tulane University; Patricia Molina, LSU?New Orleans; and Matt Grisham, LSU?Shreveport. It was decided that the next meeting will be held in 2003 in Mobile, AL. The new GCPS President, Mary Townsley, will be chairing the organizing committee for the meeting. 

Joey Granger, Gulf Coast Physiological Society President

Nebraska Physiological Society Holds Fifth Annual Meeting

    The fifth annual meeting of the Nebraska Physiological Society (NPS) was held on Monday, May 20, in the Skutt Student Center on the Campus of Creighton University in Omaha, NE. This meeting was the first joint meeting between the Nebraska and Iowa Physiological Societies (IPS). The total number of participants at the meeting was 104, which included 79 members from the NPS and approximately 25 members from the IPS. In addition, 44 research posters were presented. A new feature to the meeting this year was the selection of four graduate student research projects for PowerPoint presentations to the group, with an award to the student whose work was judged to be superior. A panel of judges comprised of members of both state societies selected these four student projects from the abstracts submitted. These four students were notified of their selection prior to the meeting and prepared a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation summarizing their work. While all of the student presentations were excellent, the $250 award was presented to Jennifer M. Green of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) for her work entitled, ?Potassium channel characterization of cerebral vascular smooth muscle from diabetic rats.? Other students selected to give PowerPoint presentations were Yu Wang, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, UNMC, for her work entitled ?AT1-receptor mRNA antisense normalizes enhanced cardiac sympathetic afferent reflex in rats with heart failure;? Alecia S. Hollman, Department of Pediatrics and Nephrology, UNMC, for her work entitled ?Diabetic renal hypertrophy in estrogen receptor alpha null mice;? and Qi Che, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, UNMC, for her work entitled ?Afferent arteriolar [Ca2+]i responses to angiotensin II involve EGF receptor tyrosine kinase-dependent Ca2+ influx.?
    The meeting began at 10:45 am with welcome and introductory remarks from David H. Petzel, President of NPS and Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University. Next, Martin Frank, Executive Director of the American Physiological Society (APS), gave a brief update on the status of the APS and its future goals. One project Frank mentioned specifically is the work being done to get all past volumes of the APS journals, dating back to 1898, online in the next two to three years. The morning?s keynote address was presented by the NPS guest lecturer, William H. Dantzler, Past President of the APS and current Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. The title of Dantzler?s talk was ?New Wine in Old Bottles? or Old Wine in New Bottles? Insights into Function and Structure of Inner Medullary Thin Limbs of Henle?s Loop.? His talk highlighted new information concerning the anatomy and physiology of the nephron loops of juxtamedullary nephrons.
    Following the morning keynote address, meeting participants had two hours to view the posters and enjoy lunch. Departments and institutions represented in the poster session included the Departments of Physiology and Biophysics, Pharmacology, OB/GYN, Eppley Cancer Center, and Ophthalmology at UNMC; the Departments of Pharmacology and Biomedical Sciences at Creighton University; the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; the Department of Biology at the University of Nebraska, Kearney; the Departments of Internal Medicine, Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Iowa College of Medicine; The Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Iowa City); Department of Surgery Education and Trauma, Iowa Methodist Medical Center (Des Moines); College of Pharmacy at Drake University; Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at Southern Illinois University College of Medicine; Department of Pharmacology at Emory University; and the Department of Zoology and Neurobiology at the University of Pecs (Hungary). Research topics included ion channels, growth factors, receptor sensitivities, kinases, baroreflex function, nitric oxide synthesis, renal sympathetic function, and hemorrhage and resuscitation. The interactions between investigators from different physiological specialties and from different institutions were excellent. During this time period participants were also able to view the exhibit set up by Biorad Laboratories. 
    Following the poster session, meeting participants gathered for the afternoon keynote address, presented by the IPS guest lecturer, Francisco Mora, who was introduced by Ronald J. Torry, IPS President and Professor in the College of Pharmacy at Drake University. Mora is a Professor of Human Physiology and Chairman of the Department of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Complutense of Madrid. In addition, he is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physiology and Bio-physics at the University of Iowa School of Medicine. The title of Mora?s talk was ?The Enigma of the Aging Brain: Old Dogmas and New Perspectives,? in which he highlighted recent work into demonstrating that the death of brain cells is not a part of ?normal? aging and that new brain cells are indeed generated as an individual ages. 
    The four student presentations followed Mora?s talk. While the judges met to decide the winner of the student awards, Dantzler spoke briefly about issues facing the APS and the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). Dantzler reported that the AAMC is giving more and more attention to the basic sciences, and a meeting scheduled for October in Philadelphia will focus on the ?evolving role of basic science chairs.? It is hoped that chairs attending this meeting will learn valuable information about budget and funding issues, rank and tenure decisions, and medical school curricula. This meeting is specifically designed for chairs of basic science departments at medical colleges, and the plan is to hold such a meeting every other year. One goal of these meetings is also to increase awareness in the AAMC and accreditation committees of issues facing basic sciences. At the conclusion of Dantzler?s talk, Green was presented with her award, and the two societies separated so that each could conduct its annual business meeting.
    Petzel opened the NPS business meeting by asking for approval of the minutes from last year?s annual meeting. Janet E. Steele, Secretary-Treasurer, presented the current financial status of the NPS. While the current economic situation has limited contributions from sponsors for support of the annual meeting, the NPS is still in good financial shape. While expenses for this year?s meeting were expected to exceed revenue by approximately 12.5%, the organization still has a budget surplus. Steele thanked this year?s sponsors, including the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Creighton University; the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at UNMC; the McGraw-Hill Publishing Company; and Bio-Rad Laboratories. Steele then updated the members about the status of the Local Outreach Team (LOT) she had started last year. The LOT is a program sponsored by the APS to improve physiology teaching in middle and high schools. Steele reported that she has a team organized, but the APS was unable to sponsor LOT last year. Steele distributed information outlining the current request for proposals from APS for the LOT program, and encouraged anyone interested in helping with this important program to contact her. Irving Zucker next proposed an increase in the dues structure by $5 for all members. It was pointed out that this would be a much larger increase, on a percentage basis, for the students (from $5 to $10) than for the faculty (from $20 to $25). While many faculty said they paid the dues for their students, it was decided that any change in dues structure should be voted on by the entire membership. 
Zucker then proposed that the position of Executive Director of NPS be created and filled by Cindy Norton. While this was accepted by the membership present, it would require a change in the bylaws and must also be voted on by the entire membership. Petzel presented Norton with a small gift for all of her assistance to the NPS. An election was to be held for president-elect and councillor, but, with the relatively small number of members remaining for the business meeting, it was decided that this, too, should be put to the entire membership for a vote. Petzel presented Past-President Pamela K. Carmines with a plaque commemorating her work for the NPS, and then he introduced NPS President-Elect Shyamal K. Roy. 
Following their individual business meetings, the NPS and IPS officers held a brief joint business meeting to discuss the possibility and feasibility of future joint meetings. Possible dates and locations were discussed, and it was decided that more information about meeting site availability and costs were needed before a decision could be made. 

Cindy Norton

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