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March 2008 E-Newsletter of the
Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and
Toxicologists
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Welcome to the March edition of ASCEPT eNews. We congratulate winners of the scientific prizes awarded at the
SEAWP-ASCEPT conference last year in December and more ASCEPT members who
were recipients of NHMRC funding this year as follows: NHMRC Program grants for 2008 Professor Patrick Sexton, Professor Arthur Christopoulos
Professor Roger Summers. Monash University. Understanding G Protein-coupled
receptors (GCPRs): accelerating discovery from concept to clinic. NHMRC Project grants for 2008 Dr Rebecca Ritchie, Prof John Horowitz, Dr Barbara Kemp-Harper.
Baker Heart Research Institute. Novel cGMP-based therapies prevent left
ventricular remodelling. NHMRC Career Research Fellowships for 2008 Dr Rebecca Ritchie SRF-A (Baker Heart Research Institute) A/Professor Maarten Vandenbuuse SRF-A (University of
Melbourne) Dr Ross Bathgate SRF-A (University of Melbourne) Professor Arthur Christopoulos SRF-B (Monash University) NHMRC Postdoctoral Training Fellowships for 2008 Miss Michelle Halls Dr Sherie Ma Mr Geoff Matthews Ms Lauren May Dr Daniel Scott Professor John Miners reports on the successful joint
SEAWP-ASCEPT meeting in December 2007. We are
inviting nominations for the Australian Museum Eureka prizes and the Prime
Ministers prizes for Science, which include a variety awards for outstanding
Australian Science. And remind ASCEPT members that we have prior success with
Dr Hala Raghib winning the 2007 Australian Museum Eureka
Prizes People’s Choice Award RASCP has
asked ASCEPT members to participate in the Medicine in Australia: Balancing
Employment and Life (MABEL) The Australian Longitudinal Survey of Doctors.
Please see below to complete the survey. We
invite applications from members to seek sponsorship for
Pharmacology/Toxicology seminar programs. We also have the latest ASMR news
and information regarding conferences occurring throughout 2008. 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 DEPARTMENT’S FOR 2008
If you are a Head of Department in 2008, please let us know at ascept@meetingsfirst.com.au. |
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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 commenced preparation of
the congress program, so please mark these dates in your 2008 diaries. Roselyn
Rose’Meyer Queensland member on Council |
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REPORT ON THE JOINT 41ST ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING OF ASCEPT AND
THE 10TH MEETING OF THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN WESTERN PACIFIC REGIONAL FEDERATION
OF PHARMACOLOGISTS The joint meeting of ASCEPT and SEAWP
was held at the Adelaide Hilton Hotel from 2 – 6 December 2007. The meeting
overlapped with the Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure
Research Council of Australia, who sponsored two plenary lectures and
co-sponsored two symposia with ASCEPT/SEAWP and incorporated a meeting of the
Australian and New Zealand Pharmacogenomics Interest Group. The Organising
Committee is grateful for the participation of our colleagues from these two
societies, who added to the diversity and quality of the scientific program. The meeting included 7 plenary
lectures, given by Professor WE Evans (ASCEPT plenary lecturer), Professor
Masao Endoh and Professor Samuel Chan (SEAWP plenary lecturers), Professor
Munir Pirmohamed (Rand Anglo-Australia lecture), Professor Michael Roberts
(Rand Medal lecture), Professor Ian Frazer (Austin Doyle lecture), and
Professor Lars Lindholm (HBPRCA special lecture). In addition, there were: 3
workshops - Education, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, and Careers (held on
Sunday, December 2); 11 symposia; 5 fee oral sessions; 3 poster sessions; and
the Johnson & Johnson New Investigator’s symposium and the ASCEPT Oral
Prize session, both important features of the Society’s Annual Scientific
Meetings. Fifteen overseas speakers participated in symposia. The meeting attracted 454
participants, 324 of these being from Australia and New Zealand. It was
pleasing that our colleagues from the SEAWP region provided strong support to
the meeting, with registrants from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Taiwan and Thailand. Feedback regarding the meeting,
including scientific content, organisation and venue, has been overwhelmingly
positive. In particular, presentations by students and post-doctoral
scientists were of a high standard. The Meeting Organising Committee, ASCEPT
and SEAWP extend their congratulations to the prize winners. The Meeting Organising
