This month we have a real treat: we hear from Jan-Willem Alffenaar, currently Chair of Clinical Pharmacy between the University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Jan-Willem has had an amazing career that spans the globe, starting in the Netherlands and currently in the exact opposite corner of the world. This was a really fun interview as we caught up by video conference (photo). He talked about some of the numerous innovative approaches to TDM that he’s been involved in, most recently micro volume saliva testing with a mobile UV-spectrophotometer. We also discussed some really novel ideas he’s been thinking about, like combining Fitbits with TDM (the guy’s an ideas-factory!) Thanks for sharing, JWA, and I hope those ideas keep coming!

Professor Jan-Willem Alffenaar
Chair of Clinical Pharmacy
School of Pharmacy, University of Sydney
Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia

In March we celebrate the achievements of women, so it’s lovely that we have an exceptional woman responding our interview this month. Sarah Wille is a Judicial Expert Forensic Toxicologist, a specialist area of toxicology we don’t often hear from in our interviews. Sarah has been involved with our Young Scientist committee and is also very active with our sister association, TIAFT. Another great interview this month, read on...

Sarah Wille
Judicial Expert Forensic Toxicologist
National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology
Brussels, Belgium

This month we hear form Mariadelfina Molinaro from Pavia, Italy, as we look forward toward our annual congress that will be in Rome this year. Mariadelfina has had a fascinating career spanning several decades, including witnessing developments in analytical chemistry to contribute to the care of AIDs patients in times when the aetiology was being elucidated. She covers numerous historical developments and highlights that while we have come a long way, it is important to reconsider our certainties and be flexible in a context where every field of scientific research is evolving rapidly.

I feel like I say this often recently, but I will say it again: this is one of my favourite interviews and I encourage you all to take a look.

Mariadelfina Molinaro
Clinical and Experimental Pharmacokinetics
Fondazione IRCCS
Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy

It is exciting to return to our interviews this month and especially with such a great one with Nils Tore Vethe from Oslo. Nils shares about his work as head of the Clinical Pharmacology Section at Rikshospitalet - known for their work in immunosuppressant TDM - where they impressively analyze some 200 IS samples every day, year-round. Nils talks about some unique initiatives including home-based blood sampling and TDM including volumetric finger-prick blood sampling for some tacrolimus treated patients, exploratory pharmacological methods in tissues and cells, and more. Take a look!

Nils Tore Vethe
Head, Clinical Pharmacology, Rikshospitalet
Department of Pharmacology
Oslo University Hospital, Norway