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MINUTES
Meeting of the Executive Committee of IUPHAR
Beijing, China
July 1-2, 2006
Present: James Angus, Donald Birkett, Sue Duckles, Patrick du Souich, Makoto Endo, Sergio Ferreira,
William Fleming, Gabrielle Hawksworth, Mohamed Khayyal, Salomon Langer, Lin Zhi-Bin, Petra
Thürmann, Paul Vanhoutte, David Webb
Guests: Sam Enna, Lynn LeCount
1. Welcome and Opening Remarks by the President. President Paul Vanhoutte welcomed all members of the Executive Committee as well as guests. He reviewed the accomplishments of the last four years and commended members of the Executive Committee as well as heads of Sections, NC-IUPHAR, and the Division for their dedication to the goals of IUPHAR. He expressed his joy in having had the opportunity to work with so many outstanding individuals and his confidence that the new officers and new executive committee would be able to build upon the successes of the last four years to ensure that IUPHAR continues to make important contributions to the discipline of Pharmacology worldwide.
President Vanhoutte also congratulated the members of the organizing committee for the 15th World Congress of Pharmacology on the exciting program and wonderful social activities that the attendees have before them. We look forward to an outstanding Congress and commend our Chinese colleagues for the excellent Congress they have organized.
2. Apologies for absences. Professor Sylvester Vizi expressed his regrets at being unable to attend the Executive Committee meeting.
3. Approval of Minutes of EC meeting on 25 and 26 April, 2005 in Paris, France. The minutes of the last Executive Committee meeting were unanimously approved.
4. Report from the President (P. Vanhoutte). There were no additional remarks and no questions about the written report that was also distributed in the agenda for the General Assembly.
5. Report from the Secretary General. There were no additional remarks by the Secretary-General and no questions about the detailed written report that was identical to the one distributed to General Assembly delegates.
The exemplary service of members leaving the Executive Committee was also recognized. Professor William Fleming, 12 years of service to IUPHAR; Professor James Angus, 8 years; and Professor Makoto Endo, 8 years, were presented with a certificate and IUPHAR paperweight. They have all given so much of their time and energy to IUPHAR, and their leadership has been greatly appreciated.
6. Report from the Treasurer (S. Langer)
a. 2005 Final Accounts. The 2005 final accounts were approved by the Executive Committee.
b. IUPHAR accounts are made on a calendar year basis. By resolution of the previous Executive Committee in 2002, transfer of bank accounts will take effect as of the General Assembly meeting, effective from the beginning of July, 2006. Documents to transfer the bank accounts will be signed at the joint new/old executive committee meeting on Friday, July 7, 2006.
Professor Langer agreed that he would provide full accounts and supporting documents for the first half of 2006 to the new treasurer. It will be the responsibility of the incoming treasurer to complete accounts for 2006.
c. Auditors Reports
1. Internal. Reports of the internal auditors for 2003, 2004 and 2005 were reviewed.
2. External. The final reports for 2003 and 2004 of the external auditor, Laurence Barchietto, Switzerland, were reviewed and will be distributed at the General Assembly. Professor Langer agreed that he would be responsible for obtaining an external audit of the 2005 accounts.
3. The Executive Committee strongly recommends that the practice of obtaining external audits of IUPHAR accounts be continued.
d. Financial stability. A discussion ensued concerning the need to obtain greater financial stability for IUPHAR. It was agreed that this should be a major goal of the new officers and executive committee. A strategic plan needs to be developed to enhance fund-raising and provide a consistent stream of revenue for all IUPHAR activities, especially activities of the Clinical Division and NC-IUPHAR. In the past we have relied on member dues and income from Congresses, but these are clearly insufficient. While periodic fund-raising efforts have made it possible to make great progress and sustain fiscal reserves, this strategy may be insufficient for the future. Clearly, a coordinated effort and clear plan need to be assembled to guide this effort over the next four years, and a recommendation to that effect will be made to the new Executive Committee.
7. Membership
a. New Members. Since the last Executive Committee meeting, a number of new members have been approved. These are listed below.
i. Full Members
1. Cuban Society for Pharmacology (CPS)
ii. Associate Members
1. International Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP)
2. Pacific Rim Association for Clinical Pharmacogenetics (PRACP)
3. Spanish Society of Clinical Pharmacology (SEFC) (Becomes full member if IUPHAR statutes are amended)
b. Membership Committee for 2006-10. Due to his exemplary leadership of the Membership Committee, it was agreed that the Executive Committee would make a recommendation that Karl Netter should be asked to continue to chair the Membership Committee.
c. Malaysian Society of Pharmacology and Physiology. Due to inactivity, the Malaysian Society of Pharmacology and Physiology has requested that their membership in IUPHAR be dissolved. This request was approved with considerable regret.
8. General Assembly Agenda
The agenda for the upcoming General Assembly was reviewed.
9. IUPHAR Meetings
a. Quebec 2008 (P. du Souich). Professor du Souich reported on the progress for the upcoming meeting. It is recommended that the new Executive Committee appoint an International Advisory Committee to support the Quebec organizers as they develop the program for this meeting.
b. Copenhagen 2010 (K. Brøsen). Planning for the Copenhagen meeting is continuing on schedule and a presentation will be made at the General Assembly. A recommendation will be made to the new Executive Committee that the IUPHAR Finance Committee be appointed, and negotiations to develop a contract between IUPHAR and the Congress organizers begin as soon as possible.
c. Bids for 2014. Bids from the following countries will be presented at the General Assembly: Brazil, Israel, Japan, Korea, South Africa.
10. Divisions and Sections
a. Division of Clinical Pharmacology (P. du Souich)
b. Section of Drug Metabolism (J. Miners). The untimely death of the Treasurer of this section, Professor Grant Wilkinson, was noted with great regret.
c. Section on Drug Toxicology
d. Section on Gastrointestinal Pharmacology (G. Mosik)
e. Section of Neuropsychopharmacology. It was recommended that a new chair be identified.
f. Section on Teaching (I. Hughes)
It was recommended that the Section on Teaching work to enhance the material presented on the IUPHAR web site, perhaps putting a greater emphasis on materials available for developing countries and setting up a mechanism for quality control.
g. Working Group on Natural Products (R. Man). Proposal for establishment of a new Section on Natural Products will be considered at the General Assembly.
h. Section on Pharmacogenetics. As it has been difficult to find anyone to chair this section, it was recommended that this section be incorporated into the Clinical Division.
11. Representatives to other organizations. The following recommendations will be made to the new Executive Committee:
a. ICSU - Prof. Paul Vanhoutte
b. WHO - Prof. Folke Sjöqvist
c. ICLAS - Prof. JR Haywood
d. ICMAP – The Natural Products Section should recommend a liaison to this organization.
e. IUPS –
f. IUTOX – Prof. Gabrielle Hawksworth
g. IFCS - Prof. Gabrielle Hawksworth
h. CODATA – Prof. Richard Neubig
i. IUPAC – Prof. Michael Spedding
j. African Initiative organized by South African Society of Pharmacology: Mohamed Khayyal as IUPHAR liaison
12. NC-IUPHAR
a. Michael Spedding is recommended to continue as chair.
b. The new Executive Committee should empower the IUPHAR officers to appoint new members to the NC-IUPHAR committee.
c. The ASPET-IUPHAR agreement for publication in Pharmacological Reviews will end in November 2006. The new Executive Committee needs to decide, in consultation with NCIUPHAR, how to proceed.
13. The meeting was adjourned in time for the Opening Ceremony of the 15th World Congress of Pharmacology.
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