President's Message: 2022 at the Society, and what’s to come in 2023

With 2022 drawing to a close, I have been reflecting on my first year as President of the Society, and the privilege it has been to serve in this role and collaborate with members. From bringing back in-person meetings to overseeing important education, policy, membership and engagement work, it has been a busy and fruitful year for the Society, and I would like to thank all involved – members, the wider pharmacology community, and our staff team at Angel Gate – for their hard work.

A recent highlight for me was working with The Physiological Society to host ‘Lungs: more than an organ of gas exchange’ where I was delighted to be able to welcome delegates from 11 countries. This meeting, which took place in November, brought together some key names working in respiratory research, and examined the importance of pharmacology and physiology in this area. The format of the meeting - involving invited talks from international experts interspersed with five minute flash presentations from early career scientists highlighting the exciting research they are engaged in - provided a fantastic format I would be keen to consider for future meetings, both as BPS and when we run focused meetings with other organisations. This meeting was a great success, and it was fantastic to work with the Physiological Society team to deliver this event.

We also hosted our Annual General Meeting (AGM) earlier this month, and I was pleased to welcome so many members in person for this event, as well being joined by others online to learn more about what we’ve been up to in the last 12 months, and what is to come in 2023 and beyond.

The AGM is normally held during our annual meeting, which usually takes place in December. However, due to our meeting being in September this year, we held the AGM as a standalone event which was followed by an excellent Gaddum Lecture delivered by Professor John Krystal from Yale University discussing exciting new findings with ketamine as a treatment for depression. We’d like to find out how our members feel about this change, and I encourage you to get in touch if you have any feedback on this.

At our AGM, I was also very pleased to be able to present our Honorary Fellowships for 2022. I’d like to congratulate the full list of new Fellows and Honorary Fellows, who have all contributed significantly to the Pharmacology in many different ways and in many cases to the activities of our Society. I was particularly pleased to be able to announce our first early career researcher Fellows, appointed in light of a recent expansion to eligibility for Fellowship.

Expanding eligibility for Fellowship is just one way we are examining how the Society can act upon our inclusive values. Another area we are currently exploring is around the names of our awards and we are encouraging members to propose new names for awards, spotlighting people across our diverse community who have made a significant impact on pharmacology.

Thinking ahead to 2023 we are looking forward to the World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology 2023. I’d like to encourage our members and wider community to register to the meeting, which is shaping up to be a vibrant scientific and social programme. Early bird registration closes on 17 March 2023 – so register now to guarantee your spot with us in Glasgow next summer.  We’ve already had over 1,100 abstracts submitted for the Congress, and there are still opportunities to share your science at the meeting. If you’d like to submit a proposal for a satellite meeting, make sure you do so by 6 January 2023. We’ll also be opening late-breaking abstracts in January, so make sure you’re subscribed to receive our emails, and that you follow the WCP2023 Twitter account if you want to be the first to know when this is open.

Likewise, if you are thinking about attending the Congress but need financial support to enable your attendance, please do look at the bursaries available to our members, and if you are from a low-income country, contact the WCP team to enquire about discounts on registration fees. If you are a member of another pharmacological society, they may also have bursaries available to support you, which you will find by enquiring directly with them.

We’re also asking delegates to support the inclusion of early career researchers at the meeting by donating to our ECR fund. Your donations will help us provide opportunities for ECRs to attend the meeting, present their work, and network with the community.

2023 is going to be a hugely exciting year for the Society, and the Congress is a core part of that. In the new year, we’ll also be working on projects that will continue supporting our pharmacology community, focussing on providing educational resources, giving you opportunities to network and collaborate, and ensuring you have opportunities to share your science.

I hope you have a happy festive break and, as always, urge you to get in touch if you would like to share your ideas about what we can do for you.

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