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APS News Council
Meets in Bethesda |
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| The APS summer Council meeting was held in Bethesda, MD, on July 23-25, 2004. During the meeting Council met with the APS committee chairs. The chairs presented reports of the committees’ programs and accomplishments during the past year, and committee plans for the coming year. Approximately two years ago, the APS Council established a Task Force on Trainees charged with identifying ways in which the Society could do more for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. One of the recommendations of the Task Force was to establish a Trainee Advisory Committee (TAC) comprised of members from each of the Society’s disciplinary sections. Council accepted this recommendation, and a TAC was established. During the past year, the TAC met twice, once by conference call and once at the EB 2004 meeting and presented their first committee report to Council at the summer meeting. The Committee is working on finalizing a Trainee Survey. The survey will be general in nature and include issues relevant to both graduate student and postdoctoral experiences. They are also working on a Trainee Advisory Committee sponsored symposium that will at the Experimental Biology 2006 Meeting. The symposium will either be an interactive session or a round table discussion on issues such as those that non-US citizens face while working in the US. The Animal Care and Experimentation (ACE) Committee continues to monitor the issue of management of pain and distress in laboratory animals. There is a clear need for guidance on pain and distress management for researchers and IACUCs. The Committee recommended to Council that the APS initiate a round of discussions between scientists who study pain and distress and lab animal veterinarians who manage pain and distress in clinical settings. The Committee will also put together a planning group of research scientists and lab animal veterinarians to consider relevant data and make recommendations regarding regulations for the management of pain and distress in laboratory animals. The ACE Committee has formal responsibility to keep the APS Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Animals current. The Committee is evaluating the document and will update it as necessary. The ACE Committee once again organized and presented a Symposium at EB 2004 entitled IACUC 101 for Scientists: Dealing with Problem Areas. This was a four-hour IACUC training program open to all EB attendees. The goal was to provide scientists with focused training to improve their performance on and interaction with IACUCs. The Communications Committee completed its development of the APS Timeline of Physiology, which was distributed at EB 2004. The Timeline is now available in an HTML format on the APS website. The Committee organized and presented a Communications Symposium at EB 2004 entitled, “Making Science News.” The symposium was intended to familiarize scientists with the media, demonstrate the steps involved in making physiology newsworthy, and provide practical tips for getting scientific research reported by the media. The Communications Committee has begun an outreach program and will work on developing topic-based resource modules on a variety of physiological issues. The goal of the program is to publicize physiological research to the public, and to inform, teach and gather public support for physiological research. The Communications Committee oversees the APS-AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship. The Committee evaluated 19 applications and recommend funding for one applicant, Nicole Garbarini, who spent 10 weeks at Scientific America during the summer. The Publications Committee continues to strive to make each individual APS journal the best in its field, and to provide the highest possible quality publications. The Journal Impact Factors made a strong showing again in 2003. Physiological Reviews remains the highest ranked journal in physiology. The Committee reported that the second phase of the Legacy Content, going back to 1966, has been posted and is now available as part of the Legacy Content. The redesigning of the journal News in Physiological Sciences is now complete. The journal has been renamed to Physiology, and the first issue will be the August 2004 issue. The Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee reported that its session at EB 2004 entitled “Planning a Successful Postdoctoral Experience: A Proactive Approach” was well attended. The workshop focused on how to successfully plan a postdoctoral experience and how to interview for a postdoctoral position, as well as discussing job opportunities available in the drug discovery process and in the government and military. The Committee requested support and a time slot for another symposium to be held at the 2005 IUPS Congress. Council approved the necessary support and room allocation for this session. The 2005 symposium will focus on international collaborations at the postdoctoral and new investigator stages. The Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee