June 2007 E-Newsletter

of the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists

 

 

Welcome to the June edition of the ASCEPT e-News.

 

In this issue we are encouraging members to seek support from ASCEPT for seminar programs.

 

We are also promoting a variety of pharmacology or toxicology conferences that will be held in Australia and overseas. See below for further details. In the SEAWP section we have included the biographies of invited plenary speakers. 

 

Finally a reminder that the 2007 Australian Medicines Handbook is still available to members at a discounted rate.

 

If any would like to contribute any items to e-News, please send it along to Meetings First for consideration.

 

 

SPONSORSHIP FOR PHARMACOLOGY/TOXICOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES

ASCEPT is offering sponsorship for pharmacology seminar series.

 

As announced at the 2006 AGM, ASCEPT would offer an incentive to departments to encourage or invite members to present. 

 

Once there are eligible 5 members within an institution, the institute will be able to apply for $500 for use in their seminar program. The seminars must have the ASCEPT logo appear at the start and end of the seminar, by using a PowerPoint slide provided by the Secretariat and have membership brochures provided available on the day. Up to 10 members from each institute may apply with a maximum of $1000 available.

 

ASCEPT will advertise the seminar programs on the ASCEPT website/e-news. The Institute should nominate a contact person. They can be student or full members, but their fees must have been paid for 2007. Please click here and complete the form.

 

 

AHMRC 2008

The 4th Australian Health and Medical Research Congress will be held November 16-21, 2008 in the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. The 2008 ASCEPT Annual Scientific meeting will run within the Congress. Organisers have commenced preparation of the congress program, so please send any ideas for symposia to Rob Vandenberg (robv@med.usyd.edu.au), Chair of the ASCEPT Scientific Advisory Committee.

 

Roselyn Rose’Meyer

Queensland member on Council

 

 

WESTERN PHARMACOLOGY SOCIETY 2008 MEETING

Kona Coast, Hawaii, 27 – 31 January 2008


Following a call for suggestions from ASCEPT members, the Scientific Advisory Committee of ASCEPT has put forward a symposium on Pharmacogenomics for the upcoming Western Pharmacological Society Meeting in Hawaii.  The symposium will highlight some of the exciting work in this area that is being conducted by ASCEPT scientists and we invite all ASCEPT members to consider attending the conference. Other symposia include: Estrogen and Woman's Health, chaired by Gautam Chaudhuri from UCLA; Fetal Origins of Cardiovascular Disease, chaired by Kent Thornburg from Oregon Health and Sciences University; DNA Methylation and Cancer Therapy, chaired by Lawrence Sowers from Loma Linda University; Current Challenges in Neurodegenerative Diseases co-chaired by Leon Thal from UCSD and Zaven Khachaturian from Ronald & Nancy Reagan Alzheimer's Research Institute and Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Center. The Nobel Laureate, professor Louis Ignarro from UCLA will deliver the Burk's Award speech.

 
The conference will will be a wonderful opportunity to combine great science in a wonderful place to visit.

 

Rob Vandenberg

 

 

XIII INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF TOXICOLOGY, MEXICO CITY 2013

On behalf of the Mexican Society of Toxicology- SOMTOX, it is my great pleasure to inform you that Mexico City is the ideal place to hold the XIII International Congress of Toxicology, in 2013; we would be honored to welcome you as our guests in this beautiful country.


Please visit the link of the Mexico City’s bidding book http://www.centrobanamex.com/english/noticias/index.html, to have your opinion and questions regarding the bidding book and Mexico City, my contact information is: lgomez@centrobanamex.com, liliana.saldivar@gmail.com.

 

All the Mexican Toxicology Community is very enthusiastic to have the ICT, 2013 in their home and ask you to express your support for our bid. As well we invite you to visit our booth in the XI ICT, 2007 in Montreal.


The following highlights are reasons we believe Mexico would be an excellent host country:


The Mexican Society of Toxicology has 100 active members and it was created in April 1994, since 1997 has been member of the International Union of Toxicology-IUTOX and since 1994 member of “Asociación Latinoamericana de Toxicología – ALATOX” and Mexico City will be the next host of the 2009 ALATOX Congress, now days Dra. Liliana Saldivar is the ALATOX vice president.

 

The SOMTOX has organized one International Congress and six National Congresses. The conferences have had a good level of attendance as well as a token cost for students, with an approximate attendance of 250 participants each one. All this Congresses has been profitable to SOMTOX with the industry sponsorship and the inscriptions fees.


