Issue #1, July 2007
Editor, Ron Bose
Please visit the CICR website: http://www.aacr.org/cicr/default.aspx. Questions about CICR
membership may be sent to cicr@aacr.org.
Table of Contents
-Chairperson's Welcome -Meeting Notes: AACR-ACS Joint Conference -New Drugs on the Horizon
Special Session/Call for Compounds -AACR-CICR Award For Outstanding Achievement In Chemistry In
Cancer Research -CICR Membership -Upcoming Events of Interest
CHAIRPERSON'S WELCOME
--Jack Hunt, CICR Chairperson
It is my great pleasure to introduce the first newsletter of the Chemistry in
Cancer Research (CICR) Working Group. Organized by volunteers within the
CICR membership, the newsletter will be a forum for summaries of
AACR-CICR events, announcements of upcoming events relevant to CICR
members, and articles of interest to the CICR community. The newsletter
will be published quarterly. Ideas and additional volunteers are welcome, so please e-mail Ron Bose,
CICR Newsletter Editor, if you are interested in contributing ideas or
time. We hope that you enjoy the newsletter, and find it useful and
informative.
MEETING NOTES
Chemistry in Cancer Research: A Vital Partnership
A joint conference presented by the American Association for
Cancer Research and the American Chemical Society
--Shana Sturla
The first Chemistry in Cancer Research Conference was held February 4-7, 2007, in San Diego, CA. The
purpose of the joint ACS-AACR, CICR-hosted meeting was to provide a highly interactive and
cross-disciplinary forum for scientists engaged in cancer research with a unifying focus on chemical
structure and reactivity. Research areas spanned biomarker analysis, carcinogenesis, chemical biology,
drug discovery and development, molecular modeling, proteomics, and structural biology. The program
included an outstanding selection of 26 invited
presentations (including two keynote talks), 22 proffered talks from selected abstracts
(with a special focus on early career scientists and students), and 109 poster presentations. The result
was a packed and stimulating meeting. There were a total of 246 registrants and travel awards were
provided for Scholars-in-Training and Minority-Serving Institution Faculty. A number of session-and
discipline-spanning concepts emerged, such as developing predictive strategies for responsiveness of
individual cancers to specific therapies and elucidating chemical and biological pathways in drug toxicity
and carcinogenesis.
Keynote talks were shared by Stephen W. Fesik, Abbott Laboratories, and Paul A. Wender, Stanford
University. Participants indicated that the interdisciplinary research presented at the meeting and the
ACS-AACR union it represented marked a beginning of alliances that will greatly benefit cancer
research. Challenges and opportunities identified included focused training programs, methods to
bridge academia and industry, and addressing problems of limited resources to support the richness of
ideas and information from researchers. Applauding the Conference Chairperson Stephen Hecht of the
University of Minnesota, participants considered the meeting a great success. Consensus called for a
regularly scheduled event, and plans are underway for Spring 2009. Stayed tuned to this newsletter for
further information!
Detailed meeting reports were published in ACS and AACR journals:
Chemistry in Cancer Research: A Vital Partnership Shana J. Sturla, John J. Irwin, Richard N.
Loeppky, Mark J. Mulvihill, and Mark Searcey ACS Chem. Biol., 2 (5), 286–292. and Cancer
Research, in press.
Professional Advancement Series Session: Careers in Academia and Industry
This session was organized by the Young Chemists Committee of CICR. A lunchtime session was filled
to capacity with participants to discuss chemistry careers in cancer research. Information was presented
by Jack Hunt, Oncology Drug Discovery at Bristol Meyers Squibb, and Larry Marnett, Vanderbilt
University. Dr. Hunt discussed recent trends in industry including an increasing integration of science
throughout the drug pipeline. Professor Marnett described opportunities in traditional tenure track
positions involving some combination of teaching and research as well as research professorships and
opportunities in core academic research facilities. He also shared useful hints and advice for developing
research ideas and seeking funding. Representatives from academia and industry participated in
roundtable discussions with participants.
To suggest other topics for future sessions, contact Committee Chair Lisa Peterson.
NEW DRUGS ON THE HORIZON AT THE AACR ANNUAL MEETING 2007
--Summary by Jack Hunt
The New Drugs on the Horizon Special Session, cosponsored by the Chemistry and the Experimental
Therapeutics sections, has become an annual highlight of AACR Annual Meetings, and this year was no
exception. Because there were six exciting new clinical compounds/targets accepted for presentation, a
second session, cleverly titled 'New Drugs on the Horizon 2', was held. The presentations included five
small molecules which have entered Phase I clinical studies, including the Bcl-2 inhibitor ABT-263 by
Steven Elmore from Abbott Laboratories, the AKT inhibitor GSK690693 by Dirk Heerding from
GlaxoSmithKline, the PI3K inhibitor NVP-BEZ235 by Michel Maira from Novartis, the FAK inhibitor
PF-562,271 by W. Gregory Roberts from Pfizer and the CHK inhibitor AZD7762 by Susan Ashwell from
AstraZeneca. The final talk by Alan Ebens of Genentech described advanced preclinical antibody-drug
conjugates against CD22 and CD79B for the treatment of NHL. Attendance at both special sessions was
very high, demonstrating the quality of science and the high impact of the symposium.
Nominations Sought for 2008 New Drugs on the Horizon
Steve Davidsen of Abbott Laboratories has agreed to take on the Co-Chairperson role
for the Drugs on the Horizon Special Session at the 2008 Annual Meeting. The
Symposium Co-Chairperson has not yet been selected. If your organization has a
nomination for a development compound/target for the 2008 symposium, please
contact Steve at steve.k.davidsen@abbott.com. As a reminder, the symposium is
geared toward the first disclosure of the chemistry and biology of new drug candidates
which are either nearing clinical development or have entered clinical trials. All
participants must agree to the disclosure of the
chemical structure of the development compound. We look forward to your nominations.
AACR-CICR AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY IN CANCER
RESEARCH
Professor Samuel Danishefsky Receives the
Inaugural AACR-CICR Award for Outstanding
Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research
--Report by Jack Hunt
Professor Danishefsky received this award in recognition of
his tremendous contributions to cancer research through
his elegant application of synthetic organic chemistry
toward
important problems in the development of cancer therapeutics and vaccines. In his award lecture,
Professor Danishefsky highlighted some recent accomplishments from his lab, including the concept of
'diverted total synthesis'. This is the use of total synthesis to prepare analogs of a natural product
which are not synthetically accessible from either the natural product itself or from the biosynthetic
pathway. Professor Danishefsky discussed the application of this technique to the cancer-revelant
natural products migrastatin, radicicol and epothilone. In particular, Professor Danishefsky's work on
the total synthesis of epothilone analogs, a class of natural product microtubule polymerizing agents,
has led to the advancement of several epothilone analogs into clinical trials.
Professor Danishefsky's other lecture topic involved the application of his lab's complex carbohydrate
synthesis technology toward both cancer vaccine preparation and a total synthesis of fully glycosylated
erythropoietin (EPO). The synthetic work on EPO is an ongoing research program which has not yet
completed a total synthesis, but Professor Danishefsky's stunning display of synthetic chemistry in the
ongoing total synthesis of a 'natural product' of molecular weight 34,000 is a tour de force. The
selection of Professor Danishefsky as the first award recipient sets a high standard for future
nominees.
For those of you who missed the Awards Lecture, the audio and slides were webcast.
Nominations Open for 2008 Award
The 2nd Annual AACR-CICR Award will be given at the 2008 Annual Meeting in San Diego. Information
on the nomination process, including the eligibility criteria, may be found here on the AACR Website.
The nomination deadline is October 1, 2007.
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST
--Edited by Shana Sturla
30th National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium June 25-29, 2006 University of Washington, Seattle
Medicinal Chemistry Gordon Research Conference August 5-10, 2007 Colby-Sawyer College, New
London, NH
American Chemical Society 234th National Meeting & Exposition August 19-23, 2007 Boston, MA
Drug & Xenobiotic Metabolism: A Chemist’s Roadmap to Reduce Risk of Toxicity
An ACS Short Course & Webcast August 22-23, 2007 Boston, MA
5th International Symposium on Pharmaceutical Chemistry September 5-7, 2007 Sheraton-Istanbul
Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey
Second Annual Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development:
Maximizing Opportunities for Personalized Treatment
Chairperson, Program Committee: David Sidransky Co-Chairpersons: David P. Carbone, Nicholas C.
Dracopoli, and Patricia M. Price September 17 -20, 2007 Atlanta Hilton, Atlanta, GA
AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics:
Discovery, Biology, and Clinical Applications
Organizing Committee: Anna D. Barker, William N. Hait, and Martine J. Piccart-Gebhart Scientific
Committee Chairpersons: Sara A. Courtneidge, James H. Doroshow, and Alexander M. Marie Eggermont
October 22 -26, 2007 Moscone Convention Center West, San Francisco, CA
1st International Conference on Drug Design and Discovery
February 3 -6, 2008 Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Chemistry & Biology Of Peptides Gordon Research Conference February 17-22, 2008 Ventura, CA
DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer Gordon Research Conference March 9-14, 2008 Ventura, CA
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