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APS Education |
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| Resource Website Created for Medical Physiology Course Directors | ||||
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Resource Website Created for Medical Physiology Course Directors |
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The APS Education Committee in conjunction with Association of Chairs of Departments of Physiology (ACDP) has developed a new website to bring together key resources to assist course directors in the development and conduct of medical physiology courses. The website will include resources in 10 major areas:
Before the site can go live, however, additional materials are needed to enrich the pages. For a list of materials that are needed, please contact Melinda Lowy in the APS Education Office
(mlowy@the-aps.org). Anyone with material that they are willing to share can send the actual documents or appropriate link to Rob Carroll
(carrollr@mail.ecu.edu) or Melinda Lowy at APS
(mlowy@the-aps.org). If someone is willing to share but does not want the material freely available to members, contact information can be put up in its place on the web site. |
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APS Presents Awards to Outstanding High School Students at the 56th Annual International Science and Engineering Fair |
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The 56th Annual International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) was held in Phoenix, AZ May 8-14, 2005. Over 1,400 students from more than 40 nations spent seven days talking science and competing for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips and the grand prizes: two $50,000 college scholarships sponsored by Intel and Ricoh. Grand Awards in each of 14 categories ranging from $500 to $5000 were presented by the Intel Foundation, Ricoh, Shell Oil and Merck. Special Awards were given by 86 scientific, professional, industrial, educational, and governmental organizations in the form of scholarships, tuition grants, summer internships, trips, and equipment grants. For the 13th year, the APS presented four Special Awards in the form of cash prizes, certificates and student subscriptions for the best projects in the physiological sciences. This year’s APS judging team was Nancy L. Kanagy from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine who acted as lead judge and fellow judges Cynthia Standley, Layla Al-Nakkash and Michael Quinlin, all from Midwestern University. The city of Phoenix bristled with energy as more than 1,400 eager young scientists accompanied by teachers, parents and other well-wishers crowded into the Phoenix Civic Center. During the week leading up to the final awards ceremonies, students were interviewed multiple times by judges and treated to an opening ceremony with Mariachi dancers and Spirit dancers and participated in a panel discussion featuring seven Nobel Laureates. The Convention Center floor was humming with many languages and bright with national costumes from around the world as these scientists of the future discussed serious science. As judges, we sorted through many remarkable projects to select sixteen that best fit the category of “physiology”. We interviewed each of these finalists to determine their participation in the study and to evaluate their understanding of the science and experimental design behind the project. After a grueling day of interviews, we chose the following projects to receive APS awards for excellence in physiological research. Receiving $1000 and first place was Sarah S. Mousa from Columbia High School in East Greenbush, New York for her project titled “Implications of Nicotine’s Pro-angiogenesis Activity: the Good and the Bad.” In this project, 17-year-old Sarah used a chick egg angiogenesis model and cultured epithelial cells to examine growth-promoting effects of nicotine. This research is currently the basis of a patent application for the use of nicotine “band-aids” to facilitate wound healing. Yahya Maqsood Mohammed from Alkalize-Walton CC Charter High School in Niceville, FL received $500 and second place for his project titled “Ascorbic acid induced enhancement of laminin in Schwann cells: application for peripheral nerve regeneration.” This entry in the Biochemistry category treated cultured Schwann cells with different concentrations of ascorbic acid and examined production of laminin. This polite 16-year-old scientist described an extensive series of studies conducted to evaluate the potential beneficial effects of ascorbate on laminin production as possible adjunct therapy for neural regeneration. For the two third place projects, the APS judging team chose Ketaki Rawal from Centenial Regional High School in Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada for her project titled “Saliva, the Stress Code.” and a team project by Lauren Nicole Toub and Anjuli Patricia Kannan from Yorktown High School in Yorktown Heights, New York for their project titled “The Possible Role of Bone Morphogenetic Protein in the Effect of the Choroid Plexus on Cortical Neurons.” These young researchers received certificates and a $500 award. Kataki Rawal’s project used a public speaking stressor to examine the effect of stress on the level of corticosteroids in saliva. She observed differences in gender responses and a significant correlation between stress and steroid levels suggesting that this might be a potential non-invasive method of screening for stress. The team of Lauren Toub and Anjuli Kannan used cultured cortical neurons to examine the effect of chorioid plexus tissue on the neural growth. They observed that choroids plexus explants increased the rate of growth of the neurons and hypothesized that specific neurotrophic factors might be released from the tissue to stimulate the growth. In addition to the five APS Special Awards winners, the APS also recognized nine other students in the form of a one-year subscription to Physiology. These outstanding science students were: Sami Obaid, a junior from College Regina Assumpta in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (“Dopaminergic Neurons from Bone Marrow Cells: An Acceptable, Potential Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease”); Parth Vyas, an 11th grader from William L. Dickinson High School in Jersey City, NJ (“Effects of Kava and Alcohol on Heart Rate Variability of Daphinia magna”); the team of Morgan Rummel and Holly Wonders, from Delavan High School in Delavan, IL (“The Effects of Cinnamon on Factors Affecting Cardiovascular Disease”); Lindsay MacLeod, a senior at Suffern High School in Suffern, NY (“The Effects of Ipriflavone on Human Osteoclastic Bone Resorption and Cell Morphology in vitro”); Allison Rhines, an 11th grader at Oregon Episcopal School in Portland, OR (“An Analysis of Brain Tissue Sections for Proteins Targeted by the Genotoxicant Methyla-zoxymethanol (MAM)”); Diana Eheart, a senior at Hamilton High School in Chandler, AZ (“Therapeutic Efficacy of Serotonin Precursor Loading to Mitigate MDMA-Induced Neurotoxicity: Rescue of Serotonin Neurons and Treatment of Anxiogenesis”); Katherine Nicholas, a junior at Ephrata Senior High School, Ephrata, PA (“The Effects of Betaseron and Pycnogenol on Nitric Oxide Levels in Multiple Sclerosis Cells”); and Valerie Brak, an 11th grade student at Navasota High School in Navasota, TX (“The A”maze”ing Sleep Deprived Mice: A Study of the Effects of Sleep Deprivation”) These projects are just a sampling of the many outstanding projects we had the opportunity to review. All of the 1,443 finalists at the ISEF were bright, enthusiastic, and diverse. Their projects ranged from examination of the effect of cinnamon capsules on diabetes to the design of prosthetic limbs. The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair is a wonderful event and I was proud to represent APS at this celebration of the scientists of tomorrow.
N.L. Kanagy, |
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In December 2004 approximately 60 physiologists, almost all members of the American Physiological Society, convened a conference on the long-term control of blood pressure at the Samode Palace in the village of Samode, approximately 40 miles from the Rajasthan city of Jaipur in India. The four-day meeting covered various aspects of blood pressure regulation including neural regulation and renal mechanisms. The meeting was organized by Simon Malpas of the University of Auckland and Roger Evans of Monash University. The total attendance including spouses and guests was approximately 100. While the scientific component of this meeting was outstanding, there were additional benefits and outcomes, which may have a longer lasting impact. Many of the spouses attending this conference took a tour of the village of Samode and observed the educational facilities in several primary schools. Because the students in the Government Primary School were without essential facilities such as desks, chairs, writing materials, etc., Clive May of the Howard Florey Institute and his wife Susie May initiated a plan to provide the students with some of these necessities. A collection was taken up from all participants. Approximately $1,200 was raised. This was enough money to provide furniture, whitewashing of the walls and electricity. This was the first such charitable donation from a group of physiologists. The organizers and participants are grateful to Susie May for organizing this effort.
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The APS Archive of Teaching Resources (http://www.apsarchive.org) continues to grow with the recruitment of a variety of new learning objects from educators all over the country. To date, there are over 700 items catalogued in the Archive from various sources. However, more material is still needed. Please consider submitting material that you have developed to use to make your teaching more effective. These can be:
By submitting learning objects that you have developed, you can help your colleagues in their efforts to find the best tools for introducing their students to the exciting discipline of physiology. |
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