We have the support of the local official health authorities, teaching faculties, universities and local tourism authorities.
Mexico´s geographic location and considerable amount of international airlines reduce the cost of international flights. Mexico has a friendly tourism immigration policy that facilitates access to the country to all congress attendees.
Mexico City is the oldest capital city in the American Continent, with more than 670 years of history complemented with state of the art urban structure.

It is a world class metropolis with more than 25,000 hotel rooms and  2,700 restaurants,  each one of international quality, and efficient local transportation. Tourists are well protected since all the major areas that tourists visit have excellent security.

Mexico City’s cultural heritage is reflected in more than 100 museums, 10 arqueological areas and important cultural centers.

Banamex Convention Center, the venue proposed, is the largest and most modern congress venue Latin America.

We offer to fulfill the requirements to consider Mexico as the host for XIII ICT in July 2013. Participants will surely experience the beauty and variety of our country as well as the scientific feast offered by the Congress.

Yours sincerely,

 

Dr. Liliana Saldivar

Past President Mexican Society of Toxicology-SOMTOX

Vice-president Latin American Association of Toxicology – ALATOX

 

 

ASCEPT NEW ZEALAND SCIENTIFIC MEETING

A two-day meeting of the New Zealand Section of ASCEPT will be held at the School of Medical Sciences, the University of Auckland, Grafton Campus on the 29th – 31st August 2007. The meeting will commence with a free welcome function on the Wednesday evening (29th). Associate Professor Kathie Knights, the ASCEPT president-elect, will give a keynote lecture on the Thursday morning, and this will be followed by a symposium on Pharmacogenomics. On the Friday morning there will be a GPCR symposium. There will also be a session on the safety of medicines. The remaining times will be filled by free communications and a poster session. The meeting will end about 4pm on the Friday. The registration is a very reasonable NZ$100 for members ($25 for students) and includes lunch, morning and afternoon tea on each day. The conference dinner will be on the Thursday evening and will cost $50 for members and $25 for students. We look forward to seeing you all at the meeting.

 

The deadline for abstract submission and registration is 13th July 2007.

 

For further information, registration and accommodation forms, please click here.

 

James Paxton

New Zealand member on Council

 

 

JOINT SEAWP – ASCEPT MEETING 2007

On behalf of the Southeast Asian Western Pacific (SEAWP) Regional Federation of Pharmacologists and the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT), we would like to invite you to participate in the combined Scientific Meeting of the two societies.

 
Apart from ASCEPT, the SEAWP Federation includes the national pharmacological societies of Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. Thus, the conference will truly be regional in nature.

 
To be held at the Hilton Adelaide from December 2 - 6, the theme of the SEAWP-ASCEPT meeting is 'Drug and chemical safety'. In this regard, we are delighted that Dr William Evans will open the meeting with a presentation on 'personalised medicine'. Other distinguished plenary speakers include Professor Masao Endoh (Japan), Professor Samuel Chan (Taiwan), and Professor Munir Pirmohamed (Rand Anglo-Australian visitor). The program includes eleven symposia and several workshops that include high quality speakers and cutting edge science. In addition to the invited presentations, there will be time for free communications (oral and poster). More details will be provided in the coming months.

 
We are also collaborating with the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia, who will be holding their Annual Scientific Meeting at the same venue from December 5 - 7. There will be two joint cardiovascular symposia, and Professor Ian Frazer will present a plenary lecture to all societies.

 

For further information please click here.

 

Please mark these three key dates into your diaries!

September 12 - Abstract deadline

October 5 - Accommodation bookings close

October 31 - Early bird registrations close

 

Rob Vandenberg

ASCEPT Scientific Advisory Committee, Chair

 

Principal Sponsor of the joint SEAWP – ASCEPT Meeting 2007

 

 

ASCEPT-SEAWP SPEAKERS

 

Professor Masao Endoh

Masao Endoh graduated with an MD from Tohoku University in 1966 and received his postgraduate training from the same institution.  He soon developed an interest in cardiovascular pharmacology, which has remained to the present time. Masao Endoh worked as a visiting scientist at the Sandoz Pharmaceutical Research Institute (Basel, Switzerland) and the University of Essen (Germany) before returning to Tohoku University in 1975. He moved to Yamagata University in 1985, where he is currently vice-president and Professor of Cardiovascular Pharmacology. Masao Endoh has made key contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms that regulate cardiac contractile function, particularly in response to neurohormonal factors and pharmacological agents. He has published more than 220 papers, serves on the editorial boards of ten international journals, is a fellow of numerous societies (including the ISHR and the American Heart Association), and is currently the President of the Southeast Asian Western Pacific Regional Federation of Pharmacologists.

