Welcome to the Michigan Physiological Society Website!

It is an honor to serve as the President of the Michigan Physiological Society (MPS). This year marks a historic milestone as we celebrate 10 years of promoting physiology in the state of Michigan! In 2015, I attended my first MPS annual meeting and was impressed with how this new state chapter benefited students and trainees and broadly promoted physiology-based research, teaching, and outreach. Over the past several years I have become more involved with MPS and have traveled hundreds of miles to participate in the MPS annual meeting, given my location here in the Upper Peninsula at Michigan Tech University. Every year I look forward to visiting with MPS students, colleagues, and friends.

The MPS is an officially sanctioned state chapter of the American Physiological Society. Our mission is to “Enhance and advance the field of physiology and unite physiologists within the state of Michigan.” Our membership is open to anyone in the state of Michigan who is broadly interested in health science with a particular interest in physiology. Specifically, current members include undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and K-12 educators from a wide variety of schools, departments, colleges, and universities. Through our website, email listserv, and social media outlets, our members have access to physiology related communication, news, and announcements from both MPS and our parent organization the American Physiological Society. Members also can advertise and search for job postings and post advertisements about research study opportunities. Our state physiology chapter is one of the strongest in the country! I commend our MPS past-presidents and Executive Committee members for their vision, dedication, and leadership to help make the MPS what it is today.

Every year our annual meeting takes place in the summer and brings together members from across the state of Michigan representing more than 10 different colleges and universities. The primary focus of the meeting is to provide students and trainees with professional development opportunities to present their work, receive feedback, and network. The depth and breadth of the scholarly work presented is top notch as it includes basic and applied physiology research, educational and classroom related physiology projects, and health focused community outreach initiatives. The meeting offers opportunities for faculty as well as K-12 educators to discuss what is new in physiology in terms of research, pedagogy, challenges, and opportunities. Looking ahead we welcome and will facilitate more participation from first- and second-year undergraduate students and also community college students and educators.    

For this year, I look forward to working with the MPS Executive Committee to help advance the mission of MPS and lead several MPS strategic initiatives:

1. Broaden our MPS membership and facilitate more year-round member engagement.
2. Deliver a robust 10^th Annual MPS meeting as well as a new MPS Mid-Year Symposium that is more inclusive for members from across the state of Michigan.
3. Disseminate MPS related meeting events and reports in Advances in Physiology Education so that our chapter serves as a model for developing state physiology chapters.

I encourage you to visit our website for more information about joining and/or renewing membership and resources we offer. You can also join our email listserv to receive the latest MPS updates. Please help us promote the MPS chapter by sharing our website link with fellow students, educators, and researchers in your area. Finally, we look forward to seeing you at our 10^th Annual MPS Meeting in Summer of 2023!

Sincerely,

Steven Elmer, PhD

President, Michigan Physiological Society