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| Nebraska and Iowa Chapters Celebrate Anniversaries | ||||||||||||
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The Nebraska and Iowa Chapters of the American
Physiological Society celebrated their 10th and 11th year anniversaries,
respectively, in a combined meeting held September 8, 2007, in the Lied
Conference Center, Nebraska City, NE. The meeting included participants from
South Dakota. Attendance at the meeting totaled 120 and 67 research posters
were presented by undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows,
and faculty members representing 11 institutions. A major goal of the
combined meeting was to attract and highlight students and young
investigators in the region, and provide them with an opportunity to become
acquainted with highly regarded senior investigators throughout our region.
An emphasis was placed on attracting undergraduate student participation by
adding a poster award category for best undergraduate student poster, and by
advertising the meeting at undergraduate and community colleges throughout
the bi-state region. A record number of 18 undergraduate and 23 graduate
students attended the meeting, creating a student/faculty ratio of nearly
1:1. Sixteen postdoctoral fellows were also in attendance. The meeting was called into session by Harold D. Schultz, NPS President and Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Univ. of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), and Robert L. Dunbar, IPS President and Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Buena Vista University. The scientific portion of the meeting began with the NPS keynote address by Peter Wagner, Univ. of California, San Diego. The title of Wagner’s presentation was, “Angiogenesis in Exercising Muscle.” Wagner’s address was followed by Young Investigator Presentations by Sean P. Didion, Univ. of Iowa, J. David Holtzclaw, UNMC, Jessica R. Meendering, Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha, and Julia A. Moffitt, Drake Univ. The speakers were selected to present their research projects based on the quality of their submitted abstracts. Following the Young Investigator Presentations, Marsha Lake Matyas, Director of Education Programs for APS, presented an overview of APS Resources for Education. Matyas’ discussion was followed by a luncheon and State of the APS address by Irving H. Zucker, President-Elect of APS and Chairman of the Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UNMC. The afternoon portion of the meeting began with the IPS keynote address by Paul G. Mermelstein, Department of Neuroscience, Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis. The title of Mermelstein’s presentation was, “Emerging Mechanisms of Estrogen Action.” Poster viewing and judging followed Mermelstein’s address, and a concurrent educational software workshop was conducted by Kurtis Cornish, Professor, Department of C & I Physiology, UNMC, and AD Instruments. Poster judging was done in the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral categories from institutions that included: Buena Vista Univ., Drake Univ., Univ. of Iowa, Univ. of Nebraska at Kearney, Univ. of Nebraska at Lincoln, and UNMC. Posters were also presented by faculty and other professionals representing Creighton Univ., Univ. of Iowa, UNMC, Univ. of South Dakota, and Wayne State College. After compiling scores from poster judges, Schultz and Dunbar presented awards to individuals in the judged categories. In the undergraduate category, award recipients were: 1st place, Sumit Kar, UNMC; 2nd place, Stephanie Brady, UNMC; 3rd place (tie), Amanda Dorale, Buena Vista Univ., and Kyle Glienke, Buena Vista Univ. Award recipients in the graduate category were: 1st place, Sarah Clayton, UNMC; 2nd place (tie), Carmen Troncoso-Brindeiro, UNMC, and Allison Kleiber, UNMC. In the postdoctoral category, award recipients were: 1st place (tie), Cheng Wang, UNMC, and Wei-Zhong Wang, UNMC; 2nd place, Rasna Sabharwal, Univ. of Iowa; 3rd place, Aparajita Chowdjury, UNMC. Recipients received certificates and monetary awards of $250 (1st place), $100 (2nd place), or $50 (3rd place). The IPS and NPS business meetings were conducted at the conclusion of the poster awards. Schultz and Dunbar thanked the staff for their essential contributions to the organization and coordination of the combined meeting: Cindy Norton, Dorothy Burgin, Pearl Sorensen, Linda Tegeder, and Marie Maruca. Schultz and Dunbar also thanked this year’s sponsors for their support. Sponsors included: the American Physiological Society (APS); the Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UNMC; the Dean’s Office of the College of Medicine, UNMC; and The Nebraska Medical Center. Corporate sponsors were: AD Instruments, Data Sciences International, EMD Chemicals, Inc., North Central Instruments, World Precision Instruments, and VisualSonics. After the meeting, a consensus of organizers and participants felt that the regional meeting accomplished several important goals. The meeting attracted students from diverse institutions throughout the region and promoted interdisciplinary contacts among research workers and students interested in the physiological sciences at the local level. It also highlighted goals on education of future physiologists the general public. Officers for NPS the coming year are: President: Thomas E. Pisarri, Creighton Univ.; President-Elect: Kaushik P. Patel, UNMC; Secretary/Treasurer: George J. Rozanski, UNMC; Councilor: Jessica Meendering, Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha; Councilor: Robert A. Cushman, USDA Meat Animal Research Center; and Councilor: Janet E. Steele, Univ. of Nebraska at Kearney. Officers for IPS the coming year are: President: Gina Shatteman, Univ. of Iowa; Past President: Robert L. Dunbar, Buena Vista Univ.; Secretary/Treasurer: Harald M. Stauss, Univ. of Iowa.
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