Practical Aspects of Small Molecule Drug Discovery: At the interface of biology, chemistry and pharmacology

1-6 June 2014

Wellcome Trust Genome Campus , Hinxton, Cambridge

Deadline: 7 March 2014

Programme

A growing number of investigators in leading research institutions and small and medium-sized companies are expanding from their strength in disease biology into early-stage drug discovery. However, this move requires successfully combining the disciplines of biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics and pharmacology, the breadth of which can present organisational, knowledge and competence challenges for institutions and investigators. This residential course aims to give researchers of any discipline a broad introduction to the theoretical, practical and organisational aspects of small molecule drug discovery. Each topic will include a lecture together with discussion sessions or case histories to develop key aspects highlighted in the lectures. In addition there will be practical sessions to illustrate the beginnings of drug discovery programmes, including the production of target product profiles, project plans and milestones, compound progression criteria and scientific strategy.

Topics will include

Project management and organisation of multi-disciplinary projects
Target discovery and validation
Hit discovery options
Fragment based drug discovery
Screening set selection, storage and quality control
Screening cascades, assay development and quality control
Data mining
Principles of compound optimisation and case histories
Introduction to pharmacokinetics
In silico approaches to drug design
Intellectual property strategy
Regulatory bodies requirements
Data packages required for out licensing and partnering
An introduction to preclinical and clinical development.

Course organisers

Professor Paul Wyatt (Head of the Drug Discovery Unit, University of Dundee, UK)
Dr Mary Donnelly (MDPharmasolutions, ex-GlaxoSmithKline)

Guest lecturers

A prestigious panel of guest lecturers from industry, academia and established not-for-profit organisations will be assembled for the course. Guest lecturers in previous years have included senior representatives from:
Pfizer
GlaxoSmithKline
AstraZeneca
Astex Pharmaceuticals
BioFocus DPI Ltd
European Bioinformatics Institute
Medical Research Council Technology
University of Dundee
Albany Regulatory Consulting Limited
Imperial College

Feedback from previous courses

“The course was of first level in all aspects, all the instructors were experts in their fields with many years of experience and very open to answer questions.”
“A good course. Well organised. Excellent facilities. Strong course leaders with excellent knowledge and teaching skills. Those giving talks were very passionate about the subject.”
“I have truly found the course informative and enjoyable.”

How to apply

Prerequisites
Applicants will likely be:

new postdoctoral recruits to already established facilities
postdoctoral grade researchers in small or medium sized companies
senior investigators considering entering the field
recipients, and their staff, of Seeding Drug Discovery project funding
established investigators seeking further professional development.

Cost
The course is subsidised by the Wellcome Trust. This is a residential course and there is a fee of £600 towards board and lodging for clinical and academic applicants.

Bursaries
Limited bursaries are available for non-commercial applicants (50 per cent of fee) and are subject to open competition. If you would like to apply for a bursary, please complete the bursary section of the online application form (see below for application process).

Applications
Application forms for this course can now be completed online. Please click here to be redirected to the application portal. If you have any problems with the online application process, please email us.

Please note: Applications must be supported by a recommendation from a scientific sponsor. This can be your supervisor or head of department. A request for a supporting statement will be sent to your nominated sponsor automatically during the application process. Applicants must ensure that their sponsor provides this supporting statement by the application deadline

Deadlines
Deadline for applications: 7 March 2014