Graduate school dean earns prestigious award for physiology research

Jennifer Sullivan, PhD, FAHA, dean of The Graduate School and a tenured professor in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, has received the 2023 Ernest Starling Lectureship Award from the American Physiological Society (APS) Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis Section Hub.

She will officially accept the award at the APS Summit in Long Beach, California in April 2023.

“Dr. Sullivan brings a unique perspective to her studies and has established herself as a true thought-leader in this field of research,” said Dr. David Mattson, department chair and professor in the Department of Physiology at MCG.

“The quality of her research is superb as judged by her extensive list of publications and her stellar funding record. Dr. Sullivan’s scientific contributions to the field are well-recognized as she is currently a project leader on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Program Project Grant and a co-project leader on an NIH T32 Training Grant. Dr. Sullivan’s service to the water and electrolyte homeostasis community is also highly significant, and she has clearly made important contribution to advance the field through her dedication to her colleagues.”

“It is a true honor be the recipient of the 2023 Ernest Starling award and I am humbled to be included among the ranks of the former awardees,” Sullivan said. “The Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis section of the American Physiological Society has been one of my scientific homes since I joined the society in 2000 and to have my work recognized by this group is very meaningful.”

About the award

The named lecture for the Water & Electrolyte Homeostasis (WEH) Section is the Ernest H. Starling Distinguished Lectureship. It is the most prestigious of the APS Water & Electrolyte Homeostasis Section awards and is awarded annually to an APS member recognized for exceptional contributions and lifelong dedication to water and electrolyte homeostasis research.

The recipient is chosen by the Section as a representative of the best within the discipline. Lecturers present and are active participants at the APS annual meeting.

To be eligible for the award, an APS member must have made significant and meritorious contributions to WEH-related research. This award is based on nominations from the membership and determined by the WEH Steering Committee.

About Sullivan

Along with serving as dean of the Graduate School at AU, Sullivan serves on both the president’s and provost’s cabinets and is the chair of the Curriculum Advancement Committee of the biomedical sciences PhD program; the director of the first-year biomedical sciences PhD program; and the course director for Introduction to Faculty Research (BIOM 8040), Introduction to Research I (BIOM 8050), Introduction to Research II (BIOM 8060) and Experimental Therapeutics (BIOM 8030).

She currently serves as an associate editor for Clinical Science, an editorial board member for Physiological Reviews, Hypertension, Biology of Sex Differences, the American Journal of Hypertension, the American Journal of Physiology: Renal Physiology and the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology, and has served as a topic editor and guest editor for numerous scientific journals. Sullivan lists over 100 original publications and reviews to her credit.

Among her many accomplishments and activities, Sullivan is the former chair of the APS Sex and Gender Interest Group; she chaired the organizing group for the APS conference “Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Diseases: Gender-Specific Implications for Physiology on Sex and Gender”; and she was a member of the NIH/NIDDK Sex-Gender Dimorphisms in Renal and Urological Disease Research Opportunities Workshop. She is also a member of the Nominating Committee for both the Council on Kidney Disease and the Council of Hypertension within the American Heart Association.