EACPT Lifetime Achievement Award for Professor Michel Eichelbaum

The 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Association of Clinical Pharmacology and

Therapeutics will go to German researcher Professor Michel Eichelbaum for his outstanding contribution to the national and international benefits of clinical pharmacology for medicine, health care and patient safety. The Award, which includes the EACPT silver medal, will be presented to Professor Eichelbaum during the 12th EACPT Congress in Madrid on Saturday 27th June 2015.

Michel Eichelbaum's primary research interest is pharmacogenetics of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporter proteins. He was a pioneer in the study of the stereochemistry of drugs,  use of stable isotopes in clinical pharmacology, and intestinal metabolism and transport of drugs. 

In 1975, he discovered a genetic polymorphism in the oxidation of the antiarrhythmic and oxytocic drug, sparteine, which later became known as CYP2D6 polymorphism. This is considered his single most important scientific discovery. Later, he became involved in research on factors involved in the regulation of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters with special emphasis on nuclear receptors.

See more about Professor Eichelbaum in my blog on the EACPT site.

The EACPT was founded 22 years ago and now includes as members all national organisations for clinical pharmacology in Europe, as well as organisations from further afield internationally. The EACPT aims to provide educational and scientific support for the more than 4000 individual professionals interested in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics throughout the European region, with its congresses attended by a global audience. The EACPT also advises policy makers on how the specialty can contribute to human health and wealth.

Plans announced for a Rwanda Society of Pharmacology

Plans were announced for the launch of a Rwanda Society of Pharmacology at the close of the first International Symposium on Medicines and Patient Safety held in Kigali 5-6 November.

The Symposium was attended by over 170 delegates and speakers from 6 countries (Rwanda, South Africa, Moroccoo, South Africa, UK and USA). who participated in an International Symposium on Medicines and Patient Safety was held in Kigali, Rwanda at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) on Wednesday 5th November 2014, followed on 6^th November 2014 by an international videoconference on Prescribing Skills with Professor Simon Maxwell and on Pharmacovigilance with Professor Rita Benabdalleh from the WHO co-ordinating centre in Rabat, Morocco. The meeting included talks on medicines and communicable and non-communicable diseases by national and international clinical and policy experts from Rwanda, South Africa, USA and the UK.

The Symposium was held in partnership with Pharmacology for Africa, a

consortium of 18 Sub-Saharan countries supported by the International Union of Pharmacology, and led by Professor Douglas Oliver and Professor Christiaan Brink, from South Africa, both of whom spoke at the meeting. The 3 major themes of the symposium were: educating health professionals in safe and effective use of medicines; regulating drugs, including pharmacovigilance and quality of medicines, reducing harm from high risk medicines and in patients with high risk conditions.

Outcomes of the Symposium included plans to launch the first Rwandan Pharmacology Society, publication of selected reviews and commentaries in the international journal Health Policy and Technology, and plans for a Second International Symposium on Medicines and Patient Safety in June 2015, themes to include Improving Prescribing Skills and Rational Guidelines for Antibiotics.

Speakers discussed ways to reduce risk from medicines for treating children and expectant mothers, preventing disorders of the heart and stroke, and for treating cancer and kidney disease. There were also round table discussions not only on prescribed medicines, but also on the risks of over-the-counter and traditional medicines.

Co-organizer and Pharmacist Dr Kayumba said: “The Symposium was timely in building on strategy in Rwanda on pharmacovigilance and on developing our undergraduate and postgraduate educational systems for good practice in use of medicines.”

Co-organizer and Physician Dr Musabeyezu added: “The Symposium provided important updates for doctors, pharmacists and nurses from Referrral and District Hospitals from throughout Rwanda on reducing risk of harm from high risk medicines often used for high risk diseases”. 

Co-organizer and Clinical Pharmacologist Professor Singer said: "Medicines have powerful effects to help patients. However medicines also have the potential to cause powerful harmful effects. Education on how to ensure safe and effective use of medicines is therefore vitally important for patients and health services."

