SICB Division of Comparative Endocrinology

Message from the Chair
Message from the Program Officer
Message from the Secretary
DCE Candidates for Election

David Norris (david.norris@colorado.edu)

We are looking forward to seeing many if not all of you in Chicago this January. The new topic format has reduced paper conflicts considerably and I think you will find the experience a very positive one. There are many activities planned for graduate students as well as a social for DCE members. Additionally, the symposia mentioned by Sunny Boyd should highlight your experience. Please encourage all of your graduate students to attend as well as your colleagues.

DCE is fortunate to have so many distinguished and active members, and I feel privileged to be Chair of such a dynamic and active organization. Comparative Endocrinology is indeed alive and well. In March, I attended another successful DCE Western Regional meeting hosted by Martin Fitzpatrick, Bob Mason, Frank Moore and Carl Schreck in Corvallis OR and a superb International Fish Endocrine Symposium hosted by DCE members Penny Swanson and Walt Dickoff this August on the University of Washington campus in Seattle. Your Chair-Elect, Michael Moore, was the annual Irving Geschwind speaker at the Corvallis meeting and there were 45 papers presented by faculty and graduate students from AZ, CA, CO, IN, MN, NJ, OR, WA, TX, British Columbia, and Australia. The Seattle symposium also was attended by many DCE members who were responsible for many of the invited presentations. And it was great to see both Howard Bern and Aubrey Gorbman present and active as always. Hopefully you all have the coming international endocrine meetings in Italy marked on your calendars as well as the international comparative endocrine meeting scheduled for Boston in 2005. And of course, we already are planning the next SICB meeting in Anaheim for 2002.

Congratulations are in order for DCE member John Wingfield for his election as President of SICB and to DCE member Stacia Sower as SICB Program Officer. I also want to thank the nominating committee consisting of Pierre Deviche (chair), Bob Dores and Carl Schreck for identifying two excellent candidates for Divisional Program Officer elect. And, please remember to vote NOW for one of these fine candidates. Finally, your elected representatives, Sunny Boyd and Bob Denver have been doing an outstanding job getting us ready for Chicago and deserve a round of applause.

I will see you at the DCE business meeting in Chicago where I’m sure there will be some lively items for discussion. And, in the meantime, be sure to send me your thoughts and concerns about any aspect of DCE david.norris@colorado.edu.

Message from the Program Officer

Sunny Boyd (boyd.1@nd.edu)

January's meeting in Atlanta was a very successful one with about 75 presentations by DCE members. This included our primary sponsored symposium: “Recent Progress in Crustacean Endocrinology: A Symposium in Honor of Milton Fingerman,” organized by Penny Hopkins and David Borst. In addition, about 63 abstracts were submitted by DCE members. Of these, 27 abstracts were for oral presentations. These talks were organized by topics (rather than division) for the first time but the effect on DCE was minimal. Most of our members chose “comparative endocrinology” as their first topic! Thus, Thursday’s schedule contained 3 sessions of oral presentations given exclusively by DCE members (17 talks). Friday’s schedule also contained a full day of interest for DCE members with the symposium. The remaining 10 oral presentations were a bit more scattered but clustered into “regulation of reproduction” and “environmental endocrinology” due to the choice of those descriptions as topics by authors. In Atlanta, more than 36 posters were presented by DCE members and those posters were arranged in blocks by division. Our strong divisional identity was therefore retained in Atlanta. Whether this occurs in the future will depend on the preferences of DCE members, rather than occurring by default organization patterns. In the majority of cases, across all SICB divisions, assignment to sessions was determined by the FIRST sub-topic chosen by authors. Those that want to present within divisional sessions should thus choose “comparative endocrinology” as their first (preferred) sub-topic on the abstract form. I welcome your comments on all aspects of the program but especially on the organization of the Atlanta meeting, the abstract form/topic list, and whether posters should be organized by topic or division (boyd.1@nd.edu).

