This document discusses Tony J. Harmar and his contributions to pharmacology. It notes that he received the Nobel Prize in 1982, was knighted in 1984, published over 700 papers and 20 books, and developed the Vane biocascade assay technique. It discusses his work on mechanisms of aspirin and prostaglandins. It also summarizes his role as Director of R&D at the Wellcome Foundation and founding the William Harvey Research Institute. The document highlights Harmar's role as chairman of the database committee for the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) and British Pharmacological Society (BPS) Guide to Pharmacology database. It discusses achievements and goals of the committee to continue

1. In Memory of
Tony J. Harmar FRSE
28th Nov 1951 – 10th APRIL 2014
2014 JR Vane Medal lecture
Presented by Michael Spedding
British Pharmacological
Society's Fellows' Reception

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Nobel Prize 1982
Knighted 1984
700 Publications, 20 books, innumerable
awards
Vane biocascade assay technique
Mechanism of action of aspirin
Cycoloxygenases, prostaglandins,
Thromboxanes
R&D Director of Wellcome Foundation
Founded William Harvey Research
Institute

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4. Circadian rhythm of biological parameters
MT

5. Melatonin activity in the central nervous system
melatonin
Suprachiasmatic
nucleus
Light
Pineal
gland
Chronobiotic
effect
MT1 MT2
Depression ?
Neuronal Plasticity and Chronobiology are crucially important :
new antidepressant mechanisms

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VPAC2 PER1 and PER2

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Physiological definition of circadian rhythms
– food versus light

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15. Immune-Circadian Interactions

16. In memory of…our database chairman
Anthony (Tony) John Harmar, FRSE
28 November 1951 – 10 April 2014

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19. NC-IUPHAR membership
IUPHAR/BPS Guidetopharmacology
• The main committee
Chair
Michael Spedding, France
Vice Chairs
Antony Harmar – Database (Jamie Davies)
Anthony Davenport, UK - Chairman Evolving
Pharmacology Group
Rick Neubig, USA - GPCRs
Eliot Ohlstein, USA - Editor
Members
Stephen Alexander, UK
Thomas Bonner, USA
William Catterall, USA
Arthur Christopoulos, Australia
Sir Colin Dollery, UK
John Cidlowski, USA
Doriano Fabbro, Switzerland
Kozo Kaibuchi, Japan
Yoshikatsu Kanai, Japan
Alex Phipps, UK
John Peters, UK
Jean-Philippe Pin, France
• NC-IUPHAR meetings
• Twice a year (Spring and Autumn), in Edinburgh and Paris;
• Attended by members of the core committee and invited guests relevant to topics on the
agenda (e.g. corresponding members).
• Members welcome.
Ex Officio
Patrick du Souich, Canada (Clinical) - IUPHAR President
Sam Enna, USA - IUPHAR Secretary-General
Urs Ruegg, Switzerland - IUPHAR Treasurer
Simon Maxwell, UK - Educational Site Project Leader
Jamie Davies, UK - Database Principal Investigator
Joanna Sharman, UK - Database Developer
Adam Pawson, UK - Senior Database Curator
Helen Benson, UK - Database Curator
Elena Faccenda, UK - Database Curator
Christopher Southan, Sweden - Chemical Curator
Veronika Divincova, UK - Project Administrator
Matt Wright, UK - representing HGNC
Past Chairs (ex officio)
Paul Vanhoutte, China
Robert Ruffolo, USA

20. Some NC-IUPHAR achievements
• Human and organisational:
1. Celebrate the life and work of Tony Harmar – set up database at
Edinburgh.
2. IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY database based in
Edinburgh, with joint funding from IUPHAR and The British
Pharmacological Society (BPS)
3. A federation of >80 drug target subcommittees, representing
~800 expert pharmacologists worldwide, allowing an independent
academic/industrial expert-driven system of data collation and
giving recommendations on key pharmacological interactions.
4. A unique human organisation allowing experts to validate their
own areas, with authority, and to have their propositions
published with high impact (good for their young co-authors) and
freely available in the database.
5. Sometimes the human/scientific aspects can lead to real
controversy !

21. Some NC-IUPHAR achievements
• Nomenclature:
1. Cumulative H-Index for NC-IUPHAR is 72.
2. The 5-HT receptor nomenclature paper has been cited 2878 times,
prostanoid receptor nomenclature 1721, adenosine receptors 2017,
chemokine receptors 2022, cannabinoid receptors 696, muscarinic
receptors 1226.
3. The nomenclature for voltage-gated ion channels was entirely
rationalised by NC-IUPHAR.
4. Reorganisation of ligand-gated ion channel receptor nomenclature.
5. A potential tsunami of spurious GPCR heterodimers (caused by
overexpression in artificial systems) was stopped by recommending
rigorous criteria.
6. The recent (non-contentious) classification of transporters, and the
complete pharmacology of kinases in guidetopharmacology have been
achieved in very short periods of time (~1 year).

22. Tony’s last joke ?
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23. My reply….
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24. IUPHAR/BPS Guidetopharmacology
How can we Continue and Improve on Tony’s legacy ?
How can we engage fellows more ?