Conferences
13 March 2026, Online
Pharmaceuticals Webinar | Structural and Computationally Driven Molecule Design in Drug Discovery, 13 March 2026
Welcome message from the Chair:
Dear colleagues and distinguished guests,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to this webinar organized in connection with our Special Issue, “Structural and Computationally Driven Molecule Design in Drug Discovery: 2nd Edition”. We are delighted to have you here with us today and thank you for your interest and participation.
Drug discovery and development remain one of the most complex, time-consuming, and high-risk endeavors in modern science. In this challenging landscape, the integration of computational approaches with experimental validation has become not only complementary but essential. The strong compliance between in silico predictions and experimental outcomes now represents a cornerstone of rational drug design, enabling more efficient target identification, lead discovery, and lead optimization.
Advances in computer-aided drug design—ranging from molecular docking and virtual screening to molecular dynamics simulations, QSAR modeling, and pharmacophore generation—have significantly transformed how we understand ligand–target interactions at the molecular level. At the same time, progress in structural biology, including X-ray crystallography and spectroscopic techniques, continues to provide high-resolution insights into macromolecular drug targets, further enriching computational methodologies and model accuracy.
Another critical bottleneck in drug development is the failure of promising candidates due to unfavorable ADMET properties. Here, in silico ADMET prediction has emerged as a powerful, cost-effective strategy to prioritize compounds early in the pipeline, reducing attrition rates and accelerating translational success.
More recently, the rapid rise in artificial intelligence and machine learning has opened entirely new horizons in drug discovery and personalized medicine. AI-driven models now play an increasingly important role in predicting binding affinities, toxicity risks, physicochemical properties, and even guiding de novo molecular design, bringing us closer to truly precision-driven therapeutics.
This webinar aims to provide deep mechanistic insights into structural dynamics and state-of-the-art computational strategies that drive modern molecule design. It also serves as a platform for knowledge exchange, interdisciplinary discussion, and the sharing of innovative ideas that bridge theory and experiment.
We hope that today’s presentations and discussions will inspire new collaborations, stimulate scientific curiosity, and contribute meaningfully to advancing the field of drug discovery.
Thank you once again for joining us. We wish you a stimulating and productive webinar.
Warm regards,
Assoc. Prof. Halilibrahim Ciftci
Date: 13 March 2026 at 4:00 p.m. CET | 11:00 a.m. EST | 11:00 p.m. CST Asia
Webinar ID: 823 1528 8737
Register now for free!
Program:
|
Speaker/Presentation |
Time in CET |
Time in EST |
|
Assoc. Prof. Halilibrahim Ciftci (Chair) Welcome Message |
4:00–4:10 p.m. |
11:00–11:10 a.m. |
|
Asst. Prof. Jonathan Stokes How Can We Use AI to Help Us Find New Antibiotics? |
4:10–4:30 p.m. |
11:10–11:30 a.m. |
|
Asst. Prof. Hasan Demirci Structure-Based Drug Design by Using Ambient Temperature Serial Femtosecond X-ray Crystallography |
4:30–4:50 p.m. |
11:30–11:50 a.m. |
|
Assoc. Prof. Belgin Sever Drug Discovery in ALS: Current Advances and Future Directions |
4:50–5:10 p.m. |
11:50 a.m.–12:10 p.m. |
|
Asst. Prof. Khaled M. Elamin Redefining Drug Discovery Workflows Through Modern Computational Chemistry |
5:10–5:30 p.m. |
12:10–12:30 p.m. |
|
Q&A Session |
5:30–5:45 p.m. |
12:30–12: 45 p.m. |
|
Assoc. Prof. Halilibrahim Ciftci Closing of Webinar |
5:45–5:50 p.m. |
12:45–12:50 p.m. |
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with email addresses from academic institutions will be prioritized.
Unable to attend? Register anyway and we will let you know when the recording is available to watch.
Webinar Chair and Keynote Speakers:
- Assoc. Prof. Halilibrahim Ciftci, 1 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur 15030, Türkiye; 2 Medicinal and Biological Chemistry Science Farm Joint Research Laboratory, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 862-0976, Japan; 3 Department of Drug Discovery, Science Farm Ltd., Kumamoto 862-0976, Japan;
- Asst. Prof. Jonathan Stokes, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Canada;
- Asst. Prof. Hasan Demirci, 1 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Koc University, Istanbul, Türkiye; 2 Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA;
- Assoc. Prof. Belgin Sever, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Anadolu University, 26470 Eskisehir, Türkiye;
- Asst. Prof. Khaled M. Elamin, Global Center for Natural Products Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, 5-1 Oe-honmachi, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 862-0973, Japan.