also reported that the APS Summer Undergraduate Research program is still very competitive in the fifth year of the program’s existence. The Committee received 28 applications this year and selected 12 for funding. The Committee requested and received funding to support 12 Summer Undergraduate Research Program Fellowships for summer 2005. During the upcoming year, the Committee will be working on completing and disseminating the PowerPoint presentations on careers in physiology and physiology research topics for talks to K-12 and undergraduate students; developing a new career poster for distribution to undergraduate departments; overseeing the annual survey of doctoral recipients in physiology, conducted by the Education Office; overseeing the proposed new project, “Professional Skills for Minority Students in Biomedicine,” which involves the development of online professional skills courses based on the APS-ACDP Listing of Professional Skills; and continuing to improve and evaluate the Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowships program. The Women in Physiology Committee reported that the first Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award was awarded to W. Clinton Webb at EB 2004. The Committee also co-sponsored a workshop with ASPET at EB 2004 entitled “Life After the PhD: Finding a Postdoctoral Fellowship.” The workshop was designed to inform young physiologists of decision-making and goal setting processes when considering a postdoctoral fellowship as the next step in their professional development. The Committee will co-sponsor a workshop with ASPET at the 2005 IUPS Congress/EB 2005 meeting. The focus of the workshop will be on leadership skills and development. The Committee oversees the mentoring program and assists in matching mentor-mentees. The Committee is concerned about the lack of communication between the mentee/mentor pairs and suggested that a subcommittee be formed to write recommendations for APS. The Education Committee reported that the first David S. Bruce Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research was presented at EB 2004. Four awardees were selected from 12 finalists. The Committee reported that a joint APS/ACDP committee is planning the development of an online resource site for medical physiology course directors. Resources available would include information on faculty evaluation, course evaluation, curriculum issues and instructional options. The Committee is also working on developing additional models and resources for local outreach to K-12 schools, teachers, and students as part of the Frontiers in Physiology project. An area of concern and discussion for Council continues to be that of open access. In response to the open access movement, the “DC Principles for Free Access to Science” was developed. The group, lead by APS Executive Director Martin Frank, held a press conference at the National Press Club in March 2004 to announce the formation of the DC Principles. Since the formation of DC Principles, APS has received numerous invitations to speak to and meet with other groups, such as the Medical Library Association, to speak about the DC Principles, and the possible costs and impact that the “open-access” publishing models may have on nonprofit scientific and medical publishers. Reports from the Awards, Committee on Committees, Finance, International Physiology, Joint Program, Liaison with Industry, Long Range Planning, Membership, Perkins Memorial Fellowship, Porter Physiology Development, Public Affairs, Section Advisory Committees, and Senior Physiologists were also presented to Council. |
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APS President D. Neil Granger hosted a staff appreciation reception for the Society’s employees on Friday, July 23. The event was attended by the APS staff, Council and Committee chairs. APS Executive Director
Martin Frank and President Granger, on behalf of the Council and chairs, thanked the staff for their efforts over the past year. Granger said that APS continues to be a high quality organization because of the efforts put forth by the staff. During the appreciation reception, a ceremony is held to recognize those staff members who have served the Society. This year, Granger presented a 25-year certificate to Samer Masri (Circulation Manager); 15-year certificates to Mark Goodwin (Senior Copy Editor and Special Projects), Nancy McClusky (Journal Supervisor); 10-year certificates to Stephanie Demma (Journal Supervisor), Carolyn Villemez (Production Assistant); and 5-year certificates to Robert Barrett (Journal Supervisor), Maria Bokman (Copy Editor), Jessica Darago (Copy Editor), Ellyn Kestnbaum (Copy Editor), Martin Mould (Copy Editor), Jennifer Navas-Marquez (Copy Editor), Robert Price (Director of Finance), Margaret Reich (Director of Publications), and Iliana Torres (Peer Review Coordinator). On behalf of Council, Granger thanked the employees for their years of service. |
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[Index]
[Arthur
C. Guyton Physiology Educator of the Year] [Chapter
News] [Membership]
[Education]
[Publications]
[Public
Affairs] [IUPS
Congress] |
