The 2019 MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship is now open for nominations.
Nominations will close 22 November 2018.
The recipient of the lectureship will receive a contribution of up to £1000 towards speaking at a conference in 2019.
Qualification The lectureship is open to candidates who received their PhD in 2009 or later and who have made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry in their early career, particularly if they have brought new ideas to drug discovery.
How you can nominate If you would like to nominate someone please email us (medchemcomm-rsc@rsc.org) with the following details:
Their name
Their affiliation
At least one paragraph explaining their achievements and why you think they should be considered
Additional supporting information, for example their CV, is very helpful in making a decision but is not mandatory for making a nomination.
Self-nominations are accepted but must be supported by a letter of support from your Head of Departments or similar person at your institute.
Selection All qualified nominations will be considered and a short-list of candidates with be selected based on the information provided at nomination. The MedChemComm Editorial Board will then vote to select the recipient and the winner will be announced in late 2018.
Previous lectureship winners include:
Dr. Gonçalo Bernardes (University of Cambridge, UK) – 2018
Dr Laura H. Heitman (Leiden University, Netherlands) – 2017
Dr Alessio Ciulli (University of Dundee, UK) – 2016
Professor Richard Payne (University of Sydney, Australia) – 2015
Professor Christian Heinis (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland) – 2013
Professor Patrick Gunning (University of Toronto, Canada) – 2012
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We are delighted to announce that Dr. Gonçalo Bernardes has been selected to receive the 2018 MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship
The lectureship was open to any candidate who received their PhD in 2008 or later and have made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry in their early career. The Editorial Board feel that his substantial contributions to the chemistry of protein conjugates, and his impact on the field of antibody conjugates make him an excellent choice for this year’s lectureship.
On being informed of his selection Dr. Bernardes said:
“I am honoured to receive this distinction from an organisation I admire so much and so incredibly proud of the work of my entire research group at Cambridge and iMM Lisbon.”
Dr. Bernardes will give his lecture later this year at a conference to be confirmed.
About Dr. Gonçalo Bernardes
Dr. Gonçalo Bernardes is a Group Leader at the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, U.K.. He is also the Director of the Chemical Biology and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Unit at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal. After completing his D.Phil. degree in 2008 at the University of Oxford, U.K., he undertook postdoctoral work at the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany, and the ETH Zürich, Switzerland, and worked as a Group Leader at Alfama Lda in Portugal. He started his independent research career in 2013, and his research group tackles a range of biological problems of fundamental importance to understand and fight human disease primarily through the use of chemistry principles. He is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and the awardee of a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (TagIt).
The 2017 MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship is now open for nominations.
Nominations will close 14 November 2016.
The recipient of the lectureship will receive a contribution of up to £1000 towards speaking at a conference in 2017.
Qualification
The lectureship is open to candidates who received their PhD in 2007 or later and who have made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry in their early career, particularly if they have brought new ideas to drug discovery.
How you can nominate
If you would like to nominate someone please email us (medchemcomm-rsc@rsc.org) with the following details:
Their name
Their affiliation
At least one paragraph explaining their achievements and why you think they should be considered
Additional supporting information, for example their CV, is very helpful in making a decision but is not mandatory for making a nomination.
Self-nominations are accepted but must be supported by a letter of support from your Head of Departments or similar person at your institute.
Selection
All qualified nominations will be considered and a short-list of candidates with be selected based on the information provided at nomination. The MedChemComm Editorial Board will then vote to select the recipient and the winner will be announced in late 2016.
Previous lectureship winners include:
Dr Alessio Ciulli (University of Dundee, UK)
Professor Richard Payne (University of Sydney, Australia)
Professor Patrick Gunning (University of Toronto, Canada)
Professor Christian Heinis (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland).
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The annual MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship is given to a researcher who has made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry research in the early part of their career.
The Editorial Board have selected Dr Alessio Ciulli as this year’s recipient for his work tackling important biology with elegant chemistry; developing novel chemical tools to aid our understanding of BET bromodomain proteins and providing pioneering examples of understanding protein-protein interactions as a basis for discovering novel therapeutics.
On being told he had won Dr Ciulli said,
“I feel truly honoured to have been selected to receive the MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship this year, and privileged to join such a distinguished list of former winners. It is a recognition to the excellent work of many students and postdocs in my group who have made key contributions to our discoveries over the past few years. I am excited to be given the opportunity to present some of our latest results at a conference later in the year.”
Alessio will be presenting his lectureship at this year’s EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry in Manchester.Register now.
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We are pleased to announce that nominations for the 2016 MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship are now open and we are looking for your suggestions.
Nominations will close 22nd January 2016.
The recipient will receive a contribution of up to £1000 towards speaking at a conference of their choice.
