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Welcome to MedChemTrain e-school
The MedChemTrain doctoral program is organizing the first MedChemTrain e-School! This e-School will take place from 27th to 29th of April 2020, exclusively online, and will be open to the public free of charge.
This event will gather a great selection of speakers that are developing state of the art research in different areas of medicinal chemistry. Furthermore, two round tables will take place to stimulate discussion and exchange of ideas between students and researchers. One round table will be focused on testimonies from young scientists and their paths after the PhD, hence it will be mainly directed to PhD students and early-stage researchers.
The other will bring together scientists from academia and industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities when facing a pandemic crisis such as Covid-19.
With our selection of speakers and the diversity of topics covered, we believe that this e-School will be a valuable event during these quarantine days, not only for young scientists but for all the medicinal chemistry community. We hope to see you there.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf1DrCWsSTgjtjQSETNRbfw
Plenary Lectures
Nuno Maulide
University of Vienna, AT
"When chemistry asks biological questions: total synthesis on the driving seat"
Mon April 27th, 14h30 (GMT+1)
Nuno Maulide was born in Lisbon in 1979. After graduating in chemistry from the Instituto Superior Tecnico in 2003, he completed an M.Sc. at the Ecole Polytechnique in 2004 (Summa cum Laude, ranking 1st out of 22 students) and received his Ph.D. from the Universite catholique de Louvain in 2007.He subsequently moved to Stanford University under Barry M. Trost for postdoctoral studies before returning to Europe to take an endowed position as Max-Planck Research Group Leader at the Max-Planck-Institut fur Kohlenforschung in early 2009, where he also received a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (2011). Since October 2013 he is Full Professor and Chair of Organic Synthesis at the University of Vienna. His research interests span diverse areas within organic chemistry, focusing on unconventional reaction mechanisms and intermediates. Nuno Maulide has been elected “Scientist of the Year” 2018-19 in Austria and is the youngest Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He has received among others the Bayer Early Excellence in Science Award (2012), the ADUC prize of the German Chemical Society (2012), the inaugural EurJOC Young Researcher Award (2015), the Elisabeth Lutz Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2016), the Prize of the City of Vienna (2017) and the Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award (2020). Furthermore, he is an ERC Starting (2011), Consolidator (2016) and Proof of Concept (2018) Grantee.
Maria Laura Bolognesi
University of Bologna, IT
"Multi-target-directed ligands to combat Alzheimer’s disease — challenges and opportunities"
Mon April 27th, 15h30 (GMT+1)
MARIA LAURA BOLOGNESI received her M.Sc. in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology from the University of Bologna, Italy in 1990. She then completed her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences with Prof. Carlo Melchiorre. Next, she moved to the USA for postdoctoral studies in the lab of Prof. Philip S. Portoghese at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry of the University of Minnesota. She started her independent research career and eventually joined the faculty in the Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology of the University of Bologna, where she is currently Full Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Coordinator of Biotechnological, Biocomputational, Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences PhD Programme, and Rector Delegate for Latin America International Relations.
She has been selected as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2009 and Professeur invitée at the Université de Caen Normandie in 2018. For the 2014-2017 period, Maria Laura was awarded a Special Visiting Researcher scholarship through Brazil’s Science without Borders program.
She is currently an Associate Editor of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and sits on the editorial committees of several medicinal chemistry journals, such as ChemMedChem, Chemical Biology and Drug design, Future Medicinal Chemistry, Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry. Maria Laura also serves on the Advisory board of the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry. Her group has pioneered polypharmacology concepts and is dedicated to developing multi-target small molecules to improve human health.
Kurt Ritter
DE
"Development of Sofosbuvir, an inhibitor of the viral polymerase, for the treatment of Hepatitis C infection“
Mon Apr 27th, 16h30 (GMT+1)
Dr K. Ritter obtained his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1985 from the University of Tübingen, Germany, under the supervision of Prof. M. Hanack. After completion of a postdoctoral appointment at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA, with Prof. E. J. Corey, he spent two years at the University of Heidelberg, Germany working on metallorganic chemistry. In1989 he started as medicinal chemist (oncology and immunology) at BASF AG in Ludwigshafen (Germany), in 1995 he moved back to the U.S. to establish a medicinal chemistry group (areas: oncology and immunology) at the BASF Bioresearch Corporation in Worcester (since 2000 Abbott Bioresearch Center). In 2001, he joined Aventis, now Sanofi, in Frankfurt (Germany) and worked on a number of different projects in the area of cardiovascular, metabolic and inflammatory diseases till his retirement in 2019.
