At the Opening Session of the 2010 International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress in association with the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, AAPS President Danny D. Shen, Ph.D. presented the following ground-breaking researchers with awards commemorating their contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences:

AAPS Distinguished Service Award - Sponsored by Analytical Bio-Chemistry Labs, Inc.

Ho-Leung Fung, Ph.D., is Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. He has made sustained contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences for over 40 years and to AAPS for over 20 years, particularly in the areas of globalization, strategic planning/leadership, and electronic publishing. His efforts helped launch The AAPS Journal, which put the association - ahead of the curve - in the arena of electronic media publishing; he currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal. Dr. Fung's work has been highly cited and he is arguably the most prominent pharmaceutical scientist working in the organic nitrate field. He is a Past-President of AAPS, an AAPS Fellow, and has served on numerous committees and task forces as a member and/or chair.

Dale E. Wurster Research Award - Funded by a Gift from Dale E. Wurster, Ph.D.

Theodore W. Randolph, Ph.D., currently serves as the Gillespie Professor of Bioengineering, co-Director of the University of Colorado's Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, and Director of the National Institutes of Health Leadership Training in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Program; he is also an AAPS Fellow. His research interests include biopharmaceutical formulation, lyophilization of proteins, protein-solvent interactions in non-aqueous environments, and protein refolding.

AAPS Research Achievement Award in Analysis and Pharmaceutical Quality - Sponsored by the AAPS Analysis and Pharmaceutical Quality (APQ) Section

Michael G. Bartlett, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of Georgia, College of Pharmacy. Dr. Bartlett is being recognized for his work on the development of novel bioanalytical methods utilized for studying biological problems. His group has had recent success developing methods for the quantitation of therapeutic macromolecules, including peptides and oligonucleotides. He has published over 100 papers, and is recognized for his combination of depth and breadth in the field of bioanalytical chemistry.

AAPS Research Achievement Award in Drug Design and Discovery - Sponsored by Allergan, Inc.

Peter A. Crooks, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of Kentucky, College of Pharmacy, and an AAPS Fellow. Dr. Crooks is known internationally for his research on the discovery of new drug entities and their development as clinical candidates. He is particularly well recognized for his work on the discovery of new therapeutic agents to treat drug addictions such as tobacco dependence, alcohol dependence, and psychostimulant abuse. Several of these novel drug entities are currently being evaluated in human clinical trials both in the U.S. and Europe.

AAPS Research Achievement Award in Formulation Design and Development - Sponsored by Pfizer, Inc.

Abu T.M. Serajuddin, Ph.D., is a professor at St. John's University, and an AAPS Fellow. His most significant contribution to the industry has been the application of basic scientific principles in all phases of drug development, ranging from the identification of clinical lead candidates to the transfer of fully developed manufacturing processes for dosage forms to pharmaceutical plants. He has invented numerous drug delivery and processing technologies and contributed extensively to the bioavailability enhancement of poorly water-soluble drugs through solid dispersion.

AAPS Research Achievement Award in Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism - Sponsored by Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research and Array Biopharma

Meindert Danhof, Ph.D., is Professor of Pharmacology and Director of Research at the Leiden-Amsterdam Center for Drug Research at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and is an AAPS Fellow. His research is on the mechanistic basis of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PKPD) modeling. This research has contributed to a new class of - mechanism-based - PKPD models with improved properties for extrapolation and prediction. He is (co-) author of 329 publications, and has mentored 42 Ph.D. students over the past 20 years.

AAPS Regulatory Sciences Achievement Award - Sponsored by Chiron Corp.

Sathyanarayana (Satyam) Upadrashta, Ph.D., RAC, is executive director, Regulatory Affairs CMC at Forest Laboratories, Inc, and is an AAPS Fellow. He has made major contributions to pharmaceutical research and to the training of scientists in pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical technology, with a strong emphasis on controlled drug delivery. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to the fields of extrusion-spheronization technology, directly compressed polymer systems, and for his dedication to science/regulations interface.

FIP presented the following individuals with the PSWC Research Achievement Award at the Opening Session (these awards were presented by FIP ImmediatePast President Kamal K. Midha, Ph.D.)

Jean Pierre Benoit, Ph.D. (Nominated by the International Society of Drug Delivery Sciences and Technology)
Angel Concheiro, Ph.D. (Nominated by the Spanish Society of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology)
Toshio Honda, Ph.D. (Nominated by the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan)
Christian R. Noe, Ph.D. (Nominated by the European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Akira Tsuji, Ph.D. (Nominated by the Academy of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Japan)
Vinod P. Shah, Ph.D. (Nominated by AAPS)
Daan Crommelin, Ph.D. (Nominated by the FIP Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences [BPS] Executive Committee [ExCo])
Panos Macheras, Ph.D. (Nominated by BPS ExCo)