Challenges & Opportunities in Drug Development from a Drug Safety and Metabolism Perspective
Dr. Jack H. Dean
Professor
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
Dr. Thomas Baillie
Dean
School of Pharmacy
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Drug Metabolism is a multi-faceted discipline, which ties in chemistry, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology. For this reason, industrial drug metabolism scientists have to be able to interface with experts from a variety of research areas. This integration has allowed us to advance our knowledge of drug-metabolizing enzymes to a level where drug metabolism plays a key role in the discovery and development of new drugs. There is every reason to believe that the pace of scientific progress in drug metabolism and related areas will continue to accelerate. 
In the Southern California area, there are many scientists working on drug metabolism in both academic and industrial settings. This represents a tremendous resource of talent and information that can be shared for the public good. To take advantage of this resource, we have established the