Founded in 1959 as a section of the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS), the International Union of Pharmacology (IUPHAR) has been independent since 1966. IUPHAR is a member of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and participates in the activities of its scientific committees. IUPHAR receives international recognition, particularly by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In 2003, to foster the collaboration among all aspects of pharmacology, the name of IUPHAR was changed to the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology.
IUPHAR is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in official relations with the World Health Organisation (WHO). IUPHAR is a voluntary, non-profit association representing the interests of pharmacologists around the world. According to its statutes, IUPHAR has Full Members, (national societies), Associate Members, and Corporate Members.
More information about IUPHAR and all of its activities can be found at its website www.iuphar.org.
Objectives: The object of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology is to foster international cooperation in pharmacology by:
1. promoting cooperation between societies representing pharmacology and related disciplines throughout the world;
2. maintaining pharmacology as one strong scientific discipline, spanning molecular science to optimal treatment of patients;
3. sponsoring international and regional congresses and meetings and helping in their organization by establishing advisory committees;
4. helping in all ways the development of pharmacology throughout the world, particularly in emerging countries;
5. encouraging international cooperation and free exchange of scientists and of ideas in research in accordance with ICSU Statute 5 concerning non-discrimination with regard to race, religion, political philosophy, ethnic origin, citizenship, language or gender;
6. acting as a body through which pharmacologists can participate with scientists from other disciplines in international activities either directly or under the aegis of international scientific bodies such as ICSU, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO);
7. promoting programmes of public awareness on pharmacological issues, such as receptor nomenclature, teaching of pharmacology and rational use of drugs.
IUPHAR is governed by the Council, composed of delegates appointed by the members, clinical division and sections, which holds its General Assembly at each World Congress of Pharmacology.
The Council elects an Executive Committee consisting of a President, First and Second Vice-Presidents, a Secretary-General, a Treasurer and five Councillors. The Executive Committee meets annually and is responsible for both the general and scientific administration of IUPHAR.
There is also a Membership Committee, which reviews all applications for membership in IUPHAR and forwards its recommendations to the Executive Committee and subsequently to the Council for approval.
The scientific activities of IUPHAR are conducted by experts in the major experimental areas of the discipline. These areas are covered by divisions, sections and committees, which have a certain degree of autonomy but report to both the Executive Committee and the Council.
one Division:
The IUPHAR Division on Clinical Pharmacology
eight Sections:
The IUPHAR Section on Bioinformatics
The IUPHAR Section on Drug Metabolism
The IUPHAR Section on Drug Toxicology
The IUPHAR Section on Gastrointestinal Pharmacology
The IUPHAR Section on Neuropsychopharmacology
The IUPHAR Section on Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacogenetics
The IUPHAR Section on Safety Pharmacology
The IUPHAR Section on Teaching
The IUPHAR Working Group on Natural Products
and one Committee:
The IUPHAR Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification
Full Members are national societies:
Associate Members are:
Corporate Members include:
Platinum Members
Gold Members
Activities
1. Publications. The newsletter, “Pharmacology International”, is distributed every June and December. The IUPHAR “Member Directory” is published on-line and updated continuously.
IUPHAR also provides the IUPHAR Receptor Database, a major on-line repository of characterisation data for receptors and drugs (www.iuphar-db.org/iuphar-rd) and the IUPHAR Ion Channels Compendium online (www.iuphar-db.org/iuphar-ic). IUPHAR also publishes and distributes compendia at its major international meetings. The most recent of these is the IUPHAR Compendium of Basic Principles for Pharmacological Research in Humans, http://www.iuphar.org/nciuphar_hu.html
Official Reports from The IUPHAR Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification are published in Pharmacological Reviews. The scientific compendia are published coincident with each congress. Most of the material can be accessed on-line at the IUPHAR website, in Pharmacological Reviews, or in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
2. Congresses. IUPHAR currently organises a congress every two years: the World Congress of Pharmacology alternating with the World Congress of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. National society members may make a bid at the General Assembly to host these congresses. IUPHAR is currently engaged in an effort to strengthen the association between the pre-clinical and therapeutic aspects of pharmacology through combined programmes at the congresses. As a consequence, in 2010, the World Congress of Pharmacology will combine basic and clinical pharmacology.
