4th MMCS: Harnessing the Power of New Drug Modalities
4th MMCS: Harnessing the Power of New Drug Modalities
Part of the Molecules Medicinal Chemistry Symposium series
22nd December 2023
22nd January 2024
27th February 2024
11th March 2024
Drug Discovery, Drug Design, Medicinal Chemistry, Molecular Targets
Welcome from the Chairs
Dear Colleagues,
We are delighted to announce the upcoming 4th Molecules Medicinal Chemistry Symposium – Harnessing the Power of New Drug Modalities (MMCS2024), which will take place in Barcelona, Spain, from April 24th to 26th, 2024.
Organized by MDPI, the publisher of the open-access journal Molecules, this conference follows the successful MMCS2019 and MMCS2022 editions, maintaining the highly appreciated three-day format to accommodate a diverse range of contributions and a large audience interested in the impact that the emergence of new drug modalities is having in drug discovery. MMCS2024's thematic sessions will revolve around photoactivatable drugs, candidates that hit RNA and epigenetic targets, and covalent modifiers. The use of these and other more classical approaches for the development of new anti-cancer agents and other medicinal chemistry projects will also be covered.
Each session will include two distinguished invited speakers who will share their insights, alongside selected oral communications. Poster presentations and social events will further enrich the program.
We look forward to welcoming you to Barcelona in April, a perfect time to visit for its delightful weather, vibrant spring atmosphere, and a wide array of cultural and outdoor activities that will provide an inspiring backdrop for our conference.
Prof. Diego Muñoz-Torrero
Editor-in-Chief of the Medicinal Chemistry Section of Molecules
MMCS2024 Chair
Prof. Simona Collina
Editorial board of the Medicinal Chemistry Section of Molecules
MMCS2024 Co-Chair
Follow the conversation on Twitter with #MMCS2024| Sponsored By |  |
Conference Secretariat
Dr. Maddalena Favaretto
Dr. Elena González
Email: [email protected]
Sponsoring Opportunities
For information regarding sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, please contact us.
Event Chairs
Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, and Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB), University of Barcelona, Spain
Prof. Diego Muñoz-Torrero is Full Professor of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, University of Barcelona (UB). He is Head of the Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry and belongs to the Governing Board of the Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB). His research focuses on the design and synthesis of new drug candidates against neurodegenerative and parasitic diseases, endowed with innovative mechanisms of action. He belongs to the editorial advisory board of several medicinal chemistry journals and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Medicinal Chemistry Section of the MDPI journal Molecules.
Professor Simona Collina is Head of MedChemLab, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Pavia. Her research activity mainly focuses on the study of chiral compounds and the relationship between absolute configuration and biological activity, and her research interests include design, synthesis of bioactive small molecules, and extraction of secondary metabolites from natural sources, mainly active in neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and pain. She also belongs to the editorial board of Molecules (MDPI), Medicinal Chemistry section.
Event Committee
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Pharmacy, Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), Innsbruck, Austria
Margherita Brindisi received her PhD from the University of Siena, Italy. In 2010-2011 she worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Purdue University (USA) under the supervision of Prof. Arun K. Ghosh on the development of new antiviral agents and therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders. From 2012 to 2015 she was appointed as fixed-term Researcher at the University of Siena and in 2016-17 she again moved to Purdue University as a Visiting Researcher. Since April 2019, she was appointed at the Department of Pharmacy of University of Naples Federico II, where she is mainly focusing on the development of novel therapeutic options for infectious and rare diseases. She became an associate Professor at the same Department in April 2022. Margherita is author of 110 publications with more than 3500 citations and inventor of two international patents.
Margherita Brindisi received her PhD from the University of Siena, Italy. In 2010-2011 she worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Purdue University (USA) under the supervision of Prof. Arun K. Ghosh on the development of new antiviral agents and therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders. From 2012 to 2015 she was appointed as fixed-term Researcher at the University of Siena and in 2016-17 she again moved to Purdue University as a Visiting Researcher. Since April 2019, she was appointed at the Department of Pharmacy of University of Naples Federico II, where she is mainly focusing on the development of novel therapeutic options for infectious and rare diseases. She became an associate Professor at the same Department in April 2022. Margherita is author of 110 publications with more than 3500 citations and inventor of two international patents.
