The Microcirculatory Society, Inc.
Newsletter

Volume 31, Number 1

Summer, 2003

There can be no doubt that the person who will discover a method to treat a cancer deserves a handshake from every king and queen alive and deserves every award mankind is able to invent. But you know to whom the first prize will go? That is a person, who will one day describe to us at the molecular level how a perfectly normal cell, hidden somewhere deep in a human tissue, turns into a cancer cell. This will open the door to real prevention of cancer and I would not be surprised if that person will be a Microcirculationist, or at least it will be a person who really knows his way around in a living tissue and in the microcirculation. The same can be said for any other disease, from obesity to shock. There is a bright future for microvascular research, because there are so many important unresolved medical problems, for which we don't know how to exercise prevention. I heard one of the new presidential candidates for 2004 on our campus this month speak about the quest to conquer the path to true prevention of disease. What an opportunity in our lifetime!

In this spirit I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your trust to serve your Society during this year. It is the 50th year. We will celebrate the Golden Jubilee on Friday, April 16, 2004, at the Natcher Conference Center of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda with a one day symposium and a gala evening at the New Academy of Science Building in Washington DC. The celebration precedes our regular meeting with Experimental Biology on the following Saturday and Sunday. Bill Jackson and the Program Committee are developing a program that serves to examine the current status of hot topics in the past and topics for the future. The Historical Committee with Gabor Kaley, Bob McCusky, Herb Lipowsky, and Bob Gore are preparing a journey down microcirculation history lane starting with movies from August Krogh. We are planning the exhibition of posters of landmark studies. For example, Gene Renkin has agreed to prepare a poster about his 1948 paper with John Pappenheimer. This is a wonderful way to highlight the great achievements by the members of the Society. Please contact the Historical Committee if you would like to prepare a similar poster&emdash;they will be displayed at the New Academy of Science Building.

In addition to the regular Spring Meeting, we are actively moving forward with the planning of a self-standing Fall meeting together with the British Microcirculatory Society. Ann Baldwin is spearheading this effort. She chairs a Steering Committee with Matt Boegehold, Fitz-Roy Curry, Cindy Meininger, Dave Bates, Geraldine Clough, Paul Fraser, Giovanni Mann, Jeremy Pearson &endash; the current president of the British Microcirculatory Society - and myself. The meeting is planned for September 10-13, 2005, at the University of New Hampshire. We will arrive on Saturday and hold the meeting from Sunday to Tuesday lunchtime. Giovanni Mann and Dave Bates suggested that we adopt a main theme: "Role of Reactive Oxygen Radicals in Vascular Cell Signaling in Health and Disease". This would cover the actions of ROS in normal cells and in cells isolated from diseased vessels and could include presentations on studies in vitro and in vivo. Please forward any comments to Ann and Jeremy. The University of New Hampshire has a new Conference Center, which will be opening in the Fall 2003. Hotel rooms are available on campus. Further details will be sent to you when they become available. Please mark your calendar.

Thanks to the Past-President, Paul McDonough, our journal is in excellent shape. Paul, together with Bill Jackson, has finalized an excellent contract with Francis and Taylor Group, a publishing house that has experience in scientific publications and indicated great enthusiasm for our journal. We express again our appreciation to the outgoing Editor Neil Granger. Neil's effort has put the journal in an excellent position. Together with his Associate Editors (Virginia Huxley, William Jackson, Francis Luscinskas, and Michael Wolin) and Managing Editor Lauren VanderKuy, Neil has greatly enhanced the visibility and quality of our journal. Bill Jackson will take over the office in October. Please support Bill by submission of your scientific work.

I would like to extend our warm congratulations to David Bates, University of Bristol, for winning the Christian Crone travel award for 2003. This year the award was issued by the Awards Committee (Leslie Ritter, Chair) after the Spring Meeting. I am aware that David is already making his rounds somewhere in North America.

We will meet at Experimental Biology 2004 in Washington DC as a Guest Society of the American Physiological Society. The American Physiological Society plans to publish early announcements of special lectures, including our Landis Award Lecture. Therefore Leslie Ritter, Chair of the Awards Committee, will issue an early request for nominations this year&emdash;with a deadline of September 1. Please nominate candidates before this deadline. For further details please see the announcement in this Newsletter.

I would like to thank the following individuals for their service as past Chairs of Society Committees: Eugene Renkin (Historical Committee), Bob Gore (Publications Committee) and welcome the new chairs, Gabor Kaley and Virginia Huxley, respectively. Thank you to all other individuals who have agreed to serve in the future on the Society Committees. Their names are listed on page 9 of this Newsletter. Needless to say, this service is very much appreciated and makes the Microcirculatory Society serve your needs.

Remember, for our Society to continue to grow, we need to increase our participation. Every member should try to recruit a new member this year. The on-line membership application system is now up and running and available to expedite the recruitment process. To see the on-line membership application system, just go to the website and look in the "Membership" section. Or, click on the following URL:

Best wishes for a wonderful summer.