DMCCB Newsletter #28 August 2024

After a rainy and stormy summer break the SCS/DMCCB are picking up their activities again. The Peptide Therapeutics Forum and the Swiss Summer School on Chemical Biology will already take place later this month, followed by the SCS Fall Meeting in early September and several other activities in fall. The DMCCB also started planning the DMCCB Basel Symposium 2025 which will take place in February of next year. We are still looking for topics of general interest for the medicinal chemistry and chemical biology community. Proposals for topics can be submitted either to Christoph Sager, Aleksandar Stojanovic or any other member of the DMCCB until August 31.

Your DMCCB

News from the DMCCB

New DMCCB president elected:

At the general assembly at the SCS spring meeting which took place last June in Basel, Dr. Fides Benfatti (Syngenta) was elected as new DMCCB president. She joined the DMCCB in 2017 and is following in the footsteps of Prof. Jean-Louis Raymond (University of Bern) who retired from his position as of January 2024. The new Vice President is Prof. Dennis Gillingham (University of Basel).

New DMCCB president elected:

Our DMCCB colleague Professor Dr. Yimon Aye, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, has been awarded the Klaus Grohe Prize 2024. The 50,000 euro award is one of the most highly endowed prizes for medicinal chemistry in Europe. It is awarded by the Klaus Grohe Foundation, which is part of the German Chemical Society (GDCh). Aye receives the prize for her pioneering research into cell communication and enzyme manipulation, with which she has advanced both basic research and practical applications in medicine. The award will be presented on September 1 by GDCh President Professor Dr. Stefanie Dehnen at the International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC-ISMC 2024) in Rome, Italy. You can find out more here.

Cancer Drug Discovery Research Award:
For the second time, the DMCCB will be awarding the Cancer Drug Discovery Research Award (supported by RGCC International) at the 2025 DMCCB Symposium. It honors outstanding achievements for Master students, PhD students or Postdocs at Swiss research institutions that are working in the field of cancer drug discovery research. Deadline for application is September 30, 2024. Learn more about this Award on the SCS website 

Activities of the DMCCB/SCS

Swiss Pharma Science Day 2024 «Challenges and Opportunities in Pharmaceutical Sciences». This is the annual event of the Swiss Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (SAPhS, www.saphw.ch). It will take place on August 21, 2024 from 10:00 to 17:30 at the University of Bern (VonRoll Areal). Program and registration can be found on the event’s website.

The Peptide Therapeutics Forum 2024 will take place from August 22, 2024 from 09:00 to August 23, 2024 17:00 at the Biozentrum Basel. The event provides an innovative platform to exchange on the various aspects of drug development with a focus on peptides. Similar to previous events in the framework of Basel Life, presentations highlight important new insights regarding the drug discovery of peptides including examples of successful development candidates. This forum disseminates information on the latest news in the broad field of therapeutic peptides and enables networking of interested parties from academia and industries.
More details can be found on the event’s website.

Swiss Summer School 2024 on Chemical Biology provides PhD students, Post-Docs and Industrial Scientists from Switzerland and abroad an interactive seminar week in a beautiful alpine setting. It aims to expand their scientific horizon of latest developments, provide opportunities to present their work as posters and short presentations, and interact with speakers from Academia and Industry. It will take place from August 25 - 29, 2024 in Bergün (Graubünden). Registration for this event is closed. The next summer school will take place in 2026.

SCS Fall Meeting 2024: The SCS Fall Meeting 2024, is one of the largest annual research conferences held in Switzerland and offers a unique opportunity for all members of the community to share the results of their research initiatives and to connect with each other. It will take place on September 5, 2024 from 9:00 to 18.30 at the University of Fribourg (Department of Chemistry). Program highlights include two plenary sessions with for lectures of four SCS prize winners 2024. More information will be posted soon on the SCS website.

Pharma Camp 2024: Compete with other young professionals and students in a pharmaceutical case challenge. Show your skills to leading pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland and win the award! This competition is for PhDs, PostDocs, last year’s master students and recent graduates. The competition will take place from September 11, 2024 9:00 to September 13, 18.00 at the University of Bern (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry). More Information and application forms can be found on the PharmaCamp website. 

