Bridget Lumb

President, The Physiological Society

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.113.9

Carrying on the tradition initiated by my predecessor David Eisner, I intend to publish a “President’s View” article in each issue of Physiology News to keep you abreast of my take on things.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Bristol and my research interests focus on central nervous system mechanisms of pain and fear. I have a longstanding and affectionate relationship with The Physiological Society; I joined The Society in 1990 and have served on several of its committees (including Education, and Animal Legislation and Welfare), acted as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Physiology and was Meetings Secretary from 2002 to 2006. I am now honoured to become President of The Society and am very much looking forward to the next two years in this role.
I’m extremely fortunate to take on the presidency at this particular time. In addition to ongoing activities aligned to our charitable objectives (including Education, Policy, Meetings and Publications), Council and Society staff, led by the Chief Executive Officer (Dariel Burdass), have spent much time over the last two years “putting The Society’s house in order” and, at the same time, planning for the future.

Putting our house in order was in some respects quite literally that. As part of repurposing the internal layout of our headquarters, Hodgkin Huxley House (HHH) to optimise the facilities for our staff and, at the same time, the financial return from our tenants, we discovered that significant remedial work on the external structure of the building was needed. These works are now complete and we have tenants occupying three, rather than two, floors. The building is in good condition and a maintenance programme is in place going forward. The other important work to put our house in order was the development of The Society’s strategic plan with a vision of ensuring that “physiology flourishes” and an overhaul of our governance structure. The strategic plan is now complete (and is available on our website at bit.ly/2KdkIck), whereas the governance review will be presented, discussed and hopefully agreed at the December meeting of Council. A critical, ongoing project is the launch of our new website with appeal to a wider audience and greater accessibility.

We owe thanks to our very professional team at HHH who, under the capable leadership of Dariel Burdass, together with my predecessor David Eisner and the Trustees, has achieved a great deal in the last two years. Their efforts and vision have meant that I take on the presidency at a time when The Society is in a solid position to ensure that physiology flourishes. The next two years will not be without challenges, however.

One of my priorities is to ensure that we plan for the financial future in a world of open access publishing. As part of this, Council will be working with Finance Committee to review The Society’s Reserves Policy to ensure we have the appropriate resilience against, for example, the demands of a new project or drops in income. Another priority will be to work with Trustees and staff to develop membership strategies, following on from Member Insight Project feedback, by reviewing member benefits and exploring how we might enrol Members from a wider spectrum of backgrounds. Lastly, we will work to ensure that our scientific meetings continue to provide world-leading platforms for the dissemination of our science and education programmes to a wide audience, including the public.

In sum, I’m very much looking forward to working with the membership, Council and the staff at HHH at what is a very exciting time for The Society.