
July 2005
Advances in drug discovery topic for October science meeting in Philadelphia
Some of the world's leading researchers in the field of drug discovery will describe the latest advances in that field during a three-day scientific conference Oct. 17-19 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. The meeting is part of the continuing series of ACS ProSpectives conferences, designed to bring together the foremost researchers in a variety of scientific fields.
The conferences are sponsored by the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, and feature presentations by scientists who are hand-picked because of their expertise in a particular area of research.
Drug discovery is a global multi-billion dollar enterprise dedicated to the research and development of pharmaceuticals to treat all types of diseases and ailments, ranging from the rare to the commonplace. The conference in Philadelphia includes structural biologists and computational and medicinal chemists who will address a variety of topics related to drug discovery, such as modeling protein-ligand interactions, determining target structures, and structure-based design of drugs.
Senior medicinal chemists from major pharmaceutical companies will describe how structure-based design is currently being used in their organizations to drive discovery programs. The interdisciplinary nature of this conference will provide an opportunity to explore structure-based design as an integrated enterprise and promote the exchange of ideas across disciplines. The conference chairs are Charles Reynolds of Johnson & Johnson, Kenneth Merz of Penn State University and Dagmar Ringe of Brandeis University.
A list of speakers, as well as general information about the conference, is available at www.ACSProSpectives.org, by calling 800-227-5558 (ask for ACS ProSpectives), or by e-mailing ACSPro[email protected].
ACS ProSpectives is a series of small conferences limited to 150 or fewer attendees to best facilitate interaction among the participants. Conferences typically feature extended presentations from 15-25 of a field's leading researchers. The conferences are in addition to the Society's two national meetings and its eight to 10 regional meetings held every year.
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization, chartered by the U.S. Congress, with a multidisciplinary membership of more than 158,000 chemists and chemical engineers. It publishes numerous scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
EDITOR'S NOTE -- News media wishing to attend the conferences should contact Michael Bernstein at 202-872-4400 or at [email protected].