Qualification
The lectureship is open to candidates who received their PhD on or after December 31st 2005 and who have made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry in their early career, particularly if they have brought new ideas to drug discovery.
How to nominate
If you would like to nominate someone please email us (medchemcomm-rsc@rsc.org) with the following:
Their name
Their affiliation
At least one paragraph explaining their achievements and why they should be considered
Additional supporting information, for example their CV, would be very much appreciated but is not mandatory for making a nomination.
Self-nominations are accepted but must be supported by a letter of support from your Head of Departments or similar person at your institute.
Selection
The decision to award the lectureship will be made by a panel of MedChemComm Editorial Board members.
Previous Lectureship winners include:
Professor Richard Payne (University of Sydney, Australia)
Professor Patrick Gunning (University of Toronto, Canada)
Professor Christian Heinis (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland).
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MedChemComm is delighted to announce a high-profile themed issue on Phenotypic Drug Discovery,due for publication online in mid-2016. The issue is being Guest Edited by Dr Fabien Vincent (Pfizer), Dr Jonathan A. Lee (Eli Lilly) and Professor Michael Pollastri (Northeastern University).
Deadline for Submission: February 1, 2016
The level of quality of this issue will be high, and all manuscripts will subject to the journal’s normal standards and peer review process. Guidelines are available at rsc.li/1K0EgYx and rsc.li/1JAwCbA
If you are interested in taking part in this issue, please email MedChemComm: medchemcomm-rsc@rsc.org
Scope of the issue
Phenotypic approaches are highly complementary to the molecular target centric strategy that prevails in Pharma and moreover, may mitigate future clinical failure issues related to target validation and lack of efficacy. Five years into the Phenotypic Drug Discovery (PDD) Renaissance, this issue aims to shift the main focus in this area from assays and screens towards the medicinal chemistry programs engendered by these early efforts. Manuscripts covering the lessons learned and progress recorded on the road to clinical candidates in the areas highlighted below are actively sought:
Design of compound libraries for phenotypic screening (e.g. biologically annotated, diversity-based and natural products libraries)
Identification of novel targets for disease-relevant phenotypes
Identification of novel chemical matter or molecular mechanisms of action for known molecular targets
Identification of novel cellular roles for known targets
Challenges in PDD hit triage such as compound/series prioritization and validation
Challenges in driving an SAR using complex assay systems (in vitro and in vivo systems)
Safety derisking and compound/project progression in the absence of a known target
Chemical biology approaches for mechanism and target deconvolution
New research in MedChemComm is published as Concise Articles. This article type encompasses both Communication and Full Paper styles with no strict page limit. There is also the opportunity to write a Review article for the issue, and if you would be interested in this please let us know.
MedChemComm is the Royal Society of Chemistry journal covering all areas of medicinal chemistry research, including research that interfaces with other areas of the chemical sciences, biology, materials science or physics
The journal is in partnership with the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC), and the co-Editors-in-Chief are Dr. Tony Wood (Pfizer) and Professor Greg Verdine (Harvard University). To view recent articles or to find out more about the journal please visit the website at www.rsc.org/medchemcomm
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MedChemComm is delighted to announce a high-profile themed issue on Membrane Transporters, focussing on solute carriers (SLCs). The Guest Editors for this issue are Professor Matthias A. Hediger (University of Bern, Switzerland) and Dr David Hepworth (Pfizer, Cambridge, USA).
Manuscripts can be submitted using the Royal Society of Chemistry’s online article submission service. Please clearly state that the manuscript is submitted for the themed issue on Membrane Transporters: Solute Carriers.
The level of quality of this issue will be high, and all manuscripts will undergo the journal’s normal peer review process.
Scope
Metabolic homeostasis within cells requires strict control over the import and export of metabolites, nutrients and ions across membranes. Polar chemical species such as these have negligible ability to cross phospholipid membranes by simple diffusion and instead require highly regulated transport proteins to control their movement. The largest class of transport proteins is the solute carrier series (www.bioparadigms.org) and it is on this superfamily that this special issue of MedChemComm will focus.
These proteins are of great interest for basic academic research, but beyond that they are of central importance in a number of areas of applied science: as drug targets, as controllers of drug disposition and pharmacokinetics, and as the cause of drug toxicity.
Known SLC drug targets include:
The monoamine transporter family which contains the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) target of the highly important SSRI drug class
SLC5A2 (SGLT2), an important new anti-diabetic target to block renal glucose reabsorption
Sodium chloride transporters (SLC12 family) – the targets of loop and thiazide diuretics
SLCs important in drug pharmacokinetics and disposition include
The OATP (SLCO) and OAT (SLC22) family of anion transport
The OCT (SLC22) family of cation transport
The SLC47 multidrug and toxin extrusion family
SLCs important in drug toxicity include the thiamine transporter SLC19A2
All areas of research where the chemical sciences have impacted the study of the SLC superfamily will be considered for inclusion in this themed issue. Examples include, but are not limited to:
Medicinal chemistry and molecular probe design against these target families
Chemical biology approaches to allow for detailed study of these protein classes including physiological roles, disease mechanisms, etc.