Gonçalo Bernardes
University of Cambridge, UK
"Chemical Physiology of Antibody Conjugates and Natural Products"
Tue Apr 28th, 14h30 (GMT+1)
After completing his D.Phil. 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 at the University of Cambridge as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. In 2018 he was appointed University Lecturer (Tenured) and recently has been promoted to Reader (Associate Professor). Gonçalo is the recipient of two European Research Council grants; a starting grant and a proof-of-concept grant, and was awarded the Harrison–Meldola Memorial Prize in 2016 and the MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship in 2018, both from the Royal Society of Chemistry. His research group interests focus on the use of chemistry principles to tackle challenging biological problems for understanding and fight cancer.
Graça Vicente
Louisiana State University, USA
"Cell-targeted photosensitizers for Theranostics"
Tue Apr 28th, 15h30 (GMT+1)
Maria da Graça Vicente is the Charles H. Barré Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Louisiana State University. In 2016 she was named a Distinguished Research Master in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at Louisiana State University. Dr. Vicente is co-author of twelve book chapters, 200 peer-reviewed publications and 4 patents. She has been honored with several awards, including the 2015 LSU Foundation Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award, and most recently a 2016 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM).
Round Table:
What can I do with my PhD? The next step
28th April, 16:30 (GMT+1)
Chairman
Antoni Torrens, PhD
Esteve, ES
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Round Table:
Academia, Industry & Coronavirus - challenges and opportunities
29th April, 15:00 (GMT+1)
Chairman : Prof. Luís Arnaut, University of Coimbra, PT
Dr. Yves Auberson
Novartis, CH
Speaker- Academia, Industry & Coronavirus
Yves P. Auberson obtained his Ph.D. in 1990 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland. He joined the Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research in Basel, Switzerland in 1992, after a post-doctoral training in chemical biology at Affymax in Palo Alto, USA.
He is currently Executive Director in Global Discovery Chemistry, where his research group develops tracers for clinical imaging. Previously, he was Head of Chemistry for Neuroscience, and played a leading role in the discovery and development of drug candidates for the treatment of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and narcolepsy.
Dr. Auberson is President of the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC), and Past President of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology of the Swiss Chemical Society.
Dr. Guy Villax
Hovione, PT
Speaker- Academia, Industry & Coronavirus
Dr. Sérgio Simões
Bluepharma, PT
Speaker- Academia, Industry & Coronavirus
Areas of Interest/Expertise:
Life sciences investment; Drug development (from discovery to regulatory); Pharmaceutical Business development; nanotechnology; Biotechnology
Sérgio Simões has a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, a Master degree in Chemical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
He has built a rapport as an entrepreneur, an investor and as a decision-making executive in the pharmaceutical industry. His role has been instrumental in the launch of several technology-based companies, including Bluepharma, Luzitin, Treat U, BSIM2 and Blueclinical, as well as in the running of investment ventures such as a2b or Biocant Venture. He currently holds a position as Member of the Board of Bluepharma and Blueclinical, as well as a professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra – Portugal.
Apart from his research work on the development of novel nano-platforms for drug and nucleic acid delivery, he has gained a significant expertise on drug development, licensing and transfer of technology, and manufacturing of medicines for the European and US market. He has published more than 160 SCI journal papers, 10 book chapters and several patents.
