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“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science”
Pharmacological Research 101 (2015) 2–8
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Pharmacological Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yphrs
“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” a r t i c l e
i n f o
Keywords: Editorial Chilean pharmacology SOFARCHI
a b s t r a c t Pharmacology in Chile has about 75 years of history and from its beginning until today has grown exponentially. Today, pharmacology is taught in the biomedical careers of the main Chilean universities and research centers in pharmacology are in the north, central and south of Chile. This editorial offers an overview of the main milestones that have led to the consolidation of Chilean pharmacology in Latin America and the world. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. “From the mid forties and up to the late sixties” Main actors of this time-period are those pharmacologists that should be considered fathers and initiators of experimental pharmacology in Chile: Jorge Mardones Restat, a medical doctor and academic from the Universidad de Chile (UCh) and Fernando García-Huidobro also a medical doctor and academic but now from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). 1.1. Dr. Jorge Mardones Restat He was a truly and one of the first experimental pharmacologists in Chile. In addition, he was the first president of the Chilean Society of Pharmacology (SOFARCHI) (1979); awarded the Chilean Prize of Science (1977); and still very young, nominated as minister of health by the Chilean government (1950–1952) (Fig. 1). Dr. Mardones pioneered and promoted the strict and adequate use of the statistical analysis when evaluating the relative importance of data obtained from biomedical protocols and from experimental designs in physiology and pharmacology in Chile. He was the creator and pushed forward very strongly the formation and consolidation of the first Institute of Pharmacology (later to become a Department at the UCh) with full undergraduate teaching commitments in biomedical- and health-orientated careers and with full dedication to research in experimental Pharmacology, in Chile. A whole generation of prominent Chilean pharmacologists initiated and obtained their training at this Institute; among ˜ them: Carlos Munoz (President SOFARCHI, 1980–1981), Mario Penna (President SOFARCHI, 1985–1986), Sergio Lecannelier (President SOFARCHI, 1991–1992), Natividad Segovia-Riquelme, Lutske Tampier (President SOFARCHI, 1997–1998), María Elena Quintanilla and many others. Along with them, during the mid-1950s, Dr. Mardones compiled a serial of “monographs”, the first in Chile,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2015.07.007 1043-6618/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
dealing with General Pharmacology and with special topics in System Pharmacology. Under the direction of Dr. Mardones, the Dept. of Pharmacology at the UCh, became an important center of attraction to many fellowship holders, essentially young and newly graduated medical doctors, dentists and pharmacists, coming from all over Chile and other Latin American countries such as Argentina, Uruguay and Perú. In addition, academics from this Dept. of Pharmacology played an important role promoting experimental Pharmacology in other Chilean universities. The task performed by Dr S. Lecannelier during this time-period at the Universidad de Concepción (UDEC), in the mid-south of Chile, is an example of such an important role. The “monographs” in Pharmacology compiled by J. Mardones, finally led him to generate by the mid-1970s, the first Chilean textbook of Pharmacology, addressed primarily to undergraduate students from medical, dental, pharmacy and other biomedical careers. This textbook was written with the participation of 29 collaborators, all academics and members of the Dept. of Pharmacology, UCh (Fig. 2). During the 1950s, Dr. Mardones together with Natividad Segovia-Riquelme and Lutske Tampier, were able to develop and isolate through “breeding” techniques two strains of rats which differ in regard to the spontaneous consumption of ethanol. One of those strain was characterized by a spontaneous and high consumption or “appetite” for ethanol (named UChB rats)¸ while the other strain exhibited a low “appetite” and indeed they rejected to consume ethanol (named UChA). These research findings influenced very strongly and in a pioneering way the concept of genetic characteristics as a determinant factor during the consumption and abuse of ethanol and other drugs. These strains of rats are presently being used by research groups at UCh to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying addiction and dependence to ethanol and other drugs of abuse.
“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” / Pharmacological Research 101 (2015) 2–8
Fig. 1. Dr. Jorge Mardones Restat, first president of SOFARCHI
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Fig. 3. Dr. Fernando García-Huidobro. He is a founding member of SOFARCHI and is considered one of the fathers of Chilean pharmacology.
1.2. Dr. Fernando García-Huidobro This introverted and rather quiet medical doctor from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) was the other important experimental pharmacologist in Chile during this time-period, starting at the early-1950s (Fig. 3). This was a time in which Ariens and Stephenson had developed their concepts of “intrinsic activity” and “efficacy” of the drug–receptor complex in order to account for the diversity of biological effects triggered by the interaction of a drug with its receptor. F. García-Huidobro together with H. Croxatto, through an analysis of dose–response curves generated by adrenergic drugs acting upon peripheral organs, proposed that the formation of the drug–receptor complex was associated with a change in the receptor structure within the membrane. Actually, a change to a “crystal-type structure”, involving therefore a release of energy which thermodynamically facilitated the biological responses observed in these peripheral organs following
the interaction of the drug with its receptor. At this time (1950s) the model of membrane that predominated was that of Danielli and Davson, a rigid membrane model. The findings by F. GarcíaHuidobro also occurred much earlier than the “fluid mosaic model of cell membranes” proposed by Singer and Nicholson in 1972 and the “mobile or floating receptor hypothesis” formulated in 1974. Therefore, the proposition of García-Huidobro and Croxatto, presented in the late-1950s, was indeed pioneering for that timeperiod. In addition, during the 1960s, F. García-Huidobro along wih Carmen Maggiolo developed a method to implant morphine “pellets” in mice, which allowed them to induce a rapid physical dependence and addiction to morphine in these animals. This method was one of the first and most successful experimental models to study dependence and central tolerance to drugs like morphine in mice and rats.
Fig. 2. First Pharmacology book edited in Chile by Dr. Jorge Mardones Restat and colleagues.
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“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” / Pharmacological Research 101 (2015) 2–8
Fig. 4. Msc. Jorge Abarca (left) and Dr. Jorge Belmar (right) two members of SOFARCHI and of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Jorge Belmar was SOFARCHI president between 1987 and 1988.
