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Education
Horwitz Receives Fourth
Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award
APS Launches Second Professional Skills Training Program
APS Trainee Symposia at EB
Twenty Precollege Teachers Participating in the 2006
Frontiers in Physiology Fellowship Program
2006 RTs and Mentors |
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Horwitz
Receives Fourth Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award
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Barbara A. Horwitz |
The APS Women in Physiology Committee is
pleased to announce that Barbara A. Horwitz, Distinguished Professor of
Physiology and Vice Provost for Academic Personnel at the University of
California, Davis, has been selected as the fourth recipient of the Bodil M.
Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award. The Committee was
extremely impressed with both her mentoring excellence and her outstanding
contributions to physiological research.
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, a position she continues to hold.
Horwitz has a very successful research program, contributing significantly
to fundamental research in the field of genetic, neural, and hormonal
regulation of energy balance. Her current research is focused on the
underlying mechanisms associated with altered gene expression and brain
regulation of energy balance in genetic and diet-induced animal models of
obesity; the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying sympathetic
(adrenergic) stimulation of energy expenditure; the role of mitochondrial
uncoupling proteins in energy balance and oxidative stress; and the
physiological basis of altered metabolism during various stages of aging.
For her research, she has received an NIH MERIT Award, as well as being
named a Fellow of the AAAS.
Horwitz successfully mentored eight postdoctoral fellows, 11 predoctoral
students, and countless undergraduates. A significant number of Horwitz’s
undergraduate mentees have obtained a 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.
Horwitz’s teaching and mentoring excellence has been recognized with
numerous awards, including the APS Arthur C. Guyton Physiology Teacher of
the Year Award, the University of California Presidential Award for
Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research, the University of
California, Davis Prize for Teaching & Scholarly Achievement, and the
University of California, Davis Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching
Award.
Horwitz will give a talk on mentoring, followed by a reception, at the 2007
Experimental Biology meeting in Washington, DC, on Monday, April 30 at 12:00
pm at the Renaissance Hotel. All trainees and mentors are invited to attend.
APS congratulates Dr. Horwitz on this well-deserved honor. |
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APS Launches Second Professional Skills Training Program |
APS, in conjunction with the American Society
for Microbiology (ASM) and the Society for Developmental Biology (SDB), is
pleased to announce the trainees who have been accepted to participate in
the new Professional Skills Workshop on “Making Scientific Presentations:
Critical First Skills” January 18-21, 2007 in Orlando, FL.
The trainees are:
Sunanda Baliga
Rutgers Univ.
Jose Manuel Ballesteros
Univ. of California, Davis
Betty Booker
Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham
Christina Bracken
Tufts Univ.
Sarah Kimberly Burris
Saint Louis Univ.
Nildris Cruz
Univ. of Puerto Rico
Marielly Cuevas
Ponce School of Medicine
Jessica Dries
East Carolina Univ.
Darah Esther Fontanez-Nuin
Ponce School of Medicine
Jorge L. Gamboa
Univ. of Kentucky
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Jose Orlando Garcia
Univ. of Puerto Rico
Katia E. Garcia
Univ. of Puerto Rico
Lisa Gargano
Emory Univ.
Julie Elizabeth Getz
Northern Arizona Univ.
Erica Hutchins
Univ. at Albany
Francie Elizabeth Hyndman
Univ. of Colorado, Denver
Kathryn Jaques
Rutgers Univ./UMDNJ
Maria Kraemer
Mayo Clinic and Foundation
Jenny Rae Lenkowski
Tufts Univ.
Rachel Lindstrom
Univ. of Colorado
Diana Bahrani Marina
San Francisco State Univ. |
Karl Dean Pendergrass
Wake Forest Univ.
Ana Eugenia Rodriguez
Univ. of Puerto Rico
Jessica Snow
Univ. of New Mexico
Samantha Steelman
Texas A&M
Amy Jean Steig
Univ. of Colorado
Alia Maria Toro
Ponce School of Medicine
Guermarie Velazquez
Univ. of Puerto Rico
Ixane Velazquez
Univ. of Puerto Rico
Jeffrey Thomas White
Louisiana State Univ.
Nazanin Yaghoobian
Univ. of Southern California
Barbara Jo-Anne Zaffo
Univ. at Albany
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APS, ASM, and SDB members participating as
mentors and instructors are as follows:
Dale Benos
Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham
Mary Anne Courtney
Univ. of Rochester (ASM)
Rayna Gonzales
Univ. of California, Irvine
Robert Hester
Univ. of Mississippi
L. Gabriel Navar
Tulane Univ.