Committee, ASCEPT and SEAWP also wish to acknowledge sponsorship from: NICNAS
(principal sponsor), sanofi-aventis (gold sponsor), ADInstruments, Applied
Biosystems, Elsevier Australia, Flinders University, Johnson & Johnson
Research, National Prescribing Service, Novartas Pharma, RMIT University,
TetraQ, University of Adelaide, and University of Queensland. John Miners Convenor –
Organising Committee |
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JOINT SEAWP – ASCEPT
MEETING 2007 ASCEPT COUNCIL STUDENT PRIZES On behalf of ASCEPT
Council, the ASCEPT President Kathie Knights would like to congratulate
the following students who received prizes for their outstanding presentations
at last year’s Annual Scientific Meeting in Adelaide: Ø
The ASCEPT Oral Prize open to Higher Degree students for
the best oral presentation was awarded to Mr Ben Lewis (Flinders University);
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The Percy Prize, established in memory of Dr Neville Percy
and Open to Higher Degree students for the best poster presentation was
awarded to Ms Katherine Jackman (Monash University); Ø
The Whelan Prize, in memory of Professor RF Whelan and
open to Honours students for the best poster presentation was awarded jointly
to Mr Henry Diep and Ms Stephanie Catus (both from Monash University). Ø
ASCEPT council would also like to acknowledge the
excellent presentations made by all of the finalists in each of the above
categories with a special mention going to Ms Prajni Sadananda in the Oral
Prize session. By way of clarifying the judging
process for the student prizes at last year’s meeting, finalists in each
category were short-listed based on the quality of their submitted abstracts.
More than 50 abstracts were received from Higher Degree students, while 25
abstracts were received from Honours students. Abstracts went through a
two-tier judging process. First, abstracts were divided according to their
research category (i.e. Cardiovascular, Neuropharmacology, Clinical,
Toxicology, etc) and ranked by separate panels with specific expertise in
each of these categories. The top 20% each of Higher Degree student abstracts
and Honours student abstracts, as adjudged by each panel, were then sent to
two additional panels – a ‘Higher Degree Panel’ and ‘Honours Panel’,
respectively - where they were ranked against one another. From this second
round of rankings 8 Higher Degree students were shortlisted to present in the
dedicated Oral Prize session. These same 8 students, plus an additional 4
Higher Degree students, also presented in the Percy Prize session, while 6
Honours students were short-listed for the Whelan Prize. Finally, three
separate judging panels consisting of four or more members were assembled to
judge the final presentations. SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP PRIZES This year, Special Interest
Groups (SIGs) were offered the opportunity to award prizes to students and
clinical trainees for poster presentations of relevance to their specific
disciplines. Prizes were offered by the SIGs for ‘Clinical Pharmacology’,
‘Drug Disposition’ and ‘Drug Discovery’ and ASCEPT would like to congratulate
the following students for their outstanding presentations in each of these
categories: The prize for the best presentation by a Clinical Trainee was
awarded to Dr John Maddison (Royal
Adelaide Hospital); The TOCRIS prize
for Drug Discovery (formerly the TOCRIS Neuropharmacology Prize) was awarded
to Ms Karen Gregory (Monash
University) with a special mention
to Ms Shiwei Huang (University of Sydney); The Peter Meffin prize in Drug
Disposition was awarded to Mr Andrew
Rowland (Flinders University) with a special mention to Mr Fabrizio D’Espostio. SEAWP POSTER PRIZES Finally, ASCEPT council would
like to congratulate the following young scientists from the South East Asian
and Western Pacific region for their acknowledgement by the SEAWP council in
the following prize categories: Ø
Research Higher Degree Prize awarded to Ching-Yi Tsai (National Sun Yat-sen
University) with runner up Vijay Raj
(University of Malaya); Ø
Post-doctoral prize awarded to Dr Verawan Uchipichat (Khon Kaen University) with runner up Dr Oranun Kerdpin (Naresuan University). Grant Drummond Victorian member on Council |
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ANNOUNCING 2008 ASCEPT PHARMACOLOGY/TOXICOLOGY SEMINAR GRANTS Background: Following the
popularity of the 2007 ASCEPT pharmacology/toxicology seminar grant program,
ASCEPT announces that applications for the 2008 ASCEPT
pharmacology/toxicology seminar grants are now open. The program seeks
to provide an added incentive to our members' departments to share their
recent research with other members of their department as well
as inviting speakers from outside their departments to also do so.
