The Microcirculatory Society, Inc.
Newsletter

Volume 30, Number 1

Summer, 2002

Call To Order:

Ingrid Sarelius, MCS President, called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. in Rooms 221-222 of the Ernest R. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Approval of Minutes:

The minutes of the 2001 General Business Meeting held in Orlando, Florida, which were published in the Summer 2001 Newsletter, were accepted as written.

Secretary's Report:

No changes are expected from the current procedure. Electronic newsletter distribution is proceeding well.

Treasurer's Report:

Ann Baldwin presented the Treasurer's Report. Details of the Treasurer's Report are contained in this (Summer 2002) Newsletter. Total assets in 2001 were $181,035 and $196,132 in 2002. This increase in assets includes payments for past Editorial Office costs. Journal costs continue to be a large portion of the expenses for the year. Awards also accounted for some of the extra costs in 2001-2002 compared to 2000-2001. Of the 502 possible dues-paying members, 162 remained unpaid for 2001 and approximately 300 are still unpaid for 2002. Predicted income for 2003 is $62,280 while predicted expenses are $63,817. Ann urged members to help find sponsors for the Society awards. Ann also reminded members that they need to keep their dues current.

It was suggested by Bill Jackson that we set up a table at the meeting to accept dues payment while members are thinking about it.

It was suggested by Jeff Falcone that MCS membership applications be available at the President's Symposium to encourage people attending the symposium to join the MCS. Invitation letters could also be sent to individuals who submit abstracts to MCS sessions but who are not MCS members.

Obituaries:

Several MCS members who had passed away during the last year were remembered.

Sid Sobin was remembered by Paul Johnson and Peter Chen. Peter Chen was mentored by Sid Sobin and worked with him until the day he died. He reviewed the many achievements of Sid Sobin, emphasizing that he was an enthusiastic organizer of scientific cooperation. Paul Johnson reminded the membership that by encouraging participation of diverse investigators Sid Sobin brought new dimensions to the Microcirculatory Society. He especially encouraged the participation of people interested in quantification. He was the President of MCS in 1966-67. During this time he worked to bring the MCS closer to FASEB&emdash;he began the cross-fertilization of interactions with other societies.

Robert Berne was remembered by Virginia Huxley. She reviewed his many awards, but stressed that he should be remembered for being a role model for students, postdocs, and faculty.

Masahuri Tsuchiya was remembered by Ingrid Sarelius. She reviewed his contributions, including those important to the founding of the Japanese Microcirculatory Society. He stressed the importance of understanding mechanisms from a microvascular viewpoint.

Silvio Baez, the 1973 winner of the Landis Award, was remembered by Ingrid Sarelius. He collaborated with Ben Zweifach on the study of circulatory shock. In addition, he devised ingenious methods for measuring microvascular function, including image-shearing techniques.

Phyllis Gootman was remembered by Ingrid Sarelius. A moment of silence was observed by the membership in memory of all of these MCS members.

Publications Committee Report:

Bob Gore provided the report for the Publications Committee. He stated that the major project of the committee was to implement the on-line journal access. This project was completed. Access to the journal requires that members pay their dues to get an ID number.

D. Neil Granger will be stepping down as Editor of Microcirculation in 2003. His replacement is currently being sought. Two candidates, William Jackson and Klaus Ley, have applied for this position and will be interviewed during the current meeting. Finding a replacement quickly will ensure a smooth transition between offices.

Two Journal awards were made this year: The Mary Gerritsen Award (for most cited review article) went to Rakesh Jain for "The Landis Award, 1996: Delivery of Molecular and Cellular Medicine to Solid Tumor" (Vol. 4(1): 3-23, March, 1997). The Curt Wiederhelm Award (for most cited research article) went to Stephen Van Eeden for "Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes Released from Bone Marrow Preferentially Sequester in Lung Microvessels" (Vol. 4(3): 369-380, Sept, 1997).

