Education

Navar Receives Third Schmidt-Nielsen
Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award

L. Gabriel Navar

The APS Women in Physiology Committee is pleased to announce that L. Gabriel Navar, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology at Tulane University School of Medicine, has been selected as the third recipient of the Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award.  The Committee was extremely impressed with both his mentoring excellence and his outstanding contributions to physiological research.

Navar received his PhD at the University of Mississippi under the direction of Arthur Guyton. He served as a faculty member at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and at the University of Alabama at Birmingham prior to his appointment as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology at Tulane University in 1988. Navar is also a co-Director of the Tulane Renal and Hypertension Center of Excellence. Navar has a very successful research program, contributing significantly to fundamental research in the fields of renal hemodynamics and hypertension. Navar’s excellence in scientific research has been honored with awards from the American Physiological Society, the American Heart Association, and the American Society of Hypertension.

Navar has had a tremendous mentoring career, having mentored 21 pre-doctoral students, 42 postdoctoral fellows, and four visiting scientists during the past 40 years.  Many of these mentees have gone on to a wide variety of positions, in academia as well as in medicine, and are leading successful scientific careers. Many of the people writing the supporting recommendation letters attested to Navar’s unique mentoring style, his commitment to life-long mentoring of trainees, his scientific integrity, his love of science, his role in introducing trainees to experts in the field, and his ability to make his trainees feel like family. As summed up by one of Navar’s mentees, “Despite his considerable scientific contributions, his most important, and enduring legacy can be found in the lives, careers and contributions of the people he has trained and shaped throughout his career. These individuals were set upon their career paths after having been prepared and nurtured under Dr. Navar’s supervision.” 

Navar will give a talk entitled, “From Mentee to Mentor: Lessons Learned Along the Way,” at the 2006 Experimental Biology meeting in San Francisco, CA, on Monday, April 3 at 12:00 pm at the San Francisco Marriott, Yerba Buena 10/11. All trainees and mentors are invited.
APS congratulates Dr. Navar on this well-deserved honor.

Call for Reviewers for APS Archive

The APS Archive of Teaching Resource is streamlining its review process beginning in January 2006. We are looking for reviewers who can assist in the March review of materials.

Materials submitted to the APS Archive will now be reviewed twice yearly. New deadline dates for submissions are February 15 and September 15. Volunteer review panels will be convened March 1 and October 1 and have two weeks to complete reviews of submitted materials. Reviews will be sent to authors on March 22 and October 22.

For the February 15 submission deadline, calls for submissions of undergraduate and graduate materials in the following fields will be sent out via the section/group listservs: Cardiovascular, Comparative and Evolutionary, Envi-ronmental & Exercise, Genomics, Hypoxia, Muscle Biology, Renal, Respi-ration, Translational Research, and Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis.

This new review process allows for more APS members to be involved in the review of materials submitted to the APS Archive. It also allows for a timelier turn-around period for the authors to receive feedback on their submissions.

If you are interested in being a reviewer for materials submitted in those fields, please email Melinda Lowy at mlowy@the-aps.org.

APS Launches New Professional Skills Training Program

APS, in conjunction with the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), is pleased to announce the trainees who have been accepted to participate in the first Professional Skills Workshop on “Writing and Reviewing for Scientific Journals” which was held on January 12-15, 2006 in Orlando, FL.

The trainees are:

APS and ASM members participating as mentors and instructors are as follows:

Kim Barrett, Univ. of California, San Diego; Robert Hester, Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center; Barbara Horwitz, Univ. of California, Davis; Mark Knuepfer, Saint Louis Univ.; Larry McDaniel, Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center (ASM); Lori McMahon, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham; Jo Morello, Univ. of Chicago (ASM); Judith Neubauer, UMDNJ, RW Johnson Medical School; Joan Slonczewski, Kenyon College (ASM); R. Clinton Webb, Medical College of Georgia; Dale Benos, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham; Greg Florant, Colorado State Univ.; Evangeline Motley, Meharry Medical College; Rudy Ortiz, Univ. of California, Merced; Irving Zucker, Univ. of Nebraska Medical Center.