The more dialogue between Australasian pharmacologists and toxicologists
additional to our annual scientific meetings, the better. And of course, the
greater the presence of ASCEPT in our scientific community, the more
members we attract. How you spend the grant is up to you: for example,
you may wish to use it towards flying in a special speaker from interstate,
or perhaps to provide refreshments before/after each seminar to encourage
mingling and conversation. Eligibility and obligations: Once you
have 5 ASCEPT members of good standing (i.e. membership fees paid up for
current financial year) within an institute or department, you
are able to apply for a $500 ASCEPT pharmacology/toxicology seminar
grant for use in your institute or department's seminar program. This amount
increases to $1000 if you have 10 ASCEPT members of
good standing. There are no restrictions on the type of membership (e.g. full
versus student), as long as they are paid up. No ASCEPT member can use their
name for more than one seminar grant in any calendar year (even if you
relocate). The seminars must have the ASCEPT logo appear at the start and end
of every seminar in that year's seminar program, by using a PowerPoint
slide provided by the ASCEPT Secretariat and have the current ASCEPT membership
brochures available in the seminar room on the day. ASCEPT
will advertise all seminar programs on the ASCEPT website and in the e-news,
so if you can please provide details of your program as they come available,
that would be fantastic (preferably as a full list for several months at
once, if possible). Please make any other ASCEPT members who attend one
of your departmental seminars feel welcome - let’s get talking!! You
will need to nominate a contact person from your seminar program to liaise
with Meetings First where required. Please
click here and complete the form. Applications
for the 2008 program close Wednesday 30 April 2008. |
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PRIME MINISTER’S PRIZE
FOR SCIENCE We are seeking nominations for
Australia’s national science and science teaching awards: ·
Prime Minister’s Prize for Science ($300,000); ·
Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year
($50,000); ·
Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year
($50,000); ·
Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching
in Primary Schools ($50,000); and ·
Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching
in Secondary Schools ($50,000) Nominations close Friday 9 May 2008, 5.00 pm AEST Further
Information on http://www.dest.gov.au/scienceprize |
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ENTRIES IN THE 2008 AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM EUREKA PRIZES ARE NOW OPEN! Presented annually by the Australian
Museum, the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes reward excellence in the categories
of: ·
Research & Innovation ·
Science Leadership ·
School Science ·
Science Communication & Journalism There is something for everyone
in this year's competition with 20 prizes worth over $200,000 available
including the brand new: ·
Action Against Climate Change (School Science) ·
Taxonomic Research (Research & Innovation) ·
Research in support of Defence or National Security
(Research & Innovation) In addition, the always-popular
Sleek Geeks Science Prize has been expanded to include Primary, Secondary and
University students. And the New Scientist science photography prize
is open to anyone over 17 years of age. Entries close 2 May 2008 For further information on the
prizes and how to enter: Go to australianmuseum.net.au/eureka
or email eureka@austmus.gov.au |
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AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH NEWS ASMR
Research Awards ASMR
offers two Research Awards annually. These awards support a postgraduate
student member of the ASMR nearing completion of their studies or a recently
graduated postdoctoral member to undertake a short period of research in a
laboratory outside of Australia ($5,000) or in a distal laboratory ($2,000)
within Australia. The award specifically excludes support for conference
attendance and travel for an extended period of postdoctoral studies.
Applicants for these awards must have been members of the ASMR for at least
12 months immediately preceding the year in which the Award application is to
be considered. The application form is attached or available for download at http://www.asmr.org.au/Researchfund.html As you
will be aware, the 2020 Summit is scheduled to take place at Parliament House
in Canberra, April 19 - 20, 2008. ASMR is formulating a submission
to the Summit and a number of individuals from the HMR community are
nominating for the opportunity to attend as delegates.
