© The American Physiological Society - The Iowa Physiological Society 8th Annual Meeting

The ninth annual meeting of the Iowa Physiological Society (IPS) was held on Monday, May 17, 2004 in the Medical Education and Research Facility (MERF) at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City. Approximately 50 attendees participated in the meeting, including scientists and teachers from several Iowa institutions and invited guests from the University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of New Mexico. The meeting program included powerpoint presentations by student and postdoctoral trainees and invited faculty, 23 poster presentations, a hands-on-session on computer-based approaches to teaching physiology, and the presentation of Trainee Travel Awards for the highest rated abstracts/presentations. The scientific program and abstract booklets were provided to all registrants.

Pete Snyder of the University of Iowa delivering his feature presentation "Ubiquitin-Protein Ligase Regulation of the Epithelial Sodium Channel."

Early arrivals to the conference met the evening before the conference at the Atlas World Grill in downtown Iowa City for a “Conference Kickoff”. After registration and opening remarks, the meeting was officially underway at 9am the following day beginning with a featured presentation by Peter M. Snyder, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa, who spoke on “Ubiquitin-Protein Ligase Regulation of the Epithelial Sodium Channel.” Dr. Snyder’s presentation was followed by powerpoint presentations by the Trainee Award Finalists: Shun-Guang Wei (mentor Robert B. Felder), Chunhua Jiao (mentor Gina C. Schatteman), and Marc F. Doobay (mentor Robin L. Davisson) from the University of Iowa, and Baojian Xue from the University of Missouri-Columbia (mentor Meredith Hay). All four presentations were excellent which made the selection of the winners of the awards difficult. After much discussion among the judges, Marc Doobay and Shun-Guang Wei were named winners of the Trainee Travel Awards.


Members of the IPS board at the conference opening reception held at the Atlas World Grill in downtown Iowa City (from back to front, left to right): Harald Stauss, President-elect, Mark Chapleau, President, Ulla Kopp, Secretary-Treasurer, and Thomas Schmidt, Past-president, along with Meredith Hay from the University of Missouri-Columbia.	Virend Somers (invited speaker) and Harald Stauss at the Atlas World Grill.

Virend K. Somers, MD, DPhil, Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo College of Medicine, Rochester, MN delivered the Plenary Lecture, which was supported by the American Physiological Society. Dr. Somer’s provocative presentation “Sleep, Death and the Heart” was well received and generated much discussion. Many in the audience were happy to visit with Dr. Somers, a University of Iowa Alumnus, during the breaks.

A catered lunch was served in the MERF Atrium and the IPS Business Meeting was held in a nearby conference room. The meeting was presided over by IPS President Mark W. Chapleau and President-elect Harald M. Stauss. Secretary-Treasurer Ulla C. Kopp summarized the state of the membership and finances of the society, concluding that the financial state is good. Many items were discussed including: 1) the nomination of candidates for IPS President-elect, 2) possible locations and dates for the next IPS meeting including the possibility of a return of a joint meeting with the Nebraska Physiological Society, 3) ways to increase the IPS membership and facilitate communication between members of the society, 4) and the future of the relationship between the IPS and the Iowa Academy of Sciences (IAS). In addition to Chapleau, Stauss, and Kopp, key participants in the business meeting included past IPS presidents Ron Torry (Drake University), Piper Wall (Iowa Methodist Medical Center, DesMoines), and Thomas Schmidt (University of Iowa), and Scott H. Carlson (Luther College). The discussion led to the later nomination of Scott Carlson, Assistant Professor at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa for the position of IPS President-elect. I am pleased to report that Scott accepted the position and is now serving as President-elect.


Claudia Santos, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and Xiuying Ma, University of Iowa at the poster session.	Mark Chapleau (left) presenting Trainee Travel Awards to (left to right) Shun-Guang Wei and Marc Doobay of the University of Iowa, Baojian Xue of the University of Missouri-Columbia, and Chunhua Jiao of the University of Iowa.

The afternoon sessions of the meeting included two poster sessions, a featured presentation by Harald M. Stauss, Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at the University of Iowa, on “Mechanisms of Blood Pressure Variability”, and three additional powerpoint presentations related to selected posters. In addition, Joel A. Gordon (Vice-chair for Education, Department of Internal Medicine) and Mark Chapleau (Departments of Internal Medicine and Physiology & Biophysics) of the University of Iowa gave a much-appreciated hands-on demonstration on the use of computers in teaching physiology, which included simulations illustrating key principles of renal and cardiovascular physiology.

The main objective of the IPS conference - to provide an opportunity for Physiologists throughout the state of Iowa to interact, develop collaborations, and share ideas on the science and teaching of Physiology - was clearly achieved. The conference also provided an ideal venue for trainees to gain experience in presenting their research findings and meeting peers.

Iowa Physiological Society Holds Annual Meeting