Commentary. The Washington Conference on Clinical Pharmacology.

This review of the Conference is not to be construed as an official report of the Drug Research Board. The opinions given herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of any sponsoring group. Participants included: Drs. C. L. Dunham, Leon I. Goldberg ( Chairman), Alexander Leaf, Thomas H. Maren, B. L. Martz, John A. Oates, Henry W. Elliott, Daniel X. Freedman, Kenneth L. Melmon, Paul Palmisano, Marion J. Finkel, C. Gordon Zubrod, Byron Clark, I. C. Winter, Daniel L. Azarnoff, Edward Pelikan, Alan Bass, Emanuel M. Papper, Thomas L. Whitsett, Clifford Gurley, Arthur P. Richardson, Kenneth G. Kohlstaedt, Robert M. Hodges, John J. Bums, C. N. Christensen, Harold F. Hallman, Maurice Nance, David P. Rail, Theodore Cooper, Charles C. Edwards, Jr., Albert Sjoerdsma, Lyndon Lee, Thomas M. Durant, Alfred Gilman, Franz Gross, and Edward A. Carr, Jr. Mr. Duke Trexler was the Executive Secretary. For purposes of brevity, participants are identified only by last names in the text of this report. "Other sponsoring groups were the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, Inc., and the Veterans Administration. points of several individuals blended wen in support of an idea, while a clear separation occurred on the other occasions<'J The Conference thus afforded an opportunity to gauge the state of opinion on many important issues related to clinical pharmacology. As Elliott pointed out, recorded interest in therapy extends as far back as Sumerian tablets. Although the Conference concerned itself largely with the present and future, quotations from Aristotle, Spenser, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thoreau, and the Chicago Tribune occurred at one time or another during the two days. The ability to bring Thoreau and the Chicago Tribune together in one program is perhaps emblematic of the breadth of interest of clinical pharmacologists. For those who consider the sul£onamides to be the class of drug that initiated modern pharmacology, Zubrod's presentation was appropriate. He traced the grow-