The formation of the local Midwest affiliate of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics was spearheaded on June 10, 1987 by Dr. William K. Riker, Past President of ASPET, Dr. Seymour Ehrenpreis of the Chicago Medical School, Dr. Toshio Narahashi of Northwestern Medical School, and Dr. Israel Hanin of Loyola University Chicago. Key individuals in the Chicago area were then contacted to establish a voluntary executive working group that ultimately organized the first Scientific Day at the University of Chicago on Thursday, May 12, 1988.
Since the first Scientific Program, annual meetings have been held each spring to foster the goals of ASPET to promote scientific communication among research workers interested in pharmacology. The Chapter has consistently met the ASPET requirements of a Chapter Affiliate throughout its existence by holding a least one annual meeting, maintaining a membership roster of at least 20 ASPET members in good standing.
OFFICERS AND COUNCILORS FOR 2012-2013
- President - Alejandro M.S. Mayer, Ph.D., M.S.Ed., Professor, Department of Pharmacology, CCOM, Midwestern University, 555 31st St., Downers Grove, IL 60515: (t) 630-515-6951; (f) 630-515-6295; email: amayer@midwestern.edu
- Vice President - Sanda Predescu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Rush University, Jelke Bldg., 1653 W. Congress Pkwy., Room 1535, Chicago, IL 60612; (t) 312-563-2437; email: sanda_predescu@rush.edu
- Treasurer - Kuei Tseng, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Rosalind Franklin University, 3333 Green Bay Rd., North Chicago, IL 60064; (t) 847-578-8655; email: kuei.tseng@rosalindfrankilin.edu
- Secretary - Geoffrey T. Swanson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of
Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, Northwestern
University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Searle 7-443, 303 E. Chicago
Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611; (t) 312-503-1052; email: gtswanson@northwestern.edu
- Councilor - Maria V. Barbolina, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 833 South Wood St., 453 PHARM, MC 865, Chicago, IL 60612; (t) 312-335-0670; email: mvb@uic.edu
- Councilor - Eric A.G. Blomme, Ph.D., D.V.M., Cell, Molecular and
Exploratory Toxicology, Abbott Laboratories, 100 Abbott Park Road, Dept.
R463, Bldg. AP9A/224, Abbott Park, IL 60064; (t) 847-937-2269; email: eric.blomme@abbott.com
- Councilor - Saverio Gentile, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Loyola university, Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, 2160 S. First Ave., Maywood, IL 60153; (t) 708-216-3263; email: sagentile@lumc.edu
- Councilor - Ricardo Monzon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, St. Xavier University, 3700 West 103rd Street, Chicago, IL 60655; (t) 773-341-5241;
email: monzon@sxu.edu
- Past President - Karen Snapp, Ph.D., D.D.S., Associate Director, Chicago Biomedical Consortium, Northwestern University, 2205 Tech Dr., Hogan 2-100, Evanston, IL 60208; (t) 847-467-0633; email: ksnapp@northwestern.edu
The Chapter's annual meetings have consistently drawn a wide representation of the midwestern pharmacology community. The following is a list of the past keynote speakers.
- June 22, 2012 - Jeffrey Conn, Vanderbilt University, Multiple Modes of Efficacy and Stimulus Bias of Allosteric Modulators of GPCRs
- June 10, 2011 - Robert Messing, Gallo Research Center, UCSF, PKC Regulation of Cys-loop Receptors in Alcohol and Nicotine Addiction
- June 18, 2010 - Douglas R. Green, St. Jude Children's Hospital, How the Cells Die
- June 19, 2009 - Carol A. Colton, Duke University Medical Center, Reassessing Chronic Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's Disease
- June 13, 2008 - Neal Benowitz, University of California San Francisco, Pharmacogenetics of Nicotine Addiction and Treatment
- June 8, 2009 - Marina E. Wolf, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Learning to be Addicted: Role of Glutamate Receptor Trafficking
- June 9, 2006 - Michael B. Sporn, M.D. , Dartmouth Medical Center, New Synthetic Ttriterpenoids and Rexinoids: Mmultifunctional Agents with Many
Potential Clinical Aapplications, Bboth for Prevention and Treatment of Disease
- June 17, 2005 - Rene Hen, Ph.D., Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, The Requirement of Hippocampal Neurogenesis for the Behavioral and Physiologic Effects of Antidepressants
- June 3, 2004 - David Holtzman, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Neurology, Washington University, St. Louis, Potential Role of Amyloid-Beta Binding Molecules in the Pathogenesis,
Diagnosis and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease
- May 8, 2003 - Dr. Hal E. Broxmeyer, The Walther Oncology Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, The Biology and Therapeutics of Hematopoietic Stem Cells from Cord Blood and mobilized Peripheral Blood
- June 10, 2002 - Dr. Neil Granger, LSU Health Science Center, Shreveport, Adhesion of Blood Cells to Microvascular Endothelium: Mechanisms and Targets for Therapeutic Intervention
- May 31, 2001 - Dr. Stephen Morse, Centers for Disease Control, Bioterrorism: Are We Prepared?
- June 1, 2000 - Dr. Malcolm Cohen, NASA-Ames Research Center, Astrobiology and Space Travel: The Big Picture, and Dr. Janice Voss, NASA-Johnson Space Center, Another Perspective of Research in Space
- June 8, 1999 - Dr. Eugene Sun, Abbott Laboratories, ABT-378 and the Continuing Therapeutic Challenges of HIV
- June 10, 1998 - Dr. Michael Williams, Abbott Laboratories, The Analgesic Frog: Serendipity in the Drug Discovery Process|
- June 3, 1997 - Dr. Philip Needleman, Searle Research and Development, The Road to a Better, No, a Much Better Aspirin
- May 3, 1996 - Dr. Palmer Taylor, University of California - San Diego, School of Medicine, A Tale of Divergence in Specificity and Gene Expression at Two Cholinergic Sites
- June 16, 1995 - Dr. Louis Ignarro, University of California - Los Angeles, Medical Center, The Physiologic Significance of the Nitric Oxide-Cyclic GMP Signal Transduction Pathway in Mammalian Cells
- June 10, 1994 - Dr. Irwin Fridovich, Duke University Medical Center, What is the Matter with Oxygen?
- May 7, 1993 - Dr. Ray Fuller, Lilly Research Laboratories, Pharmacology Careers in the Pharmaceutical Industry
- May 15, 1992 - Dr. Keith Killam, University of California - Davis, School of Medicine, Through a Looking Glass - Pharmacologically
- May 9, 1991 - Dr. A. M. Goldberg, Johns Hopkins University, Animal Use and Alternative
- April 20, 1990 - Dr. Eric Shooter, Stanford University, Nerve Growth Factor - From Molecule to Memory
- April 4, 1989 - Dr. Philip Needleman, Monsanto Corporation, Research and Development, Biochemical Pharmacology of Atriopeptin and Related Peptides
- May 12, 1988 - Dr. Julius Axelrod, NIMH, Receptor-Mediated Activation of Phospholipase A2 via GTP Binding Proteins