As the College celebrates its 40th Anniversary in 2009, it is evident that the significance of clinical pharmacology continues to increase in scope. The promise of pharmacogenomics, the therapeutic challenges of variability in drug response combined with focused efforts to make drug development more efficient and cost effective have created exciting opportunities for the scientific community and high expectations for advancements in public health. Clinical pharmacology has always been oriented towards a mechanistic understanding of drug response directly linked to the safe, optimal use of drugs in living organisms. New tools and technologies have provided our profession advanced opportunities to explore the molecular underpinnings of variability in drug response and turn these findings into opportunities to improve public health. The science of clinical pharmacology, which has always been part of early drug development, now has a tremendous opportunity to apply expertise to critical areas such as the optimal design of clinical trials. In this area, there is truly a need to be innovative, in order to improve the efficiency of drug development. With a focus on the translation of information from bench to bedside, it’s a natural extension for clinical pharmacology to be able to bridge between and connect to many different disciplines. Therefore, aside from scientific and clinical skills, clinical pharmacologists will need to also focus on a range of people skills, e.g., ability to lead interdisciplinary teams and influence behavior and decision-making, in order to reach their full potential.

As these promises are realized, as we attain greater success in predicting drug efficacy and safety, and as the drug development process undergoes significant change, the nature of clinical pharmacology will continue to evolve. These changes will present both exciting opportunities and intriguing challenges. The profession will surely be at the forefront of translating future discoveries in basic sciences into applications in clinical practice since education and therapeutics have always been a fundamental focus of clinical pharmacologists.

The Officers and Regents of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology recognize these changing times in science and medicine, and are excited and energized by them. We are pleased to have undertaken a strategic planning process to position ACCP as one of the leaders in our profession in contributing to education, research and patient care in order to improve public health around the globe.