X Symposium of Medicinal Chemistry Young Researchers in Spain

Tate group member Dr Efthymios Spyridon-Gavriil attends the X Symposium of Medicinal Chemistry Young Researchers in Spain.

On July 12, the Spanish Society of Therapeutic Chemistry (SEQT) organised the 10th Symposium of Medicinal Chemistry Young Researchers in the Colegio Mayor Universitario San Pablo in Madrid.

The aim of the symposium, in its 10^th anniversary, was to give the opportunity to early career researchers, mainly from Spain, but also from other countries, to show and discuss their research. The symposium featured three keynote lectures from Dr Chiara Borsari (Assistant Professor at Università degli Studi di Milano), Dr Ana Oliveira (Assistant Professor at University of Porto) and Dr Salva Guardiola (Head of Protein Science at ONA Therapeutics). Several oral communications and many poster presentations were also included in the event.

Dr Efthymios Gavriil, represented the Tate group in the symposium. He presented the 'Discovery of Hedgehog Acyltransferase (HHAT) Inhibitors for Treatment of Cancer', an ongoing drug discovery project, which provides a new opportunity to target cancers with aberrant activation of the Hedgehog pathway. After highlighting the work of the group on elucidating the structure of HHAT using cryo-EM, identifying a high-quality chemical probe and novel inhibitors, he went on to describe the current campaign of the group for novel HHAT inhibitors. Starting from a high-throughput screen and through extensive optimisation, very potent inhibitors have been identified with promising pharmacokinetic properties for use in vivo in Hedgehog-related disease models.

Overall, the symposium was a high-level meeting that showcased the potential of early career medicinal chemists. The warm atmosphere that surrounded the event encouraged the scientific exchange and the interactions among young scientists, but also with senior representatives from academia and the pharmaceutical industry.