Our Association

The IATDMCT is an organization formed by an international group of scientists and physicians, to promote the related disciplines of therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical toxicology worldwide. IATDMCT is unique in that no other society promotes the interest of TDM and clinical toxicology internationally.

Our aims are to:

Foster and promote education and research in therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical toxicology

Improve the standards of practice and clinical interpretation of drug and toxic substance analyses and facilitate the delivery of interpretation through clinical pharmacokinetics and toxicokinetics for enhanced patient care

Encourage cooperation with and among members of all professions concerned with therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical toxicology

Encourage the effective application of therapeutic drug monitoring to optimize clinical drug use and maximize the clinical and economic benefits

Encourage progress in clinical toxicology as a diagnostic tool and therapeutic aid for therapeutic drug overdoses, drug abuse, and exposure to environmental toxicants

Welcome from the President

Dear colleagues and friends,

Welcome to the International Association of Therapeutic Drug monitoring and Clinical Toxicology.

The purpose of our Society is to foster the pursuit of knowledge and the advancement of therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical toxicology. It is a mission that unites us in a common cause as we, clinicians and scientists, have a responsibility to our patients and their families.

To be able to meet these expectations we continuously must adapt and innovate our practices. Our society’s role is to facilitate these changes, ensuring that our members have the resources, opportunities, and support they need to push the boundaries of our routine care. By bringing our Scientific Committees, Regional Section Committees, Councillors, and Directors of Education together we expect to be able to develop ambitious plans. This includes more collaborative projects between our Scientific Committees but also working together with other societies as well as involving consumer representatives.

One of our Society’s key priorities is to enhance inclusivity and diversity within our society. We must work to create an environment where all voices are heard, and all members are supported in their pursuit of scientific excellence. We therefore emphasize the importance of support of young scientist and organising regional as well as international activities.

Join us on this journey and let’s shape the future of therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical toxicology medicine and make a lasting impact on the world of healthcare.

Jan-Willem Alffenaar
IATDMCT President, 2023-2025

Definitions of TDM & CT

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM)

TDM is a multi-disciplinary clinical specialty aimed at improving patient care by individually adjusting the dose of drugs for which clinical experience or clinical trials have shown it improved outcome in the general or special populations. It can be based on a a priori pharmacogenetic, demographic and clinical information, and/or on the a posteriori measurement of blood concentrations of drugs (pharmacokinetic monitoring) and/or biomarkers (pharmacodynamic monitoring).

a priori TDM:

consists of determining the initial dose regimen to be given to a patient, based on clinical endpoint and on established population pharmacokinetic-pharmocodynamic (PK/PD) relationships. These relationships help to identify sub-populations of patients with different dosage requirements, by utilizing demographic data, clinical findings, clinical chemistry results, and/or, when appropriate, pharmacogenetic characteristics.

a posteriori TDM:

includes pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical phases, each with the same importance;

is most often based on the specific, accurate, precise and timely determinations of the active and/or toxic forms of drugs in biological samples collected at the appropriate times in the correct containers (PK monitoring), OR can employ the measurement of biomarkers as a surrogate or end-point markers of effect (PD monitoring) e.g. concentration of an endrogenous compound, enzymatic activity, gene expression, etc. either as a complement to PK monitoring or as the main TDM tool;

requires interpretation of the results, taking into account pre-analytical conditions, clinical information and the clinical efficiency of the current dosage regimen; this can involve PK-PD modeling;

can potentially benefit from population PK/PD approaches possibly combined with individual pharmacokinetic forecasting techniques, or pharmacogenetic data.

Clinical Toxicology (CT)

Clinical toxicology is a division of toxicology that aims to help diagnose intoxication with, or evaluate exposure to, drugs, trace elements, and other chemical agents with toxic effects on the body, using screening and/or quantitative assays in samples from living individuals.

Our History

1970

IATDMCT was born

The idea of IATDMCT was born through personal contacts between doctors Charles E. Pippenger and Irving Sunshine.

1988

Pre-foundation consultations

Pre-foundation consultations at the meetings in Osaka, Japan (Chair: Kazuhiko Tanaka, Co-organizers: Charles Pippenger, Takashi Mimaki, Philip Walson, Shigeki Ohgitani), Chicago, USA (Chair: Steven Wong) and several key European countries. The meeting in Osaka is referred to as the 1st Congress.

1989

Agreement between key individuals

In Atlanta agreement between key individuals involved in the consultations meetings (1988) that an international organization should be considered during the upcoming 1990 Clinical Chemistry Congress in Barcelona.

1990

IATDMCT founding meeting

IATDMCT founding meeting on Barcelona, Spain on October 11, 1990 with attendance of 20-30 individuals.