Education

Undergraduate Students Receive David S. Bruce Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Research
Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows Receive tum Suden/Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Awards
Horwitz Receives Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award
Undergraduate Summer Research Fellows Attend EB
Undergraduate Research Highlighted at Special EB Session
2007 APS/NIDDK Minority Travel Fellows Attend Experimental Biology in Washington, DC
Washington, DC Area Science Teachers and Students Explore Physiology at EB 2007
2007-2008 Porter Physiology Fellows Announced
APS Supports 24 Undergraduate Researchers
APS Presents Awards to Outstanding High School Students at the 58th Annual International Science and Engineering Fair

Undergraduate Students Receive David S. Bruce Awards
for Excellence in Undergraduate Research

Six undergraduate students who were first authors on abstracts submitted to Experimental Biology 2007 in Washington, DC received David S. Bruce Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.
The APS Education Committee, chaired by Thomas A. Pressley, Texas Tech Univ. Health Science Center, initially selected 17 finalists from a pool of 63 applicants. Finalists were chosen based on the quality and novelty of their abstracts and letters written by the candidates describing their career goals, their role in the research, and the significance of the research. The 17 finalists were:

Lindsay Ambrecht, College of William and Mary
Janelle Billig, College of William and Mary
Monica Crary, Ursinus College
Raphael Freitas, Federal Univ. of Sao Paulo
Jonelle George, Villa Julie College
Vladimir Glinskii, Harvard Univ.
Anthony Illing, Univ. of Cincinnati
Casey McCroskey, Alderson-Broaddus College
Andrew Miller, Skidmore College
Kevin Ogden, Michigan State Univ.
Charles Norton, Univ. of New Mexico
Michaela O’Rourke, Univ. of New England
Jason Pan, Washington Univ.
Jennifer Pardieck, Medical College of Georgia
Rupak Shivakoti, DePauw Univ.
Paul Wach, Medical College of Georgia
Victoria Youngblood, Univ. of New Mexico

These students then made oral presentations of their posters to a subcommittee chaired by Thomas A. Pressley. Six awardees were selected based on their knowledge of their research project. Each awardee received $500 and a certificate of recognition. Awards were presented by Pressley and President Dale Benos during a special APS Undergraduate Poster Session at EB 2007. The awardees were:

Monica Crary, Ursinus College
Jonelle George, Villa Julie College
Anthony Illing, Univ.of Cincinnati
Casey McCroskey, Alderson-Broaddus College
Andrew Miller, Skidmore College
Kevin Ogden, Michigan State Univ.

APS congratulates all these students on the quality of their research and presentations.

The APS award is named in honor of APS member David S. Bruce (1939–2000), who served as Chair of the APS Teaching Section and was a professor of physiology at Wheaton College from 1978-2000. Bruce was a dedicated physiology educator who had a particular interest in engaging undergraduate students in scientific research. Bruce not only encouraged and supported his students in participating in research, but he also regularly brought undergraduate students to the Experimental Biology meeting, often to present their research findings. For more information, visit the APS website at http://www.the-aps.org/awards/student/bruce.htm.
The awardees for the 2007 David S. Bruce Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.

The finalists for the 2007 David S. Bruce Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.

 

 


Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows Receive tum Suden/Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Awards

Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who were first authors on an abstract submitted to Experimental Biology 2007 in Washington, DC were eligible to apply for the Caroline tum Suden/Frances A. Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Award. The APS Women in Physiology Committee, chaired by Siribhinya Benyajati at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, selected 35 awardees from a pool of 167 applicants. Applicants were chosen based on the quality and novelty of their abstracts, and letters written by the candidates describing their career goals, research, and why they were particularly deserving of the award. Each awardee received $500, a certificate of recognition, and complimentary registration for the EB 2007 meeting. Awards were presented during the APS Business Meeting. Awardees were:

Julye Adams, Univ. of Kentucky
Erika Boesen, Medical College of Georgia
Ian Bratz, Indiana School of Medicine
Melissa Burmeister, Cornell Univ. College of Vet. Med.
Samuel Carmichael, Univ. of Kentucky
Erica Dale, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
Darren DeLorey, Medical College of Wisconsin
Ahmed Elmarakby, Medical College of Georgia
Kim Gannon, Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center
Carmen Halabi, Univ. of Iowa Carver College of Med.
Gregory Henderson, Univ. of California, Berkeley
Benjamin Hodnett, Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center
Michael Hoffman, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
Lacy Holowatz, Pennsylvania State Univ.
Radu Iliescu, Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center
David Infanger, Cornell Univ.
JaNae Joyner, Wake Forest Univ.
Julie Kang, Univ. of Southern California
Wing-Kee Lee, Univ. of Witten/Herdecke
Guillermo Lehmann, CONICET-UNR
Melissa Li, Michigan State Univ.
Jing Li, New York Medical College
Adam Mitchell, Georgetown Univ.
Jessica Osmond, Medical College of Georgia
Barkha Patel, York Univ.
Jennifer Pluznick, Yale Univ. School of Medicine
Caroline Rickards, US Army Inst. for Surgical Research
Rasna Sabharwal, Univ. of Iowa
Adeel Safdar, McMaster Univ.
Minga Sellers, Texas A&M Univ.
Alexis Simpkins, Medical College of Georgia
Ildiko Toma, Univ. of Southern California
Chris van der Poel, The Univ. of Melbourne
Trinity Vera, Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center
Xiaohong Xia, Univ. of Nebraska Medical Center
Siribhinya Benyajati, Chair, APS Women in Physiology Committee (center), with Caroline tum Suden/Frances A. Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Awardees.

Horwitz Receives Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award

APS President Dale Benos presents Barbara Horwitz with the Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award.

The APS Women in Physiology Committee hosted a reception at Experimental Biology 2007 to honor Barbara A. Horwitz, Professor of Physiology and Vice Provost for Academic Personnel at the University of California, Davis, as the forth recipient of the Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award. 

More than 65 trainees, EB awardees, and colleagues gathered to celebrate the award and hear Horwitz’s award lecture entitled, “Mentoring Lessons Learned.” The talk will be published in a future issue of The Physiologist and posted on the APS Mentoring web site (http://www.the-aps.org/career). Martha E. O’Donnell (Univ. of California, Davis), Horwitz’s first graduate student, was present to introduce her. The award was presented to Horwitz by Siribhinya Benyajati, Chair of the Women in Physiology Committee, and Dale Benos, President of the APS.

Horwitz received her PhD at Emory University.  She did her postdoctoral training at the University of California, Los Angeles and Davis before being appointed Assistant Research Physiologist in the Department of Physiological Sciences at Davis and subsequently, Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Physiology. She rose through the academic ranks and in1978 was named Professor of Physiology and in 2003, Distinguished Professor. She served as Chair of the Department of Animal Physiology from 1991-1993; and after the Department was reorganized/renamed as the Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior in 1993, she continued to serve as Chair of the Section until 1998. In 2001, she was named the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel, and in July 2007 she became Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor at Davis.

Horwitz successfully mentored eight postdoctoral fellows, 11 predoctoral students, and countless undergraduates. A significant number of Horwitz’s undergraduate mentees have obtained PhD or other post baccalaureate/professional degrees. Her graduate student mentees have gone on to a wide variety of positions, mostly in academia, and are leading successful scientific careers with national funding. The majority of Horwitz’s mentees are also well respected college and university teachers, receiving teaching awards themselves.  All of the people writing the supporting recommendation letters (many of whom started out as undergraduate students in Horwitz’s classes) attested to Horwitz’s dedication, commitment, her life-long hands-on mentoring, and her outstanding teaching ability. Horwitz is credited for her ability to instill students with fascination of science, passion for physiology, and strong scientific ethic. It was pointed out that she not only continues to mentor her own students long after graduation but also acts as a mentor to undergraduate and graduate students at University of California, Davis, studying physiology or nutrition, as well as students in the Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity Program. She is a mentor of junior scientists, whether they are students just starting out, assistant professors establishing their laboratories, or full professors in need of some advice and guidance from a colleague. She has obtained two grants of national funding to develop instructional materials for undergraduate physiology courses and is a principal investigator on a NIH-funded mentoring program (in its ninth year) aimed at increasing the number of under-represented minorities in biomedical research.