Journal Report:

Neil Granger provided the report for the Journal. Submissions to Microcirculation were up 50% from last year. The current acceptance rate is 42%. Neal urged the membership to submit their best work. The impact factor for the journal has risen from 2.25 to 2.67. The Hot Topics issues have been popular. The next issue will be edited by Julian Lombard and Bill Jackson (Vol. 9 (#4) and will focus on Adaptation of the Microcirculation to Hypertension. Three more are planned for the future: Angiogenesis: Chemokines and Tissue Engineering (Edited by Klaus Ley, August 2002), The Mechanism(s) of Vascular Lumen Formation and Arteriogenesis (edited by Mary Gerritsen, Sept, 2002), and Microcirculatory Abnormalities in Sickle Cell Disease (edited by Robert P. Hebbel, April 2003). Anyone with an idea for a new Hot Topics issue should contact the Editor

Paul McDonagh encouraged members to fill out an application for an institutional subscription to Microcirculation.

Awards Committee:

Ingrid Sarelius provided the report for the Awards Committee. The following awards were made for 2002:

Eugene M. Landis Research Award &endash; Robert W. Gore
August Krogh Young Investigator Award &endash; Zoltan Ungvari
Christian Crone Travel Award for Outstanding Young Investigator &endash; Cor de Wit
MCS Travel Award for Outstanding Young Investigator - Samina Kanwar
Zweifach Student Awards &endash; Eli Groppo and Darcy Lidington
Benjamin Zweifach Award &endash; David Shepro

There were no applications for the Microcirculatory Society Award for Excellence in Lymphatic Research.

The Executive Council has voted to increase the number of Zweifach Student Awards to five to encourage student participation in the meeting.

Development Committee:

No report.

Historical Committee:

Paul Johnson provided the report for the Historical Committee. The Historical Committee is making arrangements to bring the archives of the Microcirculatory Society together and to house them at the Benjamin Zweifach Library at UCSD. This library is scheduled to open in the fall of 2002. It is mostly a virtual library so many of the materials in the archives will be digitized for distribution. The archives also include tapes and films. A librarian has been assigned to work with the Zweifach Library to set up storage for distribution of materials.

The Microcirculatory Society will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2004. A history of the first 25 years of the society has already been written. Paul Johnson asked for a volunteer to write a history of the second 25 years of the society.

Membership Committee:

Debbie Damon provided the report for the Membership Committee. There were 14 new members admitted this year. It is hoped that an on-line membership process can be implemented in the near future.

Long Range Planning Committee:

Ingrid Sarelius provided the report for the Long Range Planning Committee. This was the first year as a full guest society of EB. Ingrid urged the membership to provide feedback on the Program for the meeting. Bill Jackson is the new member of the Joint Planning Committee (which has traditionally been the Chair of the MCS Programming Committee). He will work to keep the MCS Sessions in the EB Program.

Nominations Committee:

Ingrid Sarelius provided the report for the Nominations Committee.
She provided the results of the 2002 Election.
President-Elect: Geert Schmid-Schönbein
Treasurer: Ann Baldwin
Council Members: Glenn Bohlen and Ron Korthuis

It is hoped that voting on-line will be possible for next year's election.

Revisions to the By-Laws:

Proposed revisions to the MCS By-Laws were previously published in the MCS newsletter. One change from this published version included Article II, Section 1: "The purposes of the Society are to actively encourage and promote all forms of innovative research and teaching leading to an increase in understanding of microcirculatory function in health and disease." There was discussion of the changes approved by the Executive Council. Virginia Huxley made a motion to accept the revision to the bylaws. Motion seconded. Motion passed.

State of the Society:

Ingrid Sarelius provided some comments on the State of the Society. She also stated that the Society will be participating actively in the IUPS meeting in 2005. Solicitations will be forthcoming for programming ideas. Ingrid reminded members that the European Microcirculatory Society Meeting will be held August 28-30 in Exeter, England.

Adjournment:

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Dr. Ingrid Sarelius at 6:45 P.M. CDT.

Respectfully Submitted,
Dr. Cynthia Meininger, MCS Secretary