Bethesda, Md (April 26, 2007) – Irving Zucker, Ph.D., a University of Nebraska Medical Center professor whose research focuses on heart failure, is the new president-elect of The American Physiological Society (APS). The APS, comprised of 10,500 members, was established in 1887 and is one of the nation’s oldest scholarly societies for scientists. Today it publishes 11 peer-reviewed scientific research journals and two review journals.
Dr. Zucker is the Theodore F. Hubbard professor of cardiovascular research and chairman of the department of cellular and integrative physiology at UNMC. He will begin his tenure on May 1 at the 120th annual meeting of the APS in Washington, D.C. The meeting takes place during Experimental Biology 2007, a conference that attracts more than 12,000 scientists and exhibitors.
Dr. Zucker will serve for three years: one year as president-elect and succeeding years as president and past president. The three-year rotation ensures experienced leaders continue to guide APS.
Dr. Zucker has been a member of the APS since 1972 and has been actively involved in the society’s governance since 1995. He served as chairman of the Public Affairs Committee and has served on the APS Council, the equivalent of the board of directors. His research at UNMC focuses on heart failure, including the role of exercise training in reducing some abnormalities found in the central nervous system of animals with heart failure.
In 2004, Dr. Zucker and his research team received a renewal of a five-year grant totaling more than $10.6 million from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, one of the institutes which make up the National Institutes of Health. The grant provides funding for Dr. Zucker’s team to study the mechanism for cardiovascular deterioration in heart failure.
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Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create health or disease. The American Physiological Society has been an integral part of this scientific discovery process since it was established in 1887. The Society has 10,500 members and publishes 13 scientific journals containing almost 4,000 articles annually.