APS congratulates Dr. Horwitz on this well-deserved honor.

APS members are encouraged to nominate members for the 2008 Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Award. For more information, see the APS website (http://www.the-aps.org/awards/society/schmidt-nielsen.htm). Application deadline is September 15, 2007.


Undergraduate Summer Research Fellows Attend EB

The 2006 Undergraduate Summer Research Fellows (UGSRFs) attended the Experimental Biology meeting to report on their research findings from last summer.

Fourteen Undergraduate Research Fellows attended the meeting; 12 of the undergraduate fellows were authors on abstracts submitted to the meeting. Of those, 11 were first authors on their abstracts.

As an orientation session, the UGSRFs and some of their mentors met with Nansie McHugh, Chair of the Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee, and Cathy Uyehara, Committee member. They were joined by the finalists for the David S. Bruce Excellence in Undergraduate Research Awards and their research mentors. McHugh led a discussion with the students about what occurs during a large scientific meeting and how to get the most out of being there, both of in terms of science and career talks, as well as social activities. They also talked about poster presentations and hints for making that a positive experience.

On Monday, the Undergraduate fellows participated in the APS Undergraduate Poster Session and presented their posters to APS members, in addition to their regularly scheduled scientific session.

Overall, the Undergraduate Summer Research Fellows saw the Experimental Biology meeting as being a very positive learning experience and appreciated the opportunity to come and present their research.

Undergraduate Research Highlighted at Special EB Session

An undergraduate student gives her poster presentation.

EB 2007 provided the setting for the fourth annual APS Undergraduate Poster Session. This special session highlights the contributions of undergraduate students to physiology research. Students present their poster at both their regularly scheduled poster session and the special Undergraduate Poster Session. This year it was held on Monday afternoon and culminated with the presentation of the David S. Bruce Awards.

Of the 133 undergraduate first authors invited to present at the APS Undergraduate Poster Session, 95 accepted the invitation and took advantage of the opportunity to display their poster and present it to interested scientists and guests. The session not only provided undergraduate students with an opportunity to highlight their research but also to meet faculty from many graduate schools and medical schools to discuss their future plans. Approximately 200 APS members and guests were in attendance at the session, with many comments heard as to the high quality of research being presented by the students. The students and their research were highlighted again this year in a special printed program distributed during the session.

This is the second year that graduate departments were invited to sponsor the session and display promotional materials for their departments to those undergraduates considering graduate school. The following schools participated:

  • Department of Physiology at the Louisiana State Univ. Health Sciences Center in New Orleans
  • Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia
  • Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin
  • Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Physiology at Pennsylvania State Univ.
  • Department of Physiology at the Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham
  • Department of Physiology at the Univ. of Alberta
  • Physiological Sciences, Graduate Interdisciplinary Program at the Univ. of Arizona
  • Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program and Department of Bioengineering at the Univ. of California, San Diego
  • Department of Molecular and Cell Physiology at the Univ. of Cincinnati College of Medicine
  • Department of Physiology & Biophysics at the Univ. of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center
  • Department of Physiology at the Chandler College of Medicine, Univ. of Kentucky
  • Department of Physiology & Biophysics at the Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center
  • Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology at the Univ. of Nebraska Medical Center
  • Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Therapeutics at the Univ. of North Dakota School of Med. & Health Sciences
  • Programs in Biomedical & Biological Sciences at the Univ. of Southern California
  • The Graduate Program in Cell & Regulatory Biology at the Univ. of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

The departments also received a list of undergraduate presenters who indicated they were interested in being contacted about attending graduate school.

