The International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) is a voluntary, non-profit association representing the interests of scientists in

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

-related fields to facilitate ''Better

Medicines A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

through Global Education and Research'' around the world.

History

Established in 1959 as a section of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, IUPHAR became an independent organization in 1966 and is a member of the

International Council for Science The International Council for Science (ICSU, after its former name, International Council of Scientific Unions) was an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. Its members ...

(ICSU). The first World Congress of Pharmacology was held in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in 1961 and subsequently held every three years. After 1990 the World Congresses were moved to a four-year interval. These meetings present the latest pharmacological research, technology, and methodology, and provide a forum for international collaboration and exchange of ideas. A General Assembly, consisting of delegates from all the member societies, is convened during the congresses so member societies have an opportunity to elect the Executive Committee and vote on matters concerning the governance and activities of the union.

Members

IUPHAR members are regional, national and special-interest societies around the world. The various sections and committees are composed of individuals from

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

pharmaceutical companies The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...

, and government organizations. IUPHAR resources are available to all members of the pharmacology-related societies that adhere to IUPHAR.

Composition

IUPHAR is divided in sectional topics. The Division of Clinical Pharmacology, including 3 subcommittees of

Developing Countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

Geriatrics Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek language, Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατ ...

, and Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance, focuses on the needs and research tools for clinicians. The Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification (NC-IUPHAR) provides a uniform guideline for naming and classifying results from the

Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a ...

, naming proteins derived from new sequences as functional receptors and ion channels. Sections specializing in various areas of pharmacology have been established, including Drug Metabolism and Drug Transport,

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

, Gastrointestinal Pharmacology, Immunopharmacology, Pharmacology of

Natural products A natural product is a natural Chemical compound, compound or chemical substance, substance produced by a living organism—that is, found in nature. In the broadest sense, natural products include any substance produced by life. Natural product ...

Neuropsychopharmacology Neuropsychopharmacology, an interdisciplinary science related to psychopharmacology (study of effects of drugs on the mind) and fundamental neuroscience, is the study of the neural mechanisms that drugs act upon to influence behavior. It entails ...

Pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

Clinical Pharmacology and

Pharmacogenetics Pharmacogenomics is the study of the role of the genome in drug response. Its name ('' pharmaco-'' + ''genomics'') reflects its combining of pharmacology and genomics. Pharmacogenomics analyzes how the genetic makeup of an individual affects the ...

and

Pharmacogenomics Pharmacogenomics is the study of the role of the genome in drug response. Its name ('' pharmaco-'' + ''genomics'') reflects its combining of pharmacology and genomics. Pharmacogenomics analyzes how the genetic makeup of an individual affects the ...

. Volunteers participate in the various sections and division according to their interests and training.

Activities

A primary purpose of IUPHAR is providing global free access to a major, on-line repository of characterization data for

receptors Receptor may refer to: *Sensory receptor, in physiology, any structure which, on receiving environmental stimuli, produces an informative nerve impulse *Receptor (biochemistry), in biochemistry, a protein molecule that receives and responds to a n ...

, ion channels, enzyme target classes and

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

s through the Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification (NC-IUPHAR), established in 1987. The

Guide to Pharmacology The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY is an open-access website, acting as a portal to information on the biological targets of licensed drugs and other small molecules. The Guide to PHARMACOLOGY (with GtoPdb being the standard abbreviation) is dev ...

established in 2012 superseded the earlier IUPHAR-DB. This is a joint endeavor with the

British Pharmacological Society The British Pharmacological Society is the primary UK learned society for pharmacologists concerned with research into drugs and the way they work. Members work in academia, industry, regulatory agencies and the health services, and many are medi ...

, and has been supported by the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

. It includes all the

G protein G proteins, also known as guanine nucleotide-binding proteins, are a family of proteins that act as molecular switches inside cells, and are involved in transmitting signals from a variety of stimuli outside a cell to its interior. Their act ...

-coupled receptors,

voltage-gated ion channel Voltage-gated ion channels are a class of transmembrane proteins that form ion channels that are activated by changes in the electrical membrane potential near the channel. The membrane potential alters the conformation of the channel proteins, ...

s, 7TM receptors,

nuclear receptor In the field of molecular biology, nuclear receptors are a class of proteins responsible for sensing steroids, thyroid hormones, vitamins, and certain other molecules. These receptors work with other proteins to regulate the expression of speci ...

ligand-gated ion channel Ligand-gated ion channels (LICs, LGIC), also commonly referred to as ionotropic receptors, are a group of transmembrane ion-channel proteins which open to allow ions such as Na+, K+, Ca2+, and/or Cl− to pass through the membrane in res ...

s and

Kinase In biochemistry, a kinase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of phosphate groups from high-energy, phosphate-donating molecules to specific substrates. This process is known as phosphorylation, where the high-energy ATP molecule don ...

s which are known to be in the

human genome The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as DNA within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in a small DNA molecule found within individual mitochondria. These are usually treated separately as the n ...

