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MINUTES
Meeting of the Executive Committee of IUPHAR
Neuilly, France
25 and 26 April, 2005
Present: J. Angus, D. Birkett, S. Duckles, P. du Souich, M. Endo, S.H. Ferreira, W. Fleming, G. Hawksworth, M.T. Khayyal, S. Langer, P. Vanhoutte, Z-B. Lin, E.Z. Vizi. Day Two: Guests: A. Chit, M. Spedding
Recorder: L. Hart
1. Welcome and Opening Remarks by the President
President Prof Paul Vanhoutte welcomed the Executive Committee. He pointed out that, for the previous two days in Paris, all three IUPHAR officers had joined NC-IUPHAR in their work. Considerable progress has been made in meeting the goals outlined in the ICSU grant of $100,000 for the NC-IUPHAR database. Furthermore, active efforts are underway by NC-IUPHAR members to obtain additional funding and provide long-term support for maintenance and further development of the database.
Prof. Vanhoutte also congratulated the organizers of the Beijing 2006 World Congress on the considerable progress that has been made, particularly in development of the program. Prof. Vanhoutte has worked closely with the organizers. The program is nearly complete and will be posted on the meeting website as soon as possible.
Prof. Vanhoutte also underscored his satisfaction at the contributions that all members of the Executive Committee have made in the last year to the progress of IUPHAR activities. In order to meet our common goals it is essential that all EC members actively participate between meetings, and this Executive Committee has been particularly successful in that regard.
2. Approval of Minutes
By unanimous vote, minutes from the previous meeting in Brisbane, Australia, July, 2004, were approved with no changes.
3. Report from the President
There was no additional report beyond the welcoming remarks summarized above.
4. Report from the Secretary General
Prof. Duckles introduced her assistant, Lindsay Hart. Ms. Hart has worked hard to make the IUPHAR web site an effective tool for communication with all who have interest in IUPHAR activities. She has also been responsible for production of Pharmacology International and worked with Professor Patrick du Souich to produce the Brisbane compendium. Ms. Hart has been particularly helpful in providing assistance to members of IUPHAR committees as they carry out their work. Prof. Duckles also commented on the high morale of NC-IUPHAR members demonstrated by the high attendance and commitment shown in their meeting in Paris. Exciting opportunities have presented themselves, and the officers will work closely with Mike Spedding, chair of NC-IUPHAR, as well as members of the committee to develop ongoing support for committee activities.
5. Report from the Treasurer
a. 2003 audited accounts.
Internal auditing of 2003 accounts has not been completed. Members of the Executive Committee requested the treasurer to send to the internal auditors full spreadsheets detailing all transactions for 2003 and copies of bank statements. The Executive Committee moved, seconded and voted unanimously that the internal audit of 2003 accounts by completed by July1, 2005. The Executive Committee asked the treasurer to make available to all EC members both the updated Power Point presentation and a full excel spreadsheet detailing all transactions for 2003.
Because IUPHAR has received funding earmarked for the NC-IUPHAR project or for the NC-IUPHAR database, the Executive Committee moved that separate schedules be maintained for IUPHAR income and expenditures and NC-IUPHAR income and expenditures. It was resolved that this should begin with 2003 accounts and be maintained in the accounts presented each year.
According to IUPHAR statutes, ”Membership withdrawal for Full Members becomes effective when: c) The annual dues have not been paid for more than three years, unless, upon petition and explanation from the Member, the Officers of IUPHAR determine that financial exigency makes payment impossible.” Because of the need to determine delegates for the 2006 General Assembly, the Secretary General will write to all members who have not paid dues in 2003 and 2004 to remind them that, unless they pay dues for 2003, 2004 and 2005 before December 31, 2005, or write to the Officers as detailed in the Statutes, their membership will be withdrawn and they will not have voting rights in the General Assembly. The Secretary-General recalled that, at the 2004 EC meeting it was decided that unpaid dues for 2002 and before would be forgiven. The treasurer will prepare a list of societies in arrears for 2003 and 2004 dues, and the Secretary-General will contact each society as detailed above.
b. 2004 audited accounts
A Power Point presentation of 2004 accounts was shown by the Treasurer. Spreadsheets detailing all transactions for the year were not made available. A number of questions were raised and apparent discrepancies in the figures presented were pointed out by members of the Executive Committee. A number of issues need to be resolved by the Treasurer. It was noted that the Treasurer employs a certified accountant to provide assistance.
