2015 EACPT Scientific Award and Joint EACPT-EPHAR Translational Pharmacology Awards

The 12th biennial Congress of the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (http://eacpt.eu) was held in Madrid from 27th to 30th June 2015. Over 500 abstracts were accepted from 66 countries and from all 5 continents for presentation as e-posters and oral presentations. The 54 oral presentations were eligible for awards for best talks. The 2015 EACPT Scientific Award and Joint EACPT-EPHAR Translational Pharmacology Awards were presented at the end of June at the EACPT Congress in Madrid.

Listen to these 2015 EACPT Award winners discussing the research which led to their awards.


EACPT Scientific Award was conferred on UK Scientist Professor Nicholas Bateman for work on treating paracetamol overdose. The EACPT Scientific Award, which includes a prize of 2000€, was presented to Professor Bateman at the 12th EACPT Congress in Madrid in June 2015. 

The inaugural EACPT-EPHAR Young Investigator Awards in Translational Pharmacology have been conferred on PhD student Christoph Schneider from Bern in Switzerland and Dr Daniel Antoine from Liverpool in the UK.

Donald Singer (EACPT EC), Nicholas Bateman and Tabassome Simon (EACPT Chair)

Professor Bateman's research, which was published in the international medical journal The Lancet, involved a clinical trial comparing a new regimen to treat paracetamol poisoning with the current one (which has been used for over 40 years). It is the first large-scale, properly powered and randomised controlled clinical trial conducted in paracetamol poisoning, a challenging environment for trial work. 

The Federation of European Pharmacology Societies (EPHAR) and the European

Thomas Griesbacher (EPHAR President), Christoph Schneider, Dr Daniel Antoine, Tabassome Simon (EACPT Chair)

Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT) developed the above Young Investigator joint initiative to recognise projects of excellence in translational research in pharmacology. 2 awards of EUR 1,000 each were given EACPT Congress in Madrid to Christoph Schneider and Dr Daniel Antoine for their recent outstanding research papers. 

Requirements for the EACPT-EPHAR Young Investigator Awards in Translational Pharmacology are that applicants must be not more than 35 years of age on the deadline date, have as first author published an outstanding paper in the 2 years prior to the Awards, have conducted the submitted study in an institution of a country member of EACPT and/or EPHAR; and be a member of one of the member societies of EPHAR or EACPT, or be an individual associate member of EACPT.

Professor Carlo Patrono discusses platelets, cardiovascular risk & cancer

Donald Singer with Carlo Patrono at EACPT Stand

EACPT Lifetime Award winner Professor Carlo Patrono from Rome discusses
platelets, cardiovascular disease and cancer with EACPT Secretary Professor Donald Singer.
Key themes include
- why the interest in platelets
- importance of bioassay
- studies with low dose aspirin
- the role of platelets in carcinogenesis

Listen to the podcast discussion with Professor Carlo Patrono.

Download transcript of podcast

Selected reading
Gustav Born & Carlo Patrono. Antiplatelet drugs. British Journal of Pharmacology (2006) 147, S241–S251.
Carlo Patrono and Bianca Rocca. The Future of Antiplatelet Therapy in Cardiovascular Disease. Annu. Rev. Med. 2010. 61:49–61
Giovanni Davì and Carlo Patrono. Platelet Activation and Atherothrombosis. N Engl J Med 2007;357:2482-94.
Michael J. Thun, Eric J. Jacobs and Carlo Patrono. The role of aspirin in cancer prevention. Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol. 2012 doi:10.1038/nrclinonc.2011.199

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 

2013 EACPT Scientific Award for new treatment approach for Parkinson's disease

The EACPT is delighted to announce that the 2013 EACPT Scientific Award goes to Dr David Devos from the Department of Medical Pharmacology at the Université Lille Nord de France. The EACPT Scientific Award is for the report by Dr Devos about a new approach to treating Parkinson's disease. 

The paper, for which Dr Devos was corresponding author, was published in the July 2012 issue of

Dr David Devos

the high impact international journal -  Lancet Neurology, entitled:

'Methylphenidate for gait hypokinesia and freezing in patients with Parkinson's disease undergoing subthalamic stimulation: a multicentre, parallel, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.'

The prize, which includes a 2000 € award, will be presented to Dr Devos at the 11th EACPT Congress in Geneva 28th - 31st August 2013.

