This application seeks funds to provide travel grants to young U.S. scientists to attend the XIIIth International Congress of Pharmacology in Munchen, Germany, July 26, 31, 1998. The funds will be used to assist approximately 52 young researchers. Other funds from ASPET reserves and from donations from corporations will be used to provide partial travel support for additional students, more senior scientists, and major participants in lectures and symposia. The International Congress of Pharmacology is held every four years and is the principal meeting of the International Union of Pharmacology (IUPHAR), a member of the International Council of Scientific Unions. Travel award applications will be distributed to all U.S. research institutions. A Travel Award Selection Committee, composed of ASPET members, will review applications for travel support. These funds will be used to support young scientists just receiving their doctoral degree, in post-doctoral training, or in the early stages of career development. Critical elements in the Committee's decisions will be the quality of the applicant's research and documented need for travel assistance. High priority will be given to outstanding young scientists from traditionally underrepresented minority groups. Pharmacology is a science concerned with interactions between drugs or chemicals and biological systems. It is a unique discipline in the duality of its aims: understanding all aspects of drug action, and using drugs as selective probes to elucidate normal and abnormal function in biological systems. Pharmacology has contributed impressively to the health of American citizens and to the reduction in health care costs. Leadership in providing these health benefits can only be maintained by keeping America's scientists abreast of the latest international developments. Thus it is critical that we send as many young scientists as possible to the XIIIth IUPHAR Congress.