Prof. Tayyaba Hasan
Harvard University, USA
Speaker - Academia, Industry & Coronavirus
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Prof. Stefano Alcaro
University of Catanzaro, IT
Speaker- Academia, Industry & Coronavirus
STEFANO ALCARO received his M.Sc. in Medicinal Chemistry and Technology at Roma “La Sapienza” University, Italy 1990. He then completed his PhD in Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Toxicology at Roma “La Sapienza” University in 1994. He did a Postdoc at Columbia University, New York with Prof. Clark Still before starting his independent research career in 1996 at the Università Magna Græcia di Catanzaro, where he bacema associate professor in 2002 and full professor in 2011. He Chaired the COST Action MuTaLig (www.mutalig.eu) in 2016 and founded an academic spinoff in 2018, Net4Science.
Stefano Alcaro is co-author of about 220 original publications on peer reviewed international journals, 1 European patent, 4 books chapters, 2 international diffused volumes and over 100 national and international communications. His research interests are related to drug design and hit identification of bioactive compounds by means of computational methods especially in the fields of anticancer and antiviral therapies.
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Prof. Stuart Conway
University of Oxford, UK
Speaker- Academia, Industry & Coronavirus
Stuart Conway is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the E. P. Abraham Cephalosporin Fellow in Organic Chemistry at St Hugh's College, Oxford. He studied Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Warwick before undertaking PhD studies with Professor David Jane and Professor Jeff Watkins FRS in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Bristol. Stuart completed post-doctoral studies with Professor Andrew Holmes FRS at the University of Cambridge working on the synthesis of inositol polyphosphates. In 2003, he was appointed as a Lecturer in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of St Andrews, in 2008 was appointed as an Associate Professor at Oxford, and in October 2014 he was promoted to Full Professor. Between March and August 2013 Stuart was a Visiting Associate at the California Institute of Technology, hosted by Professor Bob Grubbs and Professor Dianne Newman. Since 2016 he has been an Associate Editor for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and is on the Editorial Advisory Board for Organic Chemistry Frontiers and Current Research in Chemical Biology. Stuart is the President of the RSC Organic Division, the Director of the Welcome Trust “Chemistry in Cells” PhD Programme, and the Director of the EPSRC "redOX⇌KCL” EPSRC Programme Grant. His research focuses on the development of molecular tools to enable the study of biological systems. This work has been recognised by the award of the 2012 Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist in Academia by the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry, and the 2016 Lectureship of the Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Section of the RSC.
MedChemTrain e-school
Preliminary Programme
Stay tunned
27th April, 14:20 (GMT+1)
Opening Ceremony
Introductory Session
Prof. Rui Moreira, University of Lisbon
MedChemTrain PhD Programme Director
27th April 14:30 (GMT+1)
Prof. Nuno Maulide
U. Vienna, AT
"When chemistry asks biological questions: total synthesis on the driving seat"
27th April, 15:30 (GTM+1)
Prof. Maria Laura Bolognesi
U. Bologna, IT
"Multi-target-directed ligands to combat Alzheimer’s disease - challenges and opportunities"
27th April, 16:30 (GMT+1)
"Development of Sofosbuvir, an inhibitor of the viral polymerase, for the treatment of Hepatitis C infection“
28th April, 14:20 (GMT+1)
Introductory Session
Chairman: Prof. M. Matilde Marques, IST, U. Lisbon, PT
28th April, 14:30 (GMT+1)
Prof. Gonçalo Bernardes
U. Cambridge, UK
"Chemical Physiology of Antibody Conjugates and Natural Products"
28th April, 15:30 (GMT+1)
Prof. Graça Vicente
Louisiana State University, USA
"Cell-targeted photosensitizers for Theranostics"
28th April, 16:30 (GMT+1)
Chairman: Dr. Antoni Torrens, Esteve, ES
Michele Mari, University of Urbino, IT
Kristina Goncharenko, SpiroChem, CH
Riccardo Martini, University of Vienna, AT
Giulio Volpin, Bayer, DE
Anabel Jimenez, EF, CH
Young Scientist Network presentation
29th April, 15:00 (GMT+1)
Chairman: Prof. Luís Arnaut - U. Coimbra, PT
Dr. Yves Auberson- Novartis, CH
Prof. Stuart Conway - U. Oxford, UK
Prof. Stefano Alcaro - U. of Catanzaro, IT
Dr. Sérgio Simões - Bluepharma, PT
Dr. Guy Villax- Hovione, PT
Prof. Tayyaba Hasan - U. Harvard, USA
e-school Organizing Committee
MedChemTrain Students
Scientific Committee
Our mentors
Prof. Luís Arnaut
University of Coimbra, PT
Program Director
Luis Arnaut was born near Coimbra (Portugal), graduated from high school in Coimbra and in 1977/78 received an AFS scholarship to attend the 12th grade in Wisconsin, USA. In 1983 Luis Arnaut completed a BSc in Chemistry at the University of Coimbra (mark 17/20) and then undertook PhD studies with Sebastião Formosinho. In 1988 completed his PhD studies in Coimbra, and received a Visiting Fulbright Scholar grant to do post-doctoral research with Richard Caldwell at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989 Luis Arnaut returned to the University of Coimbra to become Assistant Professor, in 1996 was appointed Associate Professor, presented his Habilitation in 2002 and was appointed Professor in 2005.
