In 2008 and 2010, the National Institutes of Health hosted workshops to examine whether developing and utilizing quantitative, systems approaches to pharmacology research could potentially improve the success rate in drug discovery and development. The workshops brought together leaders in pharmacology, systems biology, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, computer modeling and related areas. To address the opportunities, needs and challenges of the emerging discipline of quantitative and systems pharmacology, a committee of 2010 workshop participants developed the white paper, Quantitative and Systems Pharmacology in the Post-genomic Era: New Approaches to Discovering Drugs and Understanding Therapeutic Mechanisms [PDF 1.3 MB], that was issued in October 2011. Lead author of the paper and co-chair of the white paper committee is Peter Sorger, Harvard Medical School. The white paper committee was assisted by the NIH staff workshop committee. For more discussion on the white paper or to comment on it, please visit the related NIGMS Feedback Loop post.