Pediatric clinical pharmacology: an introduction to a series of educational papers.

Drug therapy is a very powerful tool to improve the medical outcome of children. Despite this fact, pediatricians still commonly prescribe drug formulations that were developed for adults. In this series of educational papers related to pediatric clinical pharmacology, we aim to raise awareness on different aspects of clinical pharmacology in children, covering neonatal clinical pharmacology, formulation-related issues, ethical aspects of clinical research, pharmacovigilance, and training in pediatric clinical pharmacology. We want to illustrate the relevance of this re-emerging research field for the practicing clinician, although we are very much aware that these topics do not fully cover the multifaceted landscape of pediatric clinical pharmacology. We hope that many readers will reconsider their daily clinical practices and will be stimulated to collaborate to further improve pediatric drug therapy throughout Europe and beyond.