Pharmacology of Africa President Professor Douglas Oliver said: “Partnership with Pharmacology for Africa brings important opportunities to improve patient health and safety through engaging with a wide range of international experts in education, training, clinical practice and research aimed at best practice in use of medicines."

The symposium was supported by the World Health Organisation, Pharmacology for Africa, the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, Partners in Health, the Rwanda Social Security Board,  the University of Rwanda College of Medicine and Health Sciences, and by unrestricted educational grants by GSK and Roche.

Information for Editors

For further information, including to arrange an interview with the organisers email ISMPS2014@gmail.com.

Symposium website

Symposium program

Symposium National and International Advisory Board

Helping to improve safety in the use of medicines in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Press Release: 00.00h Monday 3rd November 2014

Medicines have powerful effects to help patients. However medicines also have the potential to cause powerful harmful effects. Education on how to ensure safe and effective use of medicines is therefore vitally important for patients and health services.

An International Symposium on Medicines and Patient Safety is being held in Kigali, Rwanda at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) on Wednesday 5th November 2014, followed by an international videoconference on Prescribing Skills and on Pharmacovigilance on Thursday 6th November with contributors from the UK and the WHO. The meeting will include talks on medicines and communicable and non-communicable diseases by national and international clinical and policy experts from Rwanda, South Africa, USA and the UK.

The Symposium is being held in partnership with Pharmacology for Africa, a consortium of 8

Sub-Saharan countries supported by the International Union of Pharmacology, and led by Professor Douglas Oliver and Professor Christiaan Brink, from South Africa, both of whom will be speaking at the meeting.The 3 major themes of the symposium are: educating health professionals in safe and effective use of medicines; regulating drugs, including pharmacovigilance and quality of medicines, reducing harm from high risk medicines and in patients with high risk conditions.

Speakers will discuss ways to reduce risk from medicines for treating children and expectant mothers, preventing disorders of the heart and stroke, and for treating cancer, retroviral disease and kidney disease. There will also be round table discussions not only on prescribed medicines, but also on the risks of over-the-counter and traditional medicines.

Pharmacist Dr Kayumba said: “The Symposium is timely in building on strategy in Rwanda on pharmacovigilance and on developing our undergraduate and postgraduate educational systems for good practice in use of medicines.”

Physician Dr Musabeyezu added: “The Symposium will also provide important updates for doctors, pharmacists and nurses from Referrral and District Hospitals from throughout Rwanda on reducing risk of harm from high risk medicines often used for high risk diseases”. 

Clinical Pharmacologist Professor Singer noted: “Partnership with Pharmacology for Africa brings important opportunities to improve patient health and safety through engaging with a wide range of international experts in education, training, clinical practice and research aimed at best practice in use of medicines.

The symposium is supported by the World Health Organisation, Pharmacology for Africa, the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, Partners in Health, the Rwanda Social Security Board and the University of Rwanda College of Medicine and Health Sciences

Information for Editors

For further information, including to arrange an interview with the organisers, and for a press pass to attend the symposium on 5th November 2014, email ISMPS@gmail.com

Symposium website

Symposium program

Symposium National and International Advisory Board

International Symposium on Medicines and Patient Safety: Kigali, Rwanda – 5th November, 2014

Education on how to ensure safe and effective use of medicines is vitally important for patients and health services.
Registration and abstract submission on the themes below is now open for the International Symposium on Medicines and Patient Safety in partnership with Pharmacology for Africa. The symposium will take place on Wednesday 5th November 2014 in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, under the auspices of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Rwanda.
 
