The APS returned to the Town & Country Resort and Conference Center in San Diego for its third APS Intersociety meeting focusing on comparative physiology entitled “The Power of Comparative Physiology: Evolution, Integration, and Application”. The meeting, held August 24-28, included six guest societies: the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), Society for Experimental Biology (SEB), Canadian Society of Zoologists (CSZ), German Society of Zoologists (GSZ), the European Society of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry (ESCPB), and the Australian & New Zealand Society of Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology (ANZSCBP).
As Chair of the Organizing Committee, James Hicks (University of California, Irvine) created a 4-day meeting that incorporated five plenary lectures, 19 symposia and 21 poster sessions. Presenters covered topics as wide-ranging as: regulation, renal function, genetics, hypoxia, integration, motor function, metabolism, neurophysiology, microarrays, homeostasis, muscle physiology, environmental physiology, diving, physiological evolution, host-parasite interactions, artificial muscles and robots, hypoxia, developmental physiology and plasticity. The organisms studied were also quite diverse, ranging from invertebrates (like the fruit fly and cabbage looper) on up the evolutionary scale to frogs, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.
The meeting attracted 554 registrants—31% (177) were female and 35% (196) represented young scientists; including 54 postdoctoral and 142 student registrants. 22% (123) were members of APS or one of the 6 guest societies; 10% (58) were nonmembers; 28% (156) were invited speakers or organizers. Of the total registrants, 19% (105) worked outside The Americas, 3% (18) in US government labs and 1% (8) in industry.
The meeting agenda was arranged to feature a morning plenary lecture, followed by 4-5 concurrent symposia, which were then followed by unopposed poster sessions. The poster sessions were designed to maximize interaction among participants and featured beer, wine and light snacks. These Poster Socials, were sponsored each day by one of the top four journals publishing comparative research: Sunday was sponsored by Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Monday by Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, Tuesday by the Journal of Experimental Biology, and Wednesday was sponsored by the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.
In addition to the scientific sessions, several social activities were offered to attendees. The Opening Reception on Saturday evening was an informal reception held poolside at the famed Town & Country’s Tiki Hut; Monday featured a special-purchase dinner at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography’s Birch Aquarium, and; the last night, Wednesday, featured the Scholander Award Banquet and Lecture. The Scholander Award lecture was presented by Barbara Block (Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University) entitled “The Fire Inside: Saving Atlantic Bluefin Tuna”.
Three awards for best abstract presentation by a graduate student were presented during the Scholander Banquet. Recipients and their respective awards were: The Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Young Investigator Award presented to John Zehmer, Arizona State University for his presentation entitled “Plasma membrane rafts of rainbow trout are subject to thermal acclimation”; the Society for Experimental Biology Young Investigator Award presented to Scott D. Kirkton, Arizona State University for his presentation entitled “Oxygen delivery problems may reduce jumping performance in larger locusts”, and; the Scholander Award, sponsored by the APS Comparative Physiology Section, presented to Todd E. Gillis, Simon Fraser University for his presentation entitled “Sequence mutations in teleost cardiac troponin C that are permissive of cardiac function at low temperatures”. Each awardee received a cash prize and a one year complimentary subscription to the journal published by the sponsoring society.
From the outset, the inclusion young investigator participation was very important to the organizing committee who therefore designed a travel award program for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. 55 travel grants were provided totaling over $30,000. Travel awardees that met application guidelines received partial travel reimbursement, complimentary registration and a ticket to the Birch Aquarium dinner event.
There were eleven recipients of the APS Porter Physiology Development Committee’s Minority Travel Fellowship Award, supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).
The fellowship provides reimbursement of travel expenses and each recipient is matched with an APS member attending the meeting who offers guidance and makes introductions to other scientists. Recipients were: Lee A. Aggison, Jr., Stillman College; Thomas F. Gallegos, New Mexico State University; Vallie M. Holloway, Loyola University Medical Center; Rafael Alejandro Leos, New Mexico State University; Marcy K. Lowenstein, Florida International University; Rudy M. Ortiz, University of California, Santa Cruz; Elizabeth S. Quintana, New Mexico State University; Luciana Oliveira Santos, University of Utah; LaTonia Marie Stiner, Wright State University; Vanessa I. Toney, Brown University; and Ruth A. Washington, Stillman College.
In all, 291 abstracts were programmed into poster sessions. Of these 36% (107) were represented by female presenters and 23% (68) were from countries outside The Americas. Researchers working in industry comprised 1% (4); those from US government labs also represented 1% (4) of the total submissions.
The Society wishes to thank the members of the Intersociety Meeting Organizing Committee: James Hicks, Chair (University of California, Irvine), Albert Bennett (University of California, Irvine), Barbara Block (Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University), Steven C. Hand (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge), Donald C. Jackson (Brown University) and, Stephen C. Wood (VA Medical Center, Nashville).
The Society gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided through unrestricted educational grants received from: National Science Foundation, US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research, and the Thomas Maren Foundation.
| Registration Type |
Total
|
Percent
|
| Member (APS or Guest Society) |
123
|
31%
|
| Retired Member |
5
|
>1%
|
| Nonmember |
58
|
10%
|
| Postdoctoral |
54
|
9%
|
| Student |
142
|
25%
|
| Invited Speaker or Organizer |
156
|
28%
|
| Nonscientist Guest of Registrant |
15
|
2%
|
| Undergraduate |
1
|
>1%
|
|
554
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Barbara A. Block, Hopkins Marine Station,
Stanford University, presenting the Scholander Award Lecture.
|
Stan Lindstedt, Chair, APS Comparative
Physiology Section presenting the APS Comparative Physiology Section's
Scholander Award to Todd E. Gillis, Simon Fraser University. Jim Hicks,
Chair, Conference Organizing Committee looks on.
|
Nora Terwilliger, Chair, DCPB, Society
for Integrative and Comparative Biology presenting the SICB Young Investigator
Award to John Zehmer, Arizona State University. Jim Hicks, Chair, Conference
Organizing Committee looks on.
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Rod Wilson, Animal Section Secretary,
Society for Experimental Biology presenting the SEB Young Investigator
Award to Scott D. Kirkton, Arizona State University. Jim Hicks, Chair,
Conference Organizing Committee looks on.
|
Conference attendees viewing poster
presentations.
|
Meeting attendees gather in front
of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography's Birch Aquarium for dinner and
relaxation.
|
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