APS looks forward to hosting APS Undergraduate Poster Sessions at future Experimental Biology meetings and encourages undergraduate students doing research in physiology to submit abstracts for EB, apply for the David Bruce award, and attend the poster session in 2008. Departments who are interested in sponsoring the 2008 Undergraduate Poster Session and displaying materials for their departments are encouraged to contact Melinda Lowy of the APS Education Office (mlowy@the-aps.org; 301-634-7787).


2007 APS/NIDDK Minority Travel Fellows Attend Experimental Biology in Washington, DC

The APS regularly awards Travel Fellowships for underrepresented minority scientists and students to attend APS scientific meetings with funds provided by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). These Fellowships provide funds for registration, transportation, meals, and lodging for travel to a meeting location, as well as complimentary meeting registration. Thirty-three Fellows attended the APS annual meeting, “Experimental Biology” (EB) in Washington, DC from April 28-May 2, 2007.

Fellows in the NIDDK Minority Travel program not only received financial support to attend these meetings, but were also provided professional guidance through pairings with APS members who served as mentors to the Fellows for the duration of the conference. Thanks to the time and expertise offered by mentor volunteers, Fellows were able to maximize their time and more fully experience the many aspects of each conference.

During EB, Fellows attended an orientation and reception on Saturday afternoon and a luncheon on Wednesday. This year, the luncheon speaker was Catherine F.T. Uyehara, Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii. Uyehara shared through her own personal experiences, that although there are challenges for those underrepresented in the sciences, there are still many opportunities for trainees and established physiologists from different backgrounds interested in mentoring them. An optional networking breakfast was also scheduled on Monday morning.

The travel awards are open to graduate students, postdoctoral students, and advanced undergraduate students from minority groups underrepresented in science (i.e., African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders). Students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The specific intent of this award is to increase participation of pre- and postdoctoral minority students in the physiological sciences. For more information, contact Brooke Bruthers in the APS Education Office at 301-634-7132 or bbruthers@the-aps.org, or visit http://www.the-aps.org/education/minority_prog/index.htm on the APS website.
Fellows at “Experimental Biology 2007” were: Adebowale Adebiyi, Univ. of Tennessee Health Science Center, Julio Ayala, Vanderbilt Univ., Carmelo Blanquicett, Emory Univ., Sonya Coaxum, Medical Univ. of South Carolina, Nildris Cruz, UPR-Medical Science Campus, Carlos del Rio, The Ohio State Univ., Dolores Doane, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Maria Dominguez, Indiana Univ. School of Medicine, Leticia Gonzalez, Univ. of North Texas Health Science Center, Laura Gonzalez Bosc, Univ. of New Mexico, James Harris, Auburn Univ., Mark Hernandez, Univ. of Missouri-Columbia, Andres Hernandez, Auburn Univ., Crystal Hill-Pryor, Medical College of Georgia, Michael Hoffman, UW-Madison, Anna Leal, UT Southwestern, Lymari Lopez-Diaz, Univ. of Michigan, Wendell Lu, Univ. of Cincinnati, Keisa Mathis, LSU Health Sciences Center, Karl Pendergrass, Wake Forest Univ., Farah Ramirez-Marrero, Mayo Clinic, Clintoria Richards-Williams, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham, Edelmarie Rivera-De Jesús, Ponce School of Medicine, Ana Rodriguez, Univ. of Puerto Rico – Medical Sciences Campus, Walter Rodriguez, Univ. of Louisville, Melissa Romero-Aleshire, Univ. of Arizona, Olga Santiago, Ponce School of Medicine, Keshari Thakali, Michigan State Univ., Ann Tobin, Medical College of Wisconsin, Carmen Troncoso Brindeiro, Univ. of Nebraska Medical Center, Wanda Vila-Carriles, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham, Vabren Watts, Meharry Medical College, Julia Wilkerson, Univ. of Wisconsin.