The 3 major themes of the symposium are:

• Educating health professionals  in safe and effective use of medicines
• Regulating drugs, including pharmacovigilance and quality of medicines
• Reducing harm from high risk medicines and in patients with high risk conditions

University Hospital, Kigali

Key topics to be discussed and welcome as submitted abstracts include

• education in pharmacology and clinical pharmacology
• developing good prescribing skills
• developing rational treatment guidelines
• drug regulation including quality of medicines
• Drugs and Therapeutics Committees
• medicines for non-communicable diseases
• pharmacovigilance
• safe systems for using medicines for high risk therapeutic areas, including retroviral disease, maternal and paediatric health, cancer, and renal disease
• traditional medicines

This Symposium will be of particular interest to health professionals and policy makers

View over Kigali hills

interested in the safe and effective use of medicines.
These include doctors, pharmacists, nurses and managers working in referral, district and community hospitals, community pharmacists, experts interested in the safe regulation and supply of medicines, health professionals interested in pharmacovigilance, and educators interested in postgraduate and undergraduate training of health professionals in clinical pharmacology, therapeutics and safe dispensing.
The symposium will also be of interest to professionals working in NGOs and patient safety organisations concerned with public health and with disease prevention and treatment.

Pharmacology for Africa

The latest World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology - held in July 2014 in Cape Town - has just ended. Delegates from around the world discussed the latest ideas on research and education about new and established medicines and their effective and safe use.

One of the key threads during the week long meeting was a series of lecture and discussion events hosted by  'Pharmacology for Africa' (PharfA), an initiative by African pharmacologists to promote and

organise pharmacology on the African continent. The keynote 2014 PharfA WCP lecture was given by Professor Alexander Dodoo from Ghana.

This important initiative is recognised and supported by the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR), the umbrella organisation for these 4-yearly congresses on basic and clinical pharmacology.

PharfA aims to secure national and international support to improve capacity and expertise for education and training in Clinical Pharmacology and related disciplines in African medical schools and for post-graduate education in African countries. PharfA also aims to increase research activity and integration across Africa in partnership with African funding and governmental institutions, and with the WHO and other interested overseas organisations.

For more information, see the PharfA website.

Recent and pending PharfAssociated events:
- 5th All Africa Congress on Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (ACP2012) Accra, Ghana -
11-13 July 2012, 
- sessions at WCP - Cape Town 2014
-  All Africa Congress on Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - 2016

Spotlight on excellent EACPT summer cardiovascular focus meeting 3-5 July in Holland

You are still in time to register for 2014 EACPT Focus Meeting on 'Drugs to Fight Cardiovascular Damage' from organised by the the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics [EACPT] .

Registration  - with a preferential accommodation rate - is available through the Focus Meeting website.

The 2014 EACPT Focus Meeting takes place from July 3rd - 5th at the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

Reasons to come to this outstanding meeting

• excellent tradition of EACPT in providing outstanding meetings for young and senior clinicians and researchers
• great opportunities for networking with your peers and senior members of the international clinical pharmacology community
• easy access to senior researchers on the international speaker faculty 
• opportunity to have first hand news on major developments for EACPT
• meet Dr Richard Shader, the editor of the EACPT's Official Journal - Clinical Therapeutics 
• expert session from Dr Shader on how to publish

In addition to state-of-the-art lectures from international cardiovascular experts, over 60 delegate abstracts are due be presented  from around the world. The top 5 ranked abstracts will be provided with free registration. All abstracts presented at the meeting will be published in Clinical Therapeutics, the peer-reviewed Official Journal of the EACPT. 

This focus meeting follows on from the highly rated  EACPT international summer school in 2013 in Edinburgh.

The 2014 EACPT Focus Meeting will provide you with the opportunity to attend state of the art lectures from leading professionals and researchers, including hands-on workshops. 

Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen 

Topics include ultrasound imaging of vascular injury (including a hands-on workshop), the microbiome and inflammation in the metabolic syndrome, targeting inflammation to prevent and treat atherosclerosis, diagnosis and therapy of adrenal hypertension, and protection against ischaemia-reperfusion injury.

This EACPT Cardiovascular Focus Meeting is of interest to clinical pharmacologists, pharmacologists, and other young scientists and clinicians interested in drug treatment of cardiovascular disease. 

You can listen here to podcasts with international delegates at the last EACPT summer meeting in Edinburgh in 2013.

See the Scientific Programme is now online on the Focus Meeting website. 

Visit the Clinical Therapeutics website.

Policy, pharmacology and the European Association of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics

The EACPT is in a prime position to foster an environment of exchange between research and policy within the field of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics.

The European Association of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT) includes all

the national scientific and professional organisations and societies for clinical pharmacology and therapeutics in Europe. It aims to provide educational and scientific support for the more than 4,000 individual professionals interested in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics throughout the European region.

All medicines have risks of adverse effects, in addition to their expected health benefits. The EACPT is very well placed to provide up-to-date briefings and recommendations to policy makers on how pharmacology can contribute positively to human health and wealth, through a clear understanding of the clinical and cost benefit/risk ratio of medicines.

The EACPT is also in a strong position to advise on the support needed for clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, and its underpinning pharmacology, to ensure that established experts and emerging CPT professionals in academia, the clinical domain, governance, industry and other roles can continue to develop and use medicines effectively to meet current and new challenges to human health.

Read the full article

For more information on the Policy Community journal where this article was published please visit www.paneuropeannetworks.com

Young pharmacologists from 5 continents at EACPT Clinical Pharmacology Summer School

Over 120 young and senior pharmacologists from 5 continents attended the EACPT Summer School in Edinburgh 4-6 July: half the young clinicians and researchers from the UK and half from around the world: continental Europe, from Estonia and Lithuania to Denmark and Spain, 16 from China, others from Australia and elsewhere. 

Hear the podcast from delegates at the EACPT Summer School from 6 European countries talking about why they came and how useful they found the EACPT Summer School in Edinburgh: Eglė Svitojūtė, Lithuania; Morten Rix Hansen, Odense, Denmark; Aurelija Noreikaite, Lithuania; Gareth Barnes, London, UK; Alexandra Androu, Romania; Madli Pintson, Tartu, Estonia; Julia Daragrjati, Padua, Italy.

Blogs from delegates from 8 countries

EACPT Summer Schools consist of keynote presentations and workshops on all aspects of clinical pharmacology by invited expert speakers, poster presentations, and social events. There is a strong interactive element and ample opportunity for delegates to network with speakers. 

See also information on the 11th EACPT Congress in Geneva: 28th - 31st August, 20

Launch of Pocket Prescriber 2013

The 6th edition of the Pocket Prescriber I co-edit with psychiatrist Tim Nicholson has just been launched.

Our aim is to provide core information to junior doctors, nurse and pharmacist prescribers and medical students and other health professional students interested in drugs and prescribing.
As in previous editions, there is a listing of ~500 of the most commonly used medicines, informed by advice from  experts in the wide range of therapeutic disciplines reflecting current medical practice in assessing and treating common medical problems from infection to hypertension and alleviating pain.

We also include national guidelines aimed at improving safety and effectiveness in prescribing, and advice on management of medical emergencies, supported by guidelines from national and international professional societies, NICE guidelines and Formulary updates.

Over 110,000 copies of the Pocket Prescriber have entered national and international circulation since the first edition was published in 2004.

Since 2010, the Pocket Prescriber has been an annually updated source of prescribing advice.

The Pocket Prescriber is published as a convenient sized small book. The new 2013 edition will shortly also be published as an app for smartphones, laptops and desktop computers.

Suggestions for additional content are very welcome.

New EU black triangle scheme for medicinal products

There are several key stages in use of medicines and vaccines in clinical practice when reporting on clinical experience of side effects and suspected adverse effects is particularly important.

In addition to a duty to report any serious adverse effect, times to be particularly vigilant include when a medicine has just been launched; when indications for use are changed – ie new patient groups are exposed to the medicine; special patient populations for whom experience of a medicine may be limited – e.g. children; new combinations with the treatment, with which unexpected drug interactions may occur. 

The European Medicines Agency [EMA] notes these additional categories: “ it contains a new active substance authorised in the EU after 1 January 2011; it is a biological medicine, such as a vaccine or a medicine derived from plasma (blood), for which there is limited post-marketing experience; it has been given a conditional approval (where the company that markets the medicine must provide more data about it) or approved under exceptional circumstances (where there are specific reasons why the company cannot provide a comprehensive set of data); the company that markets the medicine is required to carry out additional studies, for instance, to provide more data on long-term use of the medicine or on a rare side effect seen during clinical trials.”