. Where relevant, data on the rat and mouse homologues are presented to assist researchers and clinicians in developing and/or enhancing therapeutics for eventual medication in humans. NC-IUPHAR also promulgates standards of name

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal naming conventions, conventions of everyday speech to the i ...

for research in pharmacology and the related disciplines. In general, IUPHAR offers individual pharmacologists free curriculum expertise, career development and job listings (the non-profit PharmacoCareers.org), research resources, and collaboration opportunities. IUPHAR offers its member societies venues for participating in worldwide initiatives, publicizing member meetings and activities, nominating individuals for Young Investigator awards, and naming delegates to the quadrennial General Assemblies. A biannual newsletter entitled ''Pharmacology International'' is published. As a

non-government organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

in official relations with the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO), IUPHAR representatives help shape international policy on

essential medicines Essential medicines, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), are the medicines that "satisfy the priority health care needs of the population". These are the medications to which people should have access at all times in sufficient a ...

, appropriate dose therapeutics for children, and

clinical pharmacology Clinical pharmacology has been defined as "that discipline that teaches, does research, frames policy, gives information and advice about the actions and proper uses of medicines in humans and implements that knowledge in clinical practice". Clinic ...

core competencies among its many WHO-related activities. The Division of Clinical Pharmacology compiled and released the Research in Humans Compendium, a free resource to provide the scientific community interested in human research with information on the design of research

protocols Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technology ...

to assess the effectiveness of a drug in a series of pathological conditions. IUPHAR is involved in the development of pharmacology in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

. In conjunction with ICSU the Pharmacology for

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

(Phar''f''A) initiative was undertaken in 2006 to promote and organize pharmacology on the African continent. The South African Society of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology is building a database and network of institutions and pharmacologists to create an infrastructure for training and funding pharmacologists. The long-term goal is for the African continent to attain the necessary pharmacological knowledge and resources to address disease-related issues affecting the population. As part of this mission, with the support of ICSU and the

American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) is a scientific society founded in late 1908 by John Jacob Abel of Johns Hopkins University (also the founder of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biol ...

, the IUPHAR Education Section organized a series of workshops, mostly in Africa, to train young investigators on ethical laboratory practices, including the three Rs of ethical use of animals. IUPHAR Pharmacology Education Project is a website developed by IUPHAR, with support from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), as a learning resource to support education and training in the pharmacological sciences. The materials are intended for use by students of pharmacology, clinical pharmacologists, and others interested in the pharmacological sciences. The stated aim is to produce a simple, attractive, easily searchable resource that will support students and teachers of the biomedical sciences, medicine, nursing and pharmacy. It is also intended as an introduction to some of the new data in the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY, particularly for those less familiar with such material.

Future directions

The early years of the 21st century will be focused on integrating basic and clinical research to implement

translational medicine Translational medicine (often called translational science, of which it is a form) is defined by the European Society for Translational Medicine as "an interdisciplinary branch of the biomedical field supported by three main pillars: benchside, beds ...

techniques more quickly. The 9th World Conference on Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics in

Québec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is the ...

, Canada was the last IUPHAR meeting to present clinical pharmacology separately. The World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark on July 17–23, 2010 was the first integrated meeting. The merging of these different approaches to the same discipline is to accelerate the introduction of improved therapeutics for humans. Educational components will be emphasized for both existing pharmacology programs as well as increasing and enhancing pharmacology training in developing countries. This topic was a central theme of the 17th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (WCP2014) held July 13–18, 2014 in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa. The 18th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (WCP2018) being held in Kyoto, Japan on July 1–6, 2018 will focus on drug development and therapeutics using new methodologies such as genome sequencing, stem cell biology, nanotechnology and systems biology.

References

External links

International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR)

The Guide to Pharmacology

The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY

NC-IUPHAR Nomenclature Guidelines

The 18th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology

Pharmacology for Africa Initiative (Phar''f''A)
{{Authority control Members of the International Council for Science International professional associations Pharmaceuticals policy Scientific organizations established in 1959 Pharmacological societies Members of the International Science Council