APS Mentors at “Experimental Biology 2007” were: Thomas C. Resta, Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, Catherine F.T. Uyehara, Tripler Army Medical Center, R. Brooks Robey, White River Junction/VA Medical Center, Francisco H. Andrade, Univ. of Kentucky, Nansie A. McHugh, Huntingdon Life Sciences, Julio E. Ayala, Vanderbilt Univ., Wanda H. Vila-Carriles, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham, Judy Muller Delp, Ph.D, West Virginia Univ. School of Medicine, Bruce M. Damon, Vanderbilt Univ. Institute of Imaging Science, Richard J. Paul, Cincinnati College of Medicine, Gregory L. Florant, Colorado State Univ., Douglas C. Eaton, Emory Univ. School of Medicine, Kendall F. Morris, Univ. of South Florida College of Medicine, Dexter L. Lee, Howard Univ., Martin Farias III, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Helen E. Raybould, Univ. of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Roy L. Sutliff, Emory Univ., Liming Jin, Johns Hopkins Univ., Patricia Molina, Louisiana State Univ. Health Science Center, Barbara E. Goodman, Sanford School of Medicine of the Univ. of South Dakota, Mark G. Clemens, Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte, Oscar A. Candia, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, C. Subah Packer, Indiana Univ. School of Medicine, Pascale H. Lane, Univ. of Nebraska College of Medicine, Parimal Chowdhury, Univ. of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Laura Gonzalez Bosc, Univ. of New Mexico, William M. Chilian, Louisiana State Univ. Health Sciences Center, Jennifer S. Pollock, Medical College of Georgia, Donald G. Welsh, Univ. of Calgary, Susan M. Barman, Michigan State Univ..
2007 APS/NIDDK Minority Travel Fellows.

Washington, DC Area Science Teachers and Students Explore Physiology at EB 2007

More than 100 Washington, DC area high school teachers and students participated in the Physiology for Life Science Teachers and Students Workshop at EB 2007. The workshop included a keynote presentation, a careers panel discussion, a tour of posters and exhibits, and hands-on physiology workshops for students and teachers.

Education Committee member Joseph Benoit, University of North Dakota, coordinated the day’s events, and Thomas Pressley, Texas Tech University, Chair of the Education Committee, served as the master of ceremonies. During the whole day affair, participants learned about current research findings, explored hands-on, inquiry-based lab activities, learned about education and careers in biomedicine, met with APS researchers, and toured the EB posters and exhibits.

The keynote presentation, “Why Fat is Good: The Physiological Consequences of Obesity in Mammalian Hibernators,” was given by APS member and Porter Committee chair, Gregory Florant of Colorado State University, Fort Collins. Florant’s talk was followed by a Careers Panel that included APS members Patricia Molina of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Mesia Steed of the University of Louisville and 2006 APS Minority Outreach K-12 Fellow, and Florant. The panel was moderated by science teacher Margaret Shain (Indiana). Responding to the audience’s engaging questions, the career panel discussed the excitement of research careers in physiology and the training required to become a physiologist. Thirty two APS members served as tour guides during lunch where they took teachers and students through the exhibits and posters and shared a box lunch while discussing physiology careers.

The afternoon student session was led by Robin Looft-Wilson of the College of William & Mary with assistance from Barb Goodman of the University of South Dakota, Jeff Osborn of the University of KY, Rayna Gonzales of the University of California, Irvine, Jennifer Uno of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and the two 2007 APS Minority Outreach K-12 Fellows, Jessica Clark of Washington University in St. Louis, and Clintoria Richards-Williams of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Students used the “Elvis Experiments” from the APS “Physiology of Fitness” unit to learn about factors affecting flow of liquids through tubing (radius, length, viscosity).

While students were conducting their experiments, their teachers and the 2006 Research Teachers in the Frontiers in Physiology Fellowship participated in workshop activities on the anatomy and physiology of the heart, and an inquiry approach to identifying and classifying slide images of tissue samples, with presentations led by science teachers Cynthia Pfirrmann (New Jersey) and Stephen Biscotte (South Carolina). Benoit and Pressley served as physiologist resources. As in the past, feedback from both teachers and students was very positive and students were especially excited to meet physiologists one-on-one. The committee is planning to continue the program in 2008 in San Diego.