A Black Triangle logo has been used in the UK for many years “to signify medicines that are subject to intensive monitoring" [MHRA]. This inverted Black Triangle logo will now be used in all EU Member States, with a list of 'Black Triangle' medicines and vaccines agreed Europe-wide, the first version released in April 2013. The Black Triangle will start appearing in the package leaflets of medicines concerned from autumn 2013.

See more on the EMA website on the new European Union wide black triangle scheme for medicinal products and vaccines,

 indicating that they should be subject to additional monitoring and reporting by health professionals and patients.

EACPT Awards to be presented at August Geneva Congress

The EACPT has announced its awards for 2013, to be presented at the 11th EACPT Congress in Geneva 28th - 31st August 2013. 

The Special Award for services to the EACPT goes to Professor Michael Orme, who co-founded the EACPT 20 years ago in 1993. Professor was EACPT founding secretary then Chairman and played a major role in growing EACPT into a major international organisation representing all clinical pharmacology societies in Europe and their over 4000 clinical pharmacologist members.

The  2013 EACPT Scientific Award goes to Dr David Devos from the Department of Medical Pharmacology at the Université Lille Nord de France. The EACPT Scientific Award is for the report by Dr Devos, using methylphenidate as a new approach to treating Parkinson's disease. 

The paper, for which Dr Devos was corresponding author, was published in the July 2012 issue of 
the high impact international journal -  Lancet Neurology. The prize includes a 2000 € award.

The 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Association of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics goes jointly to Professor Sir Michael Rawlins and to Professor Carlo Patrono, for their outstanding contributions to the national and international benefits of clinical pharmacology for medicine, health care and patient safety.

 EACPT website. 

Official EACPT journal - Clinical Therapeutics. 

Update from Paris on Geneva EACPT Congress 28-31 Aug 2013

The EACPT Executive Committee met in Paris 18th-20th April with as major business planning for the 11th biennial EACPT congress to be held from 28^th – 31^st August 2013 in Geneva.  

EACPT biennial congresses provide excellent opportunities to showcase issues of topical international concern to the CPT community.

EACPT Executive Committee at the Hôpital St Antoine in Paris

For the Geneva Congress, it has been confirmed by the local Swiss organisers Marie Besson and Caroline Samer that there will be 101 invited speakers from 21 countries - 15 from the European region and a further 6 countries internationally, from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, China, Benin and India. Close to 400 abstracts have been submitted from 57 countries from all 5 continents for consideration for oral and poster communications. 

 

Key themes at the Geneva congress will range from bedside pharmacology for special patient groups to pharmacology & toxicology, and pharmacology and society.

To register for the Geneva EACPT Congress, go to the Congress website.

More news on the Geneva EACPT 2013 Congress

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Around 10 months to go until the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics 11th International Congress to be held in beautiful Geneva 28-31 August 2013. The image is one of a series on the congress website showing the best of the city.

Abstract submission is now open for the next EACPT Congress,

Over 900 participants are expected to attend including health professionals, scientists, policy makers, biotechnology and pharmaceutical professionals and others with an interest in basic and clinical pharmacology, pharmacotherapy, drug discovery and development, regulatory affairs and related areas.

Key themes at the congress will range from bedside pharmacology for special patient groups to pharmacology & toxicology, and pharmacology and society. 

Specific topics will include advances in personalised diagnostics to improve the safety and effectiveness of medicines, updates on new biological approaches to ocular disease, therapeutics of cardiovascular, cancer and inflammatory disease, clinical trial design and regulation, and drug safety and toxicology.

See here for more on key themes of the Congress. 

EACPT Geneva 2013 Congress website  

The European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT) has its origins in a working party in the early 1980s under the auspices of the World Health Organisation (WHO-Europe). 

The EACPT's next biennial congresses after Geneva 2013 are in Madrid 2015 and in Prague 2017. The EACPT also arranges summer schools, and other scientific and professional activities.