A Full Professor at the Unit of Medicinal Chemistry within the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences at the University of Barcelona, Prof. Dr. Escolano earned her PhD from the same institution in 1993. Following this, she embarked on a four-month honorary fellowship at the University College of London and pursued a two-year research training contract funded by Marie Curie at Kingston University (UK), focusing on the synthesis of intricate molecules with biological significance. In 2003, she received a Ramon y Cajal contract, and by 2007, she had assumed the role of Associate Professor. Her current research endeavors encompass a wide range of interdisciplinary projects that bridge the fields of chemistry and biology. Her team is dedicated to developing novel chemical entities designed to address pressing healthcare challenges, particularly in areas with significant societal impact, including glioblastoma, neuropathic pain, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease. In her instructional capacity at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, she has been actively engaged in teaching Organic Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry courses.
Laboratory of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (LQOF), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto,
CIIMAR – Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto
www.ff.up.pt/esousa
Invited Speakers
Prof. Dr. Anna Hirsch pursued her education in Natural Sciences with a specialization in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. During her third year, she had the privilege of studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she engaged in a research project alongside Prof. Timothy Jamison. In 2008, she accomplished her Ph.D. from ETH Zurich, concentrating on the de novo structure-based design and synthesis of inhibitors for an anti-infective target enzyme under the supervision of Prof. François Diederich. Subsequently, she undertook an HFSP postdoctoral fellowship at the Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS) in Strasbourg, led by Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn. She continued then as assistant professor, and afterwards as associate professor, at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry at the University of Groningen in 2010. In 2017, Anna transitioned to the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), where she serves as the head of the department for drug design and optimization. Her focus remains on anti-infective drug design, employing strategic methods such as structure- and fragment-based drug design. Prof. Hirsch's remarkable achievements have been widely recognized. She received the Gratama Science Prize in 2014, followed by the SCT-Servier Prize for Medicinal Chemistry in 2015. In 2017, her accomplishments were further acknowledged with the Innovation Prize for Medicinal Chemistry by the GdCh/DPhG. Her exceptional contributions earned her the EFMC Young Medicinal Chemist in Academia runner-up Prize in 2019.
Prof. Xiaoguang Lei is the Boya Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University. During his career, he has received numerous prestigious awards including the Molecules 2022 Tu Youyou Award. His laboratory at Peking University conducts research on the interface between chemistry and biology. He focuses on the function-oriented synthesis of structurally complex and bioactive natural products and systematically uses bioactive small molecules (either natural products or unnatural compounds) to study their biological functions, elucidate molecular mechanisms of the essential biological pathways, and develop novel therapeutic agents for currently intractable human diseases, such as cancers and infectious diseases. In addition, he has been exploring the biosynthesis of plant-derived bioactive natural products and developing efficient chemoenzymatic approaches to access these complex molecules. During his career to date, Prof. Dr. Lei has distinguished himself with numerous high-quality contributions in diverse areas of natural product synthesis, chemical biology, and drug discovery. His investigations into the molecular details and mechanisms at the interface between chemistry and biology have led to novel discoveries with potentially significant consequences for molecular medicine.
Department of Chemistry; Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University, USA
Prof. Ghosh is the Ian P. Rothwell Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry at Purdue University. Prof. Ghosh’s research group is involved in multidisciplinary research projects in the areas of synthetic organic, bioorganic, and medicinal chemistry. His group is currently studying critical ligand-binding site interactions of various proteolytic enzymes. This includes cysteine proteases for treatment of COVID-19, BACE1 (memapsin 2), a very significant target for Alzheimer’s disease, as well as, HIV protease whose clinical effectiveness for the treatment of AIDS has been well recognized. Prof. Ghosh created a molecule, known as Darunavir, that in 2006 became the first approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat drug-resistant HIV. The drug molecule is now approved in 80 countries and is used as a frontline therapy for HIV and AIDS. His groundbreaking research has been recognized with numerous National and International awards, including IUPAC Richter prize, ACS Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame, ACS Cope Scholar Award, and MERIT - award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Pau Gorostiza earned his physics degree and European Doctorate in semiconductor electrochemistry at the University of Barcelona (UB). His research at UB's microscopy facility focused on AFM and STM techniques for biological samples and nanotechnology in materials science. He visited CNRS - Université Pierre et Marie Curie in France and the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, an ICREA Research Professor at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, he develops photoswitchable ligands for neuronal proteins and studies interprotein electron transport in respiratory and photosynthetic complexes with EC-STM/AFM. Notably, he received a HFSP Career Development Award, two ERC grants, published 130 articles (6900 citations, h-index 44), holds 7 patents (5 licensed), and supervised 11 postdoctoral fellows and 13 PhDs.
