APS Board of Directors

Timothy Musch, PhD, FAPS, FACSM, is a University Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Kinesiology and Anatomy & Physiology at Kansas State University. He earned his PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Wisconsin and completed postdoctoral work at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

Musch’s service to the Society includes prior roles as councilor, chair of the Animal Care & Experimentation Committee and the Committee on Committees, and as a member of the Public Affairs, Education, Fellows, Membership, Nominating, Section Advisory and Strategic Planning committees. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Physiology and the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology. Musch was the Guyton Educator of the Year in 2013 and received FAPS status in 2016.

Willis K. “Rick” Samson, PhD, DSc, FAPS, is professor of pharmacology and physiology and director of biomedical science graduate programs in the School of Medicine at Saint Louis University (SLU). He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina; his PhD from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas; and his DSc from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Samson is the vice chair of the SLU School of Medicine’s Pharmacology and Physiology Department and a member of SLU’s COVID-19 Task Force. He serves on study sections and editorial boards for a number of scientific organizations and journals.

Samson served the Society on the APS Council from 2016 to 2019 and was a member of the Joint Program and Public Affairs committees as well as the Committee on Committees. He is also a former member of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Section Steering Committee and is a current member of the APS Fellows Committee. Samson is a past associate editor and editor-in-chief for the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology and is currently deputy editor of Physiological Reviews.

Robert L. Hester, PhD, FAPS, is the Billy S. Guyton Distinguished Professor and a professor of physiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Hester has served APS as past chair of Joint Programming Committee and the Cardiovascular Section. He has been a member of the Section Advisory, Education and Science Policy committees, the American Physiology Summit 2023 Task Force, and was chair of the Experimental Biology Board. Hester is an associate editor of the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory and a section editor of Comprehensive Physiology. His current research is focused on computer simulation of integrative physiology. Hester received FAPS status in 2015.

Paul A. Welling, MD, the Joseph S. and Esther Handler Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. He earned his medical degree at the University of Kansas and was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.

Paul is renowned for research on molecular underpinnings of potassium-sodium balance, electrolyte disorders and hypertension. His work translates genetic insights into new understandings of kidney physiology. Championing a team-science approach, spanning gene discovery to translational studies, Welling currently leads a global collaborative to elucidate why dietary potassium profoundly affects salt metabolism, blood pressure and cardiovascular kidney disease. Welling is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of American Physicians. He has served in numerous leadership roles, including two terms as chair of the American Physiological Society Finance Committee and chair of the Epithelial Transport Interest Group Steering Committee.

Scott Steen, CAE, FASAE, was appointed as the executive director of the American Physiological Society in July of 2018. The Society is a global leader in expanding knowledge related to biological function, championing the importance of physiology for achieving breakthroughs in health, disease and our understanding of life. Previously, Scott led two science-focused organizations: the American Ceramic Society – a science and engineering society - and, most recently, American Forests. During his tenure at both organizations, he presided over substantial increases in revenue, membership growth, innovation, and member engagement.

While Scott was president & CEO of American Forests, membership tripled, the organization launched several new, high profile initiatives, and operating revenue nearly doubled. The organization also received media coverage in such outlets as The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, and NPR, and was named one of the best managed environmental charities in America by Outside Magazine. Scott has also served as chief strategy officer at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), and chief operating officer of the Center for Association Leadership, a think tank and education center for association managers and leaders. He is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), a fellow of ASAE, and a frequent author and speaker on topics that include managing organizational change, creating cultures that support innovation, storytelling as a leadership tool, branding, member engagement, and future trends in association management.

Heddwen Brooks, PhD, is a professor and chair of the Department of Physiology at Tulane University. She earned her doctorate from Imperial College, London, U.K.

Brooks is editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology. She has served APS as a former chair of the Renal Section; a member of the Section Advisory and Education committees; and as a past member of the Committee on Committees. Brooks was also Joint Programming Committee representative for the Sex and Gender Interest Group. She has served as faculty for APS professional skills training workshop Writing and Reviewing for Scientific Journals and as associate editor of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. She serves on study sections for the American Heart Association, Veterans Affairs and National Institutes of Health. Brooks’ research examines sex differences in hypertension, diabetes and the immune system.

