Drug Discovery for Parasitic Diseases

Organizer(s): Leann M. Tilley, Philip J. Rosenthal and Kelly Chibale

Supported by the Directors' Fund

Summary of Meeting:

Parasitic organisms, including protozoa and helminths, are among the most significant human pathogens, causing billions of infections and millions of deaths each year. For many parasitic diseases, available therapies are unsatisfactory and increasingly threatened by drug resistance. New therapies, ideally directed against novel targets, are urgently needed. Recent advances in anti-parasitic drug discovery have come from three different approaches – target-based methods that build on improved understanding of parasite biology; phenotypic high-throughput screens that are benefitting from improved technology; and repositioning and repurposing drugs developed for other indications. These different approaches all benefit from the integration of medicinal chemistry with parasitology and pharmacotherapy programs. This conference will showcase cutting-edge anti-parasitic drug discovery programs that illustrate the path from parasite biology to lead identification and from optimization to candidate selection. It will emphasize the need for coordinated integration of programs in medicinal chemistry, parasite biology, pharmacokinetics and safety assessment. It will feature emerging technologies such as chemical biology, chemoproteomics, chemical informatics, genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics that are facilitating drug discovery. It will also discuss the current status of anti-parasitic drug resistance and advances in our understanding of mechanisms of resistance. The conference should be of interest to medicinal chemists, parasitologists, experts in drug discovery and development, pharmacologists and clinicians targeting the protozoa and helminths that cause serious human disease, including malaria, African and American trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis and multiple other parasitic infections.

Scholarship Deadline: September 28 2015

Discounted Abstract Deadline: September 28 2015

Abstract Deadline: October 28 2015

Discounted Registration Deadline: November 23 2015

We gratefully acknowledge additional in-kind support for this conference from those foregoing speaker expense reimbursements:

Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline

We gratefully acknowledge the generous grant for this conference provided by:

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Grant No. 1R13AI122397-01
Funding for this conference was made possible (in part) by 1 R13 AI 122397 - 01 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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