Registration
The conference will be held fully in person, it is not possible to participate online. The registration fee includes attendance to all conference sessions, morning/afternoon coffee breaks, lunch, conference bag, and program book. Participation to the conference is considered final only once the registration fees have been paid. The number of participants is limited: once the number of paid registrations reaches the maximum number of participants, unpaid registrations will be cancelled.
Please note that abstract submission and conference registration are two separate processes. During registration, please provide us with the same email address you used to submit your abstract(s). Otherwise, leave us a comment in the registration form, providing the email address used during the submission process. In addition, please use your institutional email address for both processes. If you are registering several people under the same registration order, please do not use the same email address for each person, but their individual institutional email addresses. Thank you for your understanding.
Please note that, in order to finalize the scientific program in due time, at least one registration by any of the authors, denoted as Covering Author, is required to cover the presentation and publication of any accepted abstract. Covering Author registration deadline is 10 March 2024. Your abstract will be withdrawn if your registration is not complete by this date.
Group Registration: groups of 5 or more attendees are offered a 10% discount on the registration fees. To enjoy this discount you need to complete one multiple registration, by selecting the number of people attending in each category (type of registration) during the first step of the registration process. Please note that no other discounts will be applicable.
Certificate of Attendance: Participants of the event will be able to download an electronic Certificate of Attendance by accessing their dashboards on Sciforum.net once the event is concluded. The certificates will be found under "My Certificates" category.
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Early Bird Until 27th February 2024 |
Supported documents | |
|---|---|---|
| Academic | 500.00 EUR | |
| Student | 300.00 EUR |
Scanned copy or photograph of your current Student ID Card |
| Guest Editor/Board Member of Molecules | 400.00 EUR | |
| Non-Academic | 800.00 EUR | |
| Chairs, Invited Speakers and Committee Members | Free |
Cancellation policy
| Cancellation of paid registration is possible under the terms listed below: | |
| > 2 months before the conference | Full refund but 100 EUR are retained for administration |
| > 1 month before the conference | Refund 50% of the applying fees |
| > 2 weeks before the conference | Refund 25% of the applying fees |
| < 2 weeks before the conference | No refund |
Disclaimer
In the unlikely event that MDPI shall deem it necessary to cancel the conference, all pre-paid registration fees will be reimbursed. MDPI shall not be liable for reimbursing the cost of travel or accommodation arrangements made by individual delegates.
Beware of unauthorized registration and hotel solicitations
Note that Sciforum is the only official registration platform to register to MMCS 2024, and that we are not associated with any hotel agency (other than the listed in the conference website). While other hotel resellers and travel agencies may contact you with offers for your trip, they are not endorsed by or affiliated with Symmetry 2023 or Sciforum. Beware that entering into financial agreements with non-endorsed companies can have costly consequences.
Insurance
The organizers do not accept liability for personal accident, loss, or damage to private property incurred as a result of participation in The 4th Molecules Medicinal Chemistry Symposium. Delegates are advised to arrange appropriate insurance to cover travel, cancellation costs, medical, and theft or damage of belongings.
Photographs and/or video will be taken during the conference
By taking part in this event you grant the event organisers full rights to use the images resulting from the photography/video filming, and any reproductions or adaptations of the images for fundraising, publicity or other purposes to help achieve the conference’s aims. This might include (but is not limited to), the right to use them in their printed and online publicity, social media, press releases and funding applications.
Payment methods
Wire transfer, Credit card
Currencies accepted by this event
US Dollar, Euro, Swiss franc
Instructions for Authors
- Create an account on Sciforum if you do not have one, then click on ‘New Submission’ on the upper-right corner of the window, or by clicking on ‘Submit Abstract’ at the top of this webpage.
