September 2006 The 13th Annual Meeting of the PRACP was held in Changsha, China on June 28-30, together with the International Conference on Pharmacogenetics and as a satellite meeting for the 15th World Congress of Pharmacology organized by the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR). The overarching theme for the PRACP2006 was ‘Pharmacogenetics-guided Personalized Medicine’. Emerging biotechnologies in genomics, drug discovery and clinical development were also covered. Considerable attention was given to the clinical significance of genetic variation in both drug metabolism and molecular drug targets. Several different therapeutic areas were well-represented including, but not limited to, psychiatry, cardiovascular, metabolic and endocrine disorders, transplantation medicine, infectious pathogens (e.g., HIV) and pediatric pharmacogenetic research. These were complemented by presentations on the promise of gene therapy, social science and bioethical analyses on pharmacogenetic patents. The meeting attracted broad participation from academic scientists, clinicians, regulatory experts, biomedical publishing companies and pharmaceutical industry representatives. Young scientists and trainees were well represented at the meeting, with strong attendance from China, Korea, Japan and other Pacific Rim nations. On behalf of the PRACP, I would like to thank the Chairperson Professor Hong-Hao Zhou, Co-Chair Professor John Miners and members of the Organizing Committee for their important contributions. The meeting was comprised of five plenary sessions and a pharmacogenetic workshop on integration of genetic variability in pharmacokinetic pathways and drug targets. The plenary sessions were entitled: 1) Racial and ethnic diversity in drug response and disposition, 2) Pharmacogenetics in international drug development and clinical trials, 3) Pharmacogenetics and genotype directed tailored pharmacotherapy, 4) Pharmacogenetics in patient care, and 5) New technologies in genomics, drug discovery and development. The keynote lecture was delivered by Professor Urs A. Meyer (University of Basel, Switzerland). Professor Meyer summarized current knowledge in genetic variation in drug metabolizing enzymes and emphasized that practical individualization of drug therapy was not a new concern. However, if drug choice and dosage is to move beyond the current trial-and-error approach in medical practice, it will necessitate an integrated approach that takes into account genetic, environmental and social factors and the complex ways that these factors interact with each other at point of patient care. Professor Meyer’s talk was well complemented by subsequent forward-looking presentations by Professors Michel Eichelbaum (Stuttgart, Germany), Magnus Ingelman-Sundberg (Stockholm, Sweden) and Alastair J. Wood (Vanderbilt University, USA). Inter-ethnic variability in drug metabolism and response was further illustrated by Dr. Eleni Aklillu (Karolinska Institute, Sweden) through an overview of the polymorphisms of CYP2D6 as a classical case study of pharmacogenetic variation. Impact of genetic admixture on pharmacogenetic association studies was discussed by Professor Guilherme Suarez-Kurtz (Institute Nacional de Cancer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). An emerging field of research, pediatric pharmacogenomics (Dr. Steven J. Leeder, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, USA), and implications of personalized medicine for regulatory and science policy (Dr. Lawrence J. Lesko, US Food and Drug Administration) were also presented. Dr. Lesko noted that pharmacogenetic testing transforms medical practice in a fundamental manner by placing a greater emphasis on the concept of probability, instead of traditional expectations on definitive prediction of treatment outcomes. At our business meeting, a number of advances were recognized. Importantly, Current Pharmacogenomics was announced as the official journal of the PRACP (Editor-in-Chief: Professor Ann K. Daly, University of Newcastle Medical School, Newcastle upon Tyne; Co-Editors: Professor M. Eileen Dolan, University of Chicago and Professor Edmund J.D. Lee, National University of Singapore). Current Pharmacogenomics is published by the Bentham Science as a peer-reviewed journal with broad international circulation; it brings together all areas in the field from pre-clinical to clinical research, and the related technologies in genomics, proteomics, target discovery, bioinformatics and novel molecular diagnostics. I would like to strongly encourage the PRACP members for submission of manuscripts to the journal on emerging topics in their area of expertise. The PRACP Executive Board recognized Dr. Vural Ozdemir (Chair, Academic and Public Affairs Committee) for his contributions in affiliation of PRACP and Current Pharmacogenomics and leading the efforts in registration of PRACP as an associate member society at the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR). Dr. Ozdemir thanked Co-Chairs Professors Min-Soo Lee and Anna Di Rienzo for their important contributions to activities of the Academic and Public Affairs Committee and nominated Dr. Di Rienzo as the new committee chair until the next PRACP meeting in Korea. This motion was approved unanimously by the PRACP Councilors. A new PRACP Committee on Ethics and Science Policy is established to serve as a resource for the society for timely evaluation and discussion of emerging socio-ethical challenges in clinical pharmacogenetics, and the development of appropriate science policy. The committee’s broader goal is to create and support dialogue among clinicians, scientists, and policy-makers involved in pharmacogenetics research and practice, and will in the course of its work, prepare reports and other materials for peer-reviewed publication and public dissemination among Pacific Rim countries. The committee will be co-chaired by Dr. Ozdemir and Dr. Bryn Williams-Jones (Bioethics Research Group, University of Montreal). I have had the opportunity of consultation and received significant feedback from the PRACP members and colleagues in the international scientific community, since our meeting in China, all of which uniformly indicated the success of PRACP2006 Annual Meeting. In addition, the feedback received collectively point towards the growing recognition of PRACP as an international platform to establish and sustain meaningful collaborations, exchange of scientific expertise and education of future generations of pharmacogeneticists in the Pacific Rim Region. Our society has a long standing history of leadership in the field of pharmacogenetics since its inception in Kyoto in 1990. As indicated during the closing remarks for the congress, the origins of pharmacogenetics and the PRACP rest on inter-ethnic and population differences in drug efficacy and safety. Availability of molecular pharmacogenetic biomarkers now presents unprecedented exciting opportunities to better understand the mechanisms of inter-ethnic variability in medical therapeutics. By its very nature, progress in science is a dynamic process that also requires sustained enthusiasm and momentum. Hence, the next PRACP meeting is being scheduled to take place in Korea in 2008 (Co-Chaired by Professor Min-Soo Lee and Professor San-Goo Shin), with the goal of reviewing and reflecting upon the advances in the field of clinical pharmacogenetics over the next two years. Further information on PRACP2008 will be available on the PRACP home page in the near future. In closing, I would like to thank our members and colleagues who made PRACP2006 a successful and productive meeting. I look forward to seeing you all in Korea in 2008! Yours truly, Toshiyuki Someya, MD, PhD President, Pacific Rim Association for Clinical Pharmacogenetics Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences 757 Asahimachidori-ichibancho, Chuou-ku, Niigata 951-8510, Japan