Concerns were expressed that, by April 2005, 2004 dues had not been received from many member societies. It is not clear that invoices for 2004 dues have been received by some societies. The treasurer was asked to contact societies who have not paid 2004 dues to determine whether invoices were received and whether payments have been sent.
It was resolved that internal auditing of 2004 accounts must be completed by July 1, 2005, and the treasurer agreed that this would be feasible. Members of the Executive Committee requested the treasurer to send to the internal auditors full spreadsheets detailing all transactions for 2004 and copies of bank statements. The Executive Committee requested the treasurer to send to all EC members both the Power Point presentation and a full excel spreadsheet detailing all transactions for 2004, including separate breakdowns of income and expenditures related to IUPHAR and NC-IUPHAR.
c. 2005 projected budget
A Power Point presentation of the 2005 projected budget was presented and discussed. Because a grant for $100,000 for the NC-IUPHAR database was received in 2005, increased personnel costs have been requested. Specifically, Tony Harmer has requested additional funds to pay a student at the University of Edinburgh for six months to fill in templates. This was approved by the Executive Committee. The treasurer was requested to send a copy of the Power Point presentation of the 2005 projected budget to all members of the Executive Committee.
d. Outside auditors
Following the recommendations of the 2002 IUPHAR General Assembly, an outside auditor will be engaged to review accounts of 2003, 2004 and 2005, prior to the 2006 General Assembly. In addition, a recommendation to revise IUPHAR statutes to include a provision requiring external audit will be brought to the General Assembly in Beijing, 2006 for consideration (see below). The Secretary-General will identify an auditor with international experience and investigate costs. A proposal will be sent to the Executive Committee by e-mail and a vote will be taken. As soon as the internal audit for 2003 and 2004 accounts is completed (see above) the Treasurer will work with the External Auditor to audit these accounts. Early in 2006, the Treasurer will complete 2005 accounts, work with internal auditors to complete the internal audit, and work with the External Auditor to complete the External audit prior to the 2006 General Assembly. Reports of the External Auditor for 2003, 2004 and 2005 accounts will be presented at the 2006 General Assembly.
e. Fund-raising
The treasurer expressed disappointment with the difficulty of fund-raising for IUPHAR. A number of approaches to improve fund-raising were discussed, including developing materials to better explain IUPHAR activities to potential donors. A committee was appointed to work on the issue of IUPHAR fund-raising and bring recommendations back to the Executive Committee as soon as possible before the next Executive Committee meeting in Beijing, July 2006. The committee will be chaired by Don Birkett, and will include Patrick du Souich, Sylvester Vizi and Salomon Langer. It was suggested that treasurers of the Division and Sections be contacted for their thoughts.
6. IUPHAR.org and Pharmacology International
Lindsay Hart presented statistics on web site usage. These show a consistent increase in individuals accessing the IUPHAR web site. Efforts will be continued to increase the usefulness of the website and make it a valuable resource for pharmacologists worldwide. Pharmacology International has been distributed on a regular schedule two times each year. IUPHAR members are encouraged to submit articles for publication, including reports of meetings or of significant developments in member societies. As new members join IUPHAR, articles highlighting those societies will be included.
7. IUPHAR Meetings
a. Bids for 2014. Six preliminary bids for 2014 were received and discussed in detail. Because all six bids were of excellent quality, it was decided that all six bidding societies will be invited to make a presentation to the 2006 General Assembly. The secretary-general will contact all six societies who have made preliminary bids to provide feedback based on the Executive Committee discussion.