- Choose a session which is best suited for your research.
- Submit an abstract in English - the word limits are minimum 150 words and maximum 300 words.
- The deadline to submit your abstract is 13 December 2023. You will be notified about its acceptance by 10 January 2024.
- Upon submission, you can select if you wish to be considered for oral or poster presentation (or both). Following assessment by the Chairs and Scientific Committee, you will be notified by 10 January 2024 whether your contribution has been accepted for oral or poster presentation.
- Please note that, in order to finalize the scientific program in due time, at least one registration by any of the authors, denoted as Covering Author, is required to cover the presentation and publication of any accepted abstract. Covering Author registration deadline is 28 February 2024. Your abstract will be withdrawn if your registration is not complete by this date.
Invited talks will be 30-minute long including questions (25 minutes oral presentation + 5 minutes Q&A). Short talks will be 15-minute long including questions (10 minutes oral presentation + 5 minutes Q&A).
Please ensure that your slides are formatted in widescreen (16:9) aspect ratio.
Each presenter will be provided with a vertical poster board. Maximum poster size limited to A0: 84 x 120 cm / 33 x 47 in (width x height) in vertical orientation (portrait). Please print your poster prior to the conference. A plan of the poster session will be circulated later.
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All accepted abstracts will be available online in Open Access form on Sciforum.net during and after the conference.
- Participants of this conference are cordially invited to contribute with a full manuscript to the Special Issue related to the conference in the journal Molecules, with a 20% discount on the publication fees.
- Molecules indexed within Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), PubMed, MEDLINE, PMC, Reaxys, Embase, CaPlus / SciFinder, MarinLit, AGRIS, and other databases, and has an Impact Factor of 4.6 (2022) and a 5-Year Impact Factor of 4.9 (2022).
Venue, Travel and Accommodation
Venue
Barcelona
Barcelona is the capital and largest city of Catalonia and is Spain's second largest city, with a population of over one and half million people.
Located on the northeastern Mediterranean coast of Spain, this city has a rich and diverse history, with its roots dating back to Roman times. The fruitful medieval period established Barcelona's position as the economic and political centre of the Western Mediterranean. The city's Gothic Quarter bears witness to the splendour enjoyed by the city from the 13th to the 15th centuries.
The 20th century ushered in widespread urban renewal throughout Barcelona city, culminating in its landmark Eixample district, which showcases some of Barcelona's most distinctive Catalan art-nouveau, or modernista, buildings. The Catalan Antoni Gaudí, one of the most eminent architects, designed buildings such as La Pedrera, the Casa Batlló and the Sagrada Família church, which have become world-famous landmarks.
In 1992, Barcelona gained international recognition by hosting the Olympic games which brought about a massive upturn in its tourism industry. For visitors, this has translated into the very modern, yet incredibly old city you see now in the 21st century, where new elements work to both preserve and celebrate both the city’s heritage and origins.
Barcelona is plenty of outdoor markets, restaurants, shops, museums, and churches. The city is also very walkable, with an extensive and reliable Metro system for more far-flung destinations.
For a complete overview, see wikitravel.org or visit barcelonaturisme.com.
The AXA Convention Center
The AXA Convention Centre is located in a vibrant modern zone of the city, with easy access from the airport, as well as the urban and suburban areas of the city. It is part of the "L'Illa Diagonal", a modern complex which includes a shopping centre, two 4-stars hotels, several offices, a sports centre, a public park, and a parking with 2500 spaces.
Address: Avinguda Diagonal, 547, 08029 Barcelona
Travel
By Plane:
The international airport of Barcelona is called Barcelona-El Prat and is located 10 km from the city centre. The airport is well connected to airport hubs in Europe and several locations around the world. For more information about the airport and flights, please visit the official website https://www.aena.es.
Once you get to the airport, you have several options to reach the city centre.
To the city centre:
- By shuttle bus: AEROBUS (https://aerobusbarcelona.es). This bus connects Barcelona Airport (Terminal 1 and Terminal 2) with the city center (Pl. Catalunya) in 35 minutes. It runs every day of the year with departures every 5 minutes and costs 6,75 €.
