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BMCS Lectureship

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BMCS Lectureships Call for Nominations – 2024-25 and 2025-26

BMCS Lectureships 2023/2024 – Announcement of Appointee
BMCS Lectureships 2022/2023 – Announcement of appointees
BMCS Lectureships 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 – announcement of appointees

Overview
The Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Sector (BMCS) Lectureship was launched in 2014. We live in a time when both the process of drug discovery and the business models by which it is funded have fundamentally altered in the last generation. Yet the great benefits of new medicines to society are clear to everyone, and the expectations for future advances, as we seek to treat currently untreatable conditions, are also great. These are exciting times to be involved in medicinal chemistry and we seek especially to inspire the next generation of medicinal chemists. BMCS Lecturers seek to inspire the next generation of medicinal chemists, and their lectures should therefore appeal, not only to postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers, but also to undergraduates.

Every two years, the Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Sector (BMCS) of the RSC seeks nominations of BMCS Lecturers in response to an advertisement publicising this opportunity. The selected Lecturers are each appointed for a one-year period.

We live in a time when both the process of drug discovery and the business models by which it is funded have fundamentally altered in the last generation. Yet the great benefits of new medicines to society are clear to everyone, and the expectations for future advances, as we seek to treat currently untreatable conditions, are also great. These are exciting times to be involved in medicinal chemistry and we seek especially to inspire the next generation of medicinal chemists.

Each Lecturer delivers one of his/her lectures as part of the RSC’s series of Thursday evening public lectures at Burlington House. Details of the lecture venues and titles for the talks of all the BMCS Lecturers will be publicised on this website.

Call for Nominations 
Call for nominations are now open. In view of excellent response to previous calls, we shall retain the option of making two appointments, one for academic years 2024-25 and one for 2025-26.

The person(s) appointed will have made a significant advance in the subject through developing new products or methods; there is no age restriction. He/She will be expected to deliver up to six lectures at six UK universities in one of the academic years, either 2024-25 or 2025-26, aimed particularly though not exclusively at undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Nominations should be sent no later than 30th September 2024 to Hg3 Conferences, UK at events@hg3.co.uk.

Applications should be very brief, explaining in a few sentences why the nominee should be considered and describing their contributions to medicinal chemistry.

Criteria
Successful applications must be available to deliver up to six lectures at UK universities.
Applications are invited from applicants at all stages in their career.
Applicants should have made significant advances in the subject through new products or methods.

BMCS Lectureship 2023/2024 – Announcement of appointee

We are pleased to announce that the BMCS has made the following appointments: BMCS Lecturer for 2023/2024 is Dafydd Owen of Pfizer.

Dafydd Owen’s forthcoming BMCS lectures are:

7th December 2023 at Burlington House from 7pm. Dafydd will give an account of the development of Paxlovid as an anti-COVID drug.

15th May 2024 at University of Birmingham from 1pm.

Date TBC at University of East Anglia.

Please contact Dr Andrew Stachulski directly with any queries or expressions of interest in staging a lecture.

Past Winners

2022/2023
James Crawford (Genentech)

2021/2022
Dr David Rees (Astex Pharmaceuticals)

Dr David Rees was awarded his certificate at the 7th RSC BMCS Symposium on Mastering Medicinal Chemistry, at Burlington House, London on Wednesday 22 March 2023, by Dr Andrew Stachulski and then delivered his talk entitled 'Medicines for millions of patients'
2020/2021

Dr Elisabetta Chiarparin (AstraZeneca) and Dr James Duffy (Medicines for Malaria Venture)

2019/2020
Dr David Witty (Witnet R&D Consultancy, formerly Convergence Pharmaceuticals)

2018/2019
Dr Andrew Thomas (Helvetica Capital)

Andrew Thomas BMCS Lecturer 2018-2019
Dr Thomas was awarded his certificate at the Romark Medicinal Chemistry symposium, at the University of Liverpool on Friday 12 April 2019, by Dr Andrew Stachulski and then delivered his talk entitled ‘Innovation: the Translation of Ideas into Value’.

2017/2018
Dr Jamie Scott (AstraZeneca)

2016/2017
Professor Stuart Conway (University of Oxford)

2015/2016
Professor Barry Potter (University of Bath)

2014/2015
Professor Michael Waring (AstraZeneca, now University of Newcastle)