SubscribeThe world of controlled release and delivery includes a myriad of scientific disciplines and technologies and the number of resulting applications is of an even greater magnitude.
The need to create an integrated networking mechanism for the controlled release and delivery community that would connect participants worldwide, and provide a foundation for educational scientific advocacy, was recently addressed by the Controlled Release Society (CRS). CRS 's new Peer to Peer Network provides a level playing field by offering a free on-line database. From "absorption analysis" to "vitamins/minerals", the Network puts users in touch with specialists in more than 100 subject areas of controlled release and delivery.
The Peer to Peer Network builds on an already active global network of Local Chapters. The Society has chapters in 17 countries, spanning 5 continents.
CRS is in its 30th year. Throughout the past three decades, the science of controlled release has become a research discipline whose future depends on a thorough understanding of the interactions between the delivery system and the biological or environmental barriers to delivery of active substances. The controlled release community is concerned with the control in time and space of the biological effects of therapeutic agents in human and animal health, and of other active agents in environmental, consumer and industrial applications. The objective may be to prolong the duration of action of an active agent, to minimize adverse reactions, or to maximize efficacy. This objective may be achieved by control of diffusion, reaction rates or other physicochemical parameters through the use of rate-controlling materials, manipulation of the appropriate biological barriers, targeting, or manipulation of the fate of the agent once beyond these barriers. Controlled release draws upon the expertise of many disciplines: chemistry, chemical engineering, pharmaceutics, physics, materials science, and the biological sciences—biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, physiology, cell biology, medicine, gene therapy, etc.
Delivering the future is high on CRS’ agenda for the next thirty years. More information about the Controlled Release Society is available at http://www.controlledrelease.org.