The workshop is especially designed to attract underrepresented minority students. It will bring together trainees from both APS and its partner, the American Society for Microbiology, with experienced mentors and scientists from the two societies.

During the course, trainees will receive hands-on training at writing and reviewing their own writing and that of their colleagues. They are required to complete pre-workshop homework (readings, writing, sending in a draft manuscript), as well as additional evening homework during the course.

The course is supported by a grant to APS from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the NIH (Grant #GM073062-01).

A second workshop on the same topic will be conducted again on May 4-7, 2006 in Denver, CO. Applications for the second course will be available in late January. For more information or to sign up for email notification of a future short course, see the Professional Skills website at http://www.the-aps.org/education/professionalskills/.

APS Trainee and Mid-Career Symposia at EB

Symposium on Career Development for Mid-Level Academic Scientists
Sunday, April 2, 2:00-4:00 pm
Convention Center
Organizer: Marian R. Walters
Speakers: Edward Bocko: “General Strategies in Seeking Career Changes;” Marian R Walters: “New Directions: Office of Research and Graduate Studies;” Margaret E.M. Tolbert: “New Directions: Careers at NSF;” Richard Vari: “Finding a New Focus in Education.”

APS/ASPET Mentoring Workshop
Mastering the Juggling Act: Laboratory, Life, and Leadership Roles (sponsored by the APS Women in Physiology and ASPET Women in Pharmacology Committees)
Monday, April 3, 8:00 – 10:00 am
Convention Center, Room 130
Organizers: Ann Schreihofer and Deborah Damon (APS) and Laura Nisenbaum (ASPET)
Speakers: Ida Llewellyn-Smith: “Juggling Research-Related Duties: How to Stop Putting Out Fires and Use Your Time Wisely;” Lynn Wecker: “Juggling Research With Service and Teaching Duties: How Much, What Kind, and When;” Marilyn J. Cipolla: “Juggling for the Dual Career Couple: Strategies for Maximum Job Satisfaction;” Susan Steinberg: “Juggling Job and Family: Balancing Home Life and Careers.”

APS Careers Symposium
Navigating the Interview: How to Make It Work for You (sponsored by the APS Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee)
Monday, April 3, 5:45 – 7:45 pm
Convention Center, Room 252/260
Organizers: Nansie A. McHugh and William R. Galey
Speakers: Richard E. Klabunde: “Interviewing in Industry vs. Acade-mia;” Donna H. Korzick: “That First Faculty Position Interview: Preparation and Etiquette!” David P. Brooks: “Interviewing for the Pharmaceutical Industry: What Does It Involve and How to Succeed?” Daniel E. Michele: “I Survived the Academic Interview.”

APS Trainee Symposium
Transition from Postdoc to Jr. Faculty: Surviving the Initial Years (sponsored by the APS Trainee Advisory Committee)
Tuesday, April 4, 8:00 – 10:00 am
Convention Center, Room 132
Organizers: Rudy M. Ortiz and Ryan W. Bavis
Speakers: L. Gabriel Navar: “Negotiating a Faculty Position. The Do’s and Don’ts;” Karie Scrogin: “Setting Up the Lab;” Ann Schreihofer: “Down the Road to Funding: Getting That First Grant;” Sean Stocker: “Juggling the Responsibilities of a Young P.I.: Insights From Personal Experience.”

New Trainee Web Site

The Trainee Advisory Committee is pleased to announce a new web site just for trainees.
Included on the web site are pages for Trainee Advisory Committee activities like the symposium at Experimental Biology, trainee newsletters, and the survey report.

Also included are pages for trainee associations and trainee resources, such as awards, career planning, families & science careers, finding a job, funding resources, general resources, lab management, and mentoring. A discussion board where trainees can discuss issues of interest is planned for spring 2006.

The web site will be accessible from the main APS home page at http://www.the-aps.org or directly at http://www.the-aps.org/trainees/.

