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Are you an early career researcher looking to share your expertise, expand your professional network, and contribute to the scientific community?
The Lunch & Learn initiative is designed to be a valuable knowledge sharing resource for early-career scientists in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. Foundational presentations outlining key topics and techniques in drug discovery will be delivered by PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and their industry peers.
What to expect?
Each Lunch & Learn session will take the form of a short lunchtime webinar (max.1 hr), covering background theory, practical techniques and case study applications.
When available, each section below will include a replay of the foundational presentation along with the associated handouts. Please note that some content may have been removed at the speakers’ discretion. We kindly ask that you use this material responsibly and limit its use to personal purposes only.
Title: Targeting RNA with Small Molecules
Date & Time: December 9 - 13:00 CET/12:00 UK
Duration: 1h
Description: This Lunch & Learn session, led by Federico Riu (IIT, Italy), will focus on RNA as a strategic target for drug development. The talk will highlight the importance of RNA in drug discovery, first analyzing the advantages and limitations of oligonucleotide-based therapies, and then exploring the multiple emerging categories of RNA-targeting small molecules. General methods for identifying RNA-binding small molecules will also be discussed.
Elena (Case Study I) will present her current PhD project, focused on the design and synthesis of small molecules targeting the SAM-I/IV riboswitch, a regulatory RNA element that controls gene expression in response to S-adenosylmethionine levels. Her talk will cover the optimization of novel potential antibacterial ligands that selectively interact with the riboswitch binding pocket.
Kateryna (Case Study II) will discuss her PhD project involving the design and synthesis of temozolomide (TMZ, prodrug for glioblastoma) derivatives as RNA ligands capable of binding RNA and inducing irreversible methylation. This work focuses on the development of covalent RNA ligands that can cause irreversible, site-specific modifications.
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Title: Light-responsive Molecules: From the Fumehood to the Cell
Speakers: Jana Volaric (Imperial College London, UK), Markus Müller (Dresden University of Technology, DE), Davia Prischich (University of Oxford, UK)
Date & Time: November 5th - 13:00 CET/12:00 UK
Duration: 1h
Description: This edition of the Lunch&Learn session led by Jana Volaric (Imperial College London) will introduce the emerging field of photopharmacology - using light-responsive molecules to control and investigate biology. The session will include an introduction into molecular tools used to achieve external spatiotemporal control, namely photocages and photoswitches, considerations regarding their design and three highlighted stories how photoresponsive molecules have been used to modulate the activity of a nanopore-forming toxin (Dr. Jana Volaric), ion channels (Dr. Markus Müller) and helical peptides (Dr. Davia Prischich).
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Title: Direct-to-Biology Platforms to Accelerate Drug Discovery
Speakers: Dr Rebecca Stevens (Bicycle Therapeutics), Mr Andreas Holmqvist (University of Dundee), Dr Cassie Pratley (AstraZeneca)
Date: Tuesday 14th of October - 13:00 CEST/12:00 UK
Duration: 1h
Description: In this Lunch&Learn session led by Dr Rebecca Stevens (Bicycle Therapeutics), she will introduce the concept of Direct-to-Biology (D2B) as a technique for accelerating drug discovery projects by eliminating the bottleneck of compound purification. Rebecca will then cover examples from the literature, trends in the field, details on reaction setup and common downstream assays, as well as some of her own PhD research on the applications of Direct-to-Biology to the development of targeted protein degraders.
Andreas Holmqvist will provide us with a direct-to-biology case study, focusing on his research into the design of bifunctional molecules, with a particular emphasis on CNS-active modalities. During his PhD, he has developed a high-throughput direct-to-biology synthesis platform for PROTAC discovery, employing orthogonally reactive linkers to efficiently generate and screen degrader libraries. This strategy led to the discovery of a highly potent, selective, and CNS-active GSK3 degrader that demonstrated both in vivobrain penetration and efficacy.
Dr Cassie Pratley will discuss the applications of D2B within AstraZeneca and its impact on R&D. She will focus on how D2B adds value by rapidly accelerating the DMTA (Design-Make-Test-Analyse) cycle, while also addressing the challenges associated with working with miniaturized reactions. To close, she will explain how automation and AI are being integrated into AstraZeneca’s D2B workflows and share her outlook on future hopes and plans in this area.
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Title: Protein Kinases as Drug Targets
Speakers: Dr. Ricardo Serafim (IQS Barcelona), Ms. Elena Caballero Sánchez (CIB-CSIC, Madrid), MSc. Marta Durán Martínez (University of Alcalá)
Date: Thursday 11th September - 13:00 CET/12:00 UK
Duration: 1h
Description: In this Lunch&Learn session led by Dr. Ricardo A. M. Serafim (IQS Barcelona) the audience will have a general overview about protein kinases in drug discovery and learn modern approaches currently employed to design kinase modulators. Dr. Serafim will focus on the importance of chemical tools for enabling the (in)validation and translation of new kinase targets as well as illustrate recent advances in the exploration of the less-studied fraction of the kinome. Moreover, Ms. Elena Caballero Sánchez (CIB-CSIC, Madrid) will spotlight the use of machine learning in the kinase field and MSc. Marta Durán Martínez (University of Alcalá) the development of pseudokinase activators.
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Hit & Tell: Chemical Probes to Map Protein Targets through Affinity-Based Proteome Profiling (ABPP)
Speakers: Dr. Massimiliano Runfola, Dr. Amrita Date, Mr. Joshua Mealing-Stott
Date: Wednesday 16th July - 13:00 CET/12:00 UK
Duration: 1h
Description: This Lunch&Learn webinar, led by Dr. Massimiliano Runfola (University of Oxford) explores the use of Affinity-Based Proteome Profiling (ABPP) in chemical biology and drug discovery. The session will introduce the core principles and practical aspects of ABPP as a game-changing strategy for target deconvolution, followed by two case studies presented by Dr. Amrita Date (University of Leeds) and Mr. Josh Mealing-Stott (University of Oxford), highlighting its diverse real-world applications. Topics will include probe design, experimental workflows, data interpretation, and common challenges. This webinar is aimed at PhD students and early-career researchers seeking practical insights into chemical probe development and proteomics-based protein profiling.
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