Welcome to the IUPHAR Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics Section!
“Pharmacogenetics deals with pharmacological responses and their modification by hereditary influences”. This definition, offered by Werner Kalow in the first book dedicated to pharmacogenetics (Pharmacogenetics: Heredity and the Response to Drugs, 1962) , highlights the three pillars of this discipline: pharmacology, genetics and human diversity. The main translation aspect of pharmacogenetics/-genomics is to optimize treatment outcomes by understanding the underlying biological mechanisms and utilizing genomic background regarding drug efficacy and safety. Pharmacogenetics has evolved greatly since Kalow’s book was published and now is one of the major goals of clinical medicine and one of the most important subfields of clinical pharmacology.
The Pharmacogenetics/-genomics Section was created during the IUPHAR General Assembly held in San Francisco in 2002. It was subsequently re-established in the summer of 2006 after the World Congress of Pharmacology in Beijing, China. The Pharmacogenetics/-genomics Section comprises an increasing number of distinguished scientists from different continents, covering expertise from basic research, to clinical implementation and ethical aspect of pharmacogenetics/-genomics. The Section cooperates with the IUPHAR Member Societies, with the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutic (EACPT), the Pacific Rim Association for Clinical Pharmacogenetics (PRACP), the European Society for Pharmacogenomics and Theranostics (ESPT), the Golden Helix Foundation and the Pharmacogenetics and Stratified Medicine Network (PSMN).
If you have registered in myIUPHAR under the Members tab then you may join the Pharmacogenetics/-genomics Discussion Group.
