|
British Microcirculation Society |
Honorary Secretary: Dr David Bates Microvascular Research Laboratories Department of
Physiology Preclinical Tel 0117 928 9818 Fax 0117 928 8151 Email:
Dave.Bates@bris.ac.uk |
NEWSLETTER – SUMMER
2003
Dear All,
Now that I have collected my
wits together and recovered from hosting the 2003 Spring Meeting of the
Society, I though it about time to update you all with recent developments in the
world of Microcirculation in the
2003
SPRING MEETING
I hope those of you that
attended this year’s Spring Meeting in
The Society Dinner was held in
the
Forthcoming
British Microcirculation Society Meeting
41st Annual
Spring Meeting,
The annual spring meeting and
Annual General Meeting of the British Microcirculation Society will take place on
the 5th and 6th of April 2004, hosted by the University of Sheffield. The
meeting will be held in Tapton Masonic Hall, which
has excellent facilities for presentations, with the posters and trade
exhibition to be situated in adjoining accommodation where refreshments will be
served. Next year the meeting will be generously supported by The Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research
The scientific symposium “Tumour
microcirculation: development and therapeutic targeting” will include
presentations from Hellmut Augustin
(Germany), Roy Bicknell (UK), Ian Hart (UK), Shay Shoker
(US), Claire Lewis (UK) and Gill Tozer (UK). In
addition we will endeavour to follow the successful format employed in
Adaptation to physical forces Lymphatics and oedema
Angiogenesis Microvascular exchange
Diabetes and hypertension Organ
specific microcirculation
Endothelial cell biology Pulmonary endothelium
Hypoxia and hyperoxia
in the microcirculation Regulation
of vascular tone
Inflammation
and leukocyte interactions Tumour
microcirculation
Interstitium and the extracellular matrix Vascular
development
Vascular permeability
There will be one oral
presentation prize session dedicated to abstracts selected by the Society’s
awards committee on the basis of the quality and impact of their research. Two
awards will be presented - the Terence Ryan Young Investigator Award and the
Moor Instruments Travel Award (see application details below).
Full details of the meeting, and
the award schemes, including downloadable forms, will shortly be available at
this web site. Accommodation will be available at Tapton
Hall of Residence, £40 single en suite; this University student accommodation
is approximately 15 minutes walk from the venue. There are also moderately
priced hotels within a short walk from the conference venue.
Future
Meetings
2005 BMS Meeting,
The 2005 Annual Meeting of the
Society will be a departure from the normal format of the meeting.
This is in part due to the need
to avoid conflicts with the International Union of Physiological Sciences
meeting in April 2005 in
2006 BMS Meeting,
Dr Faisal Khan is organising the
2006 BMS meeting at the
Forthcoming
BMS Sponsored Meetings
British Association Meeting
“Small is Beautiful” (and
clinically important). We are delighted to announce that the BMS has been
selected to contribute to the BA Festival of Science to be hosted at the
The vital role of blood vessels smaller than a human hair.
Sampling some
tissues, how does it help us understand how small blood vessels work? Dr
Geraldine Clough Oedema, roles of the microcirculation in the formation of this
watery environment. Professor Peter Mortimer
Cardiovascular
Disease-is the problem just the big vessels? Dr Faisal Khan
Emerging
Technologies-Can we now dig even deeper? Dr Steve Matcher
The session will be accompanied by a hands on exploration of blood flow in the skin using up
to date technologies based on microscopy, spectroscopy, and laser Doppler.
23rd European Conference on Microcirculation
The 23rd European
Conference on Microcirculation will be held in
The
Microcirculation Conference Grant
T he aim of the MCG this year is
to provide financial assistance for up to two eligible student members of the British
Microcirculation Society to attend the European Conference on Microcirculation
in Lisbon. Students and post doctoral members of the Society in the initial few
years of their first position after obtaining their PhD, whose Supervisor is a
full member of the BMS are eligible.
The
Laboratory Visit Grant
The purpose of this scheme is to
assist an eligible student or junior postdoctoral member of the British
Microcirculation Society, to
visit a laboratory in this country or abroad for the purpose of learning new
techniques or other worthwhile scientific purposes related to microvascular research.
NEXT DEADLINE FOR BOTH GRANTS IS
Details of how to apply for
these awards are on the BMS website.
