The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) is pleased to recognize Steven E. Mansoor, MD, PhD, as the recipient of the 2023 Donald Seldin~Holly Smith Award for Pioneering Research. For this Award, the ASCI provides Dr. Mansoor an honorarium of $30,000 to advance his academic efforts, and the opportunity to deliver a scientific talk at the 2024 AAP/ASCI/APSA Joint Meeting.
A clinical cardiologist, Dr. Mansoor employs structural biology techniques to study the structure, function, and signaling of ion channels and G-protein coupled receptors of the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. He was responsible for resolving the structures of several receptors within the P2X class of purinergic receptors: P2X3R and PRX7R. Dr. Mansoor’s work provided clarity into the activity of each, enabling efforts in his lab and elsewhere to identify potential small molecules that target P2X receptors for novel therapeutics.
Dr. David B. Jacoby nominated Dr. Mansoor for the Award, and Dr. Richard H. Goodman provided a letter of support. In his letter, Dr. Goodman wrote, “Beyond the important contributions to understanding the basic science of ion channel structure, function, and gating, Dr. Mansoor’s work has truly significant translational implications.”
Dr. Mansoor earned his BA from Reed College (Oregon) and his MD and PhD from the Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU), where he completed his medical residency and cardiology fellowship. He is Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and Assistant Professor of Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry at the OHSU School of Medicine. His work has been recognized and funded by the Gilead Research Scholars Award, the Silver Family Foundation Faculty Excellence and Innovation Award, and the National Institutes of Health, including most recently the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. Among other honors, he was a recipient of the ASCI’s 2018 Young Physician-Scientist Award.
Nominations were evaluated by the Seldin~Smith Award Selection Committee: Mukesh K. Jain (Chair), Vivian G. Cheung, Sohail F. Tavazoie, Benjamin D. Humphreys, and Anna Greka. Finalists were evaluated by an Advisory Committee comprising five physician-scientist luminaries: Joseph L. Goldstein (Chair), Michael S. Brown, Robert J. Lefkowitz, Christine Seidman, and Arthur Weiss.
The start of my Presidential year marks my sixth year on the Council; I am excited to draw from my experiences to advance the mission of the ASCI and engage our excellent community of physician-scientists. I’ve had the opportunity to work with an outstanding group of past Presidents. As Sohail transitions to Immediate Past President, I thank him for his efforts to carry on current initiatives and to drive new ones. His thoughtfulness and regard for the physician-scientist community were obvious to all of us on Council. Among the initiatives he led was a survey of our community, and I look forward to continuing to work with him on a fuller analysis and presentation of the results.
As I considered the year ahead and the impact I could make during my presidency, my focus turned to the early-career path. Since 2013, the ASCI has provided recognition of early-faculty physician-scientists through its Young Physician-Scientist Awards program, and in 2022 the ASCI began its Emerging-Generation Awards program to recognize those who are three years or more past earning their MDs, who show great promise in research, but who are not yet on faculty. Through the ASCI’s and AAP’s partnership with APSA, we help to support a large population of MD and MD-PhD students.
What about supporting the path even earlier? My institution (Washington University in St. Louis) offers a Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program, under the umbrella of the university’s Physician-Scientist Training Program, co-led by Tim Ley — a fierce advocate for physician-scientists and a past ASCI President (1997–1998). The impact this program has had on our community inspired me to consider the possibility of a similar ASCI-supported program. I brought the idea to the Council and received an enthusiastic reception. Other ASCI committees (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Physician-Scientist Development) gave valuable feedback and suggestions, and the Council ultimately approved the program. I look forward to sharing full details with the ASCI community and beyond very soon.
This new program, as with all other ASCI programs, entails a cost. Among my hopes for my presidency is to make the case to major donors and our friends in industry for the importance of supporting the physician-scientist path, particularly at this postbaccalaureate stage. Noting this, I’m grateful for contributions from all the members and others to support our Awards programs and the Society in general.
Finally, I’m incredibly appreciative of the time members have volunteered to the ASCI, whether through spreading the word about ASCI, participating in nominating activities, or service to committees and ad hoc roles. We truly could not do it without you.
During the past year, I have been incredibly honored to have served as president of ASCI, an organization with a long tradition of supporting physician-scientists in their noble mission to uncover fundamental insights into human biology and pathophysiology and to apply these insights towards tomorrow’s cures.