Michael Caplan, MD, PhD, FAPS, is the C.N.H. Long Professor and chair of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. He earned his MD and PhD degrees from Yale University. Caplan has been honored with awards for his work in renal physiology from numerous organizations, including APS, the American Society of Nephrologists and the National Science Foundation. Caplan is editor-in-chief of the journal Physiology and is a member of the Physiology Summit Leadership Committee. He received FAPS status in 2019.

Nisha Charkoudian, PhD, is a research physiologist at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts. She received her PhD in physiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She completed postdoctoral training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Charkoudian has served on the editorial boards of several APS journals and is a past associate editor of the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology. She currently serves as a consulting editor for American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology podcasts. She has published over 140 articles in peer-reviewed publications, many in APS publications.

Karla Haack, PhD, is a medical writer at Merck and Co., where she collaboratively authors pre-approval regulatory documents. Prior to joining Merck in 2021, Haack taught anatomy and physiology and pathophysiology courses at Kennesaw State University (KSU) in Georgia. She earned her PhD in molecular biology from Georgia Institute of Technology and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Haack was a member of the College of Science and Mathematics Inclusion and Diversity Committee and liaison to the chief diversity officer at KSU. She is the outgoing chair of the APS Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.

Patricia A. Halpin, PhD, FAPS, is a professor of biology and biotechnology at the University of New Hampshire. She was trained as a renal physiologist and is now an education researcher. Halpin has been a member of APS since 1995. She served on the Center for Physiology Education advisory board. Halpin is also a member and past chair of the Teaching of Physiology Section. An early adopter of online learning, she uses face-to-face, online and blended modalities to teach a variety of courses. Halpin received FAPS status in 2024.

My Helms, PhD, is an associate professor with tenure at the University of Utah pursuing mechanistic studies in epithelial transport biology. She is chair of the Cell and Molecular Physiology Section Postdoctoral Review Committee. Helms is also a member of Cell Section’s Research Host Contact List, Social Media Admins and Summit-CAMPS committees. She is the past chair of the Cell & Molecular Physiology Section Steering Committee. Helms mentors the next generation of scientists to become independent investigators. She addresses the scientific challenges and opportunities of our time through university and APS service.

Katie Hering-Smith, MS, PhD, is an associate professor at Tulane School of Medicine’s Department of Physiology. Her research interests are focused on nephron epithelial transport. Hering-Smith has mentored students in her lab along with teaching physiology to graduate and medical students.  She has served as the secretary, chair and is the past chair of the Renal Section Steering Committee. In addition to serving on the APS Advisory Council, Hering-Smith is on the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology and is the chair of the APS Steering Advisory Committee (SAC).

Beth A. McCormick, PhD, is a professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems at UMass Chan Medical School. McCormick is an internationally renowned gastrointestinal physiologist and has been an active participant in APS activities for nearly 20 years. She has served as secretary-treasurer of the APS Gastrointestinal & Liver Section (2018–2021),an editorial board member for the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology and an organizer of plenary sessions. She was the 2023 Gastrointestinal & Liver Physiology Section Distinguished Lecturer. McCormick has served as a session chair at Experimental Biology as well.

Evangeline Motley-Johnson, PhD, is the interim dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research and a professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She received her PhD from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and pursued her postdoctoral training at the University of Cincinnati.

Motley-Johnson is a former APS Porter Development Fellow and is a past member of the Porter Committee (now the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee) and the Trainee Committee of the Cardiovascular Section. She has served on National Institutes of Health review panels and is a past member of the Student Affairs and Minority Affairs committees of the Endocrine Society.

Gina Yosten, PhD, is a tenured associate professor of pharmacology and physiology at SLU, where she also earned her PhD. She is a longtime APS member and has served the Society in multiple capacities, including as the chair of the Endocrinology & Metabolism Section and a member of the Section Advisory and Joint Program committees. Yosten is the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology and was APS’ 2023 Henry Pickering Bowditch Award Lecturer.