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APS News
APS Council Holds Fall
Council Meeting |
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| APS Council Holds Fall Council Meeting | ||||
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The APS Council held their fall meeting at the
Scottsdale Marriott at McDowell Mountains, Scottsdale, AZ, November 8-9,
2007. Council received reports from the Publications, Finance, Membership,
Education, and other Committees. APS staff members Marsha Matyas, Robert
Price, Alice Ra’anan, and Margaret Reich joined the meeting to assist with
the committee report presentations. The Publications Committee reported that the Journal Impact Factors made a strong showing in 2006 as they had in previous years, and that Physiological Reviews’ impact factor was up to 31.441 from 28.721 in 2005. The Committee reported that the time to publication for manuscripts has decreased from 3.5-4.0 months to 2.5 months. The Committee also reported that the APS AuthorChoice program, which was developed to allow authors the ability to provide immediate free access to their work, was opened to all APS research journals in July 2007. The Publications Committee reported that Paul Insel, USCD, has been appointed Editor of AJP-Cell Physiology and David Linden, Johns Hopkins, has been appointed as Editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology. Their respective terms will begin in July 2008. The Finance Committee presented Council with the projected final 2007 budget and the proposed 2008 budget, both of which were accepted and approved by Council. The Education Department reported that in January 2008 there will be two Professional Skills Training Courses for Minority Students. The courses will be repeated in 2009 and 2010. One course is on writing and reviewing manuscripts and the other course is on presentation skills. The courses will be held each year in January in Orlando, FL. Matyas reported that the 2007 Physiology Understanding (PhUn) Week that was held in November was very successful, and, in fact, exceeded the target goals. She said that there were two special events held during PhUn Week. The first was the Boston Children’s Museum KidPower Exhibit, coordinated by APS member Andrea Gwosdow. The second was the ADInstruments PowerLab equipment collaboration in South Dakota, coordinated by APS members Barbara Goodman and Jessica Clark. Matyas said that ADInstruments would also be providing financial sponsorship for the PhUn Week Training Session at EB08. The Women in Physiology Committee reported that Joey P. Granger, Billy S. Guyton Distinguished Professor, Professor of Physiology and Medicine, and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has been selected as the 2008 Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor Awardee. Granger will receive his award at the EB08 meeting in San Diego, CA. Based on a recommendation from the Daggs Award Committee, Council approved the selection of APS member L. Gabriel Navar as the 2008 Daggs Awardee. He will receive his award at the 2008 APS Business Meeting. The Council had an extensive discussion of the National Board of Medical Examiners’ (NBME) proposed change to the US Medical Licensure Exam (USMLE). Council expressed concern about how moving the Step 1 Exam from the second to the third year would impact upon basic science teaching and the ability of MD-PhD programs to evaluate students. Tom Pressley and Joey Granger drafted a letter for Council to submit to the NBME. APS Executive Director Martin Frank reported that APS would be hosting an opening reception at EB08. The reception will immediately follow the Cannon Lecture on Saturday, April 5, 2008 on the Center Terrace in the San Diego Convention Center at 7:00 pm. Additional details of the Council’s 2007 fall meeting will be presented to the membership at the 2008 APS Business Meeting. The Business Meeting will be held at EB08 on Tuesday, April 8, at 5:45 pm in the San Diego Convention Center. All APS members are encouraged to attend. Council Action Items Council approved the recommendations of the Finance Committee accepting the 2007 estimated budget and approved the 2008 proposed budget. Council unanimously approved a motion to transfer 22 regular members to emeritus membership status. Council unanimously approved the requests of 105 regular members, three student members, and one affiliate member for reinstatement. Council unanimously approved the selection of L. Gabriel Navar as the 2008 Daggs Awardee.
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Hannah Carey and Martin Frank represented
the Society at the reception in honor of the 2007 US Nobel Laureates
hosted by Dr. John Marburger, the President’s Science Advisor. Held on
November 26, 2007 in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive
Office Building, the reception honored Mario Capecchi and Oliver
Smithies, recipients of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine; Leo
Hurwicz, Roger Myerson, and Eric Maskin, recipients of the Nobel Prize
for Economics; and former Vice President Al Gore and representatives of
the US Delegation to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
recipients of the Nobel Prize for Peace.
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The APS Living History Project continues to
gain traction as members invite senior members at their institutions to
reminisce about their careers. Our members’ efforts are consistent with
Council’s goal when it initiated the program — to chronicle the exploits and
experiences of senior members of the Society. Over the last several years,
we have lost a number of eminent physiologists who made significant
contributions to the discipline of physiology and to the Society. The Living
History Project is one way to capture the images, experiences and wisdom of
our senior members for the benefit of future generations of physiologists.
It is anticipated that individuals identified for inclusion in the Living History Project will be interviewed at facilities at their academic institution. Since the institution will also be interested in posting the video on its web site, it is hoped that the cost of videotaping will be borne by the institution. The interview should be conducted by a faculty colleague or a former student familiar with the individual’s career. It is anticipated that the interview will last approximately 60 minute and included the following: 1) a brief introduction; 2) a discussion on how and why he/she became a physiologist; 3) list individuals that were influential in the development of his/her career; 4) a discussion of the origin and significance of their accomplishments; and 5) advice for beginning physiologists. At present, six APS members have been chronicled as part of the Living History Project. The videotapes for Clark Blatteis, Maurice Burg G. Edgar Folk, John Greenleaf, Samuel Leonard, and Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen can be viewed at http://www.the-aps.org/livinghistory/index.htm. If you are interested in coordinating the interview of a senior physiologist, suggested names can be submitted by you or through your disciplinary section. However, all suggestions are to be submitted to Martin Frank (mfrank@the-aps.org) so various aspects of the process can be properly coordinated. The archival component of the Living History Project, which originally included a published biographical profile in Advances in Physiology Education, will be retained but “uncoupled” from the video component in that yearly recommendations will be originated from the Sections. It is envisioned that each year at the Experimental Biology Meeting, Sections will nominate a deserving senior member and forward his/her name to Charles Tipton (tipton@email.arizona.edu), Historical Perspective Editor, Advances in Physiology Education. You can help facilitate this sectional function by forwarding your recommendation and rationale to the sectional chair well in advance of the Experimental Biology Meeting. |
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