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June 2008 E-Newsletter of the
Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and
Toxicologists
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Welcome to the June
edition of ASCEPT eNews. Included in the
newsletter we have updates on the ASCEPT New Zealand meeting, the IXth World
Conference on Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and the Australian
Health and Medical Research Congress. We have a report on Science meets
Parliament from Janet Coller and
Grant Drummond. We are proud to announce that
Andrew Somogyi has been appointed for a 6-year term as the Australasian
Editor of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology replacing Evan Begg,
the initial Australasian editor whose outstanding service resulted in the
British Pharmacology Society continuing the position. Don’t forget the 2008 edition for
the AMH handbook is still available to ASCEPT members at reduced prices. If any would like to contribute any
items to eNews, please send it along to Meetings First for consideration. Roselyn Rose'Meyer ASCEPT Newsletter Editor |
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HEAD OF DEPARTMENTS FOR 2008
If you are a Head of Department in 2008, please let us know at ascept2008@meetingsfirst.com.au. |
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IXTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS We have
just had a conference call for the National Organizing Committee for CPT 2008
and we are pleased with progress to date. We believe that there is an
outstanding scientific program with good representation from most parts of
the world. We have received more than 1000 abstracts and are still
continuing to receive late breakers. As of May 01, we have more than
1200 registrants, including students and speakers. It would be very
much appreciated if you could send a message to IUPHAR members asking them to
visit the CPT 2008 website (www.cpt2008.org) in order to
appreciate the quality of the program that has been put together and to
encourage them to attend. |
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The 2008
Scientific Meeting of the NZ Section will be hosted by the University of
Otago’s Dept of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Copthorne Hotel,
Queenstown on the above dates. This year’s meeting will take place in
conjunction with the 26th International Australasian Winter Conference on
Brain Research (check http://www.awcbr.org/ for
details). The ASCEPT programme will commence with a pre-meeting
gathering with wine/beer and nibbles on Sunday 24th 17:00 – 20:00h, and will
conclude on the afternoon of Tuesday 26th August. There will be at
least one joint session; ASCEPT registrants wishing to attend AWCBR sessions
other than the joint symposium should contact AWCBR directly (www.awcbr.org).
The
ASCEPT Registration Desk will open from 17:00 h on Sunday the 24th August. The
conference will follow the usual format of oral and poster presentations.
More
details will follow as soon as we have them. Deadline
for abstracts and registration is 30th June 2008 Registrations
should be sent by email to Jacqui Carroll (jacqui.carroll@otago.ac.nz)
or by standard mail to the: Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology,
University of Otago School of Medical Sciences, PO Box 913, Dunedin NZ. Click here
to download the registration form. Abstracts
(electronic) in the usual ASCEPT format, should be sent to Jacqui Carroll (jacqui.carroll@otago.ac.nz).
For a map
of the area surrounding the Queenstown region click here. |
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ASCEPT REPORT – SCIENCE MEETS PARLIAMENT 2008 On March 18th and 19th
2008 we had the privilege of attending the Federation of Australian
Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) Science Meets Parliament (SmP)
event at Parliament House in Canberra as ASCEPT representatives. SmP is an annual event that
began in 1999, which is held to foster communication and to establish
linkages between politicians and scientists. Each year SmP brings up to 200
scientists from virtually all disciplines for face to face meetings and
forums with Parliamentarians in Canberra. For an entire day, Federal
Parliament focuses its attention on science through a series of meetings and
events which also allow scientists unparalleled opportunities to witness
national decision making at first hand, and to inform this process on
important scientific issues. Day 1 of SmP is a Briefing Day
in which scientists get to hear from experienced colleagues, lobbyists,
parliamentary staffers and even politicians themselves about the policy
environment, the public policy process and on how they can engage politicians
successfully. This year the event was held in Old Parliament House and
included presentations from: Ken Baldwin, President of FASTS, who spoke about current
issues in Australian science including plans to increase the profile of maths
and science in our primary and secondary schools, the announcement by Senator
Kim Carr of the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative (to
replace the RQF), and also, the likely introduction of a Charter of Rights
and Responsibilities for Scientists. Bob McMullen MP on what he thought are likely to be the major
national challenges facing the new Labour government. These included climate
change and its impact on the environment and economy. He also spoke about the
anticipated shortage of unskilled labour resulting from Australia becoming an
increasingly educated society and the challenge to maintain current salary
levels and conditions at this end of the workplace market as people are
encouraged to migrate to Australia from countries with lower socio-economic
standards to take up the slack. Finally, Mr McMullen reminded us of how
cumbersome big government can be and hence how long it will take before any
major research findings are likely to result in policy changes citing the
examples of asbestos and tobacco smoke being first identified as a cancer
causing agents in the 1800s and 1950s, respectively, with appropriate policy
changes not taking place until the last two decades. Dr Terry Cutler on his role as Chair of the National Innovation
Review Panel, and on the broad-ranging terms of reference of the panel which
include promoting a culture within Australia that is supportive of new
knowledge and fresh ideas, identifying our Innovation Priorities in a global
context, and mobilising innovative capabilities around major national
challenges such as climate change, population health and future energy needs.