By using the experimental model described above numerous physiological studies followed, both in vivo and in peripheral isolated organs and in the presence of different types of drugs, to learn about the possible mechanisms involved during the addiction to morphine in mice. Dr. Enrique Contreras, a visiting academic from UDEC, participated in part of these studies. He later became a determinant actor in the development of experimental pharmacology at this important University located at the center-south region of Chile. 2. “From the early seventies and up to the early nineties” Two important facts occurred during this time-period in Chile with regard to development of experimental pharmacology. The first one was the initiation and consolidation of Biochemical Pharmacology in Chile, and the second was the foundation of the Chilean Society of Pharmacology (Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, SOFARCHI). 2.1. The beginning of Biochemical Pharmacology in Chile The advances in cell biology and biochemistry starting the midpart of the last century exerted a great influence on the progress of experimental pharmacology which up to that time usually resorted to physiological designs in order to generate data. Jorge Lewin, a medical doctor and professor of pharmacology at PUC, stimulated and initiated steps at this Chilean university during the early1970s in order to incorporate scientists with a clear orientation towards experimental pharmacology and with a solid formation in cell and biochemical pharmacology. This was the case for Humberto Viveros (Medical Doctor and Neuropharmacologist, with postdoctoral training at Duke University, USA); Gonzalo Bustos (Biochemist and Neuropsychopharmacologist, with a Ph.D. and postdoctoral training at University of Toronto, Canada and Yale University, USA; respectively) and Jorge Belmar (Biologist, with training in Neuroendocrinology and Neuropharmacology, at Heymanns Institute of Pharmacology, Belgium) (Fig. 4). These three scientists contributed to the start and to the building-up of cell and biochemical pharmacology in Chile. The political events that led to a military coup d’etat in Chile during 1973 triggered the return of Dr. Viveros to USA. The responsibility to form and consolidate a laboratory of biochemical pharmacology in Chile was left then to G. Bustos and J. Belmar. The laboratory of biochemical pharmacology at the PUC, the first of its kind in Chile, lasted for almost 35 years, up to 2008 approximately. It was a particularly successful laboratory both in
Fig. 5. Dr. Esteban Aliaga (left) and Dr. Gonzalo Bustos (right), during the early 1990s, performing one of the first in vivo brain microdialysis studies on anesthetized animals in Chile. Gonzalo Bustos was one of the founders of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and President of SOFARCHI between 2001 and 2002.
the academic sphere and in the achievements of advanced research; in the introduction of new and up to date methodologies; in the training of young academics, postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, as well as undergraduate students; in the implementation of international post-graduate courses with active participation of foreign academics and students from South America, North America and Europe; in promoting numerous exchanges with prestigious scientists and pharmacologists from abroad; and in the ability to gather a wide variety of financial support, whether local, public or private, in order to support the different activities involved. Publications generated from this laboratory show that it was a pioneer and the first in Chile and South America to report studies on brain dopamine alongside the introduction of a wide spectrum of associated methodologies, among them and also for the first time in South America, the in vivo brain microdialysis techniques introduced by G. Bustos (Fig. 5). During this time-period, a whole array of studies were performed on the mechanisms that regulate the biosynthesis, storage and release of brain dopamine, its coupling with neuronal depolarization and its modification by drugs, in particular ethanol and antipsychotics. Besides, studies were also conducted in this period to learn about possible chemical reciprocal interactions between dopamine-and glutamate-neurons in the brain and the role of different type of receptors involved in these interactions. In fact, the laboratory of biochemical pharmacology was one of the first to report these interactions, between 1979 and 1986, and to propose that they might play a fundamental role in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders such as Parkinson and schizophrenia, respectively. This was a time in which many neuroscientists and neuropharmacologists questioned and still did not accept a neurotransmitter role for glutamate in the brain. By the late-1980s, studies were started to explore possible neurochemical adaptive changes of dopamine-and glutamate-neurons in animal experimental models which simulate early and presymptomatic stages of brain neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson and Huntington disease. Additionally, and also in a pioneering way, the laboratory of biochemical pharmacology documented and studied during this period, numerous non-genomic effects exerted by steroidal hormones and their metabolites upon dopamine-, noradrenaline-, and GABA-neuronal systems, associated to peripheral organs involved in reproductive and sexual functions. Finally, it should be said that the laboratory of biochemical pharmacology generated and trained numerous scientists which have had or still have a great impact and influence on the growth and development of Chilean pharmacology. Among those scientists we will mention here the ones who have participated signifi-
“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” / Pharmacological Research 101 (2015) 2–8
cantly in leading and direction activities at SOFARCHI and/or at the sole PhD program in Pharmacology presently existing in Chile: Jorge Belmar (President SOFARCHI, 1987–1988), Gonzalo Bustos (President SOFARCHI, 2001–2002), María Isolde Rudolph (President SOFARCHI, 2003–2004), Hernán E. Lara (President SOFARCHI, 2007–2008 and one of the founders of the PhD program in Pharmacology, UCh), Jenny Fiedler (Director and main coordinator of the core course “Advanced Molecular Pharmacology”, PhD program in Pharmacology, UCh), Ramón Sotomayor-Zárate (Present President, SOFARCHI, 2015–2016), Georgina M. Renard (Present Secretary, SOFARCHI, 2015–2016) and Viviana Noriega (Present Treasurer, SOFARCHI, 2013–2016). In the 1970s, Biochemical Pharmacology was also developed in an important manner at the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine at UCh, motivated primarily by two academics of this department, Antonio Morello and Lionel Gil. Both researchers, together with other colleagues, performed numerous biochemical studies related to biotransformation of drugs, effects of drugs on mitochondrial-–microsomal functions and pharmacology of “oxidative stress”. The contribution of Dr. Antonio Morello was particularly important (Chemist & Pharmaceutic, Doctor of Chemistry, Universidad de Western Ontario, Ontario, Canada) (Fig. 6). He led a successful and productive research line related to the biochemical pharmacology of Chagas disease induced by the “Trypanosoma cruzi”, which is a parasitic disease importantly distributed in the North of Chile and other South American countries. At the end of the 90s Dr. Morello became Director of the newly created “Program of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology”, which brought together academics and researchers from the old Departments of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacology, and that was part of the also newly created Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine. In this sense, the “Program of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology” of the UCh has been an important multidisciplinary pole of several Chilean and foreign pharmacologist and of successfully lines of research currently in progress: pain (Gianni Pinardi , Hugo F. Miranda, Teresa Pelissier, Carlos Paeile and Fernando Sierralta), psychopharmacology (Gabriela Díaz-Véliz and Sergio Mora, both Presidents of the Chilean Society of Pharmacology between 1999 and 2000 and 2009–2010, respectively), neuropsychopharmacology (Ariel Goméz Galera , Marío Herrera-Marschitz), biotransformation and Chagas disease (Antonio Morello and Juan Diego Maya), alcohol addiction (Lustke Tampier, M. Elena Quintanilla, Yedi Israel and Mario Rivera-Meza) and cardiovascular-clinical pharmacology (Juan Carlos Prieto, Viviana Noriega, Ramón Rodrigo and Rodrigo Castillo).
