Innovative Computational and Experimental Strategies in Antimicrobial Drug Discovery
A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 May 2026 | Viewed by 11
Special Issue Editors
Interests: medicinal chemistry; drug design and synthesis; small molecules; heterocyclic compounds; hit-to-lead development; antimicrobial drugs; anticancer drug discovery; carbonic anhydrase inhibitors; structure–activity relationship study; molecular docking
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: isosteric drug design; design of small molecular kinase inhibitors (SMKIs); synthetic medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry; anticancer and antimicrobial drug discovery; melanoma; in silico molecular modeling; early drug discovery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. The rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant bacterial and fungal strains is making current therapies increasingly ineffective, threatening decades of medical progress. Global projections indicate that antimicrobial-resistant infections may soon surpass diabetes and cancer as leading causes of mortality worldwide. The WHO has emphasized the urgent need for innovative antibiotics and therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance and restore effective infection control.
In this context, our Special Issue aims to highlight cutting-edge research and reviews integrating experimental and computational approaches in the discovery and development of next-generation antimicrobial agents. The combination of in silico tools, such as virtual screening, molecular modeling, and artificial intelligence, with in vitro and in vivo screening platforms, is reshaping antimicrobial research, accelerating drug discovery, and providing key mechanistic insights for rational design. Topics of interest include drug repurposing, structural optimization of existing agents, and emerging paradigms such as photopharmacology, polypharmacology, and hybrid strategies merging synthetic chemistry with computational methods.
We warmly invite researchers from academia and industry to contribute their innovative works on novel antimicrobial entities, computational investigations, and experimental validation, fostering collaboration and inspiring new directions in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance.
Dr. Domiziana Masci
Dr. Usama Ammar
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceuticals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- antimicrobial resistance
- multidrug resistance
- small molecules
- novel antimicrobial entities
- in silico drug discovery
- in vitro screening
- innovative strategies
- drug repurposing
- structure–activity relationship
- rational drug design
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