During Day 1 we were also given
tips about how to best disseminate our research findings to the general
public through the media in presentations by Susannah Elliot (Australian Science Media Centre) and Niall Byrne (Science in Public).
Finally, as a means of preparing us for Day 2 of SmP, we received a wonderful
insight about ‘Talking with Politicians’ by A/Prof Richard Dennis and Gail
Morgan, former advisors to Senators Natasha Stott Despoja and Kim Carr,
respectively. Some of the take-home messages from these presentations
included: o
Gather as much information on the politician you are
speaking with (e.g. their qualifications, political affiliation, specific
issues relating to their electorate, involvement in parliamentary committees,
special interests and projects) to enable you to pitch your talk in a manner
that is most easily digestible and relevant to them. o
Be clear as to what message you want to convey and keep it
as simple and direct as possible - preferably no more than three dot points
(How do we expect a politician to explain the importance of our research to
his/her constituents in a 15 second media grab if we can’t explain it to them
in 15 minutes?) o
Don’t whinge, especially about research funding issues
(given the choice of an extra kindergarten in the electorate or an extra $5m
for a research program which do you think is the more attractive option?) o
If you do want to discuss problems be sure to offer
solutions. Day 1 concluded with the
SmP Dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House in which we were seated in
tables of 10 people with at least 1 or 2 politicians per table. The evening
provided the ideal setting for informal discussions with politicians and
scientists from diverse disciplines. We had the privilege of speaking at
length with politicians from the two major parties (incl. Rowan Ramsey MP, Chris Hayes MP), not only about our specific research focuses and
how they addresses medical needs in society, but also about more general
scientific issues such as how we got into science, what is it that we love
about science, and what does a day in the life of a scientist entail. During
the evening we also heard a somewhat alarming lecture from Professor Neville Nicholls, about the
causes and impacts of climate change over the past 35 years. Day 2 of SmP is held in
Parliament House and involves a series of over 100 formal meetings between
the scientists and Parliamentarians. Typically 2-3 scientists speak with an
individual Parliamentarian in meetings that generally last for 30 minutes. We
were scheduled to participate in four separate meetings; however, as is often
the case at SmP, a couple of these meetings (with James Bidgood MP, Senator
Mark Bishop) were cancelled at the last minute. Nevertheless, our remaining
meetings were both positive and productive, with the parliamentarians
genuinely interested in our work and the significance driving us to research
a particular area. For example, our meeting with Luke Simpkins MP (Liberal member for Cowan, WA) turned into a
stimulating debate on the pros and cons of harm minimisation treatment for
drug addiction as opposed to abstinence and the potential impact of
pharmacogenomics on possible treatment options. We also had the opportunity
to talk with Dr Angela Pratt -
deputy chief of staff and health advisor to Nicola Roxon MP. Dr Pratt was
particularly interested in discussing issues surrounding Aboriginal Health
and in particular whether the so-called ‘polypill’ – a tablet that contains a
cocktail of a statin, three anti-hypertensive drugs, folic acid and aspirin -
might represent a potential strategy to reduce the incidence of
cardiovascular disease in aboriginal society. This provided the perfect segue
to introduce ASCEPT as the primary learned society for pharmacologists and
toxicologists in Australasia and the first point of contact for expert
opinion on drugs and chemicals and their usage by the community. To our
surprise, Dr Pratt was not aware of ASCEPT’s existence. While this was a
common theme in all of our meetings with parliamentarians, it was even more
of a concern in this instance given that Dr Pratt works in the office of, and
is the health advisor to, the Minister for Health. We felt that this was
timely a reminder that ASCEPT, as the leading society for Pharmacologists and
Toxicologists, really needs to consider what roles it wants to play in
influencing society and government policy on issues surrounding the use of
drugs and chemicals in the community and how we should go about increasing
our profile at both a community and government level. On a lighter note, in
between our meetings we were also able to attend the National Press Club
luncheon where Senator Kim Carr
discussed the new Innovation plan for Science, and also Question Time in the
House of Representatives, during which the Work Choices legislation was
historically abolished. All in all SmP gave us an
intriguing and close-up insight into what makes politician tick and how we
should approach them and use the media for successful lobbying on any
particular issue. We thank ASCEPT for the providing us with the opportunity
to attend SmP and strongly encourage all who are presented with the
opportunity to attend in the future to do so! Dr Janet
Coller (University of Adelaide) & Dr Grant Drummond (Monash University) |
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POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH POSITIONS
IN VASCULAR BIOLOGY
Postdoctoral positions will be
available beginning August 15, 2008 in the laboratory of Dr. Patrick Pagano
at the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at the University of
Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. The
successful candidate(s) will assist with recent NIH-funded studies
investigating either the role of (a) NADPH oxidase in cardiovascular disease
using novel inhibitors of oxidase isoforms; and (b) adventitial reactive
oxygen species as paracrine and autacrine mediators of vascular dysfunction
using molecular and proteomic approaches. The position will be available
immediately and the salary competitive based upon past research experience.
