BREATHE members and trainees were in full force at the American Physiological Society Summit in Baltimore, MA. Beyond presenting 24 posters, 14 oral presentations, and organizing multiple game-changer sessions, BREATHE helped sponsor the Control of Breathing Mixer: Hot Topics in Respiratory Control and organized the Marilyn Menker Trainee Highlights Breakfast, which was led by Dr. Alex Marciante and Fuller lab alum, Dr. Michael Sunshine. Clearly, we had an outsized presence at this annual gathering of physiologists from across the world! Five of our members also garnered awards for their work:
Dr. David Fuller, BREATHE Associate Director and Associate Dean for Research in the College of Public Health and Health Professions, received the 2025 Julius H. Comroe Jr. Distinguished Lectureship of the APS Respiration Section. This prestigious lectureship is awarded to an outstanding contributor to the disciplinary areas of physiology represented by the Respiration Section. The recipient is selected by the Section for their exceptional contributions to respiratory physiology in the fields of lung biology, the control of breathing or another respiration-related area. Dr. Fuller presented his lecture, titled The Fundamental Importance of Basic Science for Understanding and Treating Respiratory Neuromuscular Disease.
Dr. Alex Marciante, Assistant Scientist in the Department of Physical Therapy, received the 2025 Giles F. Filey Memorial Award for Excellence in Respiratory Physiology & Medicine. This award recognizes excellence in the physiological sciences and is presented annually to an individual demonstrating outstanding promise based on their research program in respiratory physiology and medicine.
Dr. Orlando Laitano, Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology, received the 2025 Environmental and Exercise Physiology Section New Investigator Award. This award recognizes an outstanding investigator in the early stages of their career who has made meritorious contributions to the areas of environmental, exercise, thermal or applied physiology and has contributed as a collegial citizen of the EEP and/or scientific community.
Dr. Michele Moraes, a postdoc in Dr. Orlando Laitano’s Lab, received the 2025 Environmental and Exercise Physiology Section Research Recognition Award for her work: Exertional Heat Stroke Induces Mesenteric Glycocalyx Damage Regardless of Estrous Cycle Phase in Mice. This award recognizes outstanding research by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who submit a first-author abstract to the American Physiology Summit.
Caitlin Brennan, an undergraduate student in Dr. Erica Dale’s lab, received a 2025 Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award for her work: FOS Expression in Respiratory Motor Networks After Cervical Spinal Cord Stimulation and Injury. These awards are presented annually to undergraduate students who are presenting their research at the American Physiology Summit.
Congratulations to all awardees, presenters, and organizers! Get a glimpse into BREATHE at APS in our photo gallery below.
