May 24th, 2024

11:00 a.m.

Check-in

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Lunch

1:00 - 1:05 p.m.

Welcome Remarks from the meeting chair (Wenshe Liu, Professor, Texas A&M University)

1:05 - 1:10 p.m.

Tribute to the Late Prof. Walter Fast (Alfred Tuley, Associate Professor of Instruction, University of Texas at Austin)

Session 1: Novel Therapeutics 1 (Chaired by Kevin Dalby, Professor, University of Texas at Austin)

1:10 - 1:35 p.m.

Bring the Power of Antibodies to the Bone
Han Xiao, Associate Professor, Rice University

1:35 - 2:00 p.m.

Directed Evolution of a PD-L1 Binding Peptide with Antibody-like Affinity
Steven Millward, Associate Professor, MD Anderson Cancer Center

2:00 - 2:25 p.m.

Light-triggered Metallodrugs for Cancer Therapy
Sherri McFarland, Professor, University of Texas at Arlington

2:25 - 2:50 p.m.

MYC-Targeting PROTACs Lead to Bimodal Degradation and N-Terminal Truncation
Damian Young, Associate Professor, Baylor College of Medicine

2:50 - 03:10 p.m.

Coffee Break

Session 2: Novel Imaging Tools (Chaired by Jennifer Kohler, Professor, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center)

3:10 - 03:35 p.m.

Chemiluminescent 1,2-Dioxetanes for Molecular Imaging in Cells and Animals
Alexander Lippert, Southern Methodist University

3:35 - 4:00 p.m.

Design of Stimuli-responsive Peptide Self-assembly for Targeted Molecular Imaging and Therapy
He Dong, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Arlington

4:00 - 4:25 p.m.

DNA-Based Tools for Chemical and Biological Sensing
Devleena Samanta, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin

4:25 - 4:50 p.m.

Mirror Image Oligonucleotides: A New Biochemical Toolbox
Jonathan Sczepanski, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University

4:50 - 5:10 p.m.

Sponsor Presentations (Chris Lunn, Promega; Jordon Witkop, Shimadzu; Madilyn Ruge, Sino Biological)

5:10 - 6:00 p.m.

Dinner

6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Poster Session (for even poster #) and Vendor Shows

Session 3: Fundamental Discoveries (Chaired by Wenshe Liu, Professor, Professor, Texas A&M University)

7:00 - 7:25 p.m.

Discovery, Evolution, and Applications of Biological Supramolecular Hosts for Anions
Sheel Dodani, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Dallas

7:25 - 7:50 p.m.

New Directions in GPCR Signaling
Mike Robertson, Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine

7:50 - 8:15 p.m.

Deciphering the Chemical Basis for Low-Complexity Domain Self-Association
Glen Liszczak, Assistant Professor, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

8:15 - 8:40 p.m.

Interrogating the Impact of Glycan Macromolecular Structure on Recognition and Function
Cassandra Callmann, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin

May 25th, 2024

7:00 - 8:00 a.m.

Breakfast

Session 4: Creative Tools 1 (Chaired by Zachary Ball, Professor, Rice University)

8:00 - 8:25 a.m.

Discovery of Functional Peptide Macrocycles via Multiplexed Library Screening
Rudi Fasan, Professor, University of Texas at Dallas

8:25 - 8:50 a.m.

Expanding the Ligandable Proteome Using Tyrosine-Reactive Electrophiles
Ken Hsu, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin

8:50 - 9:15 a.m.

An Active Site-Directed Ligand Evolution Strategy Aided by Phage Display
Wenshe Liu, Professor, Texas A&M University

9:15 - 9:40 a.m.

Advancing Metallomics, Glycomics and Gene Therapy using DNAzymes and Aptamers
Yi Lu, Professor, University of Texas at Austin

9:40 - 10:00 a.m.

Coffee Break

Session 5: Novel Therapeutics 2 (Chaired by Jin Wang, Professor, Baylor College of Medicine)

10:00 - 10:25 a.m.

Building Better Antioxidants: Fighting Neurodegenerative Disease with a Multi-tactical Approach
Kayla Green, Professor, Texas Christian University

10:25 - 10:50 a.m.

Natural Leads for Precision Antibiotics
Chad Johnston, Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine

10:50 - 11:15 a.m.

From Drug Screen to Therapeutic Target: The Potential of Statins as B7-H3-Dependent Immune Modulators
Margie Sutton, MD Anderson Cancer Center

11:15 - 11:40 a.m.

Discovery of First-in-Class PROTAC Degraders of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease
Shiqing Xu, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

10:40 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Sponsor Presentations (David Li, MedChemExpress; Scott Hutto, Beckman Coulter; Clifford Stephan, IBT Cores)

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Lunch

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Poster Session (for odd poster #) and Vendor Shows

Session 6: Creative Methodologies 2 (Chaired by Shiqing Xu, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University)

2:00 - 2:25 p.m.

From Early Chemical Probes to Clinical Compounds: Small Molecule Tools from MD Anderson’s Therapeutics Discovery Division
Michael Soth, Institutional Director, MD Anderson Cancer Center

2:25 - 2:50 p.m.

Stronger Together: Condensates Promote Cancer Signaling Juan Guan, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin

2:50 - 3:15 p.m.

Use Forward Genetics for Small Molecule Target Identification
Deepak Nijhawan, Associate Professor, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

3:15 - 3:35 p.m.

Coffee Break

3:35 - 3:50 p.m.

Poster Pitches

3:50 - 4:20 p.m.

The 2024 SynthX Texas Chemical Biology Young Investigator Lecture: Microdroplet Mass Spectrometry for In-depth Lipidomics and Drug-Protein Interactions
Xin Yan, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

4:20 - 4:25 p.m.

Award Presentation and Closing Remarks from the meeting chair (Wenshe Liu, Professor, Texas A&M University)