Committee
Membership of the current committee
is given below and we would welcome comments about the working of the Society
at any time. At the last AGM, we were pleased to welcome Gillian Tozer, Malcolm Reed and Faisal Khan to the committee for
the next four years after a very closely fought election. I would like to thank
Giovanni Mann, Stuart Egginton and Nicola Brown for
their support and help on the committee over the last four years. Furthermore
the committee have indentured a new post – communications officer – filled by
Dr Richard Siow from King’s College London. The roles of this post over the
next year will be to maintain and further develop the British Microcirculation
Society Website – www.microcirculation.org.uk. This website will be undergoing some fairly major
transformation in the next twelve months with a number of significant new
features added, for the benefit of our membership.
Nominations
for Treasurer
Our Treasurer, Dr David
Harrison, will be stepping down this year after seven years in office. The work
he has done has transformed the society in that we now have almost 100% of our
members paid up on time, due to the completion of the direct debit system that
was initiated by previous treasurers.
We are therefore calling for
nominations for this post before the next Annual general meeting. If you would
like to volunteer, then please write to me at the address above. The Deadline
for nominations will be in February next year, and
further details will be sent out with the Winter Newsletter.
Current
BMS Committee
|
Position President Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer Proceedings Editor Committee Committee Committee Committee Committee Communications Officer |
Name Professor Jeremy Pearson Dr David Bates Dr David Harrison Dr Margaret Brown Dr Ariane
Herrick Dr Peter Coleman Dr Faisal Khan Professor Malcolm Reed Dr Gillian Tozer Dr Richard Siow |
Holds office until 2005 2008 2004 2006 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007 N/A Co-opted by committee |
European
Society for Microcirculation (ESM)
At the Annual General Meeting the
following motion was voted on and accepted.
British Microcirculation Society
Membership can confer membership of the European Microcirculation Society. The
subsequent motion, to change the constitution to allow the BMS to include
membership of the European Society in its membership fee, did not reach the two
thirds majority required to pass, although a clear majority was in favour.
The president is still
negotiating on behalf of the society for further benefits to the membership,
including increased representation on the ESM committees, promotion of the BMS
annual meetings within ESM and JVR, and increased co-operation between European
societies of microcirculation related subjects such as vascular biology, angiology, and cardiovascular research. Attached to this
newsletter are two documents putting forward the case for and against inclusion
of the ESM membership in the BMS membership fee. If
you have any comments on these two arguments please email them to me, and the
committee will make a further recommendation for a motion at the next AGM to
decisively rule this option either in or out.
Job
Vacancies
Details of post and predoctoral vacancies, and occasionally lectureships are
announced on the BMS
web
page (www.microcirculation.org.uk). A recent addition to this is a Postdoctoral Position in
Microcirculation & Septic Shock at the
Subscriptions
Although problems with the
Direct Debit system are being addressed, we would be grateful if you could
check that your accounts are being debited. For those who continue to pay their
subscriptions by cheque, these are now due.
Email
addresses
You should have been contacted
in the last six months and asked if you preferred to be contacted by email for some
of the BMS mailings. If you are receiving this as a hard copy, then either we
do not have an email address for you, or you have stated that you prefer to
receive hard copy. We will continue to provide hard copy of society handbooks,
and abstract booklets for the foreseeable future.
Please be reassured that email
will not be the only form of communication, unless you so request it.
Other
forthcoming microcirculation and related meetings
European Society for Vascular
Surgery,
British Hypertension Society
8th Annual Meeting of the
European Council for Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Research, Seeheim
AACR sponsored meeting on Angiogenesis,
IV interdisciplinary Euroconference on Angiogenesis, Co. Dublin, Ireland, 24 – 27 October
2003
An Introduction to Vascular
Biology V,
41st Spring Meeting of the BMS,
23rd
European Conference on Microcirculation. Lisbon, Portugal. September 9
–10 2004
See www.microcirculation.org.uk
for further details
Members
News
Dr David Bates of the
New
Members
Dr Nick Brindle,
Cardiovascular Department, Clinical Sciences Building, University of Leicester,
PO Box 65, Leicester, LE2 7LX,
Tel: 01162525802, Fax:
01172523179, npjb1@le.ac.uk
