The Microcirculatory Society, Inc.
Newsletter

Volume 31, Number 1

Summer, 2003

Call To Order:

Paul McDonagh, MCS President, called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. in Room 10 of San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California.

Approval of Minutes:

The minutes of the 2002 General Business Meeting held in New Orleans, Louisiana, which were published in the Summer 2002 Newsletter, were accepted as written.

Eulogy:

Dr. Robert Hester announced to the membership that Dr. Arthur Guyton had recently died. He then delivered a eulogy for Dr. Guyton.

Treasurer's Report:

Ann Baldwin provided a report on the financial status of the Society. Details of the Treasurer's Report are contained in this (Summer 2003) Newsletter. She presented the recommendation of the Executive Committee that dues be increased. The point was made that raising the dues could cause the Society to lose members at a time when the Society needs to recruit new members. Further discussion was deferred until after the Publications Committee report.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Publications Committee Report:

Bob Gore presented a report for the Publications Committee. The Committee had two major tasks in 2002-2003: (1) Choose a new Editor for the Journal and (2) Choose a new Publisher for the Journal.

A request for nominations and applications for the position of Editor-in-Chief was submitted to the membership in November 2001. The candidates for the position were Klaus Ley (University of Virginia) and William (Bill) Jackson (Western Michigan University). Both candidates were interviewed by the Committee at the 2002 Annual Meeting in New Orleans and each candidate provided information about how they would structure their Editorial Board and Associate Editorships in view of their individual plans for advancing the quality and mission of the Journal. The Committee recommended that Bill Jackson be chosen and its recommendation was approved by the Executive Council.

The Society contract with Nature Publishing Group ends December 2003. Two proposals were received, one from FASEB and one from Taylor & Francis Group. The Committee recommended that Taylor & Francis be chosen to take over publication beginning January 2004 and this recommendation was approved by the Executive Council.

Bob Gore informed the membership that the new Journal commitment requires 300 paid member subscriptions. The success of the Journal is also dependent on at least 100 institutional subscriptions. Each member needs to approach their institution to get the institution to subscribe. The Society will also have to find a way to remind people to pay their dues.

Programming Committee:

Bill Jackson presented a report from the Programming Committee. The total number of abstracts this year from MCS members was up from last year but still low compared to past years.

Bill reminded the membership that the IUPS meeting in 2005 would be folded into EB. The MCS will be a participating society in this meeting. Unfortunately, the normal MCS sessions will NOT be held at this meeting. Instead, the Society will have the chance to have more visibility via suggested symposia (as many as 5-10 symposia may be chosen). Bill Jackson and Ingrid Sarelius will be accepting proposals for symposia to be a part of the IUPS meeting. The deadline for submitting proposals is May 15th, 2003. The MCS website has a form for submission of symposia proposals. Members were reminded that the proposals should include a good international balance of speakers.

The 50th Anniversary of the MCS is next year. The Society will meet one day before EB, perhaps at the Natcher Auditorium at the NIH. The Gala Dinner will be held on this day as well.

The membership was informed that changes to Topic Categories in the EB program need to be submitted prior to May 9th so that they may be brought up at the Joint Programming Committee meeting.

Nominations Committee:

Steve Segal presented a report from the Nominations Committee. The Committee received only 14 nominations and only 76 votes were cast. New officers are: H. Glenn Bohlen (President-Elect), Cynthia (Cindy) Meininger (Secretary), Mary (Molly) Frame and Paul Kubes (Councilors).

Next year's ballot will include statements from the candidates indicating why they are running and their plans for the Society. Steve reminded the membership that voting can take place via email as well as fax.

Journal Report:

A report for the Journal was delivered by Paul McDonagh. Submissions to the Journal have been increasing every year, for the last several years. The transition to a new Publisher seems to be occurring smoothly.

Development Committee:

Jeff Falcone presented a report from the Development Committee. The Committee sent out 100 letters soliciting funds from industry for awards and support of young investigators. The Committee received essentially no response from these letters. The Committee asks members to suggest key contacts from industry that might be approached for support.

Membership Committee:

Paul McDonagh gave a report for the Membership Committee. Sixteen people applied for membership in 2002. The Society needs to encourage more young people to join the Society.

A suggestion was made that there be a means of drafting accounts for payment of dues &endash; perhaps on a monthly basis. The Membership Committee was charged with the task of exploring an automatic drafting system.

Historical Committee:

Geert Schmid-Schönbein presented a report for the Historical Committee. Geert has named Gabor Kaley as the new Chair of this Committee. He informed the membership that the Society still needs someone to write a history of the Society for the last 25 years.

Liaison Committee/Long Range Planning Committee:

Ingrid Sarelius provided both Committee reports. The issue of the IUPS meeting was already covered. The location of the next World Congress will be announced later in the meeting.

Web Report:

Bob Gore provided a report on the website. The on-line banquet ticket purchase process was established this year. An on-line membership application form/process will soon be available.

Revisions to the By-Laws:

The small proposed change is a formalization of how contractual agreements are done and was forgotten last year. Bill Jackson made a motion to accept the revision to the by-laws. Motion seconded. MOTION PASSED.

NEW BUSINESS:

World Congress for Microcirculation:

Two proposals to host the World Congress in 2007 were received: One to host the Congress in Milwaukee in the summer and one to host the Congress in San Antonio in the fall. The Executive Council recommended the Milwaukee venue.

Bill Jackson will request that Taylor & Francis, the new Publisher of Microcirculation, publish the abstracts from the World Congress.

State of the Society:

There was extensive discussion on the issue of increasing dues for the Society. Ingrid Sarelius made a motion that postdocs pay dues at the student rate as long as they are postdocs. MOTION PASSED.

Ingrid Sarelius made a motion that Society dues be increased $15 for 2004. MOTION PASSED.

A charge was made to all members to aggressively recruit new members for the Society.

In September of 2005 the British Microcirculatory Society would like to host a dual meeting with the MCS in the U.S. Proposals for the meeting can be forwarded to David Bates.

Adjournment:

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Dr. Paul F. McDonagh at 7:05 P.M. PDT.

Respectfully Submitted,
Dr. Cynthia Meininger, MCS Secretary