Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, has assumed the role of president of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. His two-year term began this summer, two years earlier than originally announced.

The Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine was founded in 1903 to promote investigation in the biomedical sciences by encouraging and facilitating interchange of information across medical and scientific disciplines. The 1,600-member society promotes investigation in the biomedical sciences by publishing a peer-reviewed journal, Experimental Biology and Medicine, and by fostering the career development of students, physician–scientists, and new investigators.

The society also organizes major interdisciplinary scientific programs and symposia each year in conjunction with the Experimental Biology meeting. The 2011 meeting focused on energy metabolism and the pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of obesity and diabetes; the previous meeting centered on systems medicine.

"I find it gratifying to be able to lead a society with such a long and distinguished history," says Friedlander. "I’m happy to take on the challenge of helping to further the society’s principal goals -- enhancing interactions between biomedical scientists from disparate fields and providing mentorship and support to the next generations of biomedical investigators."