Message from the President

The much awaited meeting to establish the Asian Society for Pigment Cell Research took place in the historic city of Beijing, China, on 21st of May 2004 during the International Conference of Dermatology. For making this event possible we are grateful to all the participants ('Founder Members of the ASPCR'), Valeant Pharmaceuticals(formerly ICN) for sponsoring the meeting and Prof Hong Duo Chen and the organizing committee of the International Congress of Dermatology for facilitating the meeting. A special word of thanks also goes to Prof Dot Bennett, the President of the International Federation of Pigment Cell Societies who has been a pillar of strength to this new organization.

Asia is the home for billions of people with pigmented skin; but it is no secret that Asia has been lagging behind(except perhaps a few countries such as Japan) in high quality research on Pigmentary Disorders. The time has come for the Asians to shake up that image and march forward to take a greater responsibility in understanding pigmentary disorders and find solutions to pigmentary problems that affect the Asians.

The young ASPCR now has for to focus more and more on research and academic activities. The first major event planned is the First Academic Meeting of the ASPCR to be held in Dew Delhi, India on 1st & 2nd February 2005. We are very grateful to Prof Bhushan Kumar, Dr. Davinder Parsad and the Indian colleagues for undertaking the major part of the responsibility of organizing this event. The organizing committee welcomes your papers on basic sciences, related to melanocyte biology and melanocyte pathology as well as clinical research pertaining to pigmentary disorders. We believe that basic science should go hand in hand with clinical research; without separating into two separate compartments, for a healthy growth of meaningful, clinically relevant research on Pigmentary Disorders. Basic science provides the foundation to extended research.

Cost of research is something which is oft repeated as an excuse for not doing focussed research. However, if the projects are properly planned and project proposals are professionally written, funding is not very difficult to find. Furthermore we should focus on doing collaborative multicentre research rather than limiting at the available resources in a given health care institution. A large number of Asian scientists are working in developed Western countries in state-of-the-art basic science laboratories. We should tap this resource base for collaborative work. Furthermore, they can give their home countries the technical expertise in basic science research. Conducting drug trials with pharmaceutical companies are also acceptable, as a way of overcoming financial constraints of research, as long as study designs are ethically sound and patients' interests are safeguarded.

The Japanese Society for Pigment Cell Research (JSPCR) has been the leader in pigment cell research in Asia for many years, with a very strong research base . We hope that the ASPCR will be able to work closely with the JSPCR in improving the standard of research in other Asian countries as well. Recent advances in medical facilities in other leading Asian countries such as China, India, South Korea and Singapore have been a positive development for pigment cell research in Asia.

ASPCR plans to be a catalyst for Pigment Cell Research and clinical research in Pigmentary Disorders in Asia. We plan to promote sharing of scientific data and discussions among members, conduct workshops and meetings, liaise with other national and regional pigment cell societies and the International Federation of Pigment Cell Societies, promote research into indigenous Asian products/plant material used as treatment of pigmentary disorders and formulate guidelines of treatment for common disorders of pigmentation such as melasma and vitiligo. We also need to have consensus meetings on deciding on terminology and definitions of many poorly defined entities which are common among Asians, such as ashy dermatosis, progressive macular hypomelanosis, Hori's naevus etc.

Benefits to the members such as providing the Journal of Pigment Cell Research at a concessionary price, travel grants, fellowships etc. are also being negotiated. We hope to keep the membership informed of the ASPCR activities and share snippets from journals with this electronic newsletter. Due to high cost of postage and postal delays we will be communicating with the members via e mails.

We welcome your suggestions to improve on what we have planned for the ASPCR. I can be contacted at prasadkumarasinghe@yahoo.com . We will inform you of our website details in due course.

I look forward to receiving your fullest cooperation in taking the ASPCR forward and elevating the standard of pigment cell research across Asia.

Prasad Kumarasinghe, MBBS, MD, FCCP, FAMS
President ASPCR