Events

RSC-BMCS Postgraduate Symposium XIX – Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Symposium for Postgraduates

Event
RSC-BMCS Postgraduate Symposium XIX – Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Symposium for Postgraduates

Date
Thursday 8th January, 2026

Place
MIB Building, Manchester
(For Maps: John Garside Building, Princess St, Manchester M1 7DN)

Downloads and Links
Social media hashtag – #BMCSPostGrad26
To submit your Abstract, click here 
To register, click here
To Exhibit/Sponsor, click here
To download the Save the Date, click here
To download the Call for Abstracts, click here 

How to reach the Venue
The University of Manchester is approximately a 20-minute walk from Manchester Piccadilly railway station. There are also frequent train and coach services connecting Manchester with cities across the UK, including direct routes to London (around 2 hours by train). Manchester is well-served by Manchester Airport, which is around 30 minutes away by train or taxi and offers direct flights to many international destinations. Further information on how to get around Manchester can be found here.

Please click here for the interactive map with the location of the MIB Building. To see a detailed map with entrance access, please click here (the full address for the venue is John Garside Building, Princess St, Manchester M1 7DN).

Synopsis
This face to face meeting will comprise of oral and poster presentations from PhD students and post-doctoral workers researching in biological or medicinal chemistry. In addition, the agenda will feature invited keynote speakers from industry and academia.

Registration
Registration is now open! Click here to register.

This is a free symposium for PhD students, post-doctoral workers, academics and industry workers.

Who should attend
This conference will be of interest to PhD students, post-doctoral workers, academics and industry workers.

Want to become an RSC member?
To join the RSC in order to qualify for discounted registration fees at all RSC events, please follow this RSC link

Call for Abstracts
Abstract submission for oral, flash talks and poster presentations is now closed.

