IUPHAR: from San Francisco to Beijing

Abstract

After the 2002 International Union of Pharmacology (IUPHAR) General Assembly in San Francisco, USA, there were four clear missions for the next four years for the officers and, indeed, the whole executive committee of IUPHAR [The road to China: four years, four missions! (http://www.iuphar.org/pubs_arch.html)].First, we were convinced of the need to continue to support and expand the activities of our Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification (NC-IUPHAR) because it has had a major impact in the past decade and has become one of the foremost activities of the union. Under the apt leadership of Michael Spedding, NC-IUPHAR has done well, as exemplified not only by the continuous stream of authoritative review articles published in Pharmacological Reviews [our longtime partner, thanks to the generous support of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (http://www.aspet.org/)] but also by the production of the IUPHAR Compendium of Basic Principles for Pharmacological Research in Humans (http://www.iuphar.org/clin_hu.html), which was distributed to the participants of the 2004 IUPHAR World Congress of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics meeting in Brisbane, Australia, and of the IUPHAR Compendium on Nuclear Receptors, which will be distributed, thanks to the perseverance of Vincent Laudet, to all participants at the IUPHAR World Congress of Pharmacology in Beijing, China, in 2006. In particular, we felt the need to complete the IUPHAR database of receptors and ion channels and to make them available to all pharmacologists, including our members from emerging countries. We wanted this access to be free so that everyone could benefit from the most up-to-date information for research and teaching. Thanks to the dedication of Tony Harmar, the IUPHAR database is up and running (http://www.iuphar-db.org/). IUPHAR is extremely grateful to all of the members of NC-IUPHAR, who have made those remarkable achievements possible.Second, we felt that we had to persevere along the road started by the previous executive to maintain the union, irrespective of the level of personal income of each country. Hence, the membership dues have been adjusted to the actual buying power of our members. We sincerely hope that the next executive will succeed in adjusting registration fees for meetings sponsored by IUPHAR in a similar way, to make these meetings accessible to all. This will require a continued and enormously appreciated financial effort from our member societies in more-developed countries but it is imperative that our productions and events are within the reach of all pharmacologists.Third, we felt that we had to strengthen, in absolute transparency to our members, the financial situation of the union because it remains fragile. The officers of IUPHAR have spared no effort in improving the reporting of the income and expenditures of IUPHAR to our members and in strengthening both internal and external auditing processes. Thanks to the perseverance of Karl Netter, new members and new associate members have joined the union, and we welcome them warmly. We have continued to receive generous support from our longtime corporate members Servier (http://www.servier.com/), Wyeth (http://www.wyeth.com/) and GlaxoSmithKline (http://www.gsk.com/), without which the achievements of NC-IUPHAR would not have been possible. For the first time in its history, IUPHAR has obtained substantial external funding, which we gratefully acknowledge, from Incyte (http://www.incyte.com/) and ICSU (http://www.icsu.org/). However, we must do better. We must find ways to sponsor even more travel awards, given in particular to young investigators who come from emerging countries, than we have done in the past. In addition, each of us must consider ways to augment corporate membership to the union in our part of the world.Fourth, we are dedicated to pursuing the goal of maintaining all aspects of pharmacology, whether basic or clinical, together as one strong scientific discipline that cannot be replaced or fractionated. And it is pleasing to report that the executive, stimulated by the enthusiasm of Folke Sjoqvist and Patrick du Souich, has unanimously agreed to change the full name of IUPHAR to the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. We are confident that the General Assembly will endorse this change in Beijing. Thus, we feel that we have fulfilled most, if not all, of our missions.The long road from San Francisco to Beijing has been sometimes tumultuous but always passionate. As we became closer to our colleagues of the Chinese Pharmacological Society (http://www.cnphars.org/page0813e.htm), discussing the scientific program (with the help of the IUPHAR advisory committee) and the organization of the world congress, we became more impressed with their dedication to making Beijing 2006 the best World Congress of Pharmacology ever! Without doubt, this will be the world congress at which IUPHAR officers reach the closest association with local organizers. We are very grateful for their friendship and continued hospitality during the process. We are convinced that our efforts have resulted in an outstanding scientific program. One of the most remarkable efforts of the leadership of the Chinese Pharmacological Society has been to ensure that Chinese pharmacologists, young and old, improve their ability to communicate in English. Indeed, although they remain very proud of their Chinese culture and of the Chinese language, and rightly so, they recognize that English has become the obligatory vehicle of science. They should be commended for their efforts.One of the most remarkable aspects of Chinese pharmacology is the superior knowledge of the pharmacology of natural products and of compounds derived from them. As one spends more time in China, it becomes impossible not to appreciate, or even adhere to, one of the sacred principles underlying traditional Chinese medicine: preventing disease (by lifestyle and intake of healthy food) is far superior to curing a disorder. This principle is entrenched in the ancient Chinese philosophy of healthcare. The mythical Yellow Emperor said:‘The sages do not treat a formed disease, but treat an unformed disease; they do not treat a formed disorder, but treat an unformed disorder. That is just so. If medicines are only used once a disease has formed, or treatments are only taken when a disorder has formed, this condition is just like digging a well when one is thirsty, or like casting knives when one is about to fight. It is late, is it not?’ [1xSee all References[1].Western countries have also become acutely aware of the economic advantage of disease prevention, so the pharmacology of natural products and, indeed, of traditional medicines has become increasingly relevant and important. Hence, the scientific committee of the world congress wishes to place a particular emphasis on these topics. Likewise, the executive will ask the General Assembly to approve the creation of a new section, the Section on the Pharmacology of Natural Products.On behalf of the officers and the executive committee of IUPHAR, I hope that all participants at the XV world congress have an exciting scientific experience in Beijing. The local organizers have done everything in their power to ensure that this occurs. In addition, I am adamant that all attendees will enjoy the beauty and culture of China.