Second VCU 3D Summit: short talks, hot topics
VCU School of Pharmacy’s Institute for Structural Biology, Drug Discovery and Development will host the VCU 3D Summit 2016 Feb. 18-19 in downtown Richmond. “3D” refers to drug discovery and development, both in the summit’s title and the institute’s abbreviation: ISB3D.
The interdisciplinary summit is free, including lunch on Feb. 19. Registration is required by contacting Michelle Wise at mcwise@vcu.edu or (804) 828-3899.
Professor and ISB3D director Umesh Desai will open the summit at 3 p.m. Feb. 18 at Biotech One, 800 E. Leigh St., where the institute is housed. Assistant professor Rong Huang will offer an “Emerging Technology (Science) Talk.” (Unless otherwise noted, faculty are with the School of Pharmacy’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry.)
Professor Glen Kellogg will introduce the speakers participating in “Speed Dating: 2.5-Minute Podium Presentations by Graduate Students and Postdoctorals With Posters,” followed by a poster session.
Professor emeritus Donald Abraham will discuss “The ISB3D and More, Beyond 3D: The Founding Director’s Perspective.” The first day’s activities will conclude at 6:30 p.m. following an awards ceremony for the Donald J. Abraham Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and results of the poster competition. Presentations will be made by Desai and Frank Macrina, VCU vice president for research and innovation.
The second day’s events will take place 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. in Room 1013 of the Molecular Medicine Research Building, 1220 E. Broad St. Each short talk will include a 10-minute question-and-answer session.
Following a welcome by Macrina, associate professor Martin Safo will present “Development of Anti-Sickling Agents – Update and Future Strategy.” Bhaumik Patel, associate clinical professor, VCU Department of Internal Medicine, and research program member, Massey Cancer Center, will discuss “A Selective Inhibitor of Cancer Stem Cells – Update.”
Associate professor Shijun Zhang will present “Small Molecule and Multifunctional Neuroprotectants for Alzheimer’s Disease.” Nicholas Farrell, professor, VCU Department of Chemistry, will address “Anti-Metastatic Platinums for Tumor Selectivity,” and associate professor Yan Zhang will discuss “Novel Agents to Treat Opioid-Induced Constipation.”
Associate professor Phil Gerk will talk about “Combinations of Dietary and GRAS Compounds to Alleviate Presystematic Metabolism.” Desai, Safo and Hang Xie of the U.S. FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research will close the presentations with “Novel Anti-Influenza A Agents by Targeting the M1 Protein.”
The 2016 summit will conclude with coffee and discussion.
The first VCU 3D Summit, a one-day event, took place in January 2015. School of Pharmacy Dean Joseph T. DiPiro, introducing the inaugural summit, referred to the nearly 20-year-old institute as integral to the school’s transformational leadership.
In the year since, the formerly named Institute for Structural Biology and Drug Discovery has re-engineered its mission, placing a higher level of emphasis on drug development (hence the renaming, adding the word “Development”). The institute continues to work toward expanding its core of investigators and collaborations.
“The core facility remains here,” says Desai, “but hopefully every research investigator has a stake in this as we demonstrate our contributions to science.”
Photos by Burnham Photography.
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