Structural biology and biophysics of integral membrane proteins as relevant to ligand design and/or chemical biology
Molecular modelling that has enabled drug and probe design
The impact of transporters on drug disposition and pharmacokinetics – with a particular interest in structure activity relationships for such transport
The study of toxins and venoms which act through these target classes
Novel screening methodologies that allow the identification of new inhibitors, modulators and substrates of this protein class
The application of new cell biology techniques such as gene-editing, silencing and haploid genetic approaches that allow the study of chemical agents acting via these target families
Systems biology approaches to the study of chemical modulators and substrates of membrane transport proteins
The issue will consist of a series of research articles and reviews from prominent scientists who are committed to applying excellence in ion channels and membrane transporter research toward the treatment of human diseases, combining breakthroughs in both basic science and applied science, such as drug discovery.
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Earlier this year Professor Richard Payne from University of Sydney, Australia, was announced as the the recipient of the 2015 MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship.
We are pleased to let you know that Richard will be presenting his talk entilted:
‘New ligation technologies for the rapid assembly of modified proteins‘
The meeting starts on the 16th of June 2015 and online registration for the meeting closes the 10th of June – so there’s still time to register to see Richard’s talk!
UPDATE: Prof. Payne’s talk was very well received at the successful Chemical Protein Synthesis Meeting, where he (left) was presented his lectureship by Professor Stephen Kent (right).
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The Wellcome Trust is seeking 10 enthusiastic junior researchers currently undertaking interdisciplinary research, or who are wishing to pursue interdisciplinary collaborations, to attend their first Frontier meeting: One Science – Life at the Interface on 21-22 September 2015. Applications close on Friday 12th June 2015.
For full details, click on the image below
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We are delighted to share with you a collection of research papers, review articles and books on the topic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Warnings about the threat of antibiotic resistance, and more broadly AMR, to human health, global food production and economic prosperity are receiving increased media interest. By 2050, it is estimated that without coordinated action, 10 million people could die from previously curable illnesses.
“At the end of this month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will present their draft global action plan on AMR at the 68th World Health Assembly in Geneva, it is timely to consider the importance of chemistry in tackling antimicrobial resistance,” comments Professor Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova, Editorial Board member of MedChemComm “This collection showcases the essential contributions of chemical science to understanding antibiotic resistance, developing new treatments, diagnostics and mitigations strategies to tackle this global threat.”
“The chemical sciences play a pivotal role in a sustainable and prosperous future” says Dominic Tildesley, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry “whether it’s developing new antibiotics to combat infection, converting waste to energy, or developing efficient solar energy cells, chemists are designing and applying tomorrow’s technologies”.
All articles are freely available until 18th June. All books included here have their first chapter free to read.
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Why is it important to address AMR?
Thomas Fleming outlines the role of chemistry in tackling antibiotic resistance as part of our recent chemistry in health video competition
Beating the Superbugs – avoiding an antibiotic apocalypse – a public panel discussion chaired by Michael Moseley, science journalist and TV presenter, with scientists and policy makers to discuss the challenges and possible solutions to addressing AMR.
Antibiotics from myxobacteria
Till F. Schäberle, Friederike Lohr, Alexander Schmitz and Gabriele M. König Nat. Prod. Rep., DOI: 10.1039/C4NP00011K, Review Article
AApeptides as a new class of antimicrobial agents
Youhong Niu, Haifan Wu, Yaqiong Li, Yaogang Hu, Shruti Padhee, Qi Li, Chuanhai Cao and Jianfeng Cai Org. Biomol. Chem., DOI: 10.1039/C3OB40444G, Perspective
Inhibitors of bacterial tubulin target bacterial membranes in vivo
Marie H. Foss, Ye-Jin Eun, Charles I. Grove, Daniel A. Pauw, Nohemy A. Sorto, Jarred W. Rensvold, David J. Pagliarini, Jared T. Shaw and Douglas B. Weibel Med. Chem. Commun., DOI: 10.1039/C2MD20127E, Concise Article
Non-classical β-carbonic anhydrase inhibitors-towards novel anti-mycobacterials
Thiazole-based aminopyrimidines and N-phenylpyrazolines as potent antimicrobial agents: synthesis and biological evaluation
Silver in Healthcare: Its Antimicrobial Efficacy and Safety in Use