David Devos obtained his Doctor of Neurology and Doctor of Neuroscience degrees from the University of Lille, France. Between 2002 and 2010, he worked as a hospital physician in the Department of Neurology of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire of Lille, where he is now associate professor in medical pharmacology (Lille Nord de France University, EA1046/EA4559).
 His main research interest is in developing new symptomatic and disease-modifying strategies in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dementia and cerebellar ataxia. His researches are mainly based upon clinical trials but also include preclinical, translational and clinical studies in neuropsychopharmacology.

The EACPT Scientific Award is for the best scientific paper on a topic relevant to clinical pharmacology and therapeutics published by a European clinical pharmacologist over the period between EACPT congresses, based on nominations by the EACPT Council. The award has a value of 2000 €. Criteria are scientific quality, broader impact in science, and the importance of the work in the context of healthcare delivery.

The EACPT was founded 20 years ago and now includes all national organisations for clinical pharmacology in Europe. The EACPT aims to provide educational and scientific support for the more than 4000 individual professionals interested in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics throughout the European region, with its congresses attended by a global audience. The EACPT also advises policy makers on how the specialty can contribute to human health and wealth.

Official EACPT journal: Clinical Therapeutics 

More about the 11th EACPT Congress in Geneva.

More about the EACPT. 

EACPT Lifetime Achievement Awards announced for Professor Sir Michael Rawlins and Professor Carlo Patrono

We are delighted to announce that the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Association of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics will go jointly to Professor Sir Michael Rawlins and to Professor Carlo Patrono, for their outstanding contributions to the national and international benefits of clinical pharmacology for medicine, health care and patient safety.

These Awards, including the EACPT silver medal, will be presented during the 11th EACPT Congress in Geneva, 28th - 31st August 2013. 

Professor Sir Michael Rawlins

Michael Rawlins was from 1999-2013 the first chairman of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), and from 1998-2008, Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. He was also Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 1973 – 2006) and from 1992-1998 Chairman of the UK Committee on the Safety of Medicines, which advised UK government ministers on marketing authorization for new pharmaceuticals, and on withdrawal of medicines in the event of safety concerns. He is currently President of the Royal Society of Medicine and Chairman of the UK Biobank.

As Chairman of NICE, he led one of the world’s most important healthcare organizations, which, based on clinical and cost-effectiveness, guides the National Health Service on whether medicines and other health technologies should be available to patients, and develops evidence-based clinical guidelines for health professionals. Many countries have studied the work of NICE and adopted its ideas and innovations.

Sir Michael’s outstanding scientific contributions have been recognised by the award of numerous honours and distinctions, including his appointment as Knight Bachelor in 1999 for “services to the improvement of patient protection from the side effects of medicinal drugs”. 

Carlo Patrono is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at the Catholic University School of Medicine (UCSC) in Rome, Italy.  He is also the Chairman of the Task Force on Antiplatelet Agents of the European Society of Cardiology.

Prof. Patrono’s main research interest is in the study of platelet activation and inhibition in atherothrombosis. He pioneered development of radioimmunoassays for measuring prostanoid and isoprostane biosynthesis in health and disease. His research has characterized the human pharmacology of aspirin as an inhibitor of platelet COX-1 and provided the basis for the development of low-dose aspirin as an antithrombotic agent. During the past decade Prof. Patrono has contributed to characterizing the human pharmacology of COX-2 inhibitors and evaluating their cardiovascular effects in different clinical settings.

For development of low-dose aspirin for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, Professor Patrono was joint recipient with Garret FitzGerald in April 2013 from the Institut de France of the 500,000 euro 2013 Grand Prix Scientifique, the world’s most prestigious prize for cardiovascular research.  

He has also received the Alexander B. Gutman award from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the Distinguished Award in Neuroscience from the Louisiana State University, the 1998 International Aspirin® Award from Bayer AG, the 2007 John Vane Award from the William Harvey Research Institute of the University of London, and the 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award of the Eicosanoid Research Foundation. 

TheEACPT was founded 20 years ago and now includes all national organisations for clinical pharmacology in Europe. The EACPT aims to provide educational and scientific support for the more than 4000 individual professionals interested in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics throughout the European region, with its congresses attended by a global audience. The EACPT also advises policy makers on how the specialty can contribute to human health and wealth.

Official EACPT journal: Clinical Therapeutics