President's Message: Connecting our community, and looking ahead to the World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (WCP2023)

Published: 08 Jul 2022
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From left to right: British Pharmacological Society President and CEO, Professor Clive Page and Rachel Lambert-Forsyth, with President's Lecture speaker, Professor Pierangelo Geppetti, at the President's Lecture 2022 at the Royal College of Physicians, London.

Over recent months, it has been a pleasure to return to in-person pharmacology events, and to meet with old and new friends, and colleagues with a shared passion for pharmacology.

I recently attended the 2022 European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT) Congress in Athens, Greece, which provided an excellent opportunity to meet European colleagues, and continue opportunities for pharmacology collaboration. BPS hosted a plenary session of excellent Clinical Prize Lectures delivered by Professor Joel Tarning, University of Oxford, and Dr Richard Turner, University of Liverpool, alongside short talks on inclusion in clinical trials from Dr Lauren Walker, University of Liverpool and sustainable medicines from Dr Marie Fisk from the University of Cambridge. During the meeting I was pleased to be elected to the Executive Committee of the Federation of European Pharmacological Societies (EPHAR), ensuring that BPS can work collaboratively with our sister societies across Europe to actively ensure pharmacology remains as important as ever as a discipline for the health and wealth of society.


The newly elected EPHAR Executive Committee, including Professor Clive Page (far right) and BPS members Professor Nezahat Tugba Durlu-Kandilici (third from left) and Professor Giuseppe Cirino (third from right).

We were able to welcome delegates at our stand, providing an opportunity to talk about the benefits of our International Prescribing Safety Assessment resources. We also hosted a “mixer” event, where Professor David Webb - as President of the World Congress of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (WCP2023) - reminded our colleagues in Europe that the Society is hosting this important international meeting, on behalf of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR), in Glasgow, Scotland, 2-7 July 2023. The meeting promises to deliver a cutting-edge programme of internationally distinguished speakers, with 10 themed tracks (including one on Clinical Pharmacology and another on Pharmacogenomics), and an unmissable social programme. It will provide opportunities to network with friends and colleagues, old and new.



We are about to launch the call for abstracts for WCP2023 and encourage you all to submit your latest research to ensure that your science can be shared on this global stage. Sign up to the WCP2023 mailing list and follow @WCP2023 and @WCP2023Pres on Twitter where we will announce when the call is open. There will be many ways that Early Career Researchers (ECRs), and young pharmacologists can get involved in WCP2023, including our Travel Award Programme, which will provide travel assistance for those wanting to attend the Congress. If you’d like to help us further support ECRs and colleagues from less developed countries participate in the Congress, please consider giving a donation to the ECR fund, which will provide opportunities for more ECRs to benefit from this networking and career development opportunity.

I was delighted to be able to host an in-person President’s Lecture earlier this month, not least as I was joined by several former Presidents of the Society to hear a fantastic presentation from Professor Pierangelo Geppetti from the University of Florence in Italy. It was wonderful to be able to catch up with so many friends and colleagues in the early summer sunshine for the reception after such a long period of only being able to meet virtually. Thank you to all the BPS team who helped make this event such a memorable evening.


Guests at the President's Lecture enjoying the sun in the garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.


Professor Pierangelo Geppetti giving his lecture at the President's Lecture 2022 at the Royal College of Physicians, London.

The BPS aims to support the pharmacology community in various ways. We have just announced several award and prize winners for 2022, recognising the excellent work happening in pharmacology. We have just announced several AJ Clark PhD Studentship to full funding this year, with applications now open until 31 October 2022.

During my Presidency I am keen to strengthen links between the Society and the wider scientific community. To this end I am delighted to announce that we  will be hosting a 'Lung Summit' with the Physiological Society, 21-22 November 2022 in London. Make sure to save the date in your diary as we will open registration soon. We are also having a joint symposium with the British Toxicology Society (BTS) during our annual meeting, Pharmacology 2022 in Liverpool this September and are currently planning a number of further events with the BTS in the future. I would also like to remind you that registration and abstract submissions are currently open for our meeting in Madrid, Spain this October, which focusses on ‘Recent advances in cannabinoid therapeutics for Dravet syndrome'. I look forward to catching up with many of you at these meetings and in the meantime encourage you all to start preparing your abstracts for submission to WCP2023. I would also welcome any suggestions from members as to what other activities you would like us to consider.

   

Enjoy the rest of your summer and I hope you all get a chance to take some time off to relax with family and friends.

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Professor Clive Page OBE

https://www.bps.ac.uk/getmedia/664834c6-0139-472c-adea-50df5178704e/Sorrel-Bunting.jpg.aspx?width=503&height=334

Clive Page is a Professor of Pharmacology at King’s College London and President of the British Pharmacological Society.


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