 

Professor Samuel HH Chan

 Sam Chan received his PhD in Physiology from Indiana University in 1971. He held academic positions at the University of Hong Kong, Indiana University, the National University of Singapore, and the National Yang-Ming University (Taipei) before moving to his current position of Director of the Center for Neuroscience at the National Sun Yat-sen University in 1998. He additionally served as Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the National Sun Yat-sen University from 2002 to 2004. Sam Chan is recognised internationally for his distinguished contributions to the cellular and molecular basis of central cardiovascular function, particularly brain stem death and neurogenic hypertension. He has published 220 papers and received numerous awards for his research achievements. Sam Chan is currently President of the Pharmacological Society of Taiwan and Secretary General of the Southeast Asian Western Pacific Regional Federation of Pharmacologists.

 

Professor William Evans

 William Evans is Director and Chief Executive Officer of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (SJCRH), and holds the St. Jude Professorship and Endowed chair at the University of Tennessee (UT) Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine. He received his B.Sc. and Pharm.D. Degrees from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy and spent a sabbatical year in Professor Urs Meyer's laboratory at the University of Basel, Switzerland (1987-88). He joined the faculty of UT as an Assistant Professor in 1974 and joined the faculty of SJCRH as an Assistant Member in 1976, rising to the rank of Full Member/Professor in 1986. From 2002-2004 he served as Scientific Director and Executive Vice President of SJCRH, and became Director and CEO in 2004. He also served as Chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at UT College of Pharmacy from 1983-1991, and remains a Professor at UT. For the past 30 years, his research at St. Jude has focused on the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and more recently the pharmacogenomics of anticancer agents in children, for which he has received three consecutive NIH MERIT Awards from the National Cancer Institute of NIH. The major disease focus of his pharmacogenomics research is acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children. William Evans has authored over 300 articles and book chapters, has been the editor of several textbooks and scientific journals, and has received several national awards for his research. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2002.

 

Professor Munir Pirmohamed

Munir Pirmohamed graduated in Medicine in 1985 from the University of Liverpool. He subsequently undertook medical training at various hospitals including some of the London teaching hospitals, prior to returning to Liverpool as a MRC Clinical Training Fellow. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1993. He has since remained in Liverpool, and was awarded a Personal Chair in 2001. Munir Pirmohamed also acts as Director of the CSM Regional Monitoring Centre for Adverse Drug Reactions. Munir Pirmohamed lectures (on clinical pharmacology and medicine) for the following courses: M.B.Ch.B., B.D.S. and M.Sc. in Clinical Nursing. Munir Pirmohamed is also involved in the bedside clinical teaching of medical students. Munir Pirmohamed’s research is conducted within the Adverse Drug Reaction group. Major interests include: Elucidation of the mechanisms of adverse drug reactions, in particular focusing on the role of drug metabolism and the immune system in the pathogenesis of these reactions; The role of genetic variability in determining drug responses (efficacy and toxicity); The role of drug transporters in determining resistance to pharmacotherapy; The genetics of complex polygenic diseases such as alcoholic liver disease and epilepsy; Development of strategies to optimise the management of alcohol misuse in hospitals.

 

Professor Ian Frazer

Ian Frazer is director of the Diamantina Institute of Cancer Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, a research institute of the University of Queensland at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. He was trained as a renal physician and clinical immunologist in Edinburgh, Scotland before emigrating in 1981 to Melbourne, Australia to continue his clinical training and to pursue studies in viral immunology and autoimmunity at the Walter and Eliza Hall institute of Medical Research with Professor Ian Mackay. In 1985 he moved to Brisbane to take up a teaching post with the University of Queensland, and he now holds a personal chair as head of the Diamantina Institute. The Institute employs over 200 researchers and trains over 30 postgraduate students. Ian Frazer’s current research interests include immunoregulation and immunotherapeutic vaccines, for which he holds research funding from several Australian and US funding bodies. Ian Frazer teaches immunology to undergraduate and graduate students of the University. He is on the board of the Queensland Cancer Fund, and is vice president of the Cancer Council Australia.  He has sat on various committees of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia continuously over the last 15 years.  He advises the WHO on papillomavirus vaccines. He was chosen as the 2006 Queenslander of the Year and the 2006 Australian of the Year.

 

 

COMING SOON:  4TH INTERNATIONAL "MOLECULAR PHARMACOLOGY OF G PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTORS" MEETING, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Please note in your diaries that the 4th international "Molecular Pharmacology of G Protein-Coupled Receptors" meeting will be held on July 18th & 19th, this year - immediately after the IBRO meeting in Melbourne, Australia. This year's meeting is excellent, value for money, spanning two full 2 days, and will be held in Cossar Hall at the Victorian College of Pharmacy in Parkville.  The meeting features symposia presentations from 17 leading international researchers in the field plus expanded poster viewing and selected short talks. There will also be prizes for the best poster from a student, best poster from a post-doctoral researcher and best oral presentation from a student (short-listed from the abstracts). We are also delighted to announce that the conference will be formally opened by the Governor of Victoria, Prof. David de Krester, AC. 