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Fig. 6. Dr. Antonio Morello. He is a member of SOFARCHI and first Director of Program in Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile.
2.2. The Chilean Society of Pharmacology (SOFARCHI) At the beginning of the 1970s, the idea and necessity of creating a scientific society focusing on the development and disclosure of experimental pharmacology in Chile began to germinate. The national state of art in the field of biological sciences was dominated almost exclusively by the Chilean Society of Biology and a projection of pharmacologists and Chilean experimental pharmacology ˜ in one’s own society was needed. Carlos Munoz ( ), academic at the Department of Pharmacology at UCh was fundamental and the main promoter of this process. Other academics from the UCh followed him, Sergio Lecannelier ( ) and Mario Penna ( ) (Fig. 7). ˜ could also combine the enthusiasm and commitment Dr. Munoz of major academics from other Chilean universities that cultivated experimental pharmacology. The Chilean Society of Pharmacology, SOFARCHI, was founded at the end of the 1970s and its first president was Dr. Jorge Mardones Restat who organized the first Congress of this Society in 1979 in the city of Valdivia, south of Chile. In 1982, occurred the
˜ (A), Dr. Mario Penna (B) and Dr. Sergio Lecannelier (C) are three of the main promoters of SOFARCHI foundation in the mid-1970s. Fig. 7. Dr. Carlos Munoz
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“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” / Pharmacological Research 101 (2015) 2–8
first significant participation of this Society in the international field with the organization in Chile of the successful IX Latin American Congress of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. This was repeated during 1994 and 2008 with the organization in Chile of the XIV and XVIII Latin American Congress of Pharmacology, respectively. In this last Congress of the Latin American Association of Pharmacology (2008) attended nearly 450 registered participants, one third of which corresponded to foreign participants. Regarding SOFARCHI organization, the important participation of women pharmacologists who have recently obtained their postgraduate degrees in pharmacology and are incorporated into the main Chilean universities (Fig. 8A) should be pointed out. On the other hand, each year new members from postgraduate programs in pharmacology and related disciplines are incorporated into the SOFARCHI in the student category (Fig. 8B). It should also be noted that during the last 10 years there has been a renewal age in the age distribution of society members, which led that nearly a third of the members are less than 40 years old (Fig. 8C). Chilean Society of Pharmacology has allowed for a significant integration at national (Fig. 9) and international level among scientists dedicated to the development of this discipline. An important contribution that we will discuss later, were the efforts of this Society during the 1990s to promote the creation of a unique PhD program in pharmacology which could graduate both Chilean and Latin-american students. This doctoral program was finally created ˜ and promoted by Dr. Hernán E. Lara and Dr. Luis Nunez-Vergara at the Universidad de Chile, with the strong support from the Chilean Society of Pharmacology. 3. From the early nineties and up to now In Chile, the beginning of the 1990s is marked by the return to democracy after 18 years of authoritarian military government. This had clear implications for the national scientific community due to the return of numerous scientists who had left Chile after September 1973. Besides it involved a clear and significant increase in the State and public financial support for research projects and postgraduate programs, primarily doctorates. These activities were streamlined and restructured after 1990s, and this also affected in a positive way, the development of experimental pharmacology in Chile. On the other hand, during this period started to appear very strongly in the world the influence of biology and molecular genetics, with their new techniques and methodologies, revolutionizing biomedicine, and generating new and numerous disease models from which pharmacology could not be kept apart. This has made possible to explore the use of new drugs, and to expand the spectrum of the study of the mechanisms involved both at molecular, cellular and body level. This also has been reflected in experimental pharmacology research in Chile during this period. Three aspects characterize the advancement of Chilean pharmacology in this last period: the creation of the PhD program in Pharmacology at the UCh; the incorporation of new academics, Chilean or foreigners, trained in other countries with national and/or international funding; and the positive influence of new techniques in molecular biology and genetic, which are the new tools available to Chilean pharmacologists. 3.1. PhD program in Pharmacology at the Universidad de Chile (UCh) At the beginning of the 1990s, there were numerous doctoral programs in Chile in the Life Sciences field (Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics, Physiology, Ecology, etc.). Most of them were created in the mid 1960s and the 1970s, first at the UCh and then at the PUC. Although there was not a formal
Fig. 8. Percentage of members according to gender (A), to membership category (B) and to age range from the Chilean Society of Pharmacology in 2015.
PhD program in Pharmacology, many of the thesis work carried out during that time had pharmacological substrates and components. At undergraduate level, pharmacology was taught widely and with great success in many careers in the health field at main Chilean universities. Then the question was raised, whether it was necessary to invest resources, efforts, infrastructure, logistics and personnel, in a country with limited resources, in order to build-up a PhD program in Pharmacology. After all, many centers or departments of pharmacology in the world function perfectly well with a significant number of professors who have never had a formal training in
“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” / Pharmacological Research 101 (2015) 2–8
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Fig. 9. Number of SOFARCHI members in different Chilean regions during 2015.
implemented the basis in 2002 of the sole PhD program in Pharmacology that is currently being given in Chile. The PhD Program in Pharmacology is currently performed at UCh and involves a joint effort between the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Odontology and Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology. It also has academic collaboration of pharmacologists from PUC, UDEC and other Chilean universities. This is reflected by the fact that 32 academics of these faculties and Universities constitute the staff of the core and main course of this program (“Advanced Molecular Pharmacology”). This course is addressed today by Dr. J. Fiedler. A significant advancement has been the incorporation of foreign candidates to this program, since it has received students from other countries in Latin America, such as Costa Rica, Cuba, Colombia and Peru. Up to now this PhD program has graduated 47 PhDs in Pharmacology and has an annual average enrollment of 12 students.
Fig. 10. Dr. Cristián Zambrano (left) was the first graduate of Ph.D. program in Pharmacology at the Universidad de Chile (2007). Dr. Hernán E. Lara (right) is currently the Director of this Ph.D. program.
pharmacology programs and still perform an outstanding research in experimental pharmacology. At the Society of Pharmacology, during Sergio Mora and Gonzalo Bustos presidency, from 1999 to 2002, the possible answers to the above issues were extensively discussed. In fact, under G. Bustos presidency (2001–2002), a symposium was held with outstanding national biologists, pharmacologists or not pharmacologists, to assess if it was necessary to generate a PhD Pharmacology program in Chile. And if the answer was yes, which was the feasibility to create a national program? SOFARCHI suggested, after these discussions, that it was necessary to plan for and build, a national PhD program. At that time, the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical ˜ Sciences at UCh and with the initiatives of Dr. Luis Nunez-Vergara ( ) as Dean and Dr. Hernán E. Lara (Fig. 10), went through and
3.2. New initiatives in scientific research, poles of technological development and entrepreneurship Chile is still in a learning process to increase levels of innovation in the economy by promoting science and technology. The creation of the National Council for Competitiveness by the Chilean government in 2005 represents a most relevant milestone in an effort to improve national competitiveness based innovation. In fact, the major Chilean national agencies for research and development (R&D) and Innovation, such as CONICYT (National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research), CORFO (Chilean Economic Development Agency) and FIA (Foundation for Agrarian Innovation) have created several new grants and programs for scientist to translate their academic research into science-based commercial products. Consequently, we expect that Chile will improve its international performance and competitiveness in the coming years as a result of more aggressive policies towards including R&D in the economy. SOFARCHI is willing to embrace the challenge by promoting entrepreneurship and providing entrepreneurial experiences to members of this society. In fact, some of our members
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“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” / Pharmacological Research 101 (2015) 2–8
have taken the first steps by doing remarkable achievements in this area. For example, the first patented application for diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease based old FDA-approved benzimidazoles drugs were developed by two SOFARCHI members in Chile, Drs. Ricardo Maccioni and Leonel Rojo in 2007. These groundbreaking discoveries were presented in SOFARCHI annual meetings and later led the researchers to span off a new hi-tech company focused on innovative therapeutic/diagnostic technologies for neuropsychiatric diseases. Similar experiences are under development by SOFARCHI members at Universidad Arturo Prat, Universidad de Concepción, Universidad de Valparaíso, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad de Chile. Thus, we strongly believe that these efforts of our members will contribute to position Chile in the area of biomedical innovation. In SOFARCHI, we know that this, by no means, is an easy task, since our innovation system in Chile is still young and weak. However, SOFARCHI is moving steadily to strengthen the entrepreneurial culture and to increase innovative activity within our members. In the south of Chile, the UDEC has been converted in a scientific pole in biomedicine area during the last years. This university, that is 96 years old, has created a Center of Advanced Microscopy (CMABioBio) which is a benchmark in Chile and Latin America. Besides, the Center of Biomedicine-UDEC is the only university center for the development of clinical studies in therapeutic equivalence and pharmacokinetics in humans that is currently active in Chile. The UDEC has generated a great number of R&D researches that created importantly spin off, for example PATAGONIA NEUROACTIVE, which is dedicated to the development of pharmacologically active compounds from natural sources, native of the South of Chile. 4. Conclusions Chilean pharmacology started to be experimental during the mid-1940s and this was strongly motivated by the personal achievements and dedications of pioneering pharmacologists such as J. Mardones and F. García-Huidoro, both academics from UCh and PUC, respectively. A whole generation of pharmacologists then followed from that period-time and up to now, which involved their personal initiatives as well as the participation of different Universities from all over Chile, to consolidate an experimental pharmacology with now exhibits solid basis in Physiology, Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology and Genetics. The creation of SOFARCHI in the late 1970s was essential to allow for a positive communication and integration among Chilean pharmacologists as well as scientific exchanges with Latin American, North American and Europeans experimental pharmacologists. SOFARCHI keeps its active role to foster the development of pharmacology in Chile, addressing important efforts towards the training of young pharmacologists and towards the stimulation of
new avenues of research with significant up to date experimental pharmacological involvement. A PhD program in Pharmacology was created by the early 2000s, at the University of Chile in Santiago. This program has resulted to be successful and an important pole of attraction for many wellprepared graduate students from Chile and other Latin American countries. This program has also involved the active and enthusiastic participation of many academics from biomedical disciplines other than pharmacology, perhaps attracted by the possibility to enrich their views and collaborative potentials of their own research projects considering the new environment of scientific communication arisen from this PhD in Pharmacology. It is still a question as to why this is the only sole PhD program in Pharmacology currently existing in Chile. There are at least five other Universities in Chile, besides University of Chile, with solid and well reputed biomedical centers of research, which could be in a position to offer PhD programs in Pharmacology whether alone or through a combined enterprise and effort among them. This could certainly help to further strengthen biomedical sciences and pharmacology in Chile.
