Dear AAPS members–
In the midst of our disrupted world, I feel hope when we talk about research and share our ideas and realizations, and I feel proud when I see how those interactions contribute to the solutions that will help us, as well as the patients and future patients who depend on our work. I am encouraged to hear I am not alone in this. As I look back on this week, Dr. William Haseltine's statement of "Science will win!" lingers in my mind even in moments of doubt and concern.
I had the great honor and pleasure of speaking with Bill on Monday during the opening session of our workshop, COVID-19 -- Current Pharmaceutical Developments for Cures and Prevention. When I worked for Bill in the late 1990s, he was already in the second phase of his impressive career, that of genome pioneer and biotechnology entrepreneur, after more than 20 years at Harvard and founding two departments there. Trained in the laboratories of James Watson and David Baltimore, he lived the scientific challenges of the HIV epidemic, creating a substantial body of scientific work before redefining biotechnology drug development through genomics. Later, he pursued regenerative medicine and broader global public health issues. Yet when I humbly call him a mentor, I mean that in a much broader sense than framed by basic science, because through his entire career he has endeavored to see science in the context of the human experience and predicament. He brought talks and writings by thinkers like Evelyn Fox-Keller, Art Caplan, and others to our then-young minds, which encouraged a much broader perspective than the often narrow and deep trenches dug by daily analytical laboratory challenges. With that in mind, I was so glad that our 90-minute conversation on Monday cast the wide arc I had hoped for. While it centered around the current crisis and how science can address it, we touched on aspects far beyond viral testing, antiviral drug or preventive therapy development, health system capacity, and how to prepare ourselves for the next infectious disease threat; we spoke about how we cope as a society and how these current events may lastingly change the human experience. It was heartening to me that in his concluding remarks Bill had encouraging words for our young scientists. He urged them to think about their education broadly and offered a reaffirmation of his belief that science will continue to develop the right answers.
I think he set the perfect tone for the exciting, engaging, in-depth sessions of the workshop that followed over Monday and Tuesday. The experience has left me looking forward to the second part of this workshop, which starts May 11. We will consider preparedness policies; discuss the ripple effects of the pandemic across the global pharmaceutical supply chain; and conclude with an exciting panel discussion moderated by USP CEO Ron Piervincenzi. You can still register, and if you missed this week's sessions, you will be able to catch up on them through recordings that we will provide once the second week of the event has concluded.
Next week we will switch gears a bit from coronavirus. I hope you will find time to listen to our May 6 eChalk Talk on Advancements in Lipid Nanoparticle Mediated Drug Delivery from Small Molecules to Nucleic Acids by Jay Natarajan.
All these events are very exciting! But I am happy to see that you have not forgotten about PharmSci 360-poster abstracts are coming in, as are award nominations. As with the abstracts, the Board of Directors considered the challenges members are facing this spring, and extended the deadlines for both the AAPS Awards and Fellows nominations. The new deadline for awards nominations is June 10, and the new deadline for Fellows nominations is June 1. We hope you will find time to nominate colleagues for these honors. It is important to recipients and to the pharmaceutical sciences that AAPS brings attention to, and celebrates, the most impactful science as well as the scientists who serve as role models in our community.
In closing, I recommend the May issue of the AAPS Newsmagazine as a good weekend read, including the cover article Preclinical Drug Development for a Gene Therapy Product: No Cookie Cutter Route and special feature highlighting members who contributed to recent drug approvals, Drugs Studied by AAPS Members Received FDA Approval in 2019, and I hope that you are managing to stay safe, happy, and inspired.
Share your thoughts with Tina via the AAPS Community!