Jane Reckelhoff
Univ. of Mississippi
Thomas Schmidt
Univ. of Iowa
Annabell Segarra
Univ. of Puerto Rico
The workshop is especially designed to attract underrepresented minority
students. It will bring together trainees from both APS and its partners,
the American Society for Microbiology and the Society for Developmental
Biology, with experienced mentors and scientists from the three societies.
During the course, trainees will receive hands-on training at developing and
making scientific presentations. They are required to complete pre-workshop
homework (readings, sending in a draft abstract and poster), 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 March 8-11,
2007 in Bethesda, MD. 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/. |
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APS Trainee Symposia at EB |
ASPET/APS Mentoring Workshop
“Being Heard: The Microinequities That Tilt the Playing Field”
sponsored by the ASPET Women in Pharmacology and APS Women in Physiology
Committees
Monday April 30, 2007, 8:00 -10:00 a.m.
Location to be determined.
Organizers: Susan Steinberg and Holly Brevig (ASPET) and Kathleen Berecek (APS)
Speakers: Joan Steitz, “Beyond Bias and Barriers: A Report on the NAS Report
on Women in Academic Science and Engineering;” Barbara Horwitz, Title to be
determined; Jeanine D’Armiento, Title to be determined; Florence Haseltine,
Title to be determined
APS Careers Symposium
“Guide for Successful Collaboration: From the Handshake to the Collaborative
Research Agreement”
sponsored by the APS Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee
Monday, April 30, 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Convention Center, Room 159A/B
Organizers: Douglas G. Johns and Catherine F. T. Uyehara
Speakers: Stephanie W. Watts, “Initiating Successful Collaborations: A
How-to Guide;” Stephen A. Douglas, “The Many Facets of Collaboration with
the Pharmaceutical Industry;” Jay Winchester, “Collaborative Research
Agreements: Getting Through the Legal Hurdles;” Colonel Janet Harris,
“Collaboration with the Military: Getting Access to Military Resources”
APS Trainee Symposium
“Multiple Career Paths for a Physiologist: Understand Your Options and How
to Get There”
sponsored by the APS Trainee Advisory Committee
Tuesday, May 1, 8:00 - 10:00 am
Convention Center, Room 147B
Organizers: Erica Wehrwein, Jennifer Pluznick, and Sean Stocker
Speakers: Margaret Anderson, “Perspectives from a Small Undergraduate
College;” Jelveh Lameh, “Opportunities in Industry: Small
Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology Company;” Edward J. Zambraski, “Perspectives
from a U.S. Government Scientist;” Keri Poi, “Insight into a Career in
Scientific Writing.” |
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Twenty Precollege Teachers Participating in the 2006
Frontiers in Physiology Fellowship Program
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Since April of 2006, 20 teachers have been
participating in the year-long “Frontiers in Physiology” and “Explorations
in Biomedicine” Professional Development Fellowship programs. These
nationwide fellowship programs pair a middle or high school teacher with an
APS member to conduct biomedical research during the summer of 2006. The
Research Teachers (RTs) learn first-hand how the research process works.
In July, the RTs also spent an intensive workshop week attending the APS
Science Teaching Forum at the Airlie Center in Warrenton, VA. The RTs
explored inquiry- and equity-based teaching strategies, how to integrate
technology into their classroom, and equity issues in science education. A
vital component of the week-long Science Teaching Forum is the guidance
provided by APS Members serving as the Physiologists-in-Residence and the
Mentor/Instructor team composed of past RTs. They facilitated sessions using
APS curriculum units and worked with the RTs one-on-one as they developed
their own lab/lessons. The Mentor/Instructors work with the 2006 RTs
throughout the Fellowship year via email and online activities.
Two dynamic APS members served as Physiologists-in-Residence: Thomas
Pressley, Professor of Physiology at Texas Tech Univ. Health Science Center
in Lubbock, TX (2007 Education Committee Chair), and the APS’ first K-12
Minority Outreach Fellow Mesia Moore Steed, a doctoral student in physiology
at the Univ. of Louisville, KY. Pressley and Steed actively and effectively
fielded the RTs’ numerous questions related to science content, the use of
animals in research, and classroom equity issues. Both were also called on
to assist the teachers as they began developing science labs and activities
to use in their classrooms. The Lead Mentor/Instructor was Margaret Shain,
who teaches middle school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New Albany, IN.