Dr Zoe Brookes, Academic Anaesthesia Unit, K floor,
Dr Paul E Canning,
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The Queen’s University of
Belfast, Institute of Clinical Science, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, BT12
6BA, Tel: 0289 026 35072,Fax: 0289 02632 699, p.canning@qub.ac.uk
Miss Claire E Clarkin, Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences, Royal Veterinary
College, Royal College Street, London, NW1 0TU, Tel: 0207 468 5036,
cclarkin@rvc.ac.uk
Ms Melissa J Cudmore, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Room S102, West
Wing, Medical School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, Tel:
0121-414 3954, 0121-4142732, mjc221@bham.ac.uk
Dr Tim M Curtis,
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The Queen’s University of
Belfast, Institute of Clinical Science, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, BT12
6BA, Tel: 02890 346 470, Fax: 02890 330 744, t.curtis@qub.ac.uk
Dr Tanyth E de Gooyer, Department of
Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Institute
of Clinical Science, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, BT12 6BA, Tel: 0289 026
35068, Fax: 0289 0263368, t.degooyer@qub.ac.uk
Miss Gillian Douglas, Maternal
and Fetal Research Unit, 10th Floor, North Wing, St
Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth Palace Road, London, SE1 7EH, Tel: 0207 928 9292 x
2247, Fax: 0207 620 1227, gillian.douglas@kcl.ac.uk
Mrs Sarah Duff, Department
of Surgery, Christie Hospital NHS trust,
Dr Alex Easton,
University of Alberta, 261 Heritage Medical Research Centre, Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada, T6G 252, 17824929250, 17804929249, easton@ualberta.ca
Miss Michelle Evans,
Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Royal
College Street, London, NW1 0TU, Tel: 0207 468 5036, mevans@rvc.ac.uk
Dr Paddy WF Hadoke, School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Endocrinology
Unit, 2nd Floor OPD, Western General Hospital, Crewe Rd, Edinburgh, EH4 2XW,
Tel: 0131 537 1742, Fax: 0131537 1012, phadoke@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Dr Robin Hamilton,
Faculty of Medicine, Floor E, Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre,
Nottingham, NG7 2UH, Tel: 0115924 9924, Fax: 0115 970 9259,
robin.hamilton@nottingham.ac.uk
Dr Davina J Honess, Tumour Microcirculation Group, Gray Cancer Institute, PO
Box 100, Mount Vernon Hospital, Middlesex, HA6 2JR, Tel: 01923-828611,
honess@gci.ac.uk
Miss Sarah J Hughes,
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The Queen’s University of
Belfast, Institute of Clinical Science, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, BT12
6BA, Tel: 02890 346278, Fax: 02890 330744, s.j.hughes@qub.ac.uk
Dr Graham Lee,
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The Queen’s University of
Belfast, Institute of Clinical Science, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, BT12
6BA, Tel: 0289 0240 503, Fax: 0289 0263 368, g.lee@qub.ac.uk
Valerie Leonhardt, School of Physics, Biomedical Research Group, University
of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QL, Tel: 01392 264 092, Fax: 01392 264 111,
V.leonhardt@ex.ac.uk
Mr Zhi-yong Li, Medical Engineering Division, Dept of Engineering,
Mr Yiling Lu, Medical Engineering Division, Department of Engineering,
Queen Mary & Westfield College, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, Tel:
02078827899, Fax: 0208983 1007, y.lu@qmul.ac.uk
Dr Denise McDonald,
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The Queen’s University of
Belfast, Institute of Clinical Science, Grovesnor Rd,
Belfast, BT12 6BA, Tel: 0289 0330 744, Fax: 0289 0346 278, d.mcdonald@qub.ac.uk
Miss Andrea Reneifo, The University of Nottingham, Faculty of Medicine,
Dr Mosharraf Sarker, Chemical and Life Section, School of Applied Sciences,
University of Teeside, Middlesborough,
TS1 3BA, Tel: 01642342 553, Fax: 01642 342 2401, m.sarker@tees.ac.uk
Professor Stephen K. Smith, Reproductive Molecular Research Group, Department of
Obstetrics & Gynaecology, The Rosie Hospital, University of Cambridge, CB2
2SW, sks1000@cam.ac.uk
Professor Alan W. Stitt, Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The
Queen’s University of Belfast, Institute of Clinical Science, Royal Victoria
Hospital, Belfast, BT12 6BA, Tel: 0289 026 3391, Fax: 0289 0263368,
a.stitt@qub.ac.uk
Dr Karen Stuart-Smith,
Dept of Anaesthesia, Borderley Green East,
Dr Nazahiya Sulaiman, The University of Nottingham, Faculty of Medicine, Floor
E, Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, Tel: 0115 924
9924, Fax: 0115 970 9259, mbxns@nottingham.ac.uk
Mr Richard Twycross-Lewis, Medical Engineering Division, Department of Engineering,
Queen Mary & Westfield College, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, Tel: 020
7882 7877, Fax: 020 89831007, benchking1@yahoo.co.uk
Mr Ian Wilson, Tumour
Microcirculation Group, Gray Cancer Institute,
Resignations
Dr R A Brown, Dr C S Collis,
Sarah Rolleston.