As is customary, each of the six bidding societies will have the opportunity to make a presentation before the General Assembly. A written bid, not to exceed 5 pages in length, may be submitted in advance for distribution to the delegates as an attachment to the General Assembly agenda. No other material may be distributed to the delegates or to IUPHAR member societies, either in advance or at the meeting of the General Assembly. Bidding societies may provide an e-mail address to delegates who have any questions in advance of the General Assembly. At the General Assembly, each bidding society will be allocated 5 minutes for a presentation to the delegates. Only one individual from each bidding society will have the opportunity to present a maximum of five slides in Power Point format. Time limits will be strictly enforced. Each presenter will be required to rehearse the presentation in front of several members of the Executive Committee at the Beijing meeting prior to the General Assembly. The final bid will be selected by a maximum of three votes of the General Assembly. In each round of voting, the two bids receiving the lowest number of votes will be withdrawn. As soon as one bid receives a majority of votes it will be deemed the winner.
b. CPT2004: Brisbane
Final accounts of the Brisbane meeting are in the process of being audited. Once these are complete they will be submitted to IUPHAR. The organizers anticipate a positive balance.
c. Beijing 2006
Prof Lin was joined by Alan Chit, chair of the Beijing 2006 Finance Committee to discuss organizational progress made to date. Some success has been made in fund-raising and efforts are being increased as the meeting date approaches. An excellent program has nearly been completed and will be posted on the Congress web site in the near future. The congress organizers are developing a Call for Abstracts to be distributed through member societies. It is planned to make this available by the end of summer, 2005. The meeting will include the IUPHAR Young Investigators symposium, and attractive social events are being planned. A proposal for a two-tiered registration fee based on World Bank economic categories was unanimously approved in principle by the Executive Committee. In each tier a discounted registration fee will be available for students who submit documentation to support their status. A complete proposal of registration fees will be submitted for review to the IUPHAR officers by the Beijing organizers.
i. The selection committee for the IUPHAR Lecturer in Analytical Pharmacology presented a report. Jim Angus, chair, Pat Humphrey, Arthur Christopolous, Anthony Harmar and Michael Spedding served. The recommendation of the committee was unanimously approved, and the Secretary-General will contact the nominee. The award will be presented by Jim Angus at the Beijing meeting.
ii. Progress on development of the Nuclear Receptors Compendium was discussed. Vincent Laudet, a member of NC-IUPHAR, will edit the compendium, and Servier has generously agreed to provide sufficient copies of the compendium on CD for distribution to all registered delegates at the Beijing meeting. Efforts are underway to arrange for the compendium to be published and freely available after the meeting.
d. CPT 2008
Prof. du Souich reported that the organizers for CPT2008 continue to make progress. Quebec City, the site of the meeting, will be celebrating its 400th anniversary, so there will be many local activities. The IUPHAR Finance Committee negotiated a contract between IUPHAR and CPT2008 during the week in Brisbane, and this has been signed by all parties. An International Advisory Committee needs to be appointed in Beijing by the new Executive Committee; the Clinical Division will be consulted for recommendations.
Proposals for symposia and plenary lectures will be welcomed by the Scientific Program Committee prior to September 2005. Forms for submission can be obtained from Professor du Souich.
e. Copenhagen 2010
A written report from Kim Brosen was included in the meeting agenda. Members of the organizing committee have been active in publicizing the meeting and are to be commended for the progress they are making.
f. Future of IUPHAR meetings
A subcommittee on the Future of IUPHAR meetings has been chaired by Jim Angus and includes Bill Fleming, Sergio Ferreira, Folke Sjoqvist and Patrick du Souich. The committee supports the effort to integrate basic and clinical pharmacology in World Congresses and recommends that these integrated congresses be continued at four-year intervals. An alternative for intervening years would be to support the organization of regional meetings. The committee will discuss possibilities for ways in which IUPHAR could work with regional societies to facilitate the organization of regional meetings. This discussion will need to be continued by the next Executive Committee.
The subcommittee will also work on a revision of the Standard Operating Procedures for Congresses. The goal will be to streamline and simplify this document so that the effectiveness and economy of Congresses can continue to improve.
8. Membership Committee
a. The Executive Committee approved a new membership application of the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT) for associate membership.
b. A detailed report from Professor Karl Netter, chair of the membership committee, was reviewed and approved. A number of societies have expressed interest in joining IUPHAR, and Professor Netter is working with the leaders of these organizations to develop applications for review and possible consideration by the Executive Committee.
