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PHARMACOLOGY

 

Highlights of the 2009 Meeting


General Program
The inaugural meetings was held on March 21-22, 2009 at the La Quinta Inn and Suites Medical Center in San Antonio, TX



Attendance 169 registrants

Students

Undergradaute 29

Graduate 63

Post-doctoral Fellows 18

Faculty 59

Click here to see pictures taken at the 2009 meeting

Additional Pictures from 2009

Click here to download a program (pdf) for the 2009 meeting

 

 
 


INVITED LECTURES

Richard A. Glennon, Ph.D. “Behavioral Studies and SAR”

Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298

Dr. Richard A. Glennon is an internationally recognized expert in medicinal chemistry and behavioral pharmacology. Richard Glennon was awarded his doctor of philosophy degree in medicinal chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is currently professor and chair of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Glennon’s major research interests are in the areas of neuropsychiatric disorders, CNS medicinal chemistry, and drug abuse (with an emphasis on hallucinogens). He has published more than 400 scientific papers, and trained more than 100 graduate students, post-docs, and visiting scientists.  Because of his dual expertise in medicinal chemistry and behavioral pharmacology (especially drug discrimination), and because of his extensive training record, Dr. Glennon’s participation will contribute greatly to our meeting achieving its scientific and educational goals. The lecture by Dr. Glennon will provide an overview of how chemistry and biology interact and work cooperatively using structure-activity relationships to develop drugs. 




Terry Kenakin, Ph.D. “The Chemist-Biologist Interface in Drug Discovery: Forming a Basis of Understanding”

GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development Laboratories at Research Triangle Park, N.C. USA.

Dr. Terry Kenakin is an internationally recognized expert on receptor theory and drug development.  Terry Kenakin received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton Canada.  After a post-doctoral Fellows in London, U.K. with the nobel laureate Sir James Black, he joined Burrough-Wellcome as an associate Scientist.  From there he continued working in drug discovery at Glaxo Inc. and GlaxoWellcome.  Presently he is a principal research scientist at GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development Laboratories at Research Triangle Park, N.C. USA.  Dr. Kenakin has been involved in drug discovery for over 27 years.  Currently, he is engaged in studies aimed at the optimal design of drug activity assay systems as well as the discovery and testing of molecules to block the entry of HIV-1 for treatment of AIDS.  He is a world authority on the subject of receptor theory and is a member of numerous editorial boards as well as Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Receptors and Signal Transduction and, as well as numerous articles, has written seven books on Pharmacology.




Thomas Kosten, M.D. "Pharmacotherapy of stimulants:  From Antabuse to Vaccines"

Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center

Dr. Thomas R. Kosten is an internationally recognized expert in addiction research.  He received his M.D. at Cornell University Medical College/New York, NY. Thomas Kosten is a Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and former Professor and Chief of Psychiatry at Yale University and VA Connecticut. He is founder of the Division of Substance Abuse at Baylor and Yale and directs their NIH Medications Development Center for substance abuse. Dr. Kosten’s research involves translational neuroscience and behavioral pharmacology.  From his studies in substance dependence, post traumatic stress disorder, and neuroimaging he has published over 450 papers, books and reviews. His neuroimaging research includes detecting and treating cocaine induced cerebral perfusion defects, and using functional MRI to predict pharmacotherapy outcome. His medication contributions include a cocaine vaccine, immunotherapy for hallucinogens, buprenorphine for opioid dependence, disulfiram for cocaine dependence, vasodilators for cocaine induced cerebral perfusion defects, and combining medications with contingency management for opioid and cocaine dependence.

 

 
 


SYMPOSIUM


Title: 5-HT2C receptors as novel targets for the treatment of addiction


Over the past several years considerable evidence has accumulated which establishes a prominent role for the 5-HT2C receptor in various aspects of addiction. Notably, the 5-HT2C receptor regulates the activity of mesolimbic dopaminergic neurotransmission which is activated by addictive drugs. 5-HT2C receptors display a highly dynamic repertoire of characteristics which may be exploited to develop novel medications for treatment of various drug addiction-related behaviors.



Dr. Kathryn Cunningham is the Chauncey Leake Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, Director of the Center for Addiction Research, and Acting Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. Dr. Cunningham studies the role of serotonin neurotransmission in behavior, and is considered one of the world leaders in the role of serotonin in drug abuse and addiction. She will speak about pharmacological and anatomical studies pinpointing the critical roles of the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors in the behavioral response to abused drugs.

 

 
 

Dr. Kelly Ann Berg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at UTHSCSA and is an expert on receptor theory. She has been studying receptor signaling mechanisms for the past 25 years and will speak about mechanisms of novel actions of drugs acting via 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors that produce different signaling profiles and regulate constitutive receptor activity.

 

 
 

Dr. Scott Gilbertson is a Professor and the Robert A. Welch Distinguished University Chair in Chemistry and the Director of the Program in Chemical Biology at UTMB. His research is centered on the development of new synthetic methods and the utilization of synthetic chemistry for the study of important biological and medical problems. He will speak about the use of synthetic chemistry strategies to produce novel 5-HT2 receptor ligands.

 

 
 

Dr. Amarnath Natarajan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at UTMB. His research focuses on the use of small molecules, developed from synthetic chemistry methods, to perturb phospho-specific protein-protein interactions as a first step towards understanding how cells exploit these interactions in signal transduction. He will speak about the targeting of these protein-protein interactions for drug development.

 

 
 

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