Newsletter “To advance education and research in the science of psychopharmacology for the public benefit” June 2012 2012 SUMMER MEETING, SUNDAY 22 TO WEDNESDAY 25 JULY, HARROGATE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE Full details of sessions are on the website, together with registration facilities http://bap.org.uk/summermeetinghome.php?meetingID=5 Highlights: The 2012 Guest Lecture, presented by Dr Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Plenary Mental Health Session, “The best treatment for treatment-resistant patients with psychiatric disorders and possibilities for developing clinical research”, including presentations from Stephen Stahl, Guy Goodwin, Gavin Malloch and Kathryn Adcock 9 invited symposia covering cutting-edge clinical and non-clinical psychopharmacology: Drugs as tools in neuropsychiatry: Ketamine; New tricks for old drugs: Opiates, addiction and beyond; Advances in understanding brain corticosteroid responses to stress: relevance to depression; Cognitive impairment in depression: A target for treatment?; New treatment strategies for targeting drug addictions – A translational perspective; Functional imaging markers for monitoring treatment: Mechanisms and efficacy; Schizophrenia Treatment: What’s wrong with it and what might work better; Epigenetics and psychiatry - current understanding and therapeutic potential; Rethinking the compulsive aspects of addiction: From bench to bedside 2 dedicated Poster Sessions Post-doc Symposium, “Neurodevelopmental models of psychiatric disease: back to the future” Satellite Symposia and BAP Special Session Conference Dinner including presentation of the 2012 Prizes and Awards British Association for Psychopharmacology 36 Cambridge Place • Hills Road • Cambridge • CB2 1NS Tel: 01223 358 395 • Fax: 01223 321 268 • www.bap.org.uk Executive Officer Mrs Susan Chandler • [email protected] Assistant to the Executive Officer Mrs Lynne Harmer • [email protected] Education Co-ordinator & Digital Media Developer Ms Sarah Channing-Wright • Tel: 01223 358 396 • [email protected] 2012 ELECTION FOR OFFICERS AND COUNCIL The following vacancies will arise on BAP Council in July: President-elect Professor Barbara Sahakian will become President Two Council posts become vacant (Post 7) This post has been vacant since 2011 due to Dr Paula Moran’s election to the post of Secretary for Preclinical External Affairs (Post 8) Professor Carmine Pariante will retire The BAP aims to represent the interests of all psychopharmacologists (preclinical, clinical and industrial) regardless of gender or ethnic origins. To achieve this it is essential that Council represents all constituents of the BAP. Council asks Members to bear this in mind when casting their votes, to ensure a balance of expertise. President-elect The following nomination has been received and is valid: Nominee Proposed by Seconded by Professor Paul Harrison Professor Nicol Ferrier Professor Barbara Sahakian No further nominations were received so Professor Paul Harrison will become President-elect at the 2012 Annual General Meeting Two Council posts The following nominations have been received and are valid (in alphabetical order): Nominee Proposed by Seconded by Dr Oliver Howes Professor Trevor Robbins Professor Gavin Reynolds Professor Peter Jones Professor Barbara Sahakian Professor Nicol Ferrier Dr James Stone Professor Allan Young Dr Mitul Mehta Full, Honorary and Retired Full Members are encouraged to use their votes. Nominee statements and the ballot form are on the website. Deadline Monday 16 July. 2 June 12 2012 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MONDAY 23 JULY HARROGATE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE 17:30 – 18:30 Chaired by Professor Jo Neill, Meetings Secretary 1. Presidential Address Professor Nicol Ferrier 2. Motions for approval: 2.1 That the Minutes of the 2011 Annual General Meeting be adopted as a correct record Professor Nicol Ferrier 2.2. That the Editor’s Report be received Professor David Nutt 2.3. That the Trustees/Directors Annual Report and audited accounts for the period 1 January to 31 December 2011 be received and adopted Professor Catherine Harmer 2.4. That the Honorary General Secretary’s Report be received Dr Peter Haddad 2.5 That the Governance Panel’s Report be received Professor Charles Marsden 3. Discussion chaired by Professor Jo Neill 4. Presidential Medal passed to Professor Barbara Sahakian The 2011 audited Accounts are enclosed with this Newsletter and available on the Members’ pages of the website. The Minutes of the 2011 Annual General Meeting are available to view on the Members’ pages of the website. All BAP Members registered for the Summer Meeting in Harrogate are encouraged to attend the Annual General Meeting. June 12 3 2012 LIFETIME AchIEVEMENT AwARD BARRY EVERITT The BAP Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual in recognition of the following three criteria: (i) Lifetime achievement in psychopharmacology with an international recognition of contribution and impact; (ii) Major contribution to British psychopharmacology; (iii) Support for and contributions to the British Association for Psychopharmacology The BAP Council is delighted to announce that the 2012 Award will be made to Professor Barry Everitt. Barry has worked in the area of Psychopharmacology for more than 40 years and continues his research as Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Cambridge. He is also Master of Downing College, Cambridge. He has published 377 papers and his h-index is 94. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2007 and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2008. Barry served as President of the European Brain and Behaviour Society (1998-2000) and of the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society (2003-2005). He was Elected Foreign Corresponding Member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology in 1999. He has been an ISI “Highly Cited” Researcher since 2004 and he is frequently invited to give plenary lectures at major international conferences. He has acted as advisor on Psychopharmacology to several counties including Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and France. He was recently awarded the American Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions (2011) and the 2012 FENS EJN Award (given in recognition of “outstanding scientific work in all areas of neuroscience”) Barry’s research has contributed immensely to our understanding of the neural mechanisms of reward mechanisms, drug-seeking behavior and relapse. His work has had a tremendous impact on the field, for example he is among the world’s 100 most highly cited neuroscientists. He has been and is in receipt of programme grant funding from major UK competitive grant awarding bodies. Barry served on the Medical Research Council (MRC) Neurosciences Grants Committee from1990 to1994 and on the MRC Research Studentships Panel from 1994 to1997 (Chair, 1995-1997). He was on the MRC Advisory Board from 1997 to 2000 and the MRC Neurosciences and Mental Health Board (2001-2005). He has also served on many editorial boards including: - Science (Reviewing Editor (2005-), Physiology & Behaviour - Editor-in-Chief (1994-1999), Psychopharmacology, Behavioral Neuroscience, Behavioural Pharmacology, Journal of Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. Barry is a longstanding member of BAP and member of Council (1984-1996). As Secretary in 1986 he recruited Susan Chandler and he was BAP President 1992-1994. Barry has made major contributions to the organisation of BAP conferences (including hosting joint meetings) and has been a member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Psychopharmacology since its inception. We are delighted that Barry will accept the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award at the conference dinner in Harrogate on Tuesday 24 July. 4 June 12 2012 ROBERT KERWIN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE BURSARIES We were very pleased to receive applications from a number of BAP Members. The 2012 Awards were made to Michael Browning (Oxford), to attend the Anxiety Disorders Association of America Annual Conference, and Christoph Anacker (London), to attend the Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Conference in May 2013. Meeting Report from Michael Browning: I was honoured to be awarded a Robert Kerwin International Bursary to support my attendance at the annual meeting of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America which took place in Washington between 12 - 15 April. I am an academic Psychiatrist based in Oxford where I completed a PhD under the supervision of Catherine Harmer, Emily Holmes and Guy Goodwin. I had previously completed my psychiatric training in London and Oxford. Following my PhD I worked for a further year in the Department of Psychiatry in Oxford and have recently moved to the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB) centre in the John Radcliffe hospital where I work with Sonia Bishop. My research has examined the neurocognitive mechanisms by which the treatments for anxiety and depression are thought to work. I use behavioural and neuroimaging techniques to try and understand how treatments are able to alter information processing habits in non-clinical and clinical populations. The direction of my research was inspired by the work of two of my supervisors; Catherine Harmer who has examined the cognitive mechanisms of antidepressant medications and Emily Holmes who has pioneered the use of “Cognitive Bias Modification” (CBM) procedures which are simple computer based tasks which alter cognitive habits through learning. These