Finally, may I wish you all a
highly enjoyable and successful second half of the year, and hope that I will
see you in Sheffield in April.
Yours sincerely,
Dave Bates
On the issue of
compulsory membership of the European Society for Microcirculation
It is important that the arguments con
get an equal airing to the arguments pro,
especially as the AGM tends to be dominated by ESM members, whereas the BMS as
a whole is not. The following arguments can be made against sine
qua non membership of the European Society for Microcirculation
(ESM) for BMS members.
1. Proposal 2a bars membership of the BMS to those who do
not wish to join the ESM. It is surely a fundamental scientific liberty to be
allowed to belong to one society (BMS) without being compelled to join a
second, very different Society. A scientist is entitled to decide for
himself/herself which scientific society(s) he/she belongs to. The proposal
introduces coercion and removes freedom of choice.
2. Compulsory membership of the ESM will raise the BMS
membership fee by a substantial % ; estimates seem to
be of the order 75%-100%. This may well cause a decline in membership, either
because some current members will discontinue their membership and/or in the
longer term because the high fee deters new members.
3. It is debatable whether the substantial increase in
membership fee represents value-for-money for many or most members of the BMS,
although it should be a saving for those who are already ESM members. Only a
fraction of the BMS membership (total about 200 at present) attend the
biennial, i.e. once every 2 years, ESM
meetings.
The reduced registration fee for ESM meetings will therefore be of no benefit to
most BMS members, who will in effect subsidise the minority that attend ESM
meetings. The other advantage of ESM membership is free on-line (but not hard copy)
access to J. Vasc.
Res. Summaries of all J. Vasc. Res. articles, however, are already available
free on PubMed; online access lacks the convenience
& portability
of physical copy; and
not all (or even most?) BMS members are regular readers of J. Vasc. Res.
4. The ESM itself triggered the present proposal of
compulsory ESM membership at national level, because it feels that it is
failing to attract sufficient members and income in its own right. It can and
should be argued that a society that cannot succeed in its own right does not
merit the artificial support and big increase in income that it is seeking
through the compulsory membership of those who would not otherwise join it. Coercion
into membership of a society may be unacceptable to some BMS members, and
ratification of clause 2a will preclude such individuals from retaining BMA
membership. This seems an undesirable outcome, unlikely to benefit the Society.
Membership of ESM as
a part of BMS membership
The ESM has, or should have, an important role to play by
hosting the biennial European meetings in our field. Despite the increasing and
vital contributions of more general aspects of molecular and cellular vascular
biology to microcirculation research, the national societies in Europe testify
to the continuing distinct identity of our field, and yet (since each society
is quite small) also to the need for a regular forum where all European
clinical and basic microvascular researchers can
meet, be updated and informed, and interact with the
opportunity
to set up new collaborations.
The ESM was set up essentially to do exactly this, i.e. to
provide a biennial European meeting on behalf of the national societies.
Because membership of the ESM is at present not an automatic part of national
society membership, the ESM has a weak financial base, and its meetings
therefore rely each time on the local organisers raising what is needed from whatever
sources they can; a process that is becoming increasingly difficult and time consuming.
In an effort to move forward, so that the ESM can become more self-sufficient and
professional in running its meetings, and can offer other benefits to members
of the national societies, the ESM executive committee has asked national
societies to consider moving to a scheme in which part of an individual’s
national society subscription is automatically gifted to the ESM, providing
individual ESM membership for all European society members and putting the ESM’s finances on a sounder footing.
I believe that the ESM’s proposal
makes good sense. It should lead to better European microcirculation
conferences, something I hope we all support. Without an arrangement of this
type, the ESM is in danger of not surviving for long. The BMS has been a
consistent supporter of the ESM since its inception, regularly hosting its
conferences and providing substantial financial backing. I doubt that the
overall cost to the BMS of this proposal will be much higher than the one-off
contributions we currently make to each ESM conference by sponsoring symposia,
and I am certain that it has the potential to enable the ESM to become a more
viable and influential entity.
To those who feel that they must have an individual right to
choose whether they wish to be a part of the ESM as well as the BMS, I would
make three points. First, that the ESM only exists as
a vehicle to bring added value to national society membership. Second, that any
individual who wishes to opt out of ESM membership will be allowed to do so,
and the BMS will refund that part of their subscription. (They should bear in
mind that registration as a non-member for the ESM meetings is likely to cost
them more than this.) Third, that the BMS will not enter into this arrangement
with ESM unless the other major national societies also do so, and will review
the arrangement at each AGM with a view to withdrawing if the membership
decides the benefits are not worth the costs.