As part of the Marie Curie ITN IMPACT Project, the School of Engineering held a Systems Pharmacology Vacation School 24th - 28th March. The Vacation School was attended Early Stage Researchers, research fellows, industry representatives and undergraduate students. Expert speakers at the event included Prof. Michael Weiss (Halle University), Prof. Leon Aarons (University of Manchester) Prof. Bert Peletier (Leiden University) and Prof. Johan Gabrielsson (Swedish University of Agriculture) as well as speakers working in industry for AstraZeneca and Xenologiq Ltd. Topics covered included an Introduction to Pharamacokinetic Analysis and Compartmental Modelling, Absorption Modelling, PBK Modelling and Non-Compartmental Modelling Approaches, Identifiability Analysis and Parameter Estimation, TMDD Modelling and PK Software Tools and Novel Methodologies.

IMPACT (Innovative Modelling for Pharmacological Advance through Collaborative Training) is an exciting interdisciplinary project between Warwick (lead by Dr Michael Chappell) and AstraZeneca (AZ Sweden). The aim is to train Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) in systems modelling tools and techniques enabling them to perform research projects at the forefront of international pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) analysis.

Dr Chappell was delighted with the success of the vacation school: "Feedback I've received from both speakers and students has been very positive, and it was great to have a range of people from undergraduates to research fellows and academic staff all together to benefit from the IMPACT project".

To read more about the Vacation School and access some of the lectures, visit: www.warwick.ac.uk/syspharma2014

Pictured: staff and attendees at the Systems Pharmacology Vacation School