a
Gonzalo Bustos a,∗ Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, Chile
Georgina M. Renard a,b Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, Chile b Instituto de Fisiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile a
Viviana Noriega a,c Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, Chile c Facultad de Medicina, Escuela de Química y Farmacia, Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile a
Ramón Sotomayor-Zárate a,b Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, Chile b Instituto de Fisiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile a
∗ Corresponding author at: Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile., Av. Independencia 1027, Independencia, Santiago de Chile, Chile. E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Bustos)
28 June 2015 3 July 2015 5 July 2015 Available online 17 July 2015
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Pharmacological Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yphrs
“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” a r t i c l e
i n f o
Keywords: Editorial Chilean pharmacology SOFARCHI
a b s t r a c t Pharmacology in Chile has about 75 years of history and from its beginning until today has grown exponentially. Today, pharmacology is taught in the biomedical careers of the main Chilean universities and research centers in pharmacology are in the north, central and south of Chile. This editorial offers an overview of the main milestones that have led to the consolidation of Chilean pharmacology in Latin America and the world. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. “From the mid forties and up to the late sixties” Main actors of this time-period are those pharmacologists that should be considered fathers and initiators of experimental pharmacology in Chile: Jorge Mardones Restat, a medical doctor and academic from the Universidad de Chile (UCh) and Fernando García-Huidobro also a medical doctor and academic but now from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). 1.1. Dr. Jorge Mardones Restat He was a truly and one of the first experimental pharmacologists in Chile. In addition, he was the first president of the Chilean Society of Pharmacology (SOFARCHI) (1979); awarded the Chilean Prize of Science (1977); and still very young, nominated as minister of health by the Chilean government (1950–1952) (Fig. 1). Dr. Mardones pioneered and promoted the strict and adequate use of the statistical analysis when evaluating the relative importance of data obtained from biomedical protocols and from experimental designs in physiology and pharmacology in Chile. He was the creator and pushed forward very strongly the formation and consolidation of the first Institute of Pharmacology (later to become a Department at the UCh) with full undergraduate teaching commitments in biomedical- and health-orientated careers and with full dedication to research in experimental Pharmacology, in Chile. A whole generation of prominent Chilean pharmacologists initiated and obtained their training at this Institute; among ˜ them: Carlos Munoz (President SOFARCHI, 1980–1981), Mario Penna (President SOFARCHI, 1985–1986), Sergio Lecannelier (President SOFARCHI, 1991–1992), Natividad Segovia-Riquelme, Lutske Tampier (President SOFARCHI, 1997–1998), María Elena Quintanilla and many others. Along with them, during the mid-1950s, Dr. Mardones compiled a serial of “monographs”, the first in Chile,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2015.07.007 1043-6618/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
dealing with General Pharmacology and with special topics in System Pharmacology. Under the direction of Dr. Mardones, the Dept. of Pharmacology at the UCh, became an important center of attraction to many fellowship holders, essentially young and newly graduated medical doctors, dentists and pharmacists, coming from all over Chile and other Latin American countries such as Argentina, Uruguay and Perú. In addition, academics from this Dept. of Pharmacology played an important role promoting experimental Pharmacology in other Chilean universities. The task performed by Dr S. Lecannelier during this time-period at the Universidad de Concepción (UDEC), in the mid-south of Chile, is an example of such an important role. The “monographs” in Pharmacology compiled by J. Mardones, finally led him to generate by the mid-1970s, the first Chilean textbook of Pharmacology, addressed primarily to undergraduate students from medical, dental, pharmacy and other biomedical careers. This textbook was written with the participation of 29 collaborators, all academics and members of the Dept. of Pharmacology, UCh (Fig. 2). During the 1950s, Dr. Mardones together with Natividad Segovia-Riquelme and Lutske Tampier, were able to develop and isolate through “breeding” techniques two strains of rats which differ in regard to the spontaneous consumption of ethanol. One of those strain was characterized by a spontaneous and high consumption or “appetite” for ethanol (named UChB rats)¸ while the other strain exhibited a low “appetite” and indeed they rejected to consume ethanol (named UChA). These research findings influenced very strongly and in a pioneering way the concept of genetic characteristics as a determinant factor during the consumption and abuse of ethanol and other drugs. These strains of rats are presently being used by research groups at UCh to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying addiction and dependence to ethanol and other drugs of abuse.
“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” / Pharmacological Research 101 (2015) 2–8
Fig. 1. Dr. Jorge Mardones Restat, first president of SOFARCHI
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Fig. 3. Dr. Fernando García-Huidobro. He is a founding member of SOFARCHI and is considered one of the fathers of Chilean pharmacology.
1.2. Dr. Fernando García-Huidobro This introverted and rather quiet medical doctor from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) was the other important experimental pharmacologist in Chile during this time-period, starting at the early-1950s (Fig. 3). This was a time in which Ariens and Stephenson had developed their concepts of “intrinsic activity” and “efficacy” of the drug–receptor complex in order to account for the diversity of biological effects triggered by the interaction of a drug with its receptor. F. García-Huidobro together with H. Croxatto, through an analysis of dose–response curves generated by adrenergic drugs acting upon peripheral organs, proposed that the formation of the drug–receptor complex was associated with a change in the receptor structure within the membrane. Actually, a change to a “crystal-type structure”, involving therefore a release of energy which thermodynamically facilitated the biological responses observed in these peripheral organs following
the interaction of the drug with its receptor. At this time (1950s) the model of membrane that predominated was that of Danielli and Davson, a rigid membrane model. The findings by F. GarcíaHuidobro also occurred much earlier than the “fluid mosaic model of cell membranes” proposed by Singer and Nicholson in 1972 and the “mobile or floating receptor hypothesis” formulated in 1974. Therefore, the proposition of García-Huidobro and Croxatto, presented in the late-1950s, was indeed pioneering for that timeperiod. In addition, during the 1960s, F. García-Huidobro along wih Carmen Maggiolo developed a method to implant morphine “pellets” in mice, which allowed them to induce a rapid physical dependence and addiction to morphine in these animals. This method was one of the first and most successful experimental models to study dependence and central tolerance to drugs like morphine in mice and rats.
Fig. 2. First Pharmacology book edited in Chile by Dr. Jorge Mardones Restat and colleagues.
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Fig. 4. Msc. Jorge Abarca (left) and Dr. Jorge Belmar (right) two members of SOFARCHI and of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Jorge Belmar was SOFARCHI president between 1987 and 1988.
By using the experimental model described above numerous physiological studies followed, both in vivo and in peripheral isolated organs and in the presence of different types of drugs, to learn about the possible mechanisms involved during the addiction to morphine in mice. Dr. Enrique Contreras, a visiting academic from UDEC, participated in part of these studies. He later became a determinant actor in the development of experimental pharmacology at this important University located at the center-south region of Chile. 2. “From the early seventies and up to the early nineties” Two important facts occurred during this time-period in Chile with regard to development of experimental pharmacology. The first one was the initiation and consolidation of Biochemical Pharmacology in Chile, and the second was the foundation of the Chilean Society of Pharmacology (Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, SOFARCHI). 2.1. The beginning of Biochemical Pharmacology in Chile The advances in cell biology and biochemistry starting the midpart of the last century exerted a great influence on the progress of experimental pharmacology which up to that time usually resorted to physiological designs in order to generate data. Jorge Lewin, a medical doctor and professor of pharmacology at PUC, stimulated and initiated steps at this Chilean university during the early1970s in order to incorporate scientists with a clear orientation towards experimental pharmacology and with a solid formation in cell and biochemical pharmacology. This was the case for Humberto Viveros (Medical Doctor and Neuropharmacologist, with postdoctoral training at Duke University, USA); Gonzalo Bustos (Biochemist and Neuropsychopharmacologist, with a Ph.D. and postdoctoral training at University of Toronto, Canada and Yale University, USA; respectively) and Jorge Belmar (Biologist, with training in Neuroendocrinology and Neuropharmacology, at Heymanns Institute of Pharmacology, Belgium) (Fig. 4). These three scientists contributed to the start and to the building-up of cell and biochemical pharmacology in Chile. The political events that led to a military coup d’etat in Chile during 1973 triggered the return of Dr. Viveros to USA. The responsibility to form and consolidate a laboratory of biochemical pharmacology in Chile was left then to G. Bustos and J. Belmar. The laboratory of biochemical pharmacology at the PUC, the first of its kind in Chile, lasted for almost 35 years, up to 2008 approximately. It was a particularly successful laboratory both in
Fig. 5. Dr. Esteban Aliaga (left) and Dr. Gonzalo Bustos (right), during the early 1990s, performing one of the first in vivo brain microdialysis studies on anesthetized animals in Chile. Gonzalo Bustos was one of the founders of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and President of SOFARCHI between 2001 and 2002.
the academic sphere and in the achievements of advanced research; in the introduction of new and up to date methodologies; in the training of young academics, postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, as well as undergraduate students; in the implementation of international post-graduate courses with active participation of foreign academics and students from South America, North America and Europe; in promoting numerous exchanges with prestigious scientists and pharmacologists from abroad; and in the ability to gather a wide variety of financial support, whether local, public or private, in order to support the different activities involved. Publications generated from this laboratory show that it was a pioneer and the first in Chile and South America to report studies on brain dopamine alongside the introduction of a wide spectrum of associated methodologies, among them and also for the first time in South America, the in vivo brain microdialysis techniques introduced by G. Bustos (Fig. 5). During this time-period, a whole array of studies were performed on the mechanisms that regulate the biosynthesis, storage and release of brain dopamine, its coupling with neuronal depolarization and its modification by drugs, in particular ethanol and antipsychotics. Besides, studies were also conducted in this period to learn about possible chemical reciprocal interactions between dopamine-and glutamate-neurons in the brain and the role of different type of receptors involved in these interactions. In fact, the laboratory of biochemical pharmacology was one of the first to report these interactions, between 1979 and 1986, and to propose that they might play a fundamental role in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders such as Parkinson and schizophrenia, respectively. This was a time in which many neuroscientists and neuropharmacologists questioned and still did not accept a neurotransmitter role for glutamate in the brain. By the late-1980s, studies were started to explore possible neurochemical adaptive changes of dopamine-and glutamate-neurons in animal experimental models which simulate early and presymptomatic stages of brain neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson and Huntington disease. Additionally, and also in a pioneering way, the laboratory of biochemical pharmacology documented and studied during this period, numerous non-genomic effects exerted by steroidal hormones and their metabolites upon dopamine-, noradrenaline-, and GABA-neuronal systems, associated to peripheral organs involved in reproductive and sexual functions. Finally, it should be said that the laboratory of biochemical pharmacology generated and trained numerous scientists which have had or still have a great impact and influence on the growth and development of Chilean pharmacology. Among those scientists we will mention here the ones who have participated signifi-
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cantly in leading and direction activities at SOFARCHI and/or at the sole PhD program in Pharmacology presently existing in Chile: Jorge Belmar (President SOFARCHI, 1987–1988), Gonzalo Bustos (President SOFARCHI, 2001–2002), María Isolde Rudolph (President SOFARCHI, 2003–2004), Hernán E. Lara (President SOFARCHI, 2007–2008 and one of the founders of the PhD program in Pharmacology, UCh), Jenny Fiedler (Director and main coordinator of the core course “Advanced Molecular Pharmacology”, PhD program in Pharmacology, UCh), Ramón Sotomayor-Zárate (Present President, SOFARCHI, 2015–2016), Georgina M. Renard (Present Secretary, SOFARCHI, 2015–2016) and Viviana Noriega (Present Treasurer, SOFARCHI, 2013–2016). In the 1970s, Biochemical Pharmacology was also developed in an important manner at the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine at UCh, motivated primarily by two academics of this department, Antonio Morello and Lionel Gil. Both researchers, together with other colleagues, performed numerous biochemical studies related to biotransformation of drugs, effects of drugs on mitochondrial-–microsomal functions and pharmacology of “oxidative stress”. The contribution of Dr. Antonio Morello was particularly important (Chemist & Pharmaceutic, Doctor of Chemistry, Universidad de Western Ontario, Ontario, Canada) (Fig. 6). He led a successful and productive research line related to the biochemical pharmacology of Chagas disease induced by the “Trypanosoma cruzi”, which is a parasitic disease importantly distributed in the North of Chile and other South American countries. At the end of the 90s Dr. Morello became Director of the newly created “Program of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology”, which brought together academics and researchers from the old Departments of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacology, and that was part of the also newly created Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine. In this sense, the “Program of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology” of the UCh has been an important multidisciplinary pole of several Chilean and foreign pharmacologist and of successfully lines of research currently in progress: pain (Gianni Pinardi , Hugo F. Miranda, Teresa Pelissier, Carlos Paeile and Fernando Sierralta), psychopharmacology (Gabriela Díaz-Véliz and Sergio Mora, both Presidents of the Chilean Society of Pharmacology between 1999 and 2000 and 2009–2010, respectively), neuropsychopharmacology (Ariel Goméz Galera , Marío Herrera-Marschitz), biotransformation and Chagas disease (Antonio Morello and Juan Diego Maya), alcohol addiction (Lustke Tampier, M. Elena Quintanilla, Yedi Israel and Mario Rivera-Meza) and cardiovascular-clinical pharmacology (Juan Carlos Prieto, Viviana Noriega, Ramón Rodrigo and Rodrigo Castillo).
