Dinner Short Courses (In-Person Only)

Short courses at Drug Discovery Chemistry are designed to be instructional, interactive, and provide in-depth information on a specific topic with opportunities for Q&A throughout. The courses include introductions for those new to the fields and those looking to learn more, as well as explanations on more technical aspects than time allows during our main conference presentations. Instructors are drawn from industry and academics alike, and many are recognized authorities in the fields or have teaching experience.

Information for Drug Discovery Chemistry 2027 will be added by mid-December. Explore the 2026 offerings below.

Short Courses

Monday, April 13, 2026 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

SC1 SC1: Protein Degraders: A Beyond Rule of Five Space and in vitro ADME Perspective

This course focuses on proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and will cover topics relevant to developing them as oral therapeutics. Topics to be covered in this first part of the course will include their physicochemical properties and how these influence solubility and permeability and assays to determine polarity. We will also examine ADME topics focusing on in vitro assays for characterization of PROTACs and glues.

Instructors:

John Erve, PhD, President, Jerve Scientific Consulting

Stefanus Steyn, PhD, Research Fellow, Pharmacokinetics Dynamics & Metabolism, Pfizer

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Photo of John Erve, PhD, President, Jerve Scientific Consulting — **John Erve, PhD, President, Jerve Scientific Consulting**
John Erve is from Chicago and studied Chemistry (BS, MS) at the University of Chicago and earned a PhD in Toxicology at Oregon State University. Following postdoctoral work at Vanderbilt (1995-1999) he joined BD-Biosciences (Woburn, MA) as a Study Director. In 2002, he joined AstraZeneca (Sweden) where he characterized reactive metabolites. In 2004 he joined Wyeth (Collegeville, PA) as a Principal Scientist responsible for metabolite identification. In 2010, John joined Novartis (Cambridge, MA) as a Lab Head in Analytical Sciences. John returned to drug metabolism at Elan Pharmaceuticals (San Francisco, CA) in 2012 and later formed Jerve Scientific Consulting, Inc to help small biotech companies in the Bay area with their drug discovery efforts. John was a certified D.A.B.T. from 2004 to 2019.

Photo of Stefanus Steyn, PhD, Research Fellow, Pharmacokinetics Dynamics & Metabolism, Pfizer — **Stefanus Steyn, PhD, Research Fellow, Pharmacokinetics Dynamics & Metabolism, Pfizer**
I have a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and completed post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Professor Neal Castagnoli at Virginia Tech. I have over 20 years pharmaceutical industry experience with over forty co-authored publications. I have spent most of my career at Pfizer in various roles within PDM (DMPK), supporting projects ranging from oncology to neuroscience and currently, Inflammation and Immunology (I&I). I am currently a Research Fellow, and my responsibilities include setting the DMPK research and project strategies within the I&I Research Unit. In addition, my team and I function as Project Representative within I&I while I also have responsibilities as a Research Project Lead for various Discovery programs. My interests include prediction of human ADME as well as exploring physicochemical properties and how they relate to ADME with a focus on absorption. PROTACs are of special interest given their unique beyond Rule-of-5 properties and the ADME challenges they present relative to classical small molecules.

SC2 SC2: Fragment-Based Drug Design: Advancing Tools and Technologies

This course aims to introduce the fundamentals of Fragment-Based Lead Discovery (FBLD) to attendees. The first section will focus on the concepts of using fragments for hit generation. Special emphasis will be placed on practical pitfalls and the many ways to advance fragments to leads and drugs. The second part of the course will discuss the variety of fragment screening methods and when they are best applied. The composition of fragment libraries will also be discussed in detail. The attendees should come away from this course with a solid understanding of what FBLD is and how to apply it.

