Hosted by the University of Eastern Finland on 2–4 June, the ‘Computational and Medicinal Chemistry by the Lake 2026’ conference was one of the most dynamic events in the field seen in Finland in recent times. There were 125 participants from 19 different countries, with six plenary talks from worldwide leaders in the fields and over 25 other talks from both academia and industry. In addition to this, nearly all Finnish universities were represented at this event, showcasing some of the best that Finland has to offer in drug discovery field.
The conference embodied what UEF is all about – cutting edge innovation and a networked platform to grow new ideas!
Speakers from both academia and industry travelled from as far as Australia, Japan and USA and as close as Sweden and Estonia to be part of this cutting-edge event. The conference offered seven sessions of talks focusing on the latest developments in medicinal chemistry. These spanned the next generation of heterobifunctional molecules and structure-based drug design to new methods for high throughput virtual screening in an era of machine learning and AI. Companies such as Pharmacelera, Schrödinger and Inte:Ligand GmbH displayed the newest virtual screening technologies that can be used to narrow down hits and rationalise medicinal chemistry design. In addition, the latest screening technologies and services were on display from companies including Promega, Reaction Biology, Pharmatory and others. These complimentary sets of expertise exemplified the integrated networks within the modern drug discovery industry.
The spirit of collaborations and networks in the conference was highlighted by the career round table, where experts gave their views to the next generation of scientists, as well as by the 60th birthday lecture delivered by Professor Antti Poso.
The conference was supported by Kuopio Health, the City of Kuopio and the Mayor’s office who have emphasised the importance of the pharmaceutical sector for the area and for the wider Finnish economy. High-quality biomedical education, research and infrastructures that enable drug development are key builders of pharmaceutical research and innovations.
This conference is an example of what can be achieved when everyone pulls in the same direction. We thank the organisers of this conference Senior Researcher Christopher Asquith, Senior Researcher Piia Bartoš, Academy Research Fellow Tatu Pantsar, Postdoctoral Researcher Juulia Pasanen, Professor Antti Poso, Senior Researcher Ina Pöhner and everyone else who made this event possible!
For further information, please contact:
Senior Researcher Christopher Asquith, https://uefconnect.uef.fi/christopher.asquith/
Senior Researcher Piia Bartoš, https://uefconnect.uef.fi/piia.bartos/
Academy Research Fellow, Docent Tatu Pantsar, https://uefconnect.uef.fi/tatu.pantsar/
Postdoctoral Researcher Juulia Pasanen, https://uefconnect.uef.fi/juulia.pasanen/
Professor Antti Poso, https://uefconnect.uef.fi/antti.poso/
Senior Researcher Ina Pöhner, https://uefconnect.uef.fi/ina.pohner/
