Serotonin and the Australian connection: the science and the people.

This contribution to "Putting the pieces together: Proceedings from the International Society for Serotonin Research (aka Serotonin Club)" encapsulates a brief history of serotonin beginning with its discovery in 1946 by Maurice Rapport, Arda Green, and Irvine Page. The first 40 years of serotonin research culminated in the inaugural Serotonin Club meeting held on Heron Island, Australia, in 1987. In light of the silver anniversary of the Serotonin Club and its Australian beginnings, it is timely to highlight some of the contributions made to serotonin research by Australian scientists, which I shared with participants at the 2012 meeting of the Serotonin Club, in Montpellier, France as the honoree of the Maurice Rapport Lectureship.

The Serotonin Club: coming of age.

This special issue of Trends in Pharmacological Sciences devoted to serotonin, or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), celebrates the 21st anniversary of the Serotonin Club, an event also marked by a major international meeting on serotonin held 17-20 July 2008, in Oxford (U.K.).