- By train: TRAIN R2 NORD (https://rodalies.gencat.cat). This train connects the Terminal 2 of the airport with the city center (Barcelona-Passeig de Gràcia). It runs every day of the year with departures every 30 minutes and costs 2,40€.
- By taxi: taxis just outside the arrival area. The taxi from the airport to the city center (Plaza Catalunya) costs approximately 30-35€. Public taxis can apply four types of fares in Barcelona. These fares must be visible inside the taxi, and are usually printed on a sticker over the window. Finally, the amount payable must be indicated on the taximeter. VTC apps that work in Barcelona are Bolt and Cabify and might offer cheaper rates.
To the conference venue:
- By metro: LINE L9 (https://www.tmb.cat). This metro line connects Barcelona Airport (Terminal 1 and Terminal 2) with the north-west of the city (Zona Universitària). From here you can take TRAM T1, T2, T3 (get off at L'Illa stop) or bus 7, 67 (get off at Diagonal - Entença stop) (https://www.tmb.cat). The metro from the airport costs 5,15 € and the tram or bus 2,40 €. You can buy the bus/tram ticket at the tram stop or on the bus.
- By taxi: taxis just outside the arrival area. The taxi from the airport to the conference venue costs approximately 30-35€. VTC apps that work in Barcelona are Bolt and Cabify and might offer cheaper rates.
By Train:
Barcelona Sants station is Barcelona's largest train station and provides rail services both in and around Barcelona and for the whole of Spain and beyond. For more information about the station and train service, please visit the official website https://www.renfe.com.
Once you get to the station, you have the following options to reach the conference venue:
- By bus: LINES V7 or 78 (https://www.tmb.cat)
- By taxi: taxis just outside the station. The taxi from the station to the conference venue costs about 10 €.
Accommodation
We want your stay in Barcelona during the conference to be as good as possible. With that in mind, we have agreed a discount with several hotels to make your accommodation choice easier. Please book your accommodation online and contact the hotels directly with any issues or requests related to accommodation bookings.
We are delighted to announce that the following hotels will offer a discounted price for all MMCS 2024 attendees:
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Arenas Atiram: The Arenas Atiram Hotel offers a highly personalized service together with very friendly, elegant facilities, and it is within walking distance from the conference venue.
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Oriente Atiram and Meson Castilla Atiram: Located in Las Ramblas, have a fantastic central location, next to Plaza Catalunya and the famous Boqueria market, 25-30 minutes away (by metro) from the conference venue.
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Tres Torres Atiram: Located in the center of one of the best residential neighbourhoods of Barcelona, next to the distinguished commercial and leisure districts Diagonal Avenue, 1.5 km away from the conference venue.
- Hostal Aslyp 114: The Hostal Aslyp114 is a cosy hotel with private rooms, located just 10 minutes away from the conference venue. Please add the 5% discount code ‘BCN114’ and indicate that you will be attending MMCS 2024 while making your reservation.
Beware of Unauthorized Registration and Hotel Solicitations
Note that Sciforum is the only official registration platform to register to Symmetry2023, and that we are not associated with any hotel agency (other than the listed above). While other hotel resellers and travel agencies may contact you with offers for your trip, they are not endorsed by or affiliated with Symmetry2023 or Sciforum. Beware that entering into financial agreements with non-endorsed companies can have costly consequences.
Visa Information
Visa Support Letters
- Applicants must have paid for registration and submitted an abstract in order to get a letter of support.
- Applicants must provide us with a scan of their valid in date passport that contains a photo of them.
- Applicants must provide us with an academic CV, two references from their institution (contact information including institutional email and phone) and a letter of support from their institution to confirm that they support the delegate attending the meeting.
- This must be carried in good time before the meeting, “last minute” requests will not be processed.
Event Awards
In order to recognize the works presented during the conference in the format of posters and presentations, two awards will be offered to our conference participants, sponsored by the journal Molecules. The Awardees will be announced during the Award Ceremony on the last day of the conference.
The award winners will be selected by the Selection Committee after evaluation of all selected talks and posters presented at the conference.
We will be offering the following two awards to our conference attendees:
Best Oral Presentation
Number of Awards Available: 1
Prize: 500 €
Best Poster
Number of Awards Available: 1
Prize: 300 €
Sponsors and Partners
Organizers
