The 20th International Congress of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring & Clinical Toxicology (IATDMCT 2022) will be held from Sunday 18th to Wednesday 21st September, 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic. The IATDMCT 2022 will present an opportunity for experts in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology to meet, present new technologies that may shape the future of our field.

The theme of the conference is "Bridging the Troubled Waters".

The programme will include top class plenary speakers, innovative symposia, and practical workshops across all areas of therapeutics and toxicology with focus on clinical application, translating our expertise into patient benefit. The conference will provide an excellent opportunity for researchers and clinicians from around the world to come together and share their research and experiences in basic, clinical, and translational pharmacology and clinical toxicology.

Prague is home to the Charles University, one of the 20 oldest universities in the world, as well as other research institutes, including the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry made world-famous by antivirals developed by Antonín Holý. Prague is located in Europe, with affordable and convenient transportation. The city of a hundred spires, with breath taking cathedrals, bridges, and palaces is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

It will be our honour to welcome you to—hopefully post-pandemic—Prague for an exciting conference where you will have a chance to share your research, expand your knowledge, meet new friends and have fun.

Donald R.A. Uges, Emeritus Professor Clinical and Forensic Toxicology

Longtime IATDMCT member Donald Uges passed away on November 26 after a short sickbed. Donald was a recipient of the IATDMCT Irvine Sunshine Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinicial Toxicology and will be greatly missed by our society. A memoriam article will be published in the next issue of Compass.

Enjoy all the valuable Membership Benefits, including online access to the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) journal.

Pay online for 2 years (2022 and 2023) and obtain a 10% discount!

If you have a Full Membership or a Young Scientist Membership, you may also qualify for the Affiliate Membership Discount. The membership dues will be reduced by USD $20 per year. For more information about the Affiliate Membership Discount, please visit here.

The December Compass is now available.

In this issue:

• Reports of the Scientific Committees
• Congratulations to 2021 Award Winners!
• Welcome to our IATDMCT Members!
• Save the Date for ICTDMCT 2022

Available in your choice of format:                  

Note: You must be logged in to access these download links.

The Communication Committee would like to inform the membership that advertisements for professional positions (Ph.D. and Post-Doc job opportunities) in the field of TDM/CT, will be published in the E-news instead of on the IATDMCT website. Please e-mail the office with the advertisement for the position and it will be published in an upcoming monthly E-news. (IATDMCT office email: info@iatdmct.org)

Some of our members are currently conducting clinical tests for COVID-19 and/or trying to introduce new biomarkers to monitor recovery. Certainly it is our duty to continue also the routine work. Keep safe.

Below please find informative links about the current situation, which specifically addresses the rapid identification of COVID-19 cases as well as adverse reactions due to interaction of drugs:

• IATDMCT website provides a list of COVID-19 resources
  • https://iatdmct.org/rss/7-news/556-covid-19-resources.html
• Drugs used to treat COVID-19 that may interact with other medication
  • Liverpool COVID-19 Interactions
• Centre for Disease Control via NIH and Biosafety
  • https://www.nih.gov/coronavirus
  • https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/biosafety-faqs.html
• ASHP's Covid-19 Resource Center
  • https://www.ashp.org/covid-19?loc=alert-covid19-09182020
• New England Journal of Medicine opened all articles regarding Covid-19
  • https://t.co/fkKzCwma7t
• McMaster University
  • https://www.mcmasterforum.org/find-evidence/guide-to-covid-19-evidence-sources
• Cochrane
  • https://covidrapidreviews.cochrane.org/welcome
• BC Centre for Disease Control
  • http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19

This October we held the inaugural Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting on anti-infective TDM which included the enthusiastic participation of IATDMCT members Debbie Marriott, Danijela Kocic, Jane Carland, Sophie Stocker, Miao Yan, Jason Roberts, president Dario Cattaneo and president-elect Jan-Willem Alffenaar. We were joined by colleagues from the region, Lee Lee Low (Malaysia), Jayme Wong Sau Yeng and Tze-Peng Lim (Singapore).

The meeting took place over two days, the first primarily focusing on laboratory aspects of TDM and the second on clinical implementation. It was really fantastic to hear a variety of local experiences!

Read more

Special opportunity to add a great experience in your CV!

