Section News
 

Introducing William J. Martin

William J. Martin
On April 5, 2005, William J. Martin succeeded J. Michael Wyss as Chair of the Steering Committee for the Central Nervous System Section. Prior to becoming Chair, Martin was a member of the Liaison with Industry Committee and served on the CNS section Steering Committee since 2003. Martin is currently a member of the Animal Care and Experimentation Committee for which he leads a working group on pain and distress. In addition to his participation in APS committees, Martin has mentored NIDDK Minority Travel Fellows at the annual Experimental Biology meeting and serves as a peer reviewer for numerous scientific publications, including the Journal of Neurophysiology.

Martin is currently a Senior Director in the department of Pharmacology at Theravance Inc., a small molecule drug discovery and development company based in South San Francisco, CA. After completing his undergraduate studies at Swarthmore College, Martin earned his PhD in Experimental Psychology from Brown University, in 1995, in the laboratory of. J. Michael Walker. He carried out his postdoctoral research at the Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience at the University of California at San Francisco in the departments of Anatomy and Physiology with Allan I. Basbaum. At UCSF, Martin investigated nociresponsive neurons in mouse spinal cord dorsal horn and their contribution to pain transmission and modulation. With his colleagues at Brown, and later UCSF, Martin conducted seminal experiments on the electrophysiological actions of cannabinoids within nociceptive pathways in the brain and spinal cord.

In 1999, Martin joined the department of Pharmacology at the Merck Research Laboratories of Merck and Co., Inc. where he continued to pursue his interest in understanding and identifying novel treatments for persistent pain syndromes, such as neuropathic pain. Martin has also been recognized for his research on the genitourinary system. Within this context, he and his colleagues were first to advance the notion that melanocortin 4 receptors modulate erectile activity in rodents.

In addition to APS, Martin remains actively involved in the Society for Neuroscience and the International Association for the Study of Pain.

As Chair, Martin plans to work with CNS Section Steering Committee members and Section affiliates to help the CNS section realize its full potential within the APS. During his tenure, he plans to focus on several key areas. First, ensure that CNS section affiliates are represented proportionally on APS committees. Bill Yates, the Committee on Committees Representative (and Secretary-Treasurer), encourages section affiliates to consider a self-nomination for appointment to a committee. Second, inspire section affiliates to participate in society conferences and meetings by promoting programming that is of significant interest. Ann M. Schreihofer chairs the Section Program Committee, which consists of Timothy S. McClintock and Steven W. Mifflin, and represents the Section on the Joint Programming Committee. In addition to Featured Topics, the Section currently organizes the Joseph Erlanger Distinguished Lectureship presented at the annual Experimental Biology meeting. This Distinguished Lecture, named after the American physiologist Joseph Erlanger (1874-1965), recognizes significant advances in the understanding of the central nervous system. Ideas for future Featured Topics, Workshops and Special Symposia are always welcome. Third, continue to recognize the importance that younger members play in the future of the CNS section and of the APS in general. The APS is uniquely positioned amongst scientific societies to support young investigators whose research interests include the CNS. Each year, the Awards Subcommittee, comprised of Ida J. Llewellyn-Smith and Adian K. Curran, selects CNS Section members to receive the New Investigator Award, Van Harreveld Memorial Award and Research Recognition Award. These awards recognize investigators at various early stages of their career. Francis J. Golder serves as Trainee Advisory Committee Representative and is open to learning how the CNS section can better serve the needs of young investigators. To this end, the Neural Control and Autonomic Regulation, Cardiovascular and CNS sections co-sponsor the Donald J. Reis Memorial Trainee Symposium, an abstract-driven Featured Topic that highlights outstanding submissions by trainees affiliated with any of these sections. Fourth, continue to engage investigators who conduct their research in an industrial setting. The study and treatment of CNS disorders represents one of the most important next waves of scientific discovery; a significant portion of this research is carried out by scientists working in industry. The CNS section and APS will benefit from these scientists’ full participation. Michael F.A. Finley is our representative to the Liaison with Industry Committee. Fifth, recognize that the strength of the CNS Section derives, in part, from the publication of journals that are important to section affiliates including the Journal of Neurophysiology for which Dora E. Angelaki serves as an Associate Editor and Publications representative to the CNS section. Strong communication between relevant journals and the CNS section stands to benefit both. Martin plans to continue working closely with former chair, Wyss, and hopes that you will join him in promoting committee representation, meeting participation and young investigator support and development of all CNS section affiliates of the APS. Additional information about the CNS Section, including contact information Steering Committee members, is available in the Section Newsletter which is posted on the APS website.