The primary symposium sponsored by DCE for the Chicago meeting in 2001 is “Stress: Is it More than a Disease? A Comparative Look at Stress and Adaptation.” This symposium, organized by Jim Carr and Cliff Summers, has 13 top-notch invited speakers and will last for 1 and a half days. We also plan to group contributed papers on stress into cohesive sessions for the other half day to further enhance the program. In addition, a “mini-symposium” on amphibian metamorphosis is being planned by Jashiri Menon and Bob Denver. There is still plenty of time to organize other mini-symposia for the Chicago meeting. Please contact me (boyd.1@nd.edu) if you have any ideas.

Message from the Secretary

Bob Denver (rdenver@umich.edu)

A reminder that the International Congress of Comparative Endocrinology (ICCE) will be held in Sorrento (Napoli), Italy, May 26-30 2001. The abstract and registration deadline is November 30, 2000. e-mail: studiocongressi@napoli.com.

Note also that a satellite symposium, the International Symposium on Amphibian and Reptilian Endocrinology and Neurobiology will be held directly after the ICCE meeting May 31 - June 2, 2001 at the University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy. Early registration deadline for this satellite symposium is December 31, 2000 and the abstract deadline is February 28, 2001.

The following link provides information on select upcoming comparative endocrinology meetings: http://www.sciref.org/links/AEOrgs/compendo.htm

Please send comments on the newsletter and messages for the Spring 2001 DCE newsletter to rdenver@umich.edu.

DCE Candidates for Election of Divisional Program Officer Elect
(Link to Election ballot)

Miles Orchinik

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Arizona State University, Tempe.

Education: B.A., History, San Francisco State University, 1985; Ph.D., Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, 1992.

Professional Experience: NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow, Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, New York, 1992-94; Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Rockefeller University, 1994-95; Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Arizona State University, 1995-present; Editorial Board, Hormones and Behavior, 2001-2005.

SICB Activities: Member

Other Memberships: Society for Neuroscience; Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology; AAAS

Research Interests: Neurobiology of stress; mechanisms of hormone action; neuroendocrine regulation of behavior; rapid actions of glucocorticoids. We use a variety of animal models to understand how stress alters brain function and behavior in laboratory and free-living animals.

Goals Statement: There is increasing recognition of the need for integrative studies to address biological complexity, and to encompass levels of analysis ranging from the molecular to the organismal. Comparative endocrinology is well-positioned to play a leading role in this movement because of its historical ties to natural history, behavior and evolution. The SICB Annual Meeting can showcase cutting-edge, integrative research in endocrinology, and promote the idea among graduate students that comparative studies belong in the forefront of physiology and neuroscience.

Kyle W. Selcer

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Environmental Research and Education, Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA

Education: B.S. Biology, University of Texas-Pan American, 1980; M.S. Biology, University of Texas-Pan American, 1982; Ph.D. Biology, Texas Tech University, 1986.

Professional Experience: Postdoctoral Fellow, Endocrinology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center 1986-1989; Assistant Professor of Biology, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, 1989-1991; Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, 1991-1992; Assistant Professor, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1992-1998; Associate Professor, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1999-present. Biology Graduate Coordinator, 1993-1999. Biology Department Interim Chair, Jan-July 2000; Organizer and Chair, Educational Poster/Multimedia Session, Society for the Study of Reproduction 1999, 2000.

SICB Activities : Member for 7 years. Attended annual meetings, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999. Session co-chair, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999. Judge, Aubrey Gorbman Best Student Papers in Comparative Endocrinology, 1999.

Other memberships: Council for Undergraduate Research, Society for the Study of Reproduction, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Research Interests: Reproductive endocrinology, environmental endocrinology, evolutionary endocrinology. My research involves the role of sex steroid hormones in nonmammalian vertebrates, the use of vitellogenin as biomarker for environmental endocrine disruptors, and steroid sulfatase inhibitors for treatment of hormone-dependent cancers.

Goals Statement: To maintain the strong divisional identity of comparative endocrinology at the annual meetings, while actively seeking interaction with other divisions on topics of common interest. To identify and foster topics for divisional and interdivisional symposia. To actively encourage student participation in the division, and to increase the number of educational presentations in comparative endocrinology.