Resources
The following is a list of useful WWW links for pharmacology teaching material:
IUPHAR Receptor Database (www.iuphar-db.org/iuphar-rd). NC-IUPHAR has established close links with the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO), which attributes gene names; the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), to standardise correct use of drug names; and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) to collaborate on receptor-related enzyme nomenclature.
IUPHAR Ion Channels Compendium online (www.iuphar-db.org/iuphar-ic). The NC-IUPHAR subcommittees have proposed nomenclature for the major ion channel families which is, for the most part, consistent with the recommendations for receptor nomenclature.
IUPHAR Compendium of Basic Principles for Pharmacological Research in Humans http://www.iuphar.org/pdf/comp_humans_2004.pdf
IUPHAR Section on Teaching (www.iuphar.org/sections/teaching/sec_teac.html). Membership is open to anyone with an interest in teaching pharmacology. The Councillors have been chosen to represent a range of countries distributed across the world.
ClinicalTrials.gov. A comprehensive database of more than 4,000 clinical trials, developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Principles of Clinical Pharmacology. A series of lecture notes from the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
HyperTox© for PC and Palm© OS. A hypertext program designed both for emergency ward management and medical student teaching of clinical toxicology.
Basic Pharmacokinetics. Numerous case-studies based around pharmacokinetic scenarios.
ASCPT Teaching Cases. A package of 24 ‘Teaching Cases’ and a Catalog of Teaching Aids in Clinical Pharmacology.
Medscape. A series of modules including: Anticonvulsant Therapy in the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain, Management Issues in Acid-Peptic Disorders, Therapeutic Advances for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias, Biting the Chameleon: Strategies to Outwit a Changing Virus.
Learning and Teaching Support Network. Some 24 Learning and Teaching Support Network centres have recently been established in the UK and are funded for at least five years. The centre dedicated to medicine - including clinical pharmacology and therapeutics - has a remit which includes disseminating good practice and acting as a repository for information on all aspects of teaching and learning.
Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) Centre for Bioscience. Basic science pharmacology is dealt with through the Bioscience ltsn located at Leeds.
ADVANTAGES OF BECOMING A MEMBER OF IUPHAR
Full members, associate members and corporate members have access to all services offered by IUPHAR, its Clinical Division and its Sections. Specifically:
1. Participation in international activities. IUPHAR is associated with many international organisations. All IUPHAR members may, through IUPHAR, develop research or teaching activities with these organisations. These international organisations include the International Council of Science (ICSU), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB), the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), the International Union of Toxicology (IUTOX), the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS), etc.
2. Active participation in IUPHAR. Each full, associate and corporate member has the right to name voting delegates to the IUPHAR Council. The number of delegates for each member is specified in the IUPHAR statutes. IUPHAR members may suggest modifications to the policies, regulations and statutes of IUPHAR, subject to approval of the IUPHAR Council. Members will be able to nominate individual members of their Societies to the Executive Committee of IUPHAR. Once elected, such members will be able to voice their views and get them approved through official channels. Full members, associate members and corporate members can organize congresses, meetings, workshops and satellites under the auspices of IUPHAR. Moreover, IUPHAR can provide assistance for the organisation of these activities.
3. Teaching and research activities. All IUPHAR members have access to all teaching and research activities developed by both the Clinical Division and the Sections of IUPHAR. Moreover, members may benefit from the experience of the Clinical Division and the Sections of IUPHAR to organise teaching and research activities in their own countries or regions. IUPHAR can assist young research scientists, particularly from developing countries, in finding appropriate laboratories to accomplish their aspirations. Young scientists from member organizations could submit advertisements for positions sought through their respective societies for posting on the IUPHAR web site.
4. Special Research funds. Full members, associate members and corporate members of IUPHAR have the opportunity to participate in developing grant applications to ICSU to support international interdisciplinary activities.
5. Website. Full members, associate members and corporate members have access to all the resources offered by the website of IUPHAR (www.iuphar.org), and in addition can use the website and Pharmacology International to publicise their own activities and to access IUPHAR publications.
6. Tools of communication. Full members, associate members and corporate members may use the established contacts of IUPHAR to approach national, regional or international organisations.
7. Acknowledgement of Pharmacology Teaching Curricula. In order to guarantee a good standard of Pharmacology teaching, and to enable the equivalence between different Universities world-wide, IUPHAR may help in setting up such standards in a manner similar to ISO, so that such Universities would receive universal recognition.
