Introducing RAPS: the Regional Asia Pacific Section of the IATDMCT

The congress in Banff saw the inaugural RAPs symposium: the first scientific session from the recently formed Regional Asia Pacific Section of the IATDMCT. Challenges in obtaining visas to join us all in person didn’t stop the group from realising a well-attended symposium, where we saw excellent video presentations from our very active peers. The session opened with a video describing activities where members of the leadership team introduced themselves, shared achievements to-date and their ambitions for the future. RAPS chair, Debbie Marriot, gave us a taste of the upcoming IATDMCT Singapore 2025 congress, where it is clear we will hear more of the group’s activities. Vice-chair, Sumith Mathew, provided an overview of the group’s many outputs in its short tenure, and introduced the team. Subsequent presentations saw Jefman Efendi and Rovina Ruslami present preliminary work and future plans for implementing TDM programs in Indonesia; Smita Pattanaik discuss the landscape impacting affordability and accessibility of TDM in India; and Roopali Somani reporting her very relevant work concerning levetiracetam TDM for traumatic brain injury patients.

In this blog post, we share the group’s video presentation, which introduces the team. We also highlight a few points from the presentation to introduce you to this exciting and very capable new group making waves in our Association.

In the video, Debbie shares the origin story of the group, an idea that started when she was Director or Education (2019-2023) following an earlier period as Councillor. She noticed the society’s Northern Hemisphere-centric activities and outputs, despite a growing membership in the Asia Pacific region. The idea for a regional group developed from the success of the India TDM Education meetings organised with Sumith and, with the support of Jan-Willem and the Executive, led to the establishment of RAPS in January 2024.  Sumith Mathew is the deputy chair and a diverse and very enthusiastic leadership group comprising members from Australia, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam completes the inaugural RAPS Committee.

The team meets monthly, and in the short period since forming have achieved multiple impressive initiatives. Some of these include: (a) expansion of the India TDM Education Sessions from occasional webinars to a regular bi-monthly series; (b) regular bi-monthly RAPS webinar series, that alternates with the India TDM Session; (c) mentor programmes in China and Singapore; and (d) dedicated symposia and activities at our annual congresses, which in 2025 will be held in Singapore. The group is also planning its first Regional face-to-face meeting in April 2025 in Penang, Malaysia.

RAPS is not just about education – it’s about action. The committee works closely with regional groups to promote TDM’s role in optimizing treatment, including ADVANCE-ID, Asia Fungal Working Group and the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society. They’re also actively working to establish TDM services in countries where none currently exist, with the first programme led by Jeffman and Rovina in Indonesia.

We look forward to seeing more from the group and wish them well with all their activities and their first regional meeting in Penang (April 2025). We also look forward to their strong presence at our annual scientific meeting in Singapore (September 2025).

In the video, Debbie does a fantastic job at inviting everybody to the meeting: “[Singapore] is a wonderful country,” she shares. “It’s very safe, clean, walkable and enjoyable with excellent public transport and great food!”

“I hope to see many of you in person in Singapore next year!”

View the video

Inaugural Leadership Team of the Regional Asia Pacific Section of the IATDMCT (RAPS)