Information about the Summit is available from http://www.australia2020.gov.au/about/index.cfm Planning
is well underway for the 4th Australian Health and Medical
Research Congress to be held at the Brisbane Convention Centre, November
16-21. With 34 organisations participating, the
multi-disciplinary, bi-annual Congress is going from strength to
strength. Be sure to diarize this important event. Further
information is available at http://www.ahmrcongress.org.au/ Amgen Medical Research Award 2008 An annual feature of ASMR
Medical Research Week(R) is Amgen's continuing support of Australian
medical research through sponsorship of the Amgen Medical Researcher Award -
the 9th time for national selection. The award recognizes early career
researchers with demonstrated independence, excellence, innovation and
achievements in medical research, with evidence of translation from bench to
potential for application, and with particular emphasis on research of the
last 2 years. The winner will receive a plaque and up to $6,000 for travel /
accommodation / registration expenses at an international meeting of their
choice.
The
application form is attached and also available at: http://www.asmr.org.au/Awards.html
Commonwealth
Health Minister's Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research
The Hon Nicola Roxon MP has
called for nominations for the Commonwealth Health Minister's Award for
Excellence in Health and Medical Research, 2008.
Nominations
for the year 2008 Award close 5pm Friday, 28 March 2008. Please see information go to http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/news/events/index.htm#c
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LIGAND-GATED ION
CHANNELS 18th Neuropharmacology Conference in association with IUPHAR November 12-14, 2008 Washington DC, USA Satellite to the 2008 meeting of
the Society for Neuroscience Organized by Neuropharmacology,
in association with IUPHAR, this satellite symposium to the 2008 meeting of
the Society for Neuroscience will bring together the following international
experts to share the latest developments in the areas of ionotropic glutamate
receptors, GABAA receptors, glycine receptors, nicotinic ACh
receptors, P2X receptors and 5-HT3 receptors. Call for Papers To supplement the invited
program, abstracts are invited for poster presentation at the conference. A
limited number of submissions will be selected for presentation as short oral
communications within the conference program. Please submit abstracts at www.neuropharmacology-conference.elsevier.com by June 13, 2008. Visit the website for further details www.neuropharmacology-conference.elsevier.com |
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ATTENTION
CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGISTS AND TOXICOLOGISTS ASCEPT have been approached by the RASCP to participate in
the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) The
Australian Longitudinal Survey of Doctors. Please click here to complete the survey. ------------------------------------------ MABEL (Medicine in Australia: Balancing
Employment and Life) is a landmark new national longitudinal survey of
doctors funded by the NHMRC and conducted by researchers at the University of
Melbourne and Monash University. Without good evidence about doctors’ own
views, preferences, and work and family circumstances, health workforce
policies are likely to be insensitive to the realities of medical practice
and therefore less likely to be effective and maintain morale. MABEL is the
first survey that will provide such rigorous evidence in Australia. GPs
will be sent an invite letter or can register to take part in MABEL by going
to http://www.mabel.org.au/. |
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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. Atherothrombosis: The Disease
Continuum 6 – 7 June 2008 Baker Heart Research
Institute, Melbourne 29 June – 1 July 2008 Auckland, New Zealand 6th James Black Conference: New Pain Concepts and
Future Treatments 16 - 17 August 2008 University of St Andrews,
Scotland, UK 18th Neuropharmacology
Conference in association with IUPHAR Satellite to the 2008 meeting of
the Society for Neuroscience 12 – 14 November 2008 Washington DC, USA International Conference
on Translational Pharmacology and 41st Annual Conference of Indian
Pharmacological Society - Theme: “Concept to Clinic” India Congress of Toxicology in Developing Countries CTDC7 Host: Toxicology
Society of South Africa (TOXSA) 6 – 9 September
2009 Sun City, South Africa International
Congress of Toxicology XII (ICTXII) Host: Spanish
Association of Toxicology (AETOX) 10 – 15 July 2010 Barcelona, Spain |
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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) Media Release:
Senator Kim Carr – New Era For Research Quality Royal Society of New Zealand 2008 Medals and
Awards: Call for Nominations National Prescribing Service Media Release: NPS clarifies issues related to
Stilnox, a brand of zolpidem (22 Feb 08) Program: Early use
of insulin and oral antidiabetic drugs IUTOX AusBiotech AusBioAlert: Design for
international trade shows Federal Government's
Innovation Review |
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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. Department of Health and Ageing, Therapeutic
Goods Administration Applications close 9:00am, Monday 24 March
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 7 April 2008. If
there is information you would like to include, please email it to athina@meetingsfirst.com.au by Monday 14
April 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 ascept@meetingsfirst.com.au
Web www.ascept.org |