9. Nominating Committee
The nominating committee, chaired by Theophile Godfraind has completed the slate of nominees for the IUPHAR Executive Committee. The election will take place at the General Assembly in Beijing, 2006. The proposed slate of nominees is:
President: Sue Duckles (USA)
Secretary-General: Sam Enna (USA)
Treasurer: Urs Ruegg (Switzerland)
First Vice-President: Salomon Langer (Israel)
Second Vice-President: Mayasoshi Mishina (Japan)
Councillors: Gabrielle Hawksworth (UK), Zhi-Bin Lin (China), Kim Brosen (Denmark), Mohamed T. Khayyal (Egypt), and Sergio Ferreira (Brazil)
Ex Officio: Past President, Paul M. Vanhoutte (Hong Kong)
Chair of the Division on Clinical Pharmacology: Patrick du Souich (Canada), Vice-Chair of the Division on Clinical Pharmacology: Don Birkett (Australia)
In accord with the Statutes, the Executive Committee shall prepare a slate of nominees for the Nominating Committee election to be held at the General Assembly in Beijing. At least five individuals, no more than one of whom may come from a given Member, will be proposed. The Chair and Vice-Chair will be chosen from among the past members of the Executive Committee. Appropriate information will be circulated to the Executive Committee and the proposed Nominating Committee developed by e-mail ballot.
10. Ad Hoc Committees
a. IUPHAR Statute Revisions
Prof G. Hawksworth has chaired this committee with P. du Souich, P. Vanhoutte, and Z-B Lin participating. Proposed revisions were discussed in detail and additional changes proposed. The committee will review all proposed changes and the entire document for consistency and bring all proposed changes back to the Executive Committee by e-mail. Proposed changes will be brought to the General Assembly in Beijing 2006 for decision.
b. Benefits of Affiliation with IUPHAR
Prof. du Souich chaired a committee to develop a document concerning the benefits of affiliating with IUPHAR. This document was previously distributed to the Executive Committee and was approved by e-mail vote. The document has been posted on the IUPHAR website and will be used by the Membership Committee and others.
11. Division and Sections
a. Division of Clinical Pharmacology
A detailed report on Division activities has been posted on the IUPHAR web site. Highlights include: efforts to strengthen ties with the World Health Organization, developing network for teaching programs in South America and Egypt, plans to formulate a document on the international situation of Clinical Pharmacology and potential interactions with the IUPHAR section on teaching. It was suggested that a short document on the activities of the Clinical Pharmacology Division be published in International Pharmacology, perhaps in the June, 2005 issue.
Because of the importance of solidifying integration of basic and clinical pharmacology within IUPHAR, it was proposed that representation of Clinical Pharmacologists on the IUPHAR Executive Committee should be increased. Although this would naturally occur over time, it was pointed out that efforts should also be made to accomplish this in the interim. Therefore, it was proposed that two additional Clinical Pharmacologists should be invited to participate in Executive Committee meetings for the period of 2006-2010. These individuals would be recommended by the Clinical Division. This proposal was unanimously approved by the Executive Committee.
b. Section of Drug Metabolism
A detailed report from the Chair, Prof. John Miners was reviewed. The Section is involved in planning of a satellite to the Beijing World Congress to be held in China and has been active in presenting workshops in less developed parts of the world, including the Balkans and Africa.
c. Section of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology. The section participated in the 32nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Ulcer Research and has proposed a satellite to the Beijing World Congress.
d. Section on Teaching. A report from Prof Ian Hughes was reviewed. The Teaching Section participated in a recent meeting of the South African Pharmacological Society, in the CPT Brisbane meeting and has proposed a satellite to the Beijing World Congress in 2006.
e. Working Group on Natural Products. A report from Prof. Ricky Man was reviewed. Interested individuals have been identified. Statutes have been developed and it is hoped that formation of a Natural Products Section can be brought to the IUPHAR General Assembly in 2006. Efforts are currently underway to organize a satellite to the Beijing World Congress.