Instructors:

Daniel A. Erlanson, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, Frontier Medicines Corporation

Phillip Schwartz, PhD, Director, Biophysics, Septerna

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Photo of Daniel A. Erlanson, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, Frontier Medicines Corporation — **Daniel A. Erlanson, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, Frontier Medicines Corporation**
Dr. Daniel A. Erlanson is the Chief Innovation Officer for Frontier Medicines, which is using covalent fragments, machine learning, and chemoproteomics to target proteins often thought undruggable. Prior to Frontier he co-founded Carmot Therapeutics, where he contributed to two clinical-stage molecules. Before Carmot, Dr. Erlanson spent a decade developing fragment-based discovery technologies and leading medicinal chemistry projects at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Erlanson was an NIH postdoctoral fellow with James A. Wells at Genentech, earned his PhD in chemistry from Harvard University in the laboratory of Gregory L. Verdine, and his BA in chemistry from Carleton College. He has co-edited two books on fragment-based drug discovery and is an inventor on more than a dozen issued patents and an author of more than forty scientific publications. He also runs a blog devoted to fragment-based drug discovery, Practical Fragments (http://practicalfragments.blogspot.com/).

Photo of Phillip Schwartz, PhD, Director, Biophysics, Septerna — **Phillip Schwartz, PhD, Director, Biophysics, Septerna**
After receiving his Bachelorâ€™s degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry at Virginia Tech, Dr. Schwartz joined the Enzyme Institute in the Biochemistry department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a doctoral student. In the laboratory of Perry Frey, he studied enzymology, where he specialized in spectroscopy and radical cofactor chemistry. After receiving his PhD, Dr. Schwartz did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he characterized the transition states of ribosyl transfer enzymes by solving multiple kinetic isotope effects. Following Einstein, he took a postdoctoral fellowship at Pfizer-San Diego, where he investigated protein oxidation and its effect on irreversible inhibition kinetics. Subsequently, he joined Takeda California, where he studied mechanistic enzymology and biophysics with a specialization in SPR spectroscopy. Dr. Schwartz has recently joined Septerna, where he applies his expertise in Biophysics to assess drug-target interactions of GPCRs.

SC3 SC3: Next-Gen AI Toolkit for Drug Discovery: From LLMs to Multi-Agent Systems

This short course provides an overview of the next generation of AI toolkits for drug discovery, with a focus on the transition from large language models (LLMs) to multi-agent systems. The session will introduce participants to recent advances in generative and agentic AI and explore how these innovations are reshaping the way researchers approach molecular design, synthesis planning, and knowledge integration. Through a structured presentation of concepts, frameworks, and curated resources, the course will highlight practical avenues by which scientists can apply AI in their own research. Attendees will be introduced to emerging approaches such as agentic workflows, evolving and multi-agent frameworks, and examples of AI-driven discovery pipelines that connect predictive models with generative design.

Instructors:

Parthiban Srinivasan, PhD, Professor and Director, Centre for AI in Medicine, Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation, India

Petrina Kamya, PhD, Global Head of AI Platforms & Vice President, Insilico Medicine; President, Insilico Medicine Canada

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Photo of Parthiban Srinivasan, PhD, Professor and Director, Centre for AI in Medicine, Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation, India — **Parthiban Srinivasan, PhD, Professor and Director, Centre for AI in Medicine, Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation, India**
Parthiban Srinivasan, an experienced data scientist, earned his PhD from Indian Institute of Science, specializing in Computational Chemistry. After his PhD, he continued the research at NASA Ames Research Center (USA) and Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). Then he worked at AstraZeneca in the area of Computer Aided Drug Design for Tuberculosis. Later, he headed informatics business units in Jubilant Biosys and then in GvkBio before he floated the company, Parthys Reverse Informatics and later an AI consultancy, Vingyani. Then he returned to academia as a Professor of Data Science at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal. Currently, Parthiban is a Professor and Director at the Center for AI in Medicine, Vinayaka Missions Research Foundation, AV Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry, India