To better understand the challenges faced by physician scientists, we solicited survey responses from our membership this past year, receiving 588 responses. When asked about the most significant problems faced by current physician-scientists, 80% reported funding limitations, while 56% cited administrative burdens. Burnout, length of training, and clinical care overload were identified as the next most significant issues, with each being selected by approximately 40% of respondents. Notably, despite these challenges, 90% of respondents reported a high or very high level of career satisfaction. Concerning funding limitations, many respondents advocated for increased NIH funding to physician-scientists, particularly during the transition to independence and junior faculty stages. They also called for enhanced institutional startup and hard-money support for new physician-scientist faculty. Respondents believed that ASCI could help by providing mentorship advice and workshops for fellows and junior investigators. Additionally, they felt that improved networking among ASCI members across disciplines, within disciplines, and across generations could provide a much-needed support structure for our community.
So, what new initiatives is ASCI undertaking to address these formidable challenges? To enhance our society’s networking and mentorship capacity, I initiated a major overhaul of our website. A key feature of the revamped site is the membership directory, where trainees, junior faculty, and ASCI members can view the entire membership and search for members with specific scientific or clinical expertise such as biochemistry, genetics, cell biology, oncology, or infectious disease. For example, a trainee considering a fellowship in San Francisco could search for all ASCI members in the area, select their names, read their updated biographies and view their selected publications. Importantly, we are asking all members to provide a 5-minute video upload, in which they describe their career trajectories, what motivates them and brings them joy as physician-scientists, and crucially, their scientific area of focus. The new directory will increase the visibility of our membership, enable members to form disciplinary or inter-disciplinary affinity groups, help trainees identify labs, mentors, and institutions supportive of physician-scientists, and assist us in advocating for increased funding support for physician-scientists from the NIH. This comprehensive directory is a valuable resource that will showcase the remarkable accomplishments of over 3,400 leaders in biomedical research, bolstering our ability to organize and collectively advocate in support of our mission. I extend my gratitude to John Hawley for his exceptional support and management of this initiative, and I strongly encourage all of you to help us by updating your bios, submitting your select publications and uploading your 5-minute videos soon. You will be receiving a reminder in the coming weeks.
To provide targeted advice for different career-stages, we have initiated the ASCI Presidents’ Q&A sessions, a webinar series starting this June, in which current and past ASCI presidents will address any questions posed by trainees and physician-scientist faculty on a variety of topics, including grant writing, study sections, faculty chalk talks, mentorship, teaching, startup negotiations, administrative burden, leadership and the inner workings of ASCI. We will be reaching back decades to past presidents whose timeless insights will greatly benefit our society.
To support trainees at their most vulnerable stage, we will annually pair pre-faculty physician-scientists—the ASCI Emerging Generation Awardees—and early faculty physician-scientists—the ASCI Young Physician-Scientist Awardees—with newly elected ASCI members who have overlapping scientific interests. Each ASCI member will serve as a long-term career mentor or Big Sib for the junior trainee, helping them navigate the most precarious phase of the physician-scientist career path. Vice President Anna Greka has played a major role in guiding young trainee mentorship along with Christopher Williams, and I’m thrilled that we will have her continued leadership in this initiative.
To highlight exceptional mid-career physician-scientists who can serve as inspirational role models for our future leaders, I am thrilled to announce our inaugural mid-career physician-scientist awards—an initiative created under Hossein Ardehali and Lorraine Ware’s leadership. Wendy Garrett is the recipient of the Marian Ropes award, while Duane Mitchell is the recipient of the Louise Sullivan award. Wendy and Duane will present their exciting scientific work at next year’s annual meeting. Please join me in congratulating them on their achievements.
Lastly, Ben Humphreys and I are at the early stages of organizing a working group what will focus on identifying potential solutions to concerns surrounding grant funding and institutional support for junior physician-scientist faculty. These complex issues demand collective thinking, creativity, advocacy, and action. We eagerly anticipate collaborating with you on these crucial matters.
In response to what the greatest opportunities and rewards of being a physician-scientist are, 93% of our survey respondents chose the option making new discoveries. There have never been more tools available to us to for making such discoveries, and there has never been a more exciting time to be a physician-scientist! So please help us to convey our excitement and passion for this path to our young impressionable trainees.
In closing, I want to express my gratitude for the incredible honor of serving our esteemed society on Council for these past 6 years. I am grateful to my exceptional Council members and am delighted to pass the baton to our next president and exemplary leader Ben Humphreys.
I also wish to extend special thanks to two people who are the heart and soul of this exceptional organization: John Hawley, the executive director, and Karen Guth, the managing director of ASCI. John’s vast knowledge of our organization, its history, and inner workings is truly remarkable. Karen’s adept management of ASCI’s finances, investments, and sizable staff, as well as her organization of our meetings is equally astonishing. In my view, Karen and John have contributed more to the physician-scientist cause than anyone else I know, and working with them has been an absolute pleasure. This year marks the 25th anniversary of their leadership service at ASCI. On behalf of the present and past 25 Councils and the entire membership, I extend my heartfelt thanks to Karen and John for their dedication to ASCI.