The candidate must hold a PhD and/or MD or equivalent, be a US citizen, permanent
US resident, or possess a U.S. working permit. He/she must also have
experience in cell biology/biochemistry, molecular biology, and/or animal
physiology. Proficiency in cell
culture and signaling, cloning techniques, immunohistochemistry, and animal
surgery are preferred. Fluency in written and spoken
English and the ability to work well as a member of a research team are
essential. Special consideration will be given to candidates that show a
strong publication record. Please
e-mail applications (including CV, a summary of research experience and
career goals, and names and e-mail addresses of 3 references) to Dr. Patrick
J. Pagano, Ph.D., FAHA, Director of Vascular Research, Hypertension and
Vascular Research Division, Henry Ford Hospital at ppagano1@hfhs.org (addresses until July 31, 2008). |
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ASCEPT 2008
The 2008 ASCEPT
Annual Scientific meeting will run within the 4th Australian Health and Medical
Research Congress will be held November 16-21, 2008 in the Brisbane
Convention and Exhibition Centre. Organisers have prepared the congress
program, so please see the congress website for session details. The dates
for ASCEPT presentations are Tuesday - Friday (18th - 21st). Please note the following
deadlines for registration and abstract submissions. Early Bird Registration Friday
15th August, 2008 Oral presentation submission Friday 15th August, 2008
Poster Only presentation submission Friday 19th September, 2008
This congress will attract over 2000 registrants
with over 30 societies and organisations involved. On Thursday November 20 from 8.30-10.30 three
professional societies (Australasian Society of Clinical
and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists, Australian Pain
Society, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (Faculty of Pain
Medicine) are sponsoring a symposium entitled "Chronic
Pain and its Treatment: from molecular to clinical". The speakers and titles are: o
Prof. Macdonald
Christie, Director of Basic Research and Pain Management Research Institute
University of Sydney at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney
"Molecular basis of Pain- new targets". o
Dr. Luke
Henderson, Anatomy, University of Sydney "Imaging as a tool
for pain detection and assessment" o
Prof. Maree
Smith, School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland
"Preclinical development of new drugs for pain treatment" o
Prof. Stephan
Schug, Anesthesiology and Pain Management, University of Western Australia
and Royal Perth Hospital "New clinical developments in pain
therapy". The symposium will allow ASCEPT members to update
their knowledge on the latest developments in the treatment of chronic
pain. More information on the Congress can be obtained from www.anmrcongress.org.au |
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ASMR
NEWS I am pleased to announce that
the ASMR commissioned Access Economics Report "Exceptional Returns: The
Value of Investing in Health R&D in Australia II" was launched today
at the National Press Club by Sir Gustav Nossal, AC CBE, ASMR Medallist 2008.
Dr Mark
Hulett The
Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) |
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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 New
Zealand Meeting University of Otago Queenstown Molecular Biology
Meeting 2 – 4
September 2008 Queenstown,
New Zealand Queenstown Signal Transduction meeting
(Quest) 4 – 6
September 2008 Queenstown,
New Zealand International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics, 15th
North American Regional Meeting 12 – 16
October 2008 San
Diego, California, USA |
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NEWS
FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS Please click on the relevant links for any news from other
organisations that may be of interest to ASCEPT members. Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies
(FASTS) Consultation
paper - new ERA initiative (research assessment) Registrations
open - ANU-FASTS - supporting risk aware research workshop Higher Education Review Earlier this year, Minister Gillard appointed Denise Bradley
(former VC of Uni SA) to chair a review of higher education.
Charter outcomes – click here
to view Earlier this year FASTS organised a forum examining issues
around rights and responsibilities of scientists following Minister Kim
Carr’s suggestion for charters to ensure independence of science agencies. An
outcomes document has been finalised and sent to Kim Carr, research agencies,
state Governments etc. The issues really do go to core issues
in science practice, communication and politics so the sector does need to
think carefully about rights, responsibilities and obligations. |
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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. Postdoctoral Research
Fellow, Pain Management Research Institute, The University of Sydney Closing date 29 June 2008 |
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. |
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The next e-news will be sent out on Monday 14 July 2008. If
there is information you would like to include, please email it to athina@meetingsfirst.com.au by Monday 7
July 2008.
ASCEPT Newsletter Editor
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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 ascept2008@meetingsfirst.com.au Web www.ascept.org |
