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As a member of the IUPS
Council and of the International Program Committee for the 35th Congress, I
was fully immersed in the planning operations that led to the Congress in
San Diego.
Much earlier, I had also contributed to planning for the 1986 IUPS Congress
in Vancouver, Canada. By comparison, that was a much smaller Congress; the
San Diego Congress was coupled to the Annual Meeting of the American
Physiological Society (APS), and the planning was of necessity more complex
and more detailed. The expectations of both IUPS and the APS had to be met,
and a dynamic interplay took place between the two organizations. Also, in
the intervening years since the Vancouver Congress, the impact of modern
technology had increased — the age of computers and accelerated information
transfer had matured considerably. Also, the large size and scientific clout
of the American Physiological Society increased both the resources available
and the complexity of the planning exercise.
Several large planning meetings were organized by the APS, notably one near
Washington, DC in very pleasant surroundings, and one at the April 2003
Experimental Biology Meeting in San Diego, where we could visit the
facilities for the 2005 Convention. An unprecedented outreach appeal for
symposium and track proposals generated a large number of diverse
submissions, which when assembled in printed form almost equaled a small
telephone book in thickness. The track concept was to link a series of
symposia on a topic area together, providing insights at several different
levels of observation for a selected high-interest topic. An additional
feature of planning was Walter Boron’s convening of small “focus groups” for
intensive discussion of track proposals. As a representative of the Neural
Commission of IUPS, I went to San Francisco for a four-person discussion
group in late August, 2003. Here, recommendations were developed for
selected tracks to be developed. Such decisions were difficult, given more
good submissions than could be accommodated. Throughout the planning
process, much to the credit of those involved in the planning, a great
effort was made to ensure international representation, gender
representation, adequate coverage of sub-disciplines, and scientific
excellence.
This careful planning process produced many excellent symposia and tracks at
the Congress. I attended several in sub-disciplines other than my own, and
felt that I emerged better educated. An interesting feature of the San Diego
Congress was the very good representation for Comparative Physiology,
signaling growing interest in studying environmental effects on an organism
through use of genetics-based technologies (including analysis of
micro-arrays, tissue-specific gene expression, and other approaches). The
same methodologies appeared in other symposia dealing with disease processes
and responses to stress. Thus, the general theme of the Congress,
emphasizing genes to organisms, was amply justified.
The very detailed planning process had its cost, as well as its benefits.
Since only a fraction of the many solicited symposium proposals could
actually be fitted into the program, there was bound to be disappointment
among unsuccessful proposers. The track concept, by necessity, involved a
competitive selection process which risked leaving some sub-disciplines
poorly represented — but provision for many free-standing symposia ensured a
safe-guarding counterbalance.
The many social events at the Congress allowed ample opportunities for
collegial discussions and interactions. An unforgettable outdoor supper
evening at the harbor-side park culminated in an impressive display of
fireworks. The final evening featured a concert at which a newly composed
musical suite based on human physiology was presented—-certainly a unique
event! Although threatened disruptions by animal rights activists were
anticipated and planned for, these did not amount to much when the time
came. The activists had a much lower profile than had been the case in
Christchurch, New Zealand. Taken as a whole, the Congress was an enjoyable
experience.
For those interested in other aspects of San Diego and its surroundings, the
timing of the Congress could not have been better. An unusually wet spring
had stimulated an exuberant display of desert flowers, so on an off day, I
rented a car and drove out to the Anza-Borrega Desert with my
photography-addicted wife and Pavel Balaban (from Russia) and his wife. The
desert lived up to expectations; even a desert horned lizard (horned toad)
was photographed. On the way back to town, we sustained a flat tire and I
found, to my dismay, that the jack provided with the car was missing some of
its parts and could not be used. Luckily, a local motorist came by and
stopped to help us. At first, he was disconcerted by our foreign accents,
but I happened to be wearing a University of Iowa Hawkeye cap and explained
that I had a son in the Physics Department at Iowa State University; this
was reassuring to him, and in no time at all, the tire was changed and we
made our way carefully back to town on the spare “micro tire.” Our hotel, on
hearing of our dilemma in the desert, called the car rental place, and we
were excused from paying any rental charges. So we left San Diego in good
spirits!
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| Congress participants
enjoy keg racing during the IUPS Beach Party. |
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