UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences hosts world-renowned pharmaceutical sciences symposia

The series was comprised of the Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Symposium, the Buffalo Pharmaceutics Symposium and the Center for Protein Therapeutics Symposium. Programming events included multi-day scientific sessions, a reception and dinner Thursday evening at the historic Hotel Henry, and dinner at the Buffalo History Museum Friday evening.

The Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) Symposium, launched in 2017, brought together scientists to discuss contemporary approaches, including the challenges and opportunities, for advancing the science and practice of quantitative systems pharmacology.

The 2018 QSP Symposium was themed "Pharmaceutical Sciences: In Pursuit of Excellence." It was held in memory of UB Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Gerhard Levy, a pioneer and leading contributor in the areas of pharmacokinetics and clinical pharmacokinetics.

Quantitative systems pharmacology represents an approach to translational medicine that combines computational and experimental methods to elucidate, validate, and apply new pharmacological concepts to the development and use of small molecule and biologic drugs.

The 14th Buffalo Pharmaceutics Symposium (BPS) joined alumni with internationally-recognized faculty and invited researchers to exchange valuable scientific knowledge and showcase cutting-edge research in pharmaceutical sciences.

The BPS originated in 1980 and is held every four years.

"The symposium affords us the opportunity to invite our alumni back to the school to reconnect and to learn about their current research,” said Donald Mager, professor and vice-chair, pharmaceutical sciences, and organizer of the 2010, 2014 and 2018 symposia. “Many of our alumni attending have gone on to highly successful careers in their field, having become leaders in pharmaceutical research. This alumni-focused event greatly benefits our up-and-coming students, to inspire as well as to inform.”

At the tenth annual symposium of the Center for Protein Therapeutics (CPT), faculty, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students from the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences presented the results of CPT-funded research projects during the past year to other UB faculty and pharmaceutical scientists from across the nation. 

The CPT, which is supported by an industrial consortium, sponsors research that tests hypotheses relating to the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) of protein drugs, and also relating to the development of new methods for the prediction and characterization of protein PK/PD.