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Fig. 6. Dr. Antonio Morello. He is a member of SOFARCHI and first Director of Program in Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile.
2.2. The Chilean Society of Pharmacology (SOFARCHI) At the beginning of the 1970s, the idea and necessity of creating a scientific society focusing on the development and disclosure of experimental pharmacology in Chile began to germinate. The national state of art in the field of biological sciences was dominated almost exclusively by the Chilean Society of Biology and a projection of pharmacologists and Chilean experimental pharmacology ˜ in one’s own society was needed. Carlos Munoz ( ), academic at the Department of Pharmacology at UCh was fundamental and the main promoter of this process. Other academics from the UCh followed him, Sergio Lecannelier ( ) and Mario Penna ( ) (Fig. 7). ˜ could also combine the enthusiasm and commitment Dr. Munoz of major academics from other Chilean universities that cultivated experimental pharmacology. The Chilean Society of Pharmacology, SOFARCHI, was founded at the end of the 1970s and its first president was Dr. Jorge Mardones Restat who organized the first Congress of this Society in 1979 in the city of Valdivia, south of Chile. In 1982, occurred the
˜ (A), Dr. Mario Penna (B) and Dr. Sergio Lecannelier (C) are three of the main promoters of SOFARCHI foundation in the mid-1970s. Fig. 7. Dr. Carlos Munoz
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first significant participation of this Society in the international field with the organization in Chile of the successful IX Latin American Congress of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. This was repeated during 1994 and 2008 with the organization in Chile of the XIV and XVIII Latin American Congress of Pharmacology, respectively. In this last Congress of the Latin American Association of Pharmacology (2008) attended nearly 450 registered participants, one third of which corresponded to foreign participants. Regarding SOFARCHI organization, the important participation of women pharmacologists who have recently obtained their postgraduate degrees in pharmacology and are incorporated into the main Chilean universities (Fig. 8A) should be pointed out. On the other hand, each year new members from postgraduate programs in pharmacology and related disciplines are incorporated into the SOFARCHI in the student category (Fig. 8B). It should also be noted that during the last 10 years there has been a renewal age in the age distribution of society members, which led that nearly a third of the members are less than 40 years old (Fig. 8C). Chilean Society of Pharmacology has allowed for a significant integration at national (Fig. 9) and international level among scientists dedicated to the development of this discipline. An important contribution that we will discuss later, were the efforts of this Society during the 1990s to promote the creation of a unique PhD program in pharmacology which could graduate both Chilean and Latin-american students. This doctoral program was finally created ˜ and promoted by Dr. Hernán E. Lara and Dr. Luis Nunez-Vergara at the Universidad de Chile, with the strong support from the Chilean Society of Pharmacology. 3. From the early nineties and up to now In Chile, the beginning of the 1990s is marked by the return to democracy after 18 years of authoritarian military government. This had clear implications for the national scientific community due to the return of numerous scientists who had left Chile after September 1973. Besides it involved a clear and significant increase in the State and public financial support for research projects and postgraduate programs, primarily doctorates. These activities were streamlined and restructured after 1990s, and this also affected in a positive way, the development of experimental pharmacology in Chile. On the other hand, during this period started to appear very strongly in the world the influence of biology and molecular genetics, with their new techniques and methodologies, revolutionizing biomedicine, and generating new and numerous disease models from which pharmacology could not be kept apart. This has made possible to explore the use of new drugs, and to expand the spectrum of the study of the mechanisms involved both at molecular, cellular and body level. This also has been reflected in experimental pharmacology research in Chile during this period. Three aspects characterize the advancement of Chilean pharmacology in this last period: the creation of the PhD program in Pharmacology at the UCh; the incorporation of new academics, Chilean or foreigners, trained in other countries with national and/or international funding; and the positive influence of new techniques in molecular biology and genetic, which are the new tools available to Chilean pharmacologists. 3.1. PhD program in Pharmacology at the Universidad de Chile (UCh) At the beginning of the 1990s, there were numerous doctoral programs in Chile in the Life Sciences field (Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics, Physiology, Ecology, etc.). Most of them were created in the mid 1960s and the 1970s, first at the UCh and then at the PUC. Although there was not a formal
Fig. 8. Percentage of members according to gender (A), to membership category (B) and to age range from the Chilean Society of Pharmacology in 2015.
PhD program in Pharmacology, many of the thesis work carried out during that time had pharmacological substrates and components. At undergraduate level, pharmacology was taught widely and with great success in many careers in the health field at main Chilean universities. Then the question was raised, whether it was necessary to invest resources, efforts, infrastructure, logistics and personnel, in a country with limited resources, in order to build-up a PhD program in Pharmacology. After all, many centers or departments of pharmacology in the world function perfectly well with a significant number of professors who have never had a formal training in
“How and when Chilean Pharmacology started to be experimental and became a science” / Pharmacological Research 101 (2015) 2–8
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Fig. 9. Number of SOFARCHI members in different Chilean regions during 2015.
implemented the basis in 2002 of the sole PhD program in Pharmacology that is currently being given in Chile. The PhD Program in Pharmacology is currently performed at UCh and involves a joint effort between the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Odontology and Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology. It also has academic collaboration of pharmacologists from PUC, UDEC and other Chilean universities. This is reflected by the fact that 32 academics of these faculties and Universities constitute the staff of the core and main course of this program (“Advanced Molecular Pharmacology”). This course is addressed today by Dr. J. Fiedler. A significant advancement has been the incorporation of foreign candidates to this program, since it has received students from other countries in Latin America, such as Costa Rica, Cuba, Colombia and Peru. Up to now this PhD program has graduated 47 PhDs in Pharmacology and has an annual average enrollment of 12 students.