12. Reports from International Organizations
International Council for Science (ICSU) The 28th General Assembly of ICSU will be held October 17-21, 2005 in Shanghai and Suzhou, China. Prof Khayyal will represent IUPHAR. Prof Lin serves on the Chinese committee organizing this meeting.
a. Nominations for ordinary members of the ICSU Executive Board have been solicited. Professor Vanhoutte was unanimously nominated, and Prof Duckles will work with Prof Vanhoutte to submit his name for the Executive Board.
b. In preparation for the ICSU General Assembly, a number of planning documents have been circulated. Profs Fleming and Khayyal kindly assented to review these documents and lead a discussion of the Executive Committee. It was pointed out that the documents were full of very laudable goals, but rarely proposed concrete methods of achieving these goals. In the context of developing countries, lack of funding, political motivation, “brain drain”, and large teaching responsibilities continue to hamper scientific progress. A spirited discussion ensued about the role of IUPHAR. Many expressed the opinion that the most important activity IUPHAR could undertake would be to work with local societies to improve the teaching of pharmacology and provide a spark for developing scientists. An important component would be to provide a mechanism for follow-up of any of these activities. Indeed, IUPHAR sections and the division have already undertaken many of these types of activities; however, it was felt that a more coordinated approach might be beneficial. Prof du Souich agreed to develop a proposal for an IUPHAR Traveling Research Forum that might cover both basic and clinical Pharmacology. He will work with the teaching committee and bring a proposal back to the Executive Committee.
13. NC-IUPHAR
Prof Michael Spedding, chair of the NC-IUPHAR Committee, presented a report on NC-IUPHAR achievements. The committee had just completed a two-day meeting in Paris. The organization of the NC-IUPHAR committee was reviewed. This includes four standing committees: database, evolving pharmacology, technical and editorial, and six subcommittees, each led by a group leader who is a member of NC-IUPHAR. Each subcommittee is focused on a specific class of receptors or ion channels. The continued financial support of Servier, Wyeth and GSK was gratefully acknowledged.
Recent achievements include the ion channels compendium, group leader Bill Catterall, which is currently preparing a revised classification that will be published in Pharmacological Reviews. V. Laudet, group leader for Nuclear Receptors, has a manuscript in press in Nature Drug Discovery concerning the complex pharmacology of this group, and a compendium for Beijing 2006 is currently under development. Ligand-gated ion channels, group leader R. Olsen, presented a preliminary scheme for receptor classification that was discussed by the committee. G-protein coupled receptors involves several subcommittees, led by R. Neubig, E. Ohlstein, S. Foord, A. Harmar and J-P Pin. A definitive receptor list of all potential G protein coupled receptors will be published in Pharmacological Reviews and is available on the NC-IUPHAR web site.
With the financial support of Servier and Incyte and a grant from ICSU, considerable progress has been made in developing databases for G-protein coupled receptors and voltage-gated ion channels. Possibilities for future support are currently under investigation. A. Harmar and his assistant E. Rosser reported outstanding progress in developing templates that can easily be revised by authors. The process of filling out new templates for all G-protein coupled receptors is currently underway, and experts on a single receptor willing to fill in templates are actively being sought.
Goals for the next year include completing the receptor database templates, completing the nuclear receptors compendium, publishing an update of voltage-gated ion channel classification, and starting recommendations for ligand-gated ion channels. Goals for NC-IUPHAR after the Beijing meeting include maintaining the database templates for GPCR’s, developing a voltage-gated ion channels database, moving forward concerning ligand-gated ion channels, exploring issues of polymorphisms and splice variants, dimers and SNPs. Additional goals include continuing to produce at least two articles each year for Pharmacological Reviews and exploring possibilities of publishing educational articles concerning principles of pharmacology targeted to scientists trained in other disciplines.
14. NIDA “Frontiers in Addiction Research"
IUPHAR has agreed to co-sponsor an all-day satellite mini-convention at the Society for Neuroscience Meeting on November 11, 2005 in Washington, DC. The mini-convention “Frontiers in Addiction Research” is being organized by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). IUPHAR will recommend three early-career, non US scientists to present their work and receive a travel award of $1,000 USD. Nominations must be sent to the IUPHAR office no later than May 30, 2005.
15. Other Business
There was no other business
16. Next Meeting
The next Executive Committee meeting will be held in Beijing, on Saturday, July 1 and Sunday, July 2, 2006.
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