Research interests:
Luis Arnaut was educated as a photochemist and cultivates scientific interests related with the use of light and the study of time. Light triggers new opportunities in molecular, materials, life and earth sciences, and their study over wide timescales may provide answers to human needs and curiosity. In particular, Luis Arnaut used lasers and new bacteriochlorin photosensitizers to propose a new medicine for photodynamic therapy of cancer that is currently in clinical trials. In another project, lasers and novel materials were developed to produce photoacoustic waves that permeabilize biological membranes. A device for cosmetic applications based on this work is in the market and preclinical studies aiming at gene therapy are under way. Curiosity-driven research focuses on chemical reactivity (electron transfer, proton transfer and atom transfer reactions), on photoacoustics and the mechanisms of photodynamic therapy.
Prof. Rui Moreira
University of Lisbon, PT
Program Director
Rui Moreira completed his Master degree at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, and obtained his PhD under supervision of Professors Eduarda Rosa (University of Lisbon) and Jim Iley (The Open University). After a postdoctoral stay in the UK, Rui started his career as an independent scientist in Lisbon in 1993 and was promoted to Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in 2006, becoming Head of Department in 2010-2016, and Director of the Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa) in 2010-2013.
Rui has wide research interests in the fields of Medicinal and Physical Organic Chemistry, covering the development of anti-infectious and anticancer agents, prodrug chemistry, structure-reactivity-metabolism relationships, design of covalent inhibitors, and design of chemical probes for activity- and photoaffinity-based protein profiling. He has published over 140 papers (Researcher ID G-7485-2011 and ORCID ID 0000-0003-0727-9852) and supervised/co-supervised more than 20 PhD students.
Rui was co-founder of the Medicinal Chemistry Division of the Portuguese Chemical Society, and as served EFMC as Council member in 2008-2015 and as Executive Committee member since 2015. He will be the EFMC President Elect starting in January 2020.
About us
MedChemTrain PhD Program - Portugal
The mission of MedChemTrain is to offer a unique advanced training platform that can deliver the accomplished medicinal chemists in demand by the pharmaceutical industry.
MedChemTrain will be the PhD program of choice for the next generation of researchers who wish to become experts in the various stages of pre-clinical drug discovery and development.
This interdisciplinary program brings together worldclass research groups at ULisboa and UCoimbra, supported by state-of-the-art facilities in synthetic chemistry, instrumentation, pharmacology, nanotechnology, biochemistry and biology, and pharmaceutical companies capable of delivering an industrial perspective.
Bial, Hovione and Bluepharma are the Portuguese pharmaceutical companies that invest a higher proportion of their resources in internal R&D.
The alignment of academic and industrial partners in this training program is a pivotal step towards the creation and dissemination of useful knowledge and, furthermore, a commitment to transform knowledge into value for our society.
Ultimately, the aim of MedChemTrain is to train PhD graduates in the various stages of pre-clinical drug discovery and development, to become aware of biological targets, capable of thinking creatively, skilled in chemical synthesis, understanding the pharmacological actions of purported drugs, and competent to address the challenges of drug development.
Driven by these ambitious aims, MedChemTrain was conceived as an integrated and interdisciplinary course intended for exceptional students from all over the world who will want to lead the discovery of tomorrow’s medicines.
