APS Members Elect New Leaders for 2026–2027

Rockville, Md.-The American Physiological Society (APS) is pleased to announce its leadership election results for 2025-2026:

• President Sue C. Bodine, PhD, FAPS, FIUPS
• President-elect Lacy Alexander, PhD, FAPS
• Board of Directors members Kirsteen Browning, PhD, FAPS; Julie Freed, MD, PhD; and L. Bruce Gladden, PhD, FAPS.
  

The incoming officers were elected by APS membership in February and will take office in April at the conclusion of the American Physiology Summit, APS' flagship annual meeting.

Sue C. Bodine, PhD, FAPS, FIUPS, is a professor in the Aging and Metabolism Research Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and a research biologist at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center. She is an executive editor for the journal Functionand on the editorial board of Physiological Reviews. Past leadership roles include editor-in-chief for the Journal of Applied Physiology, associate editor for the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism and the American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology, and APS Councilor. Bodine's research focuses on the study of the neuromuscular system and its response and adaptation to stressors such as exercise, microgravity, disuse, denervation and aging.

Lacy Alexander, PhD, FAPS, is a professor of kinesiology at Pennsylvania State University. She has served the Society as a former chair of the Environmental & Exercise Physiology Section, a past editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Physiology and as an APS Council member. Alexander's research focuses on mechanisms of vascular dysfunction related to traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors.

Kirsteen Browning, PhD, FAPS, is a professor of neural and behavioral science at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Her past leadership experience at APS has included serving as the Central Nervous System Section Awards Committee chair, programming representative and section chair. She is the current chair of the Scientific Program Committee. Browning's research examines brainstem control of autonomic functions, particularly vagal control of gastrointestinal functions across the lifespan, from maternal influences on development of brainstem neurocircuits to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

Julie Freed, MD, PhD, is a senior associate dean and director of the Clinical & Translational Research Institute at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She has served the Society in multiple roles, including past chair of the Translational Physiology Interest Group and current chair of the Cardiovascular Section. Freed's research focuses on microvascular dysfunction at the intersection of vascular biology and cardiovascular disease.

L. Bruce Gladden, PhD, FAPS, is a professor of Kinesiology at Auburn University. His leadership in the Society includes having served as a former chair of the Environmental & Exercise Physiology Section. Gladden's research area is exercise bioenergetics and lactate exchange and mitochondrial activation during exercise.

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Physiology reveals how life works-from cells to body systems-and drives the scientific discoveries that transform health and save lives. It provides the foundation every medical advancement depends on. The American Physiological Society champions physiology-the science life depends on. It connects a global, multidisciplinary community of more than 10,000 biomedical scientists and educators as part of its mission to advance scientific discovery, understand life and improve health. The Society drives collaboration and spotlights scientific discoveries through its 16 scholarly journals and programming that support researchers and educators in their work.