Experiment Meets Modeling: Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going

The Gordon Research Conference on Computer-Aided Drug Design, which began its life as the QSAR GRC, has been held every second year since the early 1970s. The conference brings together industrial, academic and government scientists working on computational simulation of ligands and their targets. Because computer-aided drug design covers a wide field of research, each conference focuses on topical areas of innovation and progress, supporting a dynamic atmosphere. A focus for the 2009 conference will on how computational and experimental methods inform each other in current research problems. Topics will include recent exciting advances in protein design and modeling, the role of water in modeling ligand-protein binding, understanding thermodynamics and kinetics of ligand binding, protein and ligand-based networks in biology and pharmacology, and the problems and opportunities presented by the chemical and biological spaces in which ligand design occurs. The CADD GRC continues to offer speakers and participants generous speaking and discussion periods. Discussion sessions are lively and controversy is welcomed; it is a condition of their invitation that speakers give talks on largely unpublished, cutting edge results.

The meeting will again be held in Tilton School NH, where we have been happily accommodated for several years. All conferees are encouraged to present posters; twenty-four presenters will be invited to give short talks to introduce their material. This meeting is typically oversubscribed, and we encourage submission of applications by early 2009. Participants will be a mix of researchers from industry, academia, and government, of different ages, backgrounds, and countries. Despite the popularity of the conference, students, postdocs, and young investigators new to the field should not hesitate to apply.