 

Important final note:  Registration for students who will be presenting at the meeting is FREE.  

 

Please pass along this information to colleagues who may be interested in attending the meeting. 

 

Further details for the meeting can be found at: http://www.monash.edu.au/cmo/molecular/index.html 

 

We look forward to seeing you in July. 

 

Patrick Sexton and Arthur Christopoulos 

On behalf of the International and Local organising committees

 

 

AUSTRALIAN MEDICINES HANDBOOK

ASCEPT Members can save up to $77 when they buy AHM, the independent medicines reference preferred by Australian health professionals.

 

Australian Medicines Handbook has become the preferred independent, evidence-based medicines reference for Australian health professionals.

 

The print version of our 2006 edition went to a second printing less than six months after its release – and still sold out in record time.

 

AMH has tens of thousands of users throughout the health-case system, including pharmacies, medical practices, hospitals, aged care facilities, universities (including medicine, pharmacy and nursing facilities) and a wide range of health professionals with an interest in the Quality Use of Medicines.

 

Our independence provides assurance in an uncertain world. AMH has no advertising, sponsorship or editorial input from drug manufacturers or any other commercial organisations.

 

Our editorial staff, reviewers and Editorial Advisory Board members are all Australia-based pharmacists, medical practitioners, scientists, researchers and academics.

 

AMH includes information on drug classes, as well as individual drug monographs containing new/revised evidence and comparative data covering indications, dosage information, formulations, adverse effects, practice points, special populations, etc. The appendices include a substantial drug interactions guide.

 

AMH is a joint project of the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT), the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

 

Please visit www.amh.net.au or email amh@amh.net.au to order.

 

 

FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES

Please click here for a list of meetings that may be of interest to members. These are displayed on the ASCEPT website.

 

ASCEPT Meetings

Joint SEAWP: ASCEPT Meeting 2007, 3-6 December 2007, Adelaide

ASCEPT symposium: Glutamate in the Vineyards, July 8-10, 2007

4th international "Molecular Pharmacology of G Protein-Coupled Receptors" Meeting, 18-19 July 2007, Melbourne

 

8th International ISSX Meeting, 9-12 October 2007, Japan

The 2nd International Conference on Frontiers in Vascular Medicine, 26-28 October 2007, Melbourne

 

 

NEWS FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS

Please click on the relevant links for any news from other organisations that may be of interest to ASCEPT members.

AusBiotech

Industry Statement Information

 

Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS)

Thomson Scientific Analyses Ten Years of Influential Research to Rank Top One Percent of Scientific Papers

 

The Royal Society of New Zealand

New Zealand’s ocean and its future: knowledge, opportunities and management - Proceedings

 

 

Subscribe to Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology (CEPP): When renewing your ASCEPT membership, why not take up the discounted subscription to CEPP for regular updates on the results of clinical and experimental work from around the world. For more information on CEPP click here. To renew or subscribe, contact ascept@meetingsfirst.com.au.

 

 

BioAustralis Fine Chemicals: Your supplier of rare microbial metabolites for laboratory use - diverse range of high purity metabolites produced in our laboratories in stock now; competitively priced. Go to www.bioaustralis.com

 

 

 

 

POSITIONS VACANT

Looking for a new job? Listed below is a position currently vacant that you may be eligible to apply for. Please click on the link for jobs you’re interested in.

Head Pharmacokinetics, Therapeutic Goods Administration, Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra. Applications close 2 JULY 2007.

Lecturer (Pharmacology), Faculty of Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales. Applications close 13 JULY 2007.

Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales. Applications close 27 JULY 2007.

 

 

INFORMATION FROM PREVIOUS ISSUES

Please click here for more news, jobs and information that have appeared in past issues of the ASCEPT newsletter that are now displayed on our ASCEPT website.

 

 

The next E-News will be sent out on Monday 16 July 2007. If there is information you would like to include, please email it to athina@meetingsfirst.com.au by Monday 9 July 2007.


Roselyn Rose'Meyer

ASCEPT Newsletter Editor

 

 

Please do not hesitate to contact Meetings First, our ASCEPT Secretariat, if you have any queries:

Angela, Athina and Jennifer

Phone               +61 3 9739 7697

Fax                   +61 3 9739 7076

Email                ascept@meetingsfirst.com.au

Web                 www.ascept.org