The Frontiers in Physiology program is designed to create ongoing working relationships between research scientists and middle/high school teachers via research and inservice experiences and electronic communications. Additionally, the program promotes the adoption of national standards for K-12 content and pedagogical techniques among middle and high school science teachers through ongoing inservice activities developed collaboratively by teachers and physiology researchers. Frontiers in Physiology is a program of APS, and is sponsored by APS, the National Center for Research Resources Science Education Partnership Awards, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease at the National Institutes of Health. For more information about the APS education programs, please visit: http://www.the-aps.org/education.
Greg Florant explains the physiological basis of hibernation. Tom Pressley describes respiration and heart rates to students.

Teachers model heart chambers with balloons upon various cardiovascular conditions, while Joey Benoit, coordinator oversees the session in the background. Panelists shared their experiences in becoming a physiologist. From left to right: Margaret Shain (facilitator), Mesia Steed, Patricia Molina, and Greg Florant.

Clintoria Richards-Williams (right), one of the two 2007 APS K-12 Outreach Fellows, leads students in designing an experiment to test the effects of radius size on flow rates. Students set up an experiment to test the effect of length on flow rates.

2007-2008 Porter Physiology Fellows Announced
The APS and Porter Physiology Development Committee congratulate the 2007-2008 APS Porter Physiology Fellows:

Bonnie L. Akerman, Dartmouth College
Antino R. Allen, Indiana University
Zelieann Rivera, University of Arizona
Lizette Warner, Mayo Clinic

Brandi Thompson, University of Michigan and a 2006-2007 Porter Fellow, was named the 2007-2008 Eleanor Ison-Franklin Fellow in honor of Dr. Franklin, the past Co-Chair of the Porter Committee, indicating that she had the highest ranked application among the renewal applicants.

The Porter Physiology Fellowships for minorities are one-year fellowships that provide a stipend of $20,772, with the opportunity for a second year of funding. The fellowships are open to underrepresented ethnic minority applicants (African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Native Alaskans, or Pacific Islanders) who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its territories. Applicants must have been accepted into or currently be enrolled in a graduate program pursuing an advanced degree in the physiological sciences. For more information, see the APS website at http://www.the-aps.org/education/minority_prog/stu_fellows/porter_phy/ov_pp.htm or contact Brooke Bruthers in the APS Education Office at education@the-aps.org or 301-634-7132. The deadline for 2008-2009 applications will be January 15, 2008.

APS Supports 24 Undergraduate Researchers

The American Physiological Society’s Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowships (UGSRF) program is sponsored by the APS Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee and funded by the APS Council. This year, APS doubled the number of fellowships, funding 24 undergraduates for summer 2007. The program was established in 2000, making this the seventh year of the program.

These fellowships are to support full-time undergraduate students to work in the laboratory of an established investigator. The intent of this program is to excite and encourage students to pursue a career as a basic or clinical research scientist. Faculty sponsors/advisors must be active members of the APS in good standing but do not have to be US residents. Past awardees include students from Canada and South America.

These Fellowships provide a $3,000 summer stipend to the student (10 weeks of support), a $300 grant to the faculty sponsor/advisor, and up to $1,000 to the student so that he/she may attend and present their data at the APS annual meeting (Experimental Biology) or an APS fall Conference.

This year 69 applicants vied for the 24 fellowships.
 