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			Division of Comparative Endocrinology (DCE) - Fall 2000 Newsletter Message from the Chair Message from the Program Officer Message from the Secretary DCE Candidates for Election Message from the Chair David Norris (david.norris@colorado.edu) We are looking forward to seeing many if not all of you in Chicago this January. The new topic format has reduced paper conflicts considerably and I think you will find the experience a very positive one. There are many activities planned for graduate students as well as a social for DCE members. Additionally, the symposia mentioned by Sunny Boyd should highlight your experience. Please encourage all of your graduate students to attend as well as your colleagues. DCE is fortunate to have so many distinguished and active members, and I feel privileged to be Chair of such a dynamic and active organization. Comparative Endocrinology is indeed alive and well. In March, I attended another successful DCE Western Regional meeting hosted by Martin Fitzpatrick, Bob Mason, Frank Moore and Carl Schreck in Corvallis OR and a superb International Fish Endocrine Symposium hosted by DCE members Penny Swanson and Walt Dickoff this August on the University of Washington campus in Seattle. Your Chair-Elect, Michael Moore, was the annual Irving Geschwind speaker at the Corvallis meeting and there were 45 papers presented by faculty and graduate students from AZ, CA, CO, IN, MN, NJ, OR, WA, TX, British Columbia, and Australia. The Seattle symposium also was attended by many DCE members who were responsible for many of the invited presentations. And it was great to see both Howard Bern and Aubrey Gorbman present and active as always. Hopefully you all have the coming international endocrine meetings in Italy marked on your calendars as well as the international comparative endocrine meeting scheduled for Boston in 2005. And of course, we already are planning the next SICB meeting in Anaheim for 2002. Congratulations are in order for DCE member John Wingfield for his election as President of SICB and to DCE member Stacia Sower as SICB Program Officer. I also want to thank the nominating committee consisting of Pierre Deviche (chair), Bob Dores and Carl Schreck for identifying two excellent candidates for Divisional Program Officer elect. And, please remember to vote NOW for one of these fine candidates. Finally, your elected representatives, Sunny Boyd and Bob Denver have been doing an outstanding job getting us ready for Chicago and deserve a round of applause. I will see you at the DCE business meeting in Chicago where I’m sure there will be some lively items for discussion. And, in the meantime, be sure to send me your thoughts and concerns about any aspect of DCE david.norris@colorado.edu. Message from the Program Officer Sunny Boyd (boyd.1@nd.edu) January's meeting in Atlanta was a very successful one with about 75 presentations by DCE members. This included our primary sponsored symposium: “Recent Progress in Crustacean Endocrinology: A Symposium in Honor of Milton Fingerman,” organized by Penny Hopkins and David Borst. In addition, about 63 abstracts were submitted by DCE members. Of these, 27 abstracts were for oral presentations. These talks were organized by topics (rather than division) for the first time but the effect on DCE was minimal. Most of our members chose “comparative endocrinology” as their first topic! Thus, Thursday’s schedule contained 3 sessions of oral presentations given exclusively by DCE members (17 talks). Friday’s schedule also contained a full day of interest for DCE members with the symposium. The remaining 10 oral presentations were a bit more scattered but clustered into “regulation of reproduction” and “environmental endocrinology” due to the choice of those descriptions as topics by authors. In Atlanta, more than 36 posters were presented by DCE members and those posters were arranged in blocks by division. Our strong divisional identity was therefore retained in Atlanta. Whether this occurs in the future will depend on the preferences of DCE members, rather than occurring by default organization patterns. In the majority of cases, across all SICB divisions, assignment to sessions was determined by the FIRST sub-topic chosen by authors. Those that want to present within divisional sessions should thus choose “comparative endocrinology” as their first (preferred) sub-topic on the abstract form. I welcome your comments on all aspects of the program but especially on the organization of the Atlanta meeting, the abstract form/topic list, and whether posters should be organized by topic or division (boyd.1@nd.edu). The primary symposium sponsored by DCE for the Chicago meeting in 2001 is “Stress: Is it More than a Disease? A Comparative Look at Stress and Adaptation.” This symposium, organized by Jim Carr and Cliff Summers, has 13 top-notch invited speakers and will last for 1 and a half days. We also plan to group contributed papers on stress into cohesive sessions for the other half