Photo of Petrina Kamya, PhD, Global Head of AI Platforms & Vice President, Insilico Medicine; President, Insilico Medicine Canada — **Petrina Kamya, PhD, Global Head of AI Platforms & Vice President, Insilico Medicine; President, Insilico Medicine Canada**
Petrina Kamya, PhD, is the Head of AI Platforms and President of Insilico Medicine, Canada an end-to-end artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery company. Before joining Insilico, Dr. Kamya spent eight years in various roles at Chemical Computing Group that involved scientific and business-related aspects of preclinical drug discovery. In addition to establishing the corporate strategy for the sales and business development of molecular modeling software for academia, she also played an active role as an application scientist working on real-world discovery projects and finally in a senior role in strategy and business development for pharma and biotech companies. Following her time at CCG, Petrina moved to Certara as a Market Access Manager, where she learned first-hand the challenges of getting drugs to market. Petrina has been with Insilico Medicine since August 2020. She holds a PhD in Chemistry (specializing in computational chemistry) from Concordia University.

SC4 SC4: From Biophysics to Cellular Target Engagement: Tools for Small Molecule Ligand Identification & Analysis

This course covers biophysical and biochemical strategies for discovering small molecules that engage difficult-to-drug protein targets such as protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). You'll hear introductions to various technologies, case studies of their applications, and insights on the challenges for which the particular approach is best suited.

Instructors:

Hans-Peter N. Biemann, PhD, Distinguished Scientist, Integrated Drug Discovery, Sanofi

Karanbir Pahil, PhD, Senior Principal Scientist, Affinity Selections & Biophysics, GlaxoSmithKline

Matthew T. Eddy, PhD, Associate Professor, Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville

Elmar Nurmemmedov, PhD, MBA, Co-Founder & CEO, CellarisBio

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Photo of Hans-Peter N. Biemann, PhD, Distinguished Scientist, Integrated Drug Discovery, Sanofi — **Hans-Peter N. Biemann, PhD, Distinguished Scientist, Integrated Drug Discovery, Sanofi**
Hans-Peter Biemann has originated innovative discovery programs and applied emerging small molecule technologies during tenures in Genzymeâ€™s and Sanofiâ€™s Drug Discovery units. Contributions on preclinical and clinical agents have included partnerships with academic leaders and start-ups. Working across various disciplines (protein biochemistry, cell biology, structural biology, biophysics), Hans has conducted and led phenotypic, fragment-based, and HTS-based drug discovery. He established productive FBDD, high-res Cryo EM drug design, Affinity Selection Mass Spectrometry over the past 15 years at Sanofi/Genzyme. Prior to joining Genzyme in the 1990s, he completed a post doc in Daniel Koshlandâ€™s U.C. Berkeley group and trained in Raymond Eriksonâ€™s Harvard group (PhD). His B.S. was earned at Yale.

Photo of Karanbir Pahil, PhD, Senior Principal Scientist, Affinity Selections & Biophysics, GlaxoSmithKline — **Karanbir Pahil, PhD, Senior Principal Scientist, Affinity Selections & Biophysics, GlaxoSmithKline**
Karan completed his graduate studies in Dan Kahneâ€™s lab at Harvard. There, he studied the biogenesis of the bacterial outer membrane, and characterized inhibitors that kill by interfering with this process. He developed biochemical and structural methods to characterize the steps in lipopolysaccharide transport, and obtained structures of inhibitors bound to Lpt and Bam. His work has been published in Nature, and featured in The Guardian, Ars Technica, the LA Times, C&EN news, amongst other outlets. Currently, he works at GSK focusing on developing assays for hit qualification, understanding protein state, and DNA-encoded library screening methods.

Photo of Matthew T. Eddy, PhD, Associate Professor, Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville — **Matthew T. Eddy, PhD, Associate Professor, Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville**
Matthew Eddy received his PhD in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the laboratory of Professor Robert Griffin. During his PhD, Dr. Eddy developed new approaches for using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the solid state to determine structures of membrane proteins in cellular-like environments. Following his PhD, Dr. Eddy joined the laboratories of Professors Raymond Stevens and Kurt WÃ¼thrich at The Scripps Research Institute as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow, applying an integrative structural biology approach to study human G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and focusing on applications of nuclear magnetic resonance to improve our understanding of GPCR allosteric functions. Dr. Eddy is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida and affiliated faculty of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. His group continues to study human GPCRs to understand the role of the cellular environment in regulating GPCR dynamics, structure, and function.

