Professor Elected to Serve as American Physiological Society Officer

UC Merced Professor Rudy Ortiz was among those elected to serve as American Physiological Society (APS) council member.

The new officers were elected by the APS membership and take office at the Experimental Biology meeting April 30.

Ortiz has served on several APS committees including the Porter Physiology Development and Minority Affairs, Trainee Advisory, and Comparative Section Steering committees. He has also participated in minority and educational outreach initiatives such as the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Travel Fellows program and Explorations in Biomedicine undergraduate physiology exploration retreat.

“Clearly, these are very difficult times for all scientists, but challenges provide the opportunity to develop new and bold paths to help manage these obstacles,” Ortiz said. “Witnessing firsthand the negative effects the current funding environment is having on the retention of many young scientists, I think the APS can be the leader among professional societies to develop innovative programs to retain these scientists.”