Councillors
Prof. P Beaune, France
Prof. A Mottino, Argentina
Prof. Yuichi Sugiyama, Japan
Prof. A Walubo, South Africa
Prof. Stanislav Yanev, Bulgaria
Prof. Hong-Hao Zhou, China
OVERVIEW OF THE SECTION
Aims
The aims and functions of the Drug Metabolism Section (DMS), specified in its Constitution, are to:
- encourage international co-operation among pharmacologists and other scientists interested in the metabolism and physiological disposition of drugs and environmental chemicals;
- sponsor international symposia, workshops and collaborative research in the area of drug metabolism;
- promote the use of innovative concepts and methodology in the area of drug metabolism;
- encourage collaboration and communication with other regional and international organizations interested in furthering the development of the field of drug metabolism;
- promote symposia, workshops and other teaching programmes in developing countries, and to encourage the exchange of fellows and visiting lecturers between these and other countries;
- encourage scientists from developing countries to train in laboratories of leading investigators in other countries.
Past Activities
The DMS has been especially active in promoting and sponsoring symposia and workshops in developing countries. A series of Drug Metabolism and Toxicity Workshops in Balkan countries have taken place in: Novi Sad, Yugoslavia (1991), Ioannina, Greece (1994), Antalya, Turkey (1997), Varna, Bulgaria (2000), Constanza, Romania (2002), and Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2004). These workshops resulted in fruitful interactions between local Balkan and scientists from various countries, predominantly from the EU and USA. The DMS has supported a number of training courses and workshops in Africa: Nairobi, Kenya (2003), Bloemfontein, South Africa (2004). The Section has also been active in supporting workshops in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, and is a co-sponsor of the International Conference on Pharmacogenetics, which will be held in Changsha (China) in 2006. In addition, the DMS has provided financial support for scientists from developing countries to participate in international meetings in the area of Drug Metabolism.
With ICSU, the DMS supported the development of Drug Metabolism Database by Professor Paul Erhardt from the University of Toledo. This project is underway.
Future Activities
The DMS has published guidelines (see SECTIONS: DRUG METABOLISM: Financial Support) for obtaining financial support for regional activities. The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure support for the most suitable initiatives and to allow the Section to have constructive input into the scientific program and organization of the proposed activity.
The DMS will continue to collaborate with regional and international organizations in the field of Drug Metabolism. Previous and current activities of the Section have resulted in a close collaborations between the DMS and the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX), The EU Research Programme of Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST), the Southeast Asian Western Pacific Regional Federation of Pharmacologists, the Pacific Rim Association for Clinical Pharmacogenetics.