The role is to create 6 designs a year for the TDM Journal. The adverts are used to promote IATDMCT and our activities, such as the Congress and workshops held through the society. You can design the adverts yourself or contact members such as congress organizers to ask for adverts to promote their activities and collaborate on website tasks (update or upload them). See examples below of previous content topics:

• Membership Benefits
• Congresses
• Meetings – Auspices
• E-News
• Compass
• Social Media Activities (Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog etc)
• Scientific Resources
• Award Winners
• Young Scientist Activities

Please, if you are interested in this position e-mail us: communications@iatdmct.org

The 9th World Integrative Medicine Congress was held in China on December 2-5. Chair of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Committee, Yue Gao, presided over the symposium: Study on toxicity of Traditional Chinese Medicine and prevention strategies.

Stay ahead with the latest scientific research developments in the fields of TDM and CT!

The monthly Therapeutic Drug Monitoring column provides you with the latest posts of ahead-of-print. Bringing to you articles posted online on December 2, 2021:

Review Articles:

• Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Antibiotics in Critically Ill Patients: Current Practice and Future Perspective With a Focus on Clinical Outcome
  By Koch, Birgit CP; Muller, Anouk E; Hunfeld, Nicole GM; de Winter, Brenda CM; Ewoldt, Tim MJ; Abdulla, Alan; Endeman, Henrik.
• Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Antibiotic Drugs in Patients Receiving Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy or Intermittent Hemodialysis: A Critical Review.
  By Matusik, Elodie; Boidin, Clément; Friggeri, Arnaud; Richard, Jean-Christophe; Bitker, Laurent; Roberts, Jason A; Goutelle, Sylvain.
• Barriers and facilitators in the clinical implementation of beta-lactam therapeutic drug monitoring in critically ill patients: a critical review.
  By Abdulla, Alan; van den Broek, Puck; Ewoldt, Tim M.J.; Muller, Anouk E.; Endeman, Henrik; Koch, Birgit C.P.
• Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of the Echinocandin Antifungal Agents: Is There a Role in Clinical Practice? A Position Statement of the Anti-Infective Drugs Committee of the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology.
  By Kim, Hannah Yejin; Baldelli, Sara; Märtson, Anne-Grete; Stocker, Sophie; Alffenaar, Jan-Willem; Cattaneo, Dario; Marriott, Deborah JE.
• Immunological Biomarkers in Blood to Monitor the Course and Therapeutic Outcomes of COVID-19.
  By Wieland, Eberhard.
• Antibiotic Stewardship and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of β-Lactam Antibiotics: Is There a Link? An Opinion Paper.
  By Richter, Daniel C.; Heininger, Alexandra; Chiriac, Ute; Frey, Otto Roman; Rau, Heike; Fuchs, Thomas; Röhr, Anka C.; Brinkmann, Alexander; Weigand, Markus A.
• Has the Time Come for Systematic Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of First-line and WHO Group A Anti-tuberculosis Drugs?
  By Lemaitre, Florian.

Original Articles:

• Longitudinal monitoring of hair cortisol using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to prevent hypercortisolism in patients undergoing glucocorticoid replacement therapy.
  By Kostolanská, Katarína; Šiprová, Helena; Bartečků, Elis; Juřica, Jan; Řiháček, Ivan; Táborská, Eva; Souček, Miroslav; Peš, Ondřej.
• Drug-Drug Interactions Between Mycophenolic Acid and Proton Pump Inhibitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
  By Sakuludomkan, Wannachai; Takuathung, Mingkwan Na; Dukaew, Nahathai; Koonrungsesomboon, Nut.

Letter to the Editor:

• Maternal plasma and cord blood concentration profiles of duloxetine during the peripartum period and their associations with the modified Finnegan score.
  By Taguchi, Reina; Naito, Takafumi; Suzuki, Koji; Kurosawa, Yuko; Itoh, Hiroaki; Kawakami, Junichi.

The Communication Committee wishes all of you a wonderful Holiday Season and a New Year of Health, Happiness in a World of Peace. We look forward to a very informative 2022.

» Click here to Post an Event on our Online Events Calendar today!

Visit the IATDMCT Events Calendar and stay informed about the upcoming TDM and CT Meetings. By doing this you can comfortably and directly reach all related online resources.

Co-editor: Manuela Neuman
Co-editor: Ryuji Kato
Co-editor: Miao Yan

NOTE: Items appearing in the IATDMCT monthly E-News do not necessarily have the endorsement of the Association.