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Pacific Northwest Chapter Conference:
Drug Safety Double-Feature
Submitted by Cecile M. Krejsa, PANWAT SOT President
The Annual Meeting of the Pacific Northwest Association of Toxicologists (PANWAT) was held in Seattle on September 17–18, 2009, with more than 100 participants from regional universities and scientific institutions. This year’s symposium theme was Pursuing Mechanism in Drug Safety Assessment. Scientists involved in drug discovery, development, and pharmacovigilance were invited to present their work. The Keynote Address was delivered by Thomas A. Baillie, Dean of the School of Pharmacy at University of Washington. Symposium speakers covered a range of topics, including the design and selection of therapeutic molecules to reduce unwanted toxicities, testing for effects on developing immune system, identification of biomarkers to inform selection of first-in-human dose, and the use of pharmacogenetics to understand mechanisms of toxicity and customize treatment to avoid adverse drug reactions in sensitive populations. The need for strong mechanistic information to guide drug testing and improve the safety of therapeutic regimens was illustrated by the many case examples presented during this session.
To enhance the conference theme, a continuing education course was offered on September 17. This full-day course, Primer in Pathology: Interpreting and Integrating Nonclinical Study Results, covered topics of special interest to in vivo scientists and regulatory toxicologists. Instructors presented an overview of pathology endpoints, guidelines for use of pathology findings in toxicology studies, and the importance of understanding species differences in responses to treatment and handling. Strategies to integrate data in support of clinical testing and case studies from the instructors’ experience in preclinical and early clinical drug development also were discussed. More than half of the conference attendees also enrolled for the Continuing Education course, which was supported by SOT Headquarters Regional Chapter Strategic Activity Funding and an educational donation from Amgen.
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PANWAT Annual Conference participants
from Boise State University |
The other conference sessions also were well attended. The PANWAT Chapter recognizes trainees for Outstanding Presentations at each annual meeting. This year, Jill Franzosa (Oregon State University) received the award for best platform session talk. The winning posters were presented by Sumitra Sengupta (Oregon State University), Chad Weldy (University of Washington), Daniella Pizzurro (University of Washington), and Daniel Koch (Oregon State University). The conference closed with a career forum in which toxicologists working in drug development talked about their experiences with graduate students and postdoctoral trainees from the region. Following the meeting, a significant number of attendees adjourned to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners beat the Yankees 3–2 in the first of a three-game series.
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