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).
AMSPC and ASPET began a collaborative webinar series this year called “Future Leaders in Pharmacology” that gives visibility to early career scientists—nominated by department chairs or ASPET division chairs—who show promise as future leaders in the field, an important aide to young scientists entering a crowded job market during a uncertain time for science. But, like ASPET and other leading associations within their fields, AMSPC has been resilient during this turbulent period and provided support for members and students through its annual conference, advocacy, and continued focus on advancing scientific knowledge.
William Coley stood helplessly beside Elizabeth “Bessie” Dashiell’s hospital bed when she died on January 23, 1891. When he began treating 17-year-old Bessie four months earlier, he had just completed his surgical internship under two prominent surgeons (William T. Bull and Robert F. Weir) at New York Hospital and had already shown great promise as a surgeon himself.
ASPET Members Impacting the Greater Good. In honor of Black History Month, we had the wonderful opportunity to chat with three ASPET members about their distinguished careers, their thoughts on the recent changes in funding and its effects on the future of pharmacology, and the impact of the scientific community on their lives.
For any scientist, publishing can be a transformational moment in your career and a necessary service to the scientific community. Not only does publication place your work among the top researchers working today but, as Ana Marušić, former president of the Council of Science Editors, said, “Scientific articles are the most important measure of scientific achievement.”
For most of recorded history, the greatest threat to the armed forces has come not from battlefield injuries but rather from infectious diseases, for which effective drugs were needed.
An interview with three distinguished members of ASPET about the society, and how it helped them navigate their careers. As our field adapts to new technologies, unpredictable federal policies, and evolving academic structures, ASPET must similarly adapt to best serve our members. As these three interviews with distinguished ASPET members makes clear, change is something that every scientist must expect, and membership in ASPET can be an invaluable aid in both developing career paths and furthering research.
This month The Pharmacologist features ASPET’s 2024–2025 Washington Fellows written policy briefs. The Washington Fellows Program is dedicated to enabling developing and early-career scientists interested in science policy to learn about and become more engaged in public policy issues. As part of the program, the Fellows gain skills in writing policy briefs on topics that are of importance to each Fellow. In these briefs, the Fellows showcase compelling arguments for policy improvements on their issue choice.
In the 16th century, Paracelsus famously declared, “All things are poison…only the dose determines that a thing is not a poison.” Despite this edict, remedies derived from botanicals have long been considered not only “natural” but also wholesome and harmless. And consumers of pharmacologically active botanicals mistakenly think that “if some is good, more is better.” A case in point is ephedra: an herb that was used successfully for millennia, both as a natural folk medicine and a commercial pharmaceutical. But then it became so popular as an herbal remedy that it was abused, declared hazardous, and subsequently banned.
In May of 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) placed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register6 that would transfer marijuana from schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to schedule III of the CSA. Although the current Administration of the federal government has not carried forth with the proposal, the Drug Policy Subcommittee of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) would like to make the membership aware of the ramifications of such a rule change and especially for those with preclinical and clinical research programs involving cannabis.