day to further enhance the program. In addition, a “mini-symposium” on amphibian metamorphosis is being planned by Jashiri Menon and Bob Denver. There is still plenty of time to organize other mini-symposia for the Chicago meeting. Please contact me (boyd.1@nd.edu) if you have any ideas. Message from the Secretary Bob Denver (rdenver@umich.edu) A reminder that the International Congress of Comparative Endocrinology (ICCE) will be held in Sorrento (Napoli), Italy, May 26-30 2001. The abstract and registration deadline is November 30, 2000. e-mail: studiocongressi@napoli.com. Note also that a satellite symposium, the International Symposium on Amphibian and Reptilian Endocrinology and Neurobiology will be held directly after the ICCE meeting May 31 - June 2, 2001 at the University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy. Early registration deadline for this satellite symposium is December 31, 2000 and the abstract deadline is February 28, 2001. The following link provides information on select upcoming comparative endocrinology meetings: http://www.sciref.org/links/AEOrgs/compendo.htm Please send comments on the newsletter and messages for the Spring 2001 DCE newsletter to rdenver@umich.edu. DCE Candidates for Election of Divisional Program Officer Elect (Link to Election ballot) Miles Orchinik Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Arizona State University, Tempe. Education: B.A., History, San Francisco State University, 1985; Ph.D., Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, 1992. Professional Experience: NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow, Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, New York, 1992-94; Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Rockefeller University, 1994-95; Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Arizona State University, 1995-present; Editorial Board, Hormones and Behavior, 2001-2005. SICB Activities: Member Other Memberships: Society for Neuroscience; Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology; AAAS Research Interests: Neurobiology of stress; mechanisms of hormone action; neuroendocrine regulation of behavior; rapid actions of glucocorticoids. We use a variety of animal models to understand how stress alters brain function and behavior in laboratory and free-living animals. Goals Statement: There is increasing recognition of the need for integrative studies to address biological complexity, and to encompass levels of analysis ranging from the molecular to the organismal. Comparative endocrinology is well-positioned to play a leading role in this movement because of its historical ties to natural history, behavior and evolution. The SICB Annual Meeting can showcase cutting-edge, integrative research in endocrinology, and promote the idea among graduate students that comparative studies belong in the forefront of physiology and neuroscience. Kyle W. Selcer Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Environmental Research and Education, Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA Education: B.S. Biology, University of Texas-Pan American, 1980; M.S. Biology, University of Texas-Pan American, 1982; Ph.D. Biology, Texas Tech University, 1986. Professional Experience: Postdoctoral Fellow, Endocrinology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center 1986-1989; Assistant Professor of Biology, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, 1989-1991; Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, 1991-1992; Assistant Professor, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1992-1998; Associate Professor, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1999-present. Biology Graduate Coordinator, 1993-1999. Biology Department Interim Chair, Jan-July 2000; Organizer and Chair, Educational Poster/Multimedia Session, Society for the Study of Reproduction 1999, 2000. SICB Activities : Member for 7 years. Attended annual meetings, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999. Session co-chair, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999. Judge, Aubrey Gorbman Best Student Papers in Comparative Endocrinology, 1999. Other memberships: Council for Undergraduate Research, Society for the Study of Reproduction, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Research Interests: Reproductive endocrinology, environmental endocrinology, evolutionary endocrinology. My research involves the role of sex steroid hormones in nonmammalian vertebrates, the use of vitellogenin as biomarker for environmental endocrine disruptors, and steroid sulfatase inhibitors for treatment of hormone-dependent cancers. Goals Statement: To maintain the strong divisional identity of comparative endocrinology at the annual meetings, while actively seeking interaction with other divisions on topics of common interest. To identify and foster topics for divisional and interdivisional symposia. To actively encourage student participation in the division, and to increase the number of educational presentations in comparative endocrinology.