The study of heterocyclic compounds is an area of fundamental importance to biomedical research and public health. Most approved and investigational small molecule pharmaceutical agents contain one or more heterocyclic rings in their structure, as do many important reagents used for biochemical research. The chemistry of heterocyclic compounds also underlies important technologies in the field such as click chemistry. The synthesis of heterocyclic compounds therefore represents a core enabling technology for drug discovery and biomedