Update from Kiel on the EACPT

The EACPT Executive Committee has been meeting in warm and sunny Kiel in

Altstadt - the old centre of Kiel

Northern Germany over the weekend of 10^th-11^th April, in advance of the 12th biennial Congress of the EACPT, to be held in Madrid from 27^th to 30^th June 2015.

The final programme was discussed for the 2015 EACPT Congress in Madrid. Over 500 abstracts have been accepted for presentation as e-posters and as 54 oral presentations, eligible for an award for the best talk.

EACPT EC Meeting at University in Kiel

The 12th EACPT Congress in 2015 is an unparalleled educational forum where you will learn about the newest developments, innovative techniques, and advanced practices in topics such as drug discovery, drug development, pharmacology and pharmacotherapy.
The Congress gives you the unique opportunity to network with top ranking specialists in pharmacology and pharmacotherapy, from around the world, and learn from the best. Reviews and commentaries from the Congress will be published in the EACPT Official Journal - Clinical Therapeutics.
The Congress will provide excellent formal and informal networking opportunities, supported after the Congress through the new website of the EACPT, due to be launched within the coming month.

There is to be launch of a new Associate Membership category for the EACPT, included within registration for the Madrid June 2015 Congress. Associate Members will have discounts on registration for EACPT Congresses and Focus Meetings, online access to the official EACPT journal Clinical Therapeutics, and many opportunities to become directly involved in networking with fellow clinical pharmacologists from throughout Europe and further afield.

Nominations were discussed for EACPT Awards to be presented at the 12^th EACPT Congress in Madrid. The EACPT Lifetime Award is for significant achievement in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, both for the benefit of science and also for the benefit and health of the specialty, over a whole working life. The EACPT Scientific Award is awarded for the best scientific paper on a topic relevant to clinical pharmacology published by a European clinical pharmacologist in the two years between EACPT congresses. The EPHAR-EACPT award is by the Federation of European Pharmacology Societies (EPHAR) and the EACPT - a joint initiative to award the best work in translational research in pharmacology. There will be 2 awards of 1,000 € each, that will be given in 2015 to young scientists who have published an outstanding research paper in the past two years.
There were reports on interaction with other professional organisations and societies, including the European Medicines Agency, IUPHAR, the International Union of Pharmacology and EPHAR, the European Federation of Pharmacology Societies. Plans with EPHAR, in addition to the above awards, include a joint session on immunopharmacology during the Madrid Congress in June.
Calls were agreed for future EACPT Focus Meetings, with a deadline 31^st May 2015 for bids for summer 2016 and summer 2017. The 2017 meeting will be held in Prague as a Satellite Meeting of the 2017 EACPT Prague Congress
Bids were discussed in outline for the 2021 EACPT Congress, for which proposals from the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology and the Hellenic Society of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology have been short-listed. The 2017 EACPT Congress will be held in Prague and the 2019 EACPT Congress in Stockholm.
Register for the EACPT Congress in Madrid – 27th-30th June 2015
Clinical Therapeutics -  Official Journal of the EACPT
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Listen to podcasts from the latest EACPT Congress in Geneva
2013 EACPT Lifetime Award winner Professor Carlo Patrono on platelets, cardiovascular risk & cancer


Podcasts with speakers at the 2013 EACPT Congress in Geneva
- Patrick Mismetti on clinical drug development of new anticoagulants
- Tabassome Simon discusses Clinical Pharmacology and the FAST-MI Registry
- Tabassome Simon discusses the origins and importance of the FAST-MI Registry
- EACPT Congress keynote lecturer Ziad Mallat discusses developing a clinical research career
- EACPT Congress keynote lecturer Ziad Mallat discusses immunotherapy against vascular disease


Comments from delegates on the 2013 EACPT Congress in Geneva
- Swiss Delegates from Zurich and Basel
- Jelena Vukovic from Serbia & Marija Bosilkovska from Geneva
- George Dugbartey and Sorayeh Moradi
- Sarawut Jindarat from Thailand
- Yukari and Ryuichi Ogawa from Tokyo
- Kristina Münch and Barbara Pfistermeister from Germany
- Lada Leyens from Switzerland

Posts by delegates from the 11th EACPT Congress in Geneva

Around 600 young and senior delegates from 5 continents were in Geneva at

Jet d'eau - Geneva

the end of August, for the 11th biennial Congress of the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT). 