Other Mentor/Instructors were: Lisa Bidelspach, Clear Creek High School,
League City, TX; Isabelle Camille, Coral Reef Senior High School, Miami, FL;
Charles Geach, El Paso Independent School District, TX; and Tonya Smith,
Southeast Middle School, Hopkins, SC.
The RTs continued their fellowship in the autumn by field-testing their own
inquiry-based activity in their classrooms. The RTs are currently
participating in online professional development units and will be attending
EB 2007 at the conclusion of their fellowship. Look for the special RT
ribbons they will be wearing, and congratulate them for completing the
year-long, intensive professional development fellowship program.
Over the last 16 years, the APS has partnered with many of the nation’s
leading biomedical academic, private, and government research facilities to
provide research opportunities for more than 300 teachers. Applications for
the 2007 Frontiers fellowship program are currently in review. For more
information, visit the Frontiers in Physiology website at:
http://www.the-aps.org/education/frontiers/index.htm or contact Mel
Limson in the Education Office at
mlimson@the-asp.org. |
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2006 RTs and Mentors
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Robert Bartlett, Morton West High School, Berwyn, IL
Dorothy A. Hanck, PhD, Univ. of Chicago, Chicago
Stephen M. Biscotte, Blythewood High School, Blythewood, SC
Gregory L. Brower, DVM, PhD, Univ. of South Carolina School of
Medicine, Columbia
Jason Cox, New Albany High School, New Albany, IN
Jeff C. Falcone, PhD, Univ. of Louisville Health Science Center
Sandra Cross, Camino Real Middle School, Las Cruces, NM
Marvin Bernstein, PhD, New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces
Rebecca Evans, Granville Intermediate School, Granville, OH
Leif D. Nelin, MD, Columbus Children’s Research Institute and The
Ohio State Univ.
Tina M. Hale, Ockerman Middle School, Florence, KY
Manoocher Soleimani, MD, Univ. of Cincinnati College of Medicine,
Cincinnati, OH
Kathryn Hedges, Campagna Academy Charter School, Schererville, IN
Stephen F. Echtenkamp, PhD, Indiana Univ. School of
Medicine-Northwest, Gary
Clare F. Kennedy, Academies@Englewood, Englewood, NJ
Keith J. DiPetrillo, PhD, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical
Research, Easter Hanover
Erin Knapp, Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis, IN
Frank A. Witzmann, PhD, Indiana Univ. School of Medicine,
Indianapolis
Ramona Lundberg, Deuel High School, Clear Lake, SD
Kaia L. Kloster, PhD, Avera Research Institute/Univ. of South Dakota
School of Medicine, Sioux Falls
Kathryn E. Madren, Lawrence Central/Lawrence North High Schools,
Indianapolis, IN
Steven J. Miller, PhD, Indiana Univ. School of Medicine,
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William Geoffrey Mahl, Seymour Middle School, Seymour, IN
Stephen A. Kempson, PhD, Indiana Univ. School of Medicine,
Indianapolis
Robert Manriquez, Many High School, Many, LA
D. Neil Granger, PhD, Louisiana State Univ. Health Science Center,
Shreveport
Brandi N. Odom, Verbum Dei High School, Los Angeles, CA
Kenneth D. Philipson, PhD, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA,
Los Angeles
Melissa Parsons, Norwood Middle School, Norwood, OH
Manoocher Soleimani, MD, Univ. of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Cynthia Pfirrmann, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, Scotch Plains,
NJ
Nancy R. Stevenson, PhD and Stephen J. Moorman, PhD, UMDNJ-Robert
Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway
Clemontene Rountree, Northwestern High School, Hyattsville, MD
Georges E. Haddad, PhD, Howard Univ. College of Medicine,
Washington, DC
Elmer Sanders, Arsenal Technical High School, Indianapolis, IN
C. Subah Packer, PhD, Indiana Univ. School of Medicine, Indianapolis
Tonya Williams, Kelly Miller Middle School, Washington, DC
Georges E. Haddad, PhD, Howard Univ. College of Medicine,
Washington, DC
Maria L. Winston, Edgemont Jr./Sr. High School, Scarsdale, NY
Patric K. Stanton, PhD, New York Medical College, Valhalla |
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