American Physiological Society

American Physiological Society
Name	American Physiological Society
Founded	1887
Founder	Henry Newell Martin
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Fields	Physiology
Publications	Journals

American Physiological Society is a professional association founded in 1887 to advance the study of physiology and related biomedical sciences. The Society brings together researchers, clinicians, and educators from institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and University of Pennsylvania to promote research, education, and public understanding. Its activities intersect with organizations like National Institutes of Health, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Wellcome Trust.

History

The Society originated in the late 19th century when figures such as Henry Newell Martin, Walter Bradford Cannon, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Claude Bernard, and Ivan Pavlov were shaping modern Johns Hopkins University physiology; early meetings included participants connected to University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh, University of Vienna, and University of Heidelberg. Through the 20th century the organization interacted with institutions like Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, Kaiser Wilhelm Society, Pasteur Institute, Columbia University, Yale University, and University of Chicago as physiology expanded into neurophysiology, cardiovascular research, and cell biology. During the postwar era collaborations involved National Institutes of Health, Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Salk Institute, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, while prominent members included Walter Cannon, Aldous Huxley (as commentator), Otto Loewi, Ernest Starling, and August Krogh. In recent decades the Society has engaged with policy and advocacy alongside groups such as American Medical Association, Association of American Physicians, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, and international counterparts like European Federation of Physiological Societies and International Union of Physiological Sciences.

Mission and Governance

The Society's mission emphasizes research, education, and dissemination, aligning with funders and partners including National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Governance structures mirror models used by American Association for the Advancement of Science, Royal Society, National Academy of Sciences, and Institute of Medicine, with elected leadership drawn from faculty at institutions such as University of California, San Francisco, University of Michigan, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Duke University, and University of Washington. Board and committee work interfaces with policy fora like Congressional Research Service, Office of Management and Budget, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to influence science policy, research funding, and ethical standards exemplified by committees at NIH and NSF.

Membership and Sections

Membership encompasses trainees, investigators, and clinicians from universities and research centers including Harvard Medical School, Perelman School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Mayo Clinic, and Cleveland Clinic. The Society organizes disciplinary and topical sections similar to divisions in American Physiological Society of the past—for example in areas overlapping with neuroscience (connections to Society for Neuroscience, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), cardiovascular research (links to American Heart Association, Framingham Heart Study), renal physiology (ties to National Kidney Foundation), respiratory science (interactions with American Thoracic Society), endocrinology (parallel to The Endocrine Society), and exercise physiology (affiliations with American College of Sports Medicine). Sections and interest groups reflect specialties found at institutions like Salk Institute, Scripps Research, Max Planck Institutes, Karolinska Institute, and Weizmann Institute of Science.

Publications and Journals

The Society publishes a portfolio of peer-reviewed journals and monographs comparable to publishers such as Nature Publishing Group, Cell Press, Oxford University Press, and Wiley-Blackwell. Titles have included flagship journals that attract submissions from researchers at Harvard University, Stanford University, Cambridge University Press authors, and laboratories such as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Salk Institute. Editorial boards have featured editors affiliated with Yale University, Columbia University, Imperial College London, Karolinska Institute, and Max Planck Society, and content spans molecular studies related to Nobel Prize laureates like Andrew Fire and Craig Mello as well as translational work connected to clinical centers such as Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Meetings, Education, and Outreach

Annual and thematic meetings convene investigators from organizations including Society for Neuroscience, American Heart Association, Endocrine Society, American Thoracic Society, and international bodies such as International Union of Physiological Sciences and European Federation of Physiological Societies. Educational programs target students and postdocs from Boston University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Toronto, and McGill University and include symposia, workshops, and courses modeled on offerings at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and NIH. Outreach activities engage partners like National Science Teachers Association, Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, BBC science programs, and media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Nature to communicate research to public audiences.

Awards and Honors

The Society confers awards and honors that recognize contributions comparable to recognitions from Royal Society, National Academy of Sciences, Lasker Foundation, Nobel Prize, Gairdner Foundation, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Recipients have included investigators from Harvard Medical School, Stanford University School of Medicine, University College London, University of Cambridge, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and honorees often hold parallel fellowships and prizes such as MacArthur Fellowship, Lasker Award, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and memberships in the National Academy of Medicine.

Category:Scientific societies based in the United States