See below blogs by international delegates on sessions at the 2013 EACPT Congress in Geneva.

 

Laura Wilkins, University of Warwick, UK

Professor Gunther Hartmann on Oligonucleotide-based Immunotherapy: On the first evening of the 11^th EACPT congress in Geneva, Professor Hartmann (Head of the BONFOR research committee at the University of Bonn) introduced congress participants to the world of oligonucleotide-based immunotherapy.

In simple terms, oligonucleotides are short, single-stranded nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) molecules. These synthetic molecules are synthesized to interact specifically, depending on their nucleotide sequence, with complementary nucleotide sequences found in the body.

Antiviral defence in humans relies heavily on the detection of the nucleic acids of invading viruses by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLRs). Having worked in the field of oligonucleotides since 1995, Gunther Hartman’s research has focused on the immunorecognition of synthetic nucleic acids.

In particular, the group discovered that short interfering RNA molecules (siRNAs) are recognised by TLRs in the human immune system. The activation of TLR7 was shown to activate the pathway for production of interleukin 1 beta, initiating an immune response.

The group’s research then focused on the understanding of RLR mechanisms, these receptors being found in the cytoplasm of all human cells. Two RLRs (RIG-I and MDA-5) induce an innate immune response when stimulated by pathogenic RNA. In this way, a synthetic oligonucleotide to activate such a receptor could serve to stimulate an inactive or deficient immune system, or possibly even as a vaccine to protect against a particularly virulent virus.

Professor Hartmann’s group worked to characterise the signalling pathways and the structure of the binding pocket of the antiviral cytosolic RIG-I, involved in innate response to the influenza virus. This led to the development of an oligonucleotide mimic of the identified 5’-triphosphate RNA ligand.

This mimic (CpG) is currently undergoing clinical trials. Interestingly, activation of RIG-I and MDA-5 also caused apoptosis (programmed cell death) in animal tumour models (in melanoma cells). This apoptosis was not seen in non-tumour cells, suggesting a use in anti-cancer therapy.

Professor Hartmann’s lecture showed us that current research in oligonucleotide-based immunotherapy and even cancer therapy could still only be just scratching the surface of further possible applications.

More about the 11th EACPT Congress in Geneva. 

View and download Congress Programme

View Congress Abstracts ONLINE at the Clinical Therapeutics website

Professor Ziad Mallat on immunotherapy vs. atherosclerosis at EACPT Geneva Congress

Professor Ziad Mallat (Cambridge, UK) gave one of the Keynote Lectures at the 11th EACPT Congress in Geneva. His theme was immunotherapy against atherosclerosis. 

In a podcast with EACPT Secretary Professor Donald Singer, Ziad Mallat 
- discusses how he became interested in this research question, 
- considers inflammatory therapeutic targets at early and later stages in the evolution of serious clinical vascular disease,
- explains the inflammasome and
- discusses options for targeting both soluble and cellular factors.

1. Listen to the podcast with Ziad Mallat about immunotherapy vs. atherosclerosis.

2. Listen to Ziad Mallat discussing how he became interested in a career in clinical research.

Ziad Mallat with EACPT Vice-Chair Tabassome Simon and EACPT Secretary Donald Singer

Around 600 young and senior pharmacologists and other delegates from 5 continents were in Geneva at the end of August, for the 11th biennial Congress of the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT). 

More about the 11th EACPT Congress in Geneva.

Paddle steamer by Hôtel de la Paix, Geneva

View and download Congress Programme

View Congress Abstracts ONLINE at the Clinical Therapeutics website.

The Geneva Congress brought together a wide range of international delegates, including health professionals, clinical and life scientists, policy makers, professionals from the biotechnology and pharmaceutical communities and others interested in the spectrum from basic to clinical pharmacology and pharmacotherapy, and from drug discovery to regulatory affairs. For the Geneva Congress, there were 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. Around 300 abstracts from 57 countries from all 5 continents were presented as oral and poster communications.

Future EACPT Congresses and Summer Schools
2014 - 11th EACPT Summer School - Nijmegen: 5-8 July
2015 - 12th EACPT Congress - Madrid
2017 - 13th EACPT Congress - Prague
2019 - 14th EACPT Congress - Stockholm