ACoP is just around the corner. I made many bookmarks with Levy’s quotes, and plan to distribute them to friends, readers of my PK textbooks, and whoever wants one during the conference (Oct 18-22, 2025). 

Gerhard Levy was not only a pioneer of pharmacokinetics but also broadly regarded as “the Father of Pharmacodynamics”. In a 2006 article published at the Annals of Pharmacotherapy, he shared a personal perspective on the development of PD as a pharmaceutical science. In the end of the article, he provided the message below:

“What lessons have I learned from my experiences as an academic pharmaceutical scientist engaged in PK/PD teaching and research? Here are some:
◆ There is no excuse for an academic to not engage in research. Lack of resources, a high teaching load, limited laboratory space, and lack of graduate students can slow progress, but should not be alibis for not getting started.
◆  Do not be overly reductionist in your research and try to Think in an interdisciplinary way.
◆  Stay close to your students and learn with and from them.
◆  Seek clinical collaborators, but stay away from empire builders.
◆ Keep things simple. Do not get bogged down by complex methodology or instrumentation if you can help it.
◆  Write your scientific reports to inform, not to impress,
◆  Remember that the aim of PK/PD is to improve pharmacotherapy. This focus on patients should be at the heart of designing, performing, interpreting, and reporting PK/PD research. ”

When I wrote the Advanced PK/PD book early this year, to prepare a number of later chapters, I read a lot of Levy’s seminal articles. I absolutely love his writing – deep insight, deep vision, with energy & personality shining through his papers. I was deeply inspired.