The Puerto Rico Physiological Society held their 6th annual meeting at the University of Puerto Rico this past Friday February 12th. The theme of the meeting was "Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Stress: From Cells to Organisms." While the meeting did not feature much of what would be considered comparative physiology, there were several really good talks on how different forms of stress impact physiology.
This year's American Physiological Society lecture was given by Dr. Ajit Varki who spoke about the role of so-called "siglecs" in both aging and inflammation. According to his biography on the University of California Can Diego website, he is interested in understanding how sialic acids, certain sugar molecules, play a role in biological processes and disease.
Caroline B. Appleyard (Ponce Health Sciences University - Ponce Research Institute, Puerto Rico) represented the local faculty with a seminar on novel interventions for endometriosis worsened by stress.