Dr. Heddwen Brooks Elected to the American Physiological Society Leadership Council
Heddwen Brooks, PhD, professor of physiology in the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson, has been elected as a councilor of the American Physiological Society (APS).
The APS is a nonprofit organization devoted to fostering education, scientific research, and dissemination of information in the physiological sciences. Founded in 1887, the society has more than 10,000 members around the world who investigate the way that living organisms function, from the macro-level of how the environment affects humans down to the micro-level of how biomolecules affect tissue or organ function. The APS is governed by an elected council consisting of a president, president-elect, past president and nine councilors.
“It’s an incredible honor to be elected as a Councilor for the American Physiological Society and to be given the opportunity to help lead an organization that is committed to advancing scientific discovery, understanding life, and improving health,” said Dr. Brooks. “I look forward to working alongside exceptional leaders and members to strengthen the missions of the APS.”
A renal physiologist who also hold appointments as professor of biomedical engineering, medicine and pharmacology and a member of the BIO5 Institute at UArizona, Dr. Brooks early research developed microarray technology to address in vivo signaling pathways involved in the hormonal regulation of renal function. Current areas of research in the Brooks Laboratory are focused on the role of inflammation and sex differences in the onset of postmenopausal hypertension, metabolic syndrome and diabetic kidney disease and identifying new therapies for polycystic kidney disease and lithium-induced nephropathy. She has published numerous research articles and is the coauthor of the textbook “Ganong’s Review of Medical Physiology,” now in its 26th edition.
Dr. Brooks has been very active in the American Physiological Society, serving as chair of the American Physiological Society Renal Section, Joint Program Committee representative for the Sex Differences Interest Group, and member of the Education Committee, Nominating Committee and Committee on Committees. Dr. Brooks also has worked with APS in Professional Development, serving as an Instructor on the APS Scientific Writing and Ethics Workshop in Orlando and taught the course with APS at Ribeirão Preto Medical School, Brazil. She currently is the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Physiology, Renal Physiology, the first women to hold that position.
Dr. Brooks’ term officially begins will begin in April at the conclusion of the APS annual meeting at Experimental Biology (EB) 2022.