Certara, a leading provider of software and scientific consulting services to improve productivity and decision-making from drug discovery through drug development, announced that Professor Geoff Tucker, its vice president of translational sciences, and co-founder of Simcyp and head of its consultancy, has been named president-elect of the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX).

Established in 1981, ISSX is one of the largest scientific organizations serving researchers studying the disposition of xenobiotics in biological systems. Xenobiotics are compounds that are not found naturally in an organism. They can include drugs, agricultural and industrial chemicals, food additives, and environmental contaminants. Many of ISSX’s activities are related to drug development and toxicology. The society has 1,600 members from more than 50 countries.

Professor Tucker assumes the role of ISSX present-elect in 2014, and will become president in January 2015. He previously served two terms as an ISSX councilor from 1988 to 1991 and from 2004 to 2011.

“I am honoured to have been elected by my colleagues to this prestigious position. I have always been a strong proponent of ISSX because the society affords outstanding opportunities to share knowledge with and learn from experts in parallel fields. I plan to partner with other members of ISSX’s leadership team to create new initiatives and to extend further the society’s global reach,” he said.

Professor Tucker’s areas of expertise include pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism, pharmacogenetics, and the pharmacology of anaesthetic drugs.

An active academic leader, Professor Tucker has served as chairman of the editorial board of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, vice president of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He is a senate member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and a founding member and elder of the African Society for Drug Metabolism and Development.

Professor Tucker is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Sheffield, England, and chair of the Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the International Pharmaceutical Federation. He has a Ph.D. from the University of London, England, and an honorary D.Sc. from the University of Uppsala, Sweden.