Programme

9.00 Registration opens, exhibition and refreshments
10.00 Welcome and housekeeping announcement
Sam Butterworth
10.05 Opening Remarks
Mary Wheldon
First session
Chair: Sam Butterworth
10.10 Keynote lecture:
Targeting the Electron Transport Chain in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: A Pathway to Novel TB Therapeutics
Gemma Nixon, University of Liverpool
10.40 Postgraduate Talk 1
Reactive Fragments to Develop Chemical Probes for Cyclin-G Associated Kinase
Rebecca Midgley, GSK
11.00 Postgraduate Talk 2
Cyclin-dependent kinase 12/cyclin K as targets for antibody-directed degradation by molecular glues
Sofia Srdanovic, Imperial College London
11.10 – 11.50 Refreshment break and exhibition
Second session
Chair: Katherine Jones
11.50 Postgraduate Talk 3
Targeting Activin Receptor-like Kinase 2 Using Heterobifunctional Protein Degraders
Daniel Webb, University of Strathclyde / Charles River Laboratories
12.10 Student flash poster presentations (2 minutes)
  12.10 FT01 Siderophore-Mediated Cargo Delivery: Syntheses of Antibiotic Conjugates and Evaluation of Their Uptake
Kalaiarasu Lakshminarayanan, Vellore Institute of Technology
a
12.12 FT03Probing a novel allosteric binding site in Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA gyrase to tackle tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance
Harrison H Tran, University of Leeds
a
12.14 FT04 Exploration of Enamine [2+2] Cyclisation Reactions towards the Synthesis of Scopariusicide C Analogues for Antibacterial Evaluation
Reuben McKay, University of Bradford
a
12.16 FT05 Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Drug-Like Compounds for BRAFV600E Mutant Malignant Melanoma
Ruairidh Alexander, Edinburgh Napier University
a
12.18 FT06 Chemical Biology Tools to Assess the Functional Ligandability & Enable Rational Ligand Design of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
Elizabeth P. L. Bateman, University of Oxford
a
12.20 FT07 Discovery and mechanistic elucidation of small molecule inducers of myeloblast differentiation for acute myeloid leukaemia
Hannah Baillie, University of Oxford
a
12.24 FT08 Repurposing Penicillins: C6-Alkoxy Substitution Enables Potent Non-Covalent Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro
Dorian-Gabriel Muntean, University of Oxford
a
12.24 FT09 Small Molecule Tools to Target Glucose Metabolism in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Eleanor Clarkson, Newcastle University
a
12.26 FT10 Ultrafast Metal-Mediated Generation of HDAC Inhibitors
Ruqaiya Alam, King’s College London
a
12.28 FT11 Innovative Affinity-Driven Strategy for Site-Selective Antibody Conjugation
Harry Palmer, GSK
a
12.30 FT12 Micelle-Promoted Reductive Amination and Buchwald-Hartwig Cross-Couplings for DNA-Encoded Library Synthesis
Thomas Carton, Newcastle University
a
12.32 FT13 A Precision Medicine Approach to Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase Pathway Inhibition in Phosphatase-and-tensin-homologue deleted on chromosome 10-null Cancers
Ben Redfearn, University of Manchester
a
12.34 FT14 Development of targeted degraders for KAT6A to treat MLL-r leukaemia
Kai Spratt, University of Manchester
a
12.36 FT15 Novel chemical probes to interrogate the allosteric mechanism of methylene-tetra-hydrofolate reductase (MTHFR)
Charlie Edleston, Newcastle University
a
12.38 FT16 Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel CCL2-STING conjugates for the manipulation of immune cell phenotypes
Yunsong Shi, University Of Manchester
a
12.40 FT18 Targeted Degradation of TDP-43: A PROTAC-Based Therapeutic Approach for ALS and Alzheimer’s Disease
Javier Sánchez, University of Barcelona
aa
12.42 FT20 Next Generation Bio-Orthogonal Ynamine Reagents for the Preparation of Antibody-Drug Conjugates
Jack Anderson, University of Strathclyde
a
12.44 FT22 Discovering Novel Small-Molecule Inhibitors of Asid Ceramidase
Gwenno Rowlands, Cardiff University
a
12.46 FT23 Chemical Biology Tools to Modulate the Immune Clearance of Microbial Infections
Jemima Brimacombe, University of Oxford12.48 FT24 Novel Miniaturised Transcription Factor of HOXB13 Demonstrating Specific Binding to DNA
Claire Wong, University of Strathclyde
12.50 Lunch, poster session and exhibition
Third session
Chair: Tom Lanyon-Hogg
14.05 Keynote lecture:
A career doing STUFF
Mike Hann
14.35 Postgraduate Talk 4
Target Deconvolution of Small Molecule Phenotypic Hits to Investigate Cancer Mechanisms
Aitor Carneiro, The University of Manchester
14.55 Postgraduate Talk 5
Hit Discovery using 19F NMR Protein Cocktails
Alexander Derry, University of Leeds
15.15 – 15.35 Refreshment break and exhibition
Fourth session
Chair: Angela Russell
15.35 Postgraduate Talk 6
Discovery and Characterisation of Small Molecule Modulators of β-2m Aggregation
Chloe G. L. Ross-Benham, University of Leeds
15.55 Postgraduate Talk 7
Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Small Molecule Inhibitors Targeting Homodimerization of AICAR Transformylase
Agnieszka Wisniewska, University of Southampton
16.15 Keynote lecture:
Molecular evolution: how AlphaFold is transforming a career in chemistry
Caroline Low, Isomorphic Labs
16.45 Closing remarks
16.55 Wine mixer & prizes – Mary Wheldon
17.30 Meeting close

 

Sponsorship / Exhibition Opportunities
Opportunities to sponsor or exhibit at the symposium are available, please click here to book.

Sponsorship
There is no registration fee for this symposium and we are therefore seeking sponsorship from companies towards the running costs.
All sponsor logos will be displayed on the holding slides, pdf of the delegate handbook and included in the communications to delegates.

Exhibitors
Exhibition Stand Package includes (£600):
– A six foot trestle table and chair(s)
– Access to electricity and wi-fi
– Logo inclusion in pdf delegate handbook, rolling slides and event website
– Exhibitor’s promotional page in the pdf delegate handbook
– One stand personnel

Organising Committee
Sam Butterworth, University of Manchester
Katherine Jones, Charles River  (Treasurer)
Tom Lanyon-Hogg, University of Oxford
Angela Russell, University of Oxford
John Skidmore, University of Cambridge
Mary Wheldon, University of Dundee (Chair)

Secretariat Contact and Further Information
Hg3 Conferences Ltd
+44 (0)1423 529333
E-mail

Thanks to our sponsors & exhibitors:

Exhibitors:

 

 

 

Sponsors: