The Microcirculatory Society, Inc.
Newsletter

Volume 29, Number 1

Summer, 2001

Call To Order:

The meeting was called to order at 4:20 EST by MCS President Walter Durán in Room 312 B/C of the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida.

Approval of Minutes:

The minutes of the April 2000 Business meeting held in San Diego, which were published in the Summer 2000 Newsletter, were approved unanimously without modification.

Secretary's Report:

The Secretary indicated that the distribution of the Newsletter electronically (PDF) had been generally well received. She asked that any problems with it should be addressed as soon as possible. There were no comments.

Treasurer's Report:

The Treasurer, Dr. Ann Baldwin, provided a report of the current financial status of the Society. Details of the Treasurer's Report are contained in this (Summer 2001) Newsletter. In April of 2000, the Society had $219,455.84. As of March 30, 2001, the Society has only $186,924.58. Some of the loss is attributable to a decrease in the value of our Vanguard account resulting from the downturn in the Stock Market. The vast majority of the rest is a result of unusual expenses associated with the Journal. It was necessary to reconcile four issues of the Journal which were contracted for but not paid for due to AMS induced problems with our membership list. She reported that the institution of the credit card system for dues payment has been going smoothly and should easily pay for itself with increased dues payment by members. 48% of the dues payments this year were by credit card. Of the 481 active members, 297 have paid their dues for 2001. This is a marked increase from 2000. However, since the majority of our income is from dues, the nonpayment of dues by 184 members is a drain on our finances and it needs to be reconciled. A paper membership Directory will be sent to all dues paying members in the next several weeks following the Orlando meeting. The membership had no questions.

Secretary's Report:

Dr. Mary Ellsworth, as part of her Secretary's report, proposed that the Society replace the paper newsletter with the electronic version present on the Web site. There was much discussion. Several members wished to maintain the paper version and it was suggested that those individuals who wish to receive a paper newsletter request it and it will be provided. Certainly there is no intention to deprive any Society member of access to the information contained in it. A motion was made by her to move to a web-based newsletter with the last paper newsletter being the Fall issue with the stipulation that anyone who wishes to continue to receive the paper newsletter will be sent it. A vote was taken with the majority approving the plan with two dissenters.

Publications Committee Report:

Dr. Robert Gore, Chairman of the Publications Committee, reported that the Journal interface with the Society is working well. The generation of real addresses and the increased collection of dues have been top priorities. He announced the awards from the Publication Committee: The Curt E. Wiederhielm Award was presented to Drs. Unsu Jung and Klaus Ley for their paper entitled "Regulation of E-selectin, P-selectin, and intracellular adhesion molecule 1 expression in mouse cremaster muscle vasculature". The Mary A. Gerritsen Award was presented to Drs. Thomas Skalak and Richard Price for their paper "The role of mechanical stresses in microvascular remodeling".

Dr. Neil Granger, Editor of Microcirculation, provided the membership with information on Journal activities. In 2000, submissions were up 30% with the time from acceptance to publication down significantly, due in large part to the increased number of issues per year (quarterly to bimonthly). Electronic submission is coming, although not currently available. Nature Publishing is trying to determine the best way to accomplish this. Industry sponsored supplements are an important source of both revenue and visibility for the Journal. A new feature will be the publication of special issues of the Journal devoted to a single topic with a guest editor. The first was published in May of 2000 with a second one due to the publishers June 1, 2001. He encouraged the membership to come up with additional suggestions for future topics. Dr. Granger reported that the Journal's first impact factor of 2.25 is a good one. It is based on 1997-98. A new one will be forthcoming and is expected to be better. Neil then introduced Sue Deeley, Associate Director, Editorial Division and Julia Schulhof, Executive editor (NY) of Nature Publishing. Ms. Deeley indicated that the journal is at the stage where there are good opportunities for enhanced success. The move to 6 issues per year and the associated decrease in publication time (time to 1st acceptance and acceptance to publication) are attractive. Its increased visibility will be enhanced by future on-line access. Ms. Schulhof indicated that Microcirculation's association with Nature Publishing Group is having a very positive impact on the Journal and she foresees the journal growing over the next several years.

Membership Committee Report: 

Dr. Debbie Damon, Chairman of the Membership Committee, reported that her committee had received 28 new applications, 27 had been approved, 1 was still pending. These numbers are similar to the last several years. She supported earlier statements indicating a need to increase membership and suggested the development of a "package" for a membership drive and enabling on line applications.

In Memoria:

Dr. Robert McCuskey provided a moving tribute to Dr. Edward H. Bloch who passed away November 3, 2000. He characterized Dr. Bloch as a "scholar to the end". This was followed by a similarly moving pictorial account by Dr. Paul Johnson of Dr. J. Harold Wayland. Dr. Wayland passed away October 10, 2000. Both of these individuals were vitally important to the founding, early and continued growth of both Microcirculation as a discipline and The Microcirculatory Society. Dr. Johnson also informed the Society of the death of Dr. Wayland's wife, Virginia, in January, 2001. Dr. David Shepro then shared with the membership his thoughts on the role these two individuals played in the growth of our Society. He indicated that they each provided a vital spirit, complete with both Imagination and Soul. The Society is indebted to them. These accounts were followed by a Moment of Silence to their memory.

Liaison and International Committees Reports:

Dr. Ingrid Sarelius, reported on the activities of the Liaison and International Committees. There are two issues; the first is the commitment our Society has for hosting the 2005 World Congress. She strongly urged all members to consider volunteering to help in this meeting's organization. Dr. Bruce Klitzman has agreed to spearhead the effort but it is far from a "one-man job." It will take a group effort if we are going to pull this off. Time is getting short! The second issue was to remind the membership of the upcoming World Congress in Sydney in August. Dr. Michael Hill, representing Dr. Michael Perry and the Sydney meeting, provided information on registration, programming, venue, hotels and sightseeing as well as indications of the availability of a number of pre and post conference satellites, and great pictures of Sydney. He suggested that the membership check out the meeting web site for additional information. The Exchange rate is very favorable for attending the meeting.

Long Range Planning Committee Report:

The Long Range Planning Committee proposed and received unanimous support for continuing our association with Experimental Biology until at least 2004.

Nomination Committee Report: 

Dr. Sarah Yuan reported on the outcome of the election. The new officers are:

President-Elect: Paul F. McDonagh
Secretary: Cynthia Meininger
Councilors: Matthew Boegehold and Robert Hester.

Only a very small percentage of the membership voted and Dr. Yuan encouraged more members to get involved with both nominations and elections.

Finance Committee Report:

Dr. Ann Baldwin reported that the issues, which came to the Finance Committee this year, included the introduction of the Credit Card payment system and maintenance of the Society's Vanguard Account despite the downturn of the Market. They considered it a long-term, conservative investment with the likelihood that its value will rebound.

Historical Committee Report:

Dr. Paul Johnson reported on the activities of the Historical Committee, Chaired by Dr. Gene Renkin who was unable to attend the meeting. The committee has been active, looking at mechanisms of consolidating the archival materials in a permanent site. One possible location is the future Zweifach Library at UCSD. The goal in the next several years is to compile an account of the 2nd 25 years of the Society similar to the one produced for the 1st 25 years by George Fulton.

Awards Committee Report:

The Awards Committee reported on the 2001 Society awards. The Awardees for 2001 were:

The Landis Award was presented to Dr. Donald Heistad
The August Krogh Young Investigator Award went to Dr. Fuzsina K. Johnson
The MCS Travel Award to Dr. David Stepp
The Christian Crone Travel Award to Dr. Vladimir V. Matchkow
Excellence in Lymphatic Research to Dr. Randolph H. Stewart
The Zweifach Student Awards to Michael B. Kim and Zoltan Ungvari.
The Zweifach Award, the Societies highest award (to be presented in Sydney Australia) was given to Dr. David Shepro.

Website Committee Report:

Dr. Robert Gore reported on the status of the Web Site. It serves both the membership and outsiders to enhance exposure of the Society. He encouraged the membership to increasingly use it as a center for communication.

Additional Business:  

Dr. Walter Durán indicated that the number of abstracts was down this year both for MCS and APS. This may be due to the International meetings this summer. He encouraged the membership to attend both the Young Investigator Program organized by Samina Kanwar (Saturday; 1-3) and the President's Symposium (Saturday, 3:15-5:15). He indicated that talks are underway with APS to incorporate more with EB on a scheduling front (Saturday and Sunday) while still maintaining a separate presence at EB. The motion to do so was approved without dissent.

Dr. Durán reported on his perception of the "State of the Society". He indicated that members of our Society continue to receive National Awards. Of note was an award to Dr. Paul Johnson from the Association of Chairmen of Physiology; a PECASE Award (Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers) to Dr. Leslie Ritter and a National Science Medal to Dr. Yuan-Cheng Fung. The good impact factor of the Journal, our Web site, continuing presence of our Society in EB, APS, World Congresses, National and International Liaison committees are all indicators of the health of our Society. We continue to have good attendance at our meeting. However, the Society must continue to recruit new members, determine the reasons for our dwindling numbers and work hard to correct the problems. We need to generate revenues both from dues and outside sources. We need to rekindle member's enthusiasm for the Society and its activities.

Dr. Ingrid Sarelius indicated that her plans as President include finding creative ways to enhance membership and enthusiasm and foster upward momentum.

Adjournment:

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Dr. Walter Durán at 5:50 P.M. EDT.

Respectfully Summitted
Outgoing Secretary,

Dr. Mary Ellsworth