Ilmac Lausanne 2024: llmac has its origins in the Swiss trade fair for international laboratory, measurement technology and automation in chemistry, which has been taking place since 1959. Today, the chemical and life science brand connects the industry both physically and digitally. With the performance promise "Inspiring the Future of Chemistry and Life Sciences", it encourages the development of new ideas and solutions and presents trends and innovations by research and industry in important locations such as Basel and Lausanne. SCS, as the initial founder of the fair, is partnering with Messe Schweiz and coordinates the collaboration with society partners and the Universities of Applies Sciences. It is also the official organizer of the ILMAC Forum activities. It will take place on September 18-19, 2024 from 9:00 to 16.30 at the Expo Beaulieu Lausanne. Registration is mandatory. With the SCS PrioCode you can get your ticket for free. Please register then via the ilmac.ch website.

Swiss Chemistry Scince Night 2024. The evening will be a celebration of discovery and innovation in the chemical sciences. It will take place on September 20, 2024 at the Casino Bern Grosser Saal+Foyer Süd (Casinoplatz 1, 3011 Bern. Participation is by invitation only.

Swiss Course on Medicinal Chemistry 2024. This five-day Medicinal Chemistry School that is organized by the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology of the SCS will focus on most modern aspects associated with small molecule drug discovery. It will take place from October 13 - 18, 2024 in Leysin (Vaud). Detailed information will be published soon on the event website.

7^th SCS Syngenta Symposium 2024. The 2024 edition will focus on «Unlocking Innovation through Chemical Biology». It's a great opportunity to strenghthen the link between chemical industries and academic laboratory. It will take place on October 24, 8:30 at the Syngenta Research Center in Stein. The program includes speakers from academia and industry and registration is free!

Activities & events from the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC)

2024 EFMC PRIZE FOR YOUNG MEDICINAL CHEMIST IN ACADEMIA The selection committee designated Prof. Rebecca Buller (Zhaw School of Life Science and Facility Management, Switzerland) as the winner of the 2024 EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Academia.

2024 EFMC PRIZE FOR YOUNG MEDICINAL CHEMIST IN INDUSTRY The selection committee designated Dr. Samuele Cazzamalli (Philochem AG, Switzerland) as the winner of the 2024 EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Industry.

EFMC-ISMC 2024: the XXVIII EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry: The biennial EFMC-ISMC is a key symposium in the field of medicinal chemistry and chemical biology in drug discovery. It traditionally attracts around 1.000 participants from both industry and academia. This event is taking place from September 1- 5, 2024 in Rome, Italy and is organized by the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the Italian Chemical Society (Divisione di Chimica Farmaceutica – Società Chimica Italiana, DCF-SCI) on behalf of the EFMC. The programme includes plenary lectures by Nobel Laureate Prof. David MacMillan (Princeton University, Princeton, USA), Prof. Véronique Gouverneur (Univ. of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom), Mr Jacob Bradbury (Univ. of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom) and Dr. Emma Parmee (Janssen Research & Development, Spring House, USA). Visit the event’s website for registration and further details.

EFMC-Young Medicinal Chemists Symposium 2024: The 11th edition of this symposium will be held in Rome, Italy from September 5 - 6, 2024 and will be organised by the European Federation for Medicinal chemistry and Chemical biology (EFMC) and the EFMC Young Scientists Network (YSN). The event will be organised in connection with the XXVIII EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC-ISMC 2024). Further information can be found on the event’s website.

2^nd EFMC International Symposium on Chemical Biology (EFMC-ISCB 2025): EFMC and the DMCCB will organize the International Symposium on Chemical Biology (EFMC-ISCB) on January 29-31, 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. The symposium will be co-chaired by Uwe Grether (Roche) and Claudia Höbartner (Uni Würzburg). The programme will include plenary and invited lectures, short communications selected from submitted abstracts, a poster session, and a commercial exhibition - with ample time for discussion and networking. More details can be found on the event’s webpage. 

Did you know?

The young scientist network of the EFMC (EFMC-YSN) is offering a series of webinars for early career scientists (students and early career professionals) who are interested to learn more about medicinal chemistry, chemical biology and related fields. These webinars are free of charge and open to everyone. Enroll now under EFMC-YSN MedChemBioOnline!

The assembled material is available in several formats: freely accessible webinars on the EFMC youtube channel, educational slide decks and case studies. These will be made freely accessible for personal use or for use in further training or teaching material. More information can be found here.