2007 Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship Awardees

Student/Student Institution
Blair S. Ashley/ The College of William and Mary
Austin W. Blum/Cornell Univ.
J. Austin Carr/Univ. of California, San Diego
Kerin Carta/Syracuse Univ.
Lindsay A. Davis/Albion College
Sarah B. Devlin/Kansas State Univ.
Matthew P. Dukes/Univ. of Mississippi
Theodore G. Eckman/Juniata College
Sara M. Freiberg/Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
Brianna L. Goldenstein/Univ. of North Dakota
Sarah J. Jefferson/Pennsylvania State Univ.
Maleka Khambaty/East Tennessee State Univ.
Tamara Livshiz/Univ. of Michigan
Kaitlin M. Moredock/Univ. of Dayton
Jessica R. Priestley/Michigan State Univ.
Linnea Pudwill/Colorado State Univ.
Kristen N. Reynolds/Johnson C. Smith Univ.
Ean R. Saberski/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Richa Sharma/Indiana Univ.
Kaniza Y. Tai/Univ. of Massachusetts
A. Caitlynn Taylor/Asbury College
Kristin M. Thomas/Univ. of Michigan
Matthew Welsh/Univ. of Central Florida
Daniel B. Yaeger/Willamette Univ.
Research Host/Host Institution
Robin Looft-Wilson/The College of William and Mary
Klaus W. Beyenbach/Cornell Univ.
Frank L. Powell/Univ. of California, San Diego
Scott Collier/Syracuse Univ.
J.R. Haywood & Carrie A. Northcott/Michigan State Univ.
Bruce D. Schultz/Kansas State Univ.
Joey P. Granger/Univ. of Mississippi
Gregory L. Stahl, F.A.H.A/Harvard Medical School
Stephen Johnson/Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
Van Doze/Univ. of North Dakota
Donna Korzick/Pennsylvania State Univ.
Tom W. Ecay/East Tennessee State Univ.
Jessica Schwartz/Univ. of Michigan
Carissa Krane/Univ. of Dayton
Stephanie Watts/Michigan State Univ.
Frank A. Dinenno/Colorado State Univ.
Inna Sokolova/Univ. of North Carolina at Charlotte
Albert Sinusas/Yale Univ. School of Medicine
C. Subah Packer/Indiana Univ.
David I. Soybel/Brigham and Women's Hospital
Sean D. Stocker/Univ. of Kentucky
Jeffrey Horowitz/Univ. of Michigan
Annabell C. Segarra /Univ. of Puerto Rico
Stasinos Stavrianeas/Willamette Univ.

 


APS Presents Awards to Outstanding High School Students at the
58th Annual International Science and Engineering Fair

The 58th Annual Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), presented by Agilent Technologies, was held in Albuquerque, NM May 13-19, 2007. Nearly 1,500 students from 47 countries, regions, and territories competed in the world’s largest pre-college science competition awards. During the two evenings of awards ceremonies, over $4 million in scholarships, cash prizes, and awards were distributed in categories ranging from behavioral science to engineering and medicine. Prizes included scholarships, cash awards, scientific field trips to foreign countries and the grand prizes: three $50,000 scholarships from Intel. Grand Awards in each of 23 categories ranging from $500 to $5,000 were presented by funds provided by numerous companies, universities, and organizations including the Intel Foundation, Agilent Technologies, Alcatel-Lucent, Shell Oil, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Tech, and Science News. Special Awards are presented by over 70 scientific, professional and educational organizations and include scholarships, summer internships, book and equipment grants and scientific field trips.

For the 12th 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 included L. Britt Wilson from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine who acted as lead judge, and fellow judges Nancy Kanagy, Laura Gonzalez Bosc, Brad Broughton, Karen Sweazea, from the University of New Mexico, and Matthew Campen from the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute.

The convention center was packed with posters displaying projects ranging from physiologic-based research done at home or at large medical schools, to complex robotics complete with computer driven controls. Students spent two days being interviewed by judges representing a variety of disciplines, and participated in a panel discussion featuring several Nobel Laureates. As judges, we previewed almost 200 projects to select 21 that best fit the category of “physiology.” We interviewed each of these finalists to evaluate their involvement in the project and to determine their understanding of the science and experimental design behind the project. After two days of interviews, we chose the following projects to receive APS awards for excellence in physiological research.