Fig. 10. Dr. Cristián Zambrano (left) was the first graduate of Ph.D. program in Pharmacology at the Universidad de Chile (2007). Dr. Hernán E. Lara (right) is currently the Director of this Ph.D. program.
pharmacology programs and still perform an outstanding research in experimental pharmacology. At the Society of Pharmacology, during Sergio Mora and Gonzalo Bustos presidency, from 1999 to 2002, the possible answers to the above issues were extensively discussed. In fact, under G. Bustos presidency (2001–2002), a symposium was held with outstanding national biologists, pharmacologists or not pharmacologists, to assess if it was necessary to generate a PhD Pharmacology program in Chile. And if the answer was yes, which was the feasibility to create a national program? SOFARCHI suggested, after these discussions, that it was necessary to plan for and build, a national PhD program. At that time, the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical ˜ Sciences at UCh and with the initiatives of Dr. Luis Nunez-Vergara ( ) as Dean and Dr. Hernán E. Lara (Fig. 10), went through and
3.2. New initiatives in scientific research, poles of technological development and entrepreneurship Chile is still in a learning process to increase levels of innovation in the economy by promoting science and technology. The creation of the National Council for Competitiveness by the Chilean government in 2005 represents a most relevant milestone in an effort to improve national competitiveness based innovation. In fact, the major Chilean national agencies for research and development (R&D) and Innovation, such as CONICYT (National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research), CORFO (Chilean Economic Development Agency) and FIA (Foundation for Agrarian Innovation) have created several new grants and programs for scientist to translate their academic research into science-based commercial products. Consequently, we expect that Chile will improve its international performance and competitiveness in the coming years as a result of more aggressive policies towards including R&D in the economy. SOFARCHI is willing to embrace the challenge by promoting entrepreneurship and providing entrepreneurial experiences to members of this society. In fact, some of our members
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have taken the first steps by doing remarkable achievements in this area. For example, the first patented application for diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease based old FDA-approved benzimidazoles drugs were developed by two SOFARCHI members in Chile, Drs. Ricardo Maccioni and Leonel Rojo in 2007. These groundbreaking discoveries were presented in SOFARCHI annual meetings and later led the researchers to span off a new hi-tech company focused on innovative therapeutic/diagnostic technologies for neuropsychiatric diseases. Similar experiences are under development by SOFARCHI members at Universidad Arturo Prat, Universidad de Concepción, Universidad de Valparaíso, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad de Chile. Thus, we strongly believe that these efforts of our members will contribute to position Chile in the area of biomedical innovation. In SOFARCHI, we know that this, by no means, is an easy task, since our innovation system in Chile is still young and weak. However, SOFARCHI is moving steadily to strengthen the entrepreneurial culture and to increase innovative activity within our members. In the south of Chile, the UDEC has been converted in a scientific pole in biomedicine area during the last years. This university, that is 96 years old, has created a Center of Advanced Microscopy (CMABioBio) which is a benchmark in Chile and Latin America. Besides, the Center of Biomedicine-UDEC is the only university center for the development of clinical studies in therapeutic equivalence and pharmacokinetics in humans that is currently active in Chile. The UDEC has generated a great number of R&D researches that created importantly spin off, for example PATAGONIA NEUROACTIVE, which is dedicated to the development of pharmacologically active compounds from natural sources, native of the South of Chile. 4. Conclusions Chilean pharmacology started to be experimental during the mid-1940s and this was strongly motivated by the personal achievements and dedications of pioneering pharmacologists such as J. Mardones and F. García-Huidoro, both academics from UCh and PUC, respectively. A whole generation of pharmacologists then followed from that period-time and up to now, which involved their personal initiatives as well as the participation of different Universities from all over Chile, to consolidate an experimental pharmacology with now exhibits solid basis in Physiology, Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology and Genetics. The creation of SOFARCHI in the late 1970s was essential to allow for a positive communication and integration among Chilean pharmacologists as well as scientific exchanges with Latin American, North American and Europeans experimental pharmacologists. SOFARCHI keeps its active role to foster the development of pharmacology in Chile, addressing important efforts towards the training of young pharmacologists and towards the stimulation of
new avenues of research with significant up to date experimental pharmacological involvement. A PhD program in Pharmacology was created by the early 2000s, at the University of Chile in Santiago. This program has resulted to be successful and an important pole of attraction for many wellprepared graduate students from Chile and other Latin American countries. This program has also involved the active and enthusiastic participation of many academics from biomedical disciplines other than pharmacology, perhaps attracted by the possibility to enrich their views and collaborative potentials of their own research projects considering the new environment of scientific communication arisen from this PhD in Pharmacology. It is still a question as to why this is the only sole PhD program in Pharmacology currently existing in Chile. There are at least five other Universities in Chile, besides University of Chile, with solid and well reputed biomedical centers of research, which could be in a position to offer PhD programs in Pharmacology whether alone or through a combined enterprise and effort among them. This could certainly help to further strengthen biomedical sciences and pharmacology in Chile.
a
Gonzalo Bustos a,∗ Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, Chile
Georgina M. Renard a,b Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, Chile b Instituto de Fisiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile a
Viviana Noriega a,c Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, Chile c Facultad de Medicina, Escuela de Química y Farmacia, Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile a
Ramón Sotomayor-Zárate a,b Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile, Chile b Instituto de Fisiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile a
∗ Corresponding author at: Sociedad de Farmacología de Chile., Av. Independencia 1027, Independencia, Santiago de Chile, Chile. E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Bustos)
28 June 2015 3 July 2015 5 July 2015 Available online 17 July 2015