APS Presents Awards at ABRCMS Conference

The APS presented awards to minority undergraduate researchers and was a major conference sponsor at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, GA from November 2-5, 2005. ABRCMS is a national conference designed to facilitate increased minority involvement in biomedical and behavioral science careers. This three-day conference encompassed scientific presentations, professional development workshops, poster and oral presentations, and numerous networking opportunities with faculty and administrators from graduate schools, government agencies, scientific societies and foundations. According to numbers provided by ABRCMS, approximately 2,600 individuals, including 1,203 undergraduate students, 316 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, and 900 faculty and administrators attended this meeting.

The APS, represented by Education Office staff member, Brooke Bruthers, was pleased to present $250 awards to eight undergraduate students for the best poster presentations in physiology during the conference. Students also receive a complimentary one-year print subscription to Physiology, an APS denim shirt and are added to the Minority Physiologists Listserv. Twenty judges, including APS members, Mike Brands, Medical College of Georgia, Margaret Colden-Stanfield, Morehouse School of Medicine and Barbara Horwitz, University of California-Davis, selected the winners:

Best Sophomore Poster Presentation: Cherie Ognibene, Langston Univ., Guthrie, OK; Abstract Title: “Fluorescent Imaging In Trabecular Meshwork Cells: A Model System To Evaluate Glucocorticoid-Induced Phagocytosis”

Best Junior Poster Presentations; Divine Nininahzwe, Winston Salem State Univ., Winston-Salem, NC; Abstract Title: “Development of New Monoclonal Antibodies To Identify Novel Scavenger Receptors On Murine Macrophages”

Brandon Penn, Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD; Abstract Title: “Disruption of the ß2 Adrenergic Receptor PDZ Binding Motif: Impact Upon Cardiac Structure and Function.”

Best Senior Poster Presentations
Ashley Bolden, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO; Abstract Title: “Estrogenic Effects Of Polyphenols On Ovariectomized Rats”

DaShawnda Lindsey, Wayne State Univ., Detroit, MI; Abstract Title: “The Effect of Intracerebroventricular Infusion of ß-Endorphin on the Cardiovascular Dynamics in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats and Normal Wistar Rats”

Christa Osuna, Univ. of California, Irvine, CA; Abstract Title: “The Effect of Age on Estrogen Modulation of Cerebrovascular Inflammation”

Mahendranauth Samaru, Hunter College, New York, NY; Abstract Title: “PPARgamma Ligands Exacerbate Free Cholesterol-Induced Macrophage Death, Raising The Possibility of An Adverse Effect In The Progression of Advanced Atherosclerotic Lesions.”

Best Oral Presentation

Luwanda Jenkins, California State Univ., Long Beach; Abstract Title: “Increases In Apoptosis And Declines In Bcl-XL Protein Characterize Testicular Regression In American Cows (Corvus Brachyrhynchos)”

The APS congratulates the students on a job well done and wishes them the best in their academic pursuits.

The APS Education office also staffed an exhibit booth, highlighting the following awards, programs and resources for minority groups underrepresented in science:

APS/NIDDK Minority Travel Fellowship, providing travel support for 50-70 students annually. This fellowship provides funds to attend Experimental Biology and the fall APS conferences. Awardees also are paired with a mentor, an APS member, in their area of research. The intent of this program is to increase participation of pre- and postdoctoral minority students in the physiological sciences.

Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship, supporting up to 12 fellowships each year. Fellowships support full-time undergraduate students to work in the laboratory of an APS member. The goal of this program is to excite and encourage students to pursue a career as a basic research scientist.

Explorations in Biomedicine Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship, which immerses Native American undergraduates from across the nation in the world of cutting-edge physiology and biomedical research for 8-10 weeks during the summer. The Fellowship also provides the student an opportunity to participate in a major scientific meeting to experience the different ways science is communicated.

Porter Physiology Fellowship Program, supporting minority students pursuing full-time studies toward a PhD in the physiological sciences.

The Career brochure and updated Career web site, the Archive of Teaching Resources, the Timeline of Physiology, membership for students, and Experimental Biology 2006 also were provided for participants.

The ABRCMS meeting is sponsored by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Minority Opportunities.

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