Receiving $1,000 and first place was Isha H. Jain, 16, of Freedom High School, Bethlehem, PA for her project, “Gene Expression During Fin Growth in Zebrafish: The Role of the Gap Junction Protein Connexin43 in Vertebrate Bone Development.” Isha studies both wild-type and shortfin Zebrafish (mutant defective in connexin 43) to test the hypothesis that connexin43 regulates osteoblast differentiation. However, Isha showed that proliferating mesenchymal cells expressed the connexin43 protein, suggesting a pivotal role for this protein in the induction of mesenchymal proliferation. Alterations in connexin43 expression and/or regulation may underlie a variety of developmental malformations.

Second place and a $500 award went to Michael C. Green, 16, of the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools, Cayce, SC for his project, “Digest this! How Food Affects the pH of the Gastrointestinal System.” Michael displayed the enthusiasm and desire of a young bench scientist as he researched and examined how different foods alter pH of the gastrointestinal tract. He simulated the various parts of the gastrointestinal tract, including the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. His data supported his hypothesis that proteins and fats caused much greater alterations in pH, than do foods high in carbohydrates.

Dayan Li, 17, of Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Greenbelt, MD was awarded one of the two third place awards ($500) for his project, “Thrombospondin-1 Switches Nitric Oxide Function from Inhibitory to Stimulatory for Gene Expression of Human Tumor Endothelial Cell Markers.” As one of the top three students at the Intel ISEF overall, Dayan also won the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award, the grand prize with a $50,000 college scholarship. Dayan used RT-PCR to examine the expression of several tumor marker genes in umbilical vein endothelial cells. His data showed that nitric oxide (NO) inhibited the expression of the marker genes, but in the presence of thrombospondin-1, NO augmented expression of these genes. This work provides important input regarding drug therapy involving compounds that release thrombospondin-1.

Third place was also awarded to Tahseen Ismail, 18, of Hillsborough High School, Tampa, FL. Tahseen’s work, “The Effect of Progesterone on Ischemic Brain Injury in Sprague-Dawley Rats with Permanent Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion,” showed a marked reduction cerebral infarct volume in rats treated with progesterone. In addition, she showed progesterone-treated rats exhibited fewer functional deficits following middle cerebral artery occlusion. This work may provide important insight regarding treatment options for stroke victims.

These projects are just a small sampling of the many outstanding projects we had the opportunity to observe. The finalists at the fair were bright, enthusiastic, and diverse. The students were quite impressive, as was the range and depth of their projects. It is a wonderful event and I was proud to represent APS at this celebration of the scientists of tomorrow.

Additional APS finalists included:
1. Dalene Cook, Seneca High School, Seneca, MO: “How Sweet It Is: The Influence of Taste Perception and Sensitivity on Food Choice Based on Taste Status”
2. Michael Kapps, Thornhill Secondary School, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada: “Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Ethanol-Induced Developmental Toxicity”
3. Marc Egerman, Ossining High School, Ossining, NY: “The Identification of a Myostatin Signaling Pathway: An in vitro Study of Myotube and Myoblast Response”
4. Mary Wen, Archbishop Molloy High School, Briarwood, NY: Proliferation and Alignment of Osteoblasts on Oriented Magnetic Nanocomposites
5. Kahla White, Latta High School, Ada, OK: The Effect of 17 Beta-Estradiol and Ethinylestradiol on the Gender Distortion and Fertility of Drosophila melanogastor”
6. Melanie Kabinoff, Park Vista High School, Lake Worth, FL: “Beta-Amyloid Precursor Protein - 1: Linking Protein Replacement Therapy as Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease and Melanoma - A Three-Year Study”

L. Britt Wilson
University of South Carolina 
APS Education Committee

The winners of the APS Special Awards at the 2007 Intel ISEF with Lead Judge, Britt Wilson. Pictured from left to right: Michael Green, Dayan Li, Britt Wilson (Lead Judge), Tahseen Ismail, and Isha Jain. APS members who served as Special Awards judges at the Intel ISEF. Pictured from left to right: Matthew Campen, Britt Wilson, Laura Gonzalez Bosc, Karen Sweazea, Nancy Kanagy, and Brad Broughton.

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