The 3rd annual Bringing Chemistry to Medicine symposium featured talks by leading experts from around the globe working at the interface of chemical and biomedical sciences. Speakers represented expertise across a spectrum of research areas, including therapeutic regulation of transcription and chromatin, computational biology, and chemical biology. The event spanned two days with focused themes:
- Thursday, July 21: Transcription Therapy
- Friday, July 22: Frontiers in Chemical Biology
This symposium, hosted by the St. Jude Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics and the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, was a component of the institution’s strategic objective to establish a global hub focused on the emerging field of transcription-targeted therapeutics.
To enable broad participation and interaction among trainees and scientists around the world, registration was free.
Speakers
July 21, 2022
Scott Armstrong, MD, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Bradley Bernstein, MD, PhD
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Clifford Brangwynne, PhD
Princeton University
Jolanta Grembecka, PhD
University of Michigan
Tanja Mittag, PhD
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Geeta Narlikar, PhD
University of California, San Francisco
Fraydoon Rastinejad, PhD
University of Oxford
Ken Zaret, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
July 22, 2022
Daniel Blair, PhD
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ray Deshaies, PhD
Amgen, Inc.
Matt Disney, PhD
Scripps Research Institute (Florida)
Ron Dror, PhD
Stanford University
Dorothee Kern, PhD
Brandeis University
Judith Klinman, PhD
University of California, Berkeley
David Moore, PhD
University of California, Berkeley
Peter Schultz, PhD
Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla)
Derek Tan, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Transcription Therapy
Thursday, July 21
| Time (CDT) | Event |
|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:15 am | Opening Remarks |
| 9:15 - 9:55 am | Visualizing Drug-Binding Pockets in Transcription Factors Fraydoon Rastinejad, PhD University of Oxford Watch video |
| 9:55 - 10:35 am | Etiology and Impact of Methylation Changes in Cancer Bradley Bernstein, MD, PhD Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Watch video |
| 10:35 - 10:45 am | BREAK |
| 10:45 - 11:25 am | Overcoming Chromatin Barriers to Change Cell Fate Ken Zaret, PhD University of Pennsylvania |
| 11:25 am - 12:05 pm | Mechanism of the INO80 ATP-Dependent Chromatin Remodeling Machine Geeta Narlikar, PhD University of California, San Francisco |
| 12:05 - 1:15 pm | LUNCH |
| 1:15 - 1:55 pm | Intracellular Phase Transitions: The Fluidity of Biological Function Clifford Brangwynne, PhD Princeton University |
| 1:55 - 2:35 pm | Transcriptional Hubs or Condensates? Tanja Mittag, PhD St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Watch video |
| 2:35 - 2:45 pm | BREAK |
| 2:45 - 3:25 pm | Therapeutic Targeting of Epigenetic Modifiers in Leukemia Jolanta Grembecka, PhD University of Michigan |
| 3:25 - 4:05 pm | Therapeutic Targeting of Chromatin Complexes in Cancer Scott Armstrong, MD, PhD Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Watch video |
| 4:05 - 4:35 pm |
Discussion |
| 4:35 - 4:45 pm | Closing Remarks |
Frontiers in Chemical Biology
Friday, July 22
| Time (CDT) | Events |
|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:10 am |
Opening Remarks |
| 9:10 - 9:50 am | A Chemist’s Foray into Translational Research Peter Schultz, PhD Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla) Watch video |
| 9:50 - 10:25 am | SEAKERS: Targeted Cellular Micropharmacies that Generate Small-Molecule Drugs in situ Derek Tan, PhD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |
| 10:25 - 10:40 am | BREAK |
| 10:40 - 11:15 am | Molecular Simulation and Machine Learning for the Design of Finely Tuned Drugs Ron Dror, PhD Stanford University |
| 11:15 - 11:50 am |
Integrating Protein Dynamics into Enzyme Function Judith Klinman, PhD University of California, Berkeley |
| 12:00 - 1:00 pm | LUNCH |
| 1:00 - 1:35 pm | Sequence-Based Design of Small Molecules Targeting RNA Structures to Manipulate and Study Disease Biology Matt Disney, PhD Scripps Research Institute (Florida) Watch video |
| 1:35 - 2:10 pm | Regulation of Liver Energy Balance by Nutrient-sensing Nuclear Receptors David Moore, PhD University of California, Berkeley Watch video |
| 2:10 - 2:45 pm |
Protein Dynamics at the Heart of New Cancer Drug Design Approaches Dorothee Kern, PhD Brandeis University Watch video |
| 2:45 - 3:00 pm | BREAK |
| 3:00 - 3:35 pm | The Awesome Power of Synthetic Organic Chemistry in Drug Development Ray Deshaies, PhD Institution Watch video |
| 3:35 - 4:10 pm | Modularized Molecule Making Daniel Blair, PhD University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Watch video |
| 4:10 - 4:40 pm | Discussion |
| 4:40 - 4:45 pm | Closing Remarks |
Watch our Archived Lectures
In 2020 and 2021, St. Jude hosted exciting two-day events focused on Transcription Therapy and Chemical Biology and Therapeutics.
Transcription Therapy at St. Jude
Over decades of research, scientists in the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center and others have discovered that several pediatric cancers emerge due to disruption in chromatin and epigenetic states and dysfunctional transcriptional regulation. While gene regulation in general has long been considered “undruggable,” scientists in the St. Jude Department of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics (CBT) have created synthetic gene regulators and are devising new chemical approaches to inhibit or degrade malfunctioning components of chromatin and gene regulatory machineries. This work builds on the history of St. Jude as a pioneer in the therapeutic use of small molecules targeting gene regulation, most notably the application of glucocorticoid receptor agonists into chemotherapy regimens for pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL). The drugging of this transcription factor helped to dramatically increase overall survival rates for newly diagnosed ALL to 94% at St. Jude.
Learn more about transcription therapy at St. Jude Learn more