Wednesday, April 15, 2026 6:15 PM – 8:45 PM

SC5 SC5: Protein Degraders: An ADME and Safety Perspective

This course explores the ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) properties and safety considerations of proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs), focusing on issues important for their development as therapeutics. It will address the distinctive challenges PROTACs present in in vitro ADME assays, using human plasma protein binding as an example. Additionally, the course will examine the difficulties posed by in vitro assays involving enantiomer interconversion from chiral cereblon binders, particularly in relation to their pharmacokinetic behavior in vivo. The unique mechanism of action of PROTACs gives rise to some drug safety issues not seen in small molecules, which will be discussed. Finally, we will explore the possible relevance of circadian rhythm to protein degradation and PROTACs.

Presentation to be Announced

Stefanus Steyn, PhD, Research Fellow, Pharmacokinetics Dynamics & Metabolism, Pfizer

John Erve, PhD, President, Jerve Scientific Consulting

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

SC6 SC6: Chemical Biology for Covalent Drug Discovery, Phenotypic Screening, and Target Deconvolution

This course is designed to provide an overview and best practices in the use of chemical biology probes and assays that have been developed for applications in early drug discovery. Next-generation chemoproteomic technologies such as proximity labeling proteomics (BioID, MicroMap, and MultiMap) and their application to drug discovery will also be discussed. Chemists and biologists working in lead generation, assay development, phenotypic screening, target discovery and deconvolution, target engagement and mechanism-of-action (MoA) studies will all benefit from attending this course. The instructors will share their knowledge and expertise around the use of various technologies and chemistries, and there will be time for open discussion and exchange of ideas.

Instructors:

Paul Brennan, PhD, Professor, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford

Jarrett Remsberg, PhD, Senior Scientist, Discovery Technologies, Belharra Therapeutics

Angelo Andres, PhD, Associate Principal Scientist, Chemical Biology, AstraZeneca

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Photo of Jarrett Remsberg, PhD, Senior Scientist, Discovery Technologies, Belharra Therapeutics — **Jarrett Remsberg, PhD, Senior Scientist, Discovery Technologies, Belharra Therapeutics**
Jarrett Remsberg first trained at the National Cancer Institute developing peptide-based inhibitors of membrane signaling pathways. He earned a BS in both Chemical-Biological Engineering and Biology from MIT and his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine with Professor Mitch Lazar. Jarrett then joined the Cravatt Lab at Scripps Research for postdoctoral studies as an American Cancer Society Fellow. His research focused on applying chemoproteomic techniques to interrogate the ligandable proteome, including serine hydrolases involved in NRAS depalmitoylation and function-first strategies to assess the global impact of electrophilic compounds on protein complexes in human cells. Jarrett has since moved to industry as one of the first employees to join Belharra Therapeutics, establishing a novel photoaffinity-based chemoproteomic platform and continuing to advance mass spectrometry and chemoproteomic techniques to accelerate drug discovery.

Photo of Paul Brennan, PhD, Professor, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford — **Paul Brennan, PhD, Professor, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford**
Paul Brennan received his PhD in organic chemistry from UC Berkeley. Following post-doctoral research at Cambridge University, Paul spent eight years working in the pharmaceutical industry at Amgen and Pfizer. After leaving Pfizer in 2011, Paul joined the Structural Genomics Consortium at the University of Oxford and led the chemical probes discovery effort on epigenetic targets. After leaving the SGC in 2019, Paul was Head of Chemistry and then Chief Scientific Officer of the Alzheimerâ€™s Research UK Oxford Drug Discovery Institute where his research was focused on finding new treatments for dementia. In addition to dementia, over the course of his career, Paul has worked on discovering new medicines for cancer, incontinence, pain, rare diseases, and inflammation. Paul is currently Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Director of the Centre for Medicines Discovery at the University of Oxford and a scientific advisor to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. His research centre is focused on early medicines discovery for poorly treated diseases.

SC7 SC7: DNA-Encoded Libraries in Drug Discovery: Design, Screening, and Lead Development

This course provides a comprehensive overview of DNA-Encoded Library (DEL) technology, including library design, synthesis workflows, selection methodologies, data analysis, and hit identification. Participants will learn best practices for constructing and curating DEL collections, along with effective strategies for screening, prioritizing, and advancing hits from DEL campaigns, including emerging DEL applications. The course will also cover interpretation of selection data and the use of AI/ML approaches to accelerate hit-to-lead progression and early-stage drug discovery.

Instructors:

Svetlana Belyanskaya, PhD, Co-Founder, DEL Source; former DEL Platform Manager, GSK; Vice President, Biology, Anagenex

Ghotas Evindar, PhD, Co-Founder & President, DEL Source; former DEL Platform Senior Manager, GSK; former Head of Research, Exo Therapeutics; former Head of Research, 1859

Ching-Hsuan Tsai, PhD, Executive Director, Structure Therapeutics

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Photo of Ghotas Evindar, PhD, Co-Founder & President, DEL Source; former DEL Platform Senior Manager, GSK; former Head of Research, Exo Therapeutics; former Head of Research, 1859 — **Ghotas Evindar, PhD, Co-Founder & President, DEL Source; former DEL Platform Senior Manager, GSK; former Head of Research, Exo Therapeutics; former Head of Research, 1859**
Dr. Ghotas Evindar is a recognized leader in drug discovery and a pioneer in DNA-Encoded Library (DEL) technology, with over two decades of experience advancing small-molecule therapeutics across the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He currently serves as Co-Founder and President of DEL Source Inc., where he leads efforts to develop and apply DEL-based discovery platforms that enable the identification of novel therapeutics for challenging targets. Previously, Dr. Evindar led DEL discovery at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as Senior Site Manager in Boston, guiding numerous programs from early hits to development candidates. Earlier in his career, he was a core member of the original Praecis Pharmaceuticals team that helped establish the DEL platform as a transformative drug discovery technology, and he began his industry career as a medicinal chemist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Evindar has also held senior leadership roles as Head of Drug Discovery at 1859 Inc. and Exo Therapeutics. Dr. Evindar is widely recognized for his innovative contributions to DEL platform development, library design, and small-molecule discovery. A frequent speaker and educator, he actively supports the scientific community through industry courses, panels, and workshops focused on DEL innovation, AI-enabled screening, and the advancement of modern drug discovery.

Photo of Svetlana Belyanskaya, PhD, Co-Founder, DEL Source; former DEL Platform Manager, GSK; Vice President, Biology, Anagenex — **Svetlana Belyanskaya, PhD, Co-Founder, DEL Source; former DEL Platform Manager, GSK; Vice President, Biology, Anagenex**
Dr. Svetlana Belyanskaya is an expert in small molecule drug discovery and a globally recognized leader in DNA-Encoded Library (DEL) technology. With over two decades of hands-on experience, she played a key role in the discovery of the first DEL-derived compound to advance into clinical trialsâ€”a landmark achievement that helped validate the platformâ€™s potential. Dr. Belyanskaya has been at the forefront of DEL innovation since its inception, driving platform development and hit discovery strategies at pioneering organizations such as Praecis Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Anagenex Inc. Her work integrates deep expertise in DEL screening, assay design, and early-stage drug development, bringing together scientific precision and strategic insight. A passionate advocate for the DEL community, she is a frequent speaker at international conferences, the author of numerous publications, and an instructor of specialized courses on DEL applications in modern drug discovery. She also serves as a strategic advisor to emerging biotech companies leveraging DEL technologies. Dr. Belyanskaya previously held senior scientific leadership roles at GSK and served as Vice President of Biology at Anagenex. She is currently the co-founder and executive leader at DEL Source Inc., where she continues to advance the field and shape the future of drug discovery. (LinkedIn).

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