A Recap of the ASPET 2026 Annual Meeting. From May 17–20, over 1,000 researchers and scientists gathered in Minneapolis to share their latest insights and breakthroughs, network with colleagues and peers, connect with their committees, divisions, and boards, and explore all aspects of the world of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics. Thank you to all who attended and presented for making the ASPET 2026 Annual Meeting such a wonderful experience!
This is my final week serving as President of ASPET. What will be remembered as my legacy? I was elected as ASPET President in 2024, a time when all seemed to be going well for American science. By the time my one-year term began in mid-2025, though, American science was under siege from anti-science elements within our own government. Massive funding cuts to the NIH and other science agencies were being pursued by the new administration. One of the central purposes of ASPET and other scientific societies is to facilitate collective action of scientists in times of crisis. Thus, I spent much of my year as ASPET President helping to organize our members to push back against research funding cuts, and coordinating with other scientific societies to magnify our efforts.
Executive Officer Dave Jackson details how the new revision to the regulations governing Uniform Guidance, recently proposed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), could impact the future of science. Members are encouraged to attend ASPET’s June Town Hall for more information, and submit their own comments to OMB.
The 6th Guppy Tank Translational Science Pitch Competition, hosted by the ASPET Young Scientists Committee, gives graduate students and postdoctoral fellows the opportunity to work with industry experts to develop and refine a pitch for their research, culminating in competing live at the ASPET annual meeting for the best pitch award. This year’s competition featured four finalists presenting innovative science with strong therapeutic potential before a panel of biotechnology and drug development leaders.
ASPET 2026 Poster and Oral Competition Winners
Guidance Through Great Scientific Landscapes, ASPET Welcomes New Members
ASPET is committed to providing opportunities for members to be involved in science policy and advocacy. ASPET’s 2026 Annual Meeting was no exception.
Year after year, ASPET’s Annual Conference brings together pharmacologists from all over the world to participate in an exciting and stimulating agenda. This year was no different. From cutting-edge drug discovery science to candid career conversations, the ASPET 2026 meeting in Minneapolis delivered on all fronts.
A showcase of early-career scientists—what drives them and why pharmacology is important to them.
It’s hard not to feel, when talking with Chloe Kirk, PhD, an infectious energy whenever she discusses science. That energy, which holds both an intellectual restlessness and profound curiosity, led her from degrees in Molecular Biology and Legal Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Miami, and then to an intersection of science and law at a Washington, DC-based patent office. And now she’s found her calling, that of one of the preeminent voices in the relatively new field of Science Communications (SciComm).