Introducing Pamela K. Carmines

Pamela K. Carmines

Pamela K. Carmines was elected Chair of the Renal Physiology Section and assumed duties in April 2005. An APS member since 1982, she was Treasurer of the Renal Section from 1991 to 1994. She served on the APS Membership Committee from 1997 to 1999, and was the Renal Section representative to the Committee on Committees from 2000 to 2002. A charter member of the Nebraska Physiological Society, she served terms as Councilor (1998-1999) and President (2001-2002) of that organization.
 
Since 2001 Carmines has been Associate Editor of the AJP: Renal Physiology. She has also served on the editorial boards of the AJP: Regulatory, Integrative & Comparative Physiology and Hypertension. She served three-year terms as a regular member of the Veterans Administration Merit Review Board for Nephrology and the American Heart Association Cardiorenal Review Committee. In addition, she has been an ad hoc reviewer for several NIH Study Sections and has served on Special Study Sections. From 1998 to 2001, she sat on the Executive Committee of the American Heart Association Council on Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease and edited that group’s newsletter. She currently serves on the Research Committee of the American Heart Association Heartland Affiliate, and sits on the Board of Directors of the National Kidney Foundation of Nebraska.

A native of Virginia, Carmines earned a BS degree from Longwood College with majors in Chemistry and Biology. She received her graduate training in the Department of Physiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine, working under the tutelage of George Tanner. After earning the PhD degree in 1982, she pursued postdoctoral training with Gabriel Navar at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Carmines was promoted to Research Instructor and to Research Assistant Professor at UAB, before accepting a position as Assistant Professor of Physiology at the Tulane University School of Medicine in 1988. She was appointed Associate Professor of Physiology & Biophysics (now Cellular & Integrative Physiology) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1993, and was promoted to Professor in 1997.

Carmines’ research interests focus primarily on regulation of renal hemodynamics, ranging from the integrative level (encompassing endothelial and epithelial influences on renal arteriolar tone) to studies of the intracellular signaling events evoked by angiotensin II in pre- and postglomerular microvascular smooth muscle cells. Her laboratory has also explored the deleterious impact of type 1 diabetes on renal function, including both the vascular and epithelial consequences of hyperglycemia and oxidative stress. She has received several accolades in recognition of her research and service. She was named an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association in 1990, and received the Young Scholars Award of the American Society of Hypertension in 1996. Most recently (2001), she received an Alumni Achievement Award from Longwood College.

During her tenure as Chair, Carmines hopes to build on the tradition of the Renal Section as one of the strongest and most prominent sections of the APS, despite its relatively modest size (~1,000 members; for comparison, Cardiovascular and Cell & Molecular sections each have ~3,000 members). One means to this end is to update the Section Operating Procedures (“bylaws’) to comply with current APS governance and policies and to reflect the actual procedures as they have evolved over recent years. The committee structure of the Section will also be clarified, making information about the composition, charge and operating procedures of each committee readily available to the membership on the website (http://www.the-aps.org/sections/renal). The intent of this process is inform Section members about the nature of the standing committees and ad hoc committees responsible for accomplishing the primary activities of the Section (programming, awards, etc.) Carmines also hopes to develop strategies for promoting the advancement of trainees from their temporary status as potential award recipients to the situation in which they emerge as a “youth movement” that plays a direct role in the myriad activities of the Section. The overall goal is to ensure that the Renal Section operates as a “well-oiled machine,” thus facilitating participation of members in Section and Society activities. With the help of an enthusiastic and dedicated Steering Committee, and with welcomed input and feedback from the Section membership, there should be no significant impediment to accomplishing this goal.

 

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