Invitation to present at the 2026 Southeastern Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery Symposium (SCBDDS) at Georgia Tech

Dear Colleagues,

We are organizing the upcoming 2026 Southeastern Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery Symposium (SCBDDS 2026) that will take place on Friday, September 18, 2026, on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia. Our keynote speaker is Professor Sara Buhrlage of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute department of Cancer Biology, and the Harvard Medical School department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology.

We are writing to invite you and any of your colleagues with research interest in chemical biology, organic and medicinal chemistry to present a talk at the symposium. Additionally, we encourage you to inform your postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students to present posters. Highly competitive submissions from postdocs and advanced graduate students will be considered for podium talks as well.

There deadline for abstract submission is August 7.

Detailed information about the symposium, including instructions for abstract submission, can be found on our website at

Meeting Info:

https://bioresearch.gatech.edu/events/southeastern-chemical-biology-and-drug-design-symposium

Registration and Sponsorship Link:

https://epay.gatech.edu/C20793_ustores/web/store_main.jsp?STOREID=624

Abstract Submission:

https://gatech.infoready4.com/#freeformCompetitionDetail/2016861

 

We have also attached below the flyer for the symposium

 

Sincerely,

SCBDDS 2026 Organizing Committee

 

 

 

Yomi Oyelere, PhD

Georgia Tech

aoyelere@gatech.edu

 

Tyler Beyett, PhD

Emory University

tbeyett@emory.edu

 

Campbell Mcinnes, PhD

University of South Carolina

mcinnes@cop.sc.edu

Victor Ogungbe, PhD

UAB Huntsville

ivo0001@uah.edu

 

Alex G. Waterson, PhD

Vanderbilt University

a.waterson@vanderbilt.edu

 

Y. George Zheng, PhD

University of Georgia

yzheng@uga.edu

2025 Southeastern Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery Symposium (SCBDDS)

Athens, GA – May 21, 2025

Venue: UGA Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel, 1197 S. Lumpkin Street, Athens, GA 30602

Registration Deadline – May 7, 2025.

Abstract (oral) Deadline – April 23, 2025.

Abstract (poster) Deadline – May 1, 2025.

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Keynote Speaker: Tom Muir, Professor of Chemistry, Princeton University

Talk Title: Harnessing Inteins in Synthetic Biology from Triggers to Logic Gates

The 2025 Southeastern Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery Symposium (SCBDDS) will take place on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. The SCBDDS provides a premier forum on the research frontiers of chemical biology, drug discovery and development, and molecular medicine. The attendees will be academic and industrial scientists throughout the U.S., especially in the southeastern region of the nation. The conference will feature cutting-edge research talks by a diverse range of faculty, post-doctoral scholars, and graduate students, selected from submitted abstracts. The symposium will include a poster session to extend discussions and collaborative interactions among scientists from all career stages. The keynote presentation will conclude the event.

We look forward to welcoming you on the beautiful campus of UGA.

Campbell McInnes

Y. George Zheng

Adegboyega K Oyelere

Tyler Beyett

Symposium Organizing Committee

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Campbell McInnes
University of South Carolina

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Y. George Zheng
University of Georgia

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Adegboyega K Oyelere
Georgia Institute of Technology

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Tyler Beyett
Emory University 

Dr. Nathanael Gray is the Nancy-Lurie Marks Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.  Nathanael leads the Dana Farber Program in Chemical Biology and manages a research laboratory.

Nathanael has pioneered pharmacological approaches to inhibit protein kinases that become dysregulated in cancer and other diseases. His development of innovative strategies for kinase inhibition has enabled discovery of first‐in‐class inhibitors that have become widely used as tools to elucidate kinase function in biological systems and resulted in the development of clinical candidates and approved drugs. Nathanael also pioneered the development of covalent compounds that target unique cysteine residues to achieve selectivity across the approximately 520 human kinases. He developed the first ATP‐competitive inhibitors of mTOR that were used to discover that mTOR regulates protein translation and cell growth more profoundly than previously anticipated. Following this, Dr. Gray developed the concept of ‘mutant‐selective’ kinase inhibitors which resulted in the development of a new class of EGFR inhibitors currently approved for the treatment of lung cancer. Nathanael has contributed to the field of small molecule induced protein degradation and has developed new strategies and approaches for efficiently discovering new degrader molecules.

These contributions have been recognized through numerous awards including the National Science Foundation’s Career award in 2007, the Damon Runyon Foundation Innovator award in 2008, the American Association for Cancer Research for Team Science in 2010 and for Outstanding Achievement in 2011, the American Chemical Society award for Biological Chemistry in 2011, and the Nancy Lurie Marks endowed professorship in 2015.

 

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Thank you to our SCBDDS 2025 sponsors!

The University of Georgia logo with 1785 and arch icon, alongside the text Office of Research.
University of Georgia College of Pharmacy logo with university icon and bold red and black text on a light background.
Sino Biological logo featuring a green circle with SB initials and the company name in green and gray text.
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Any Questions? If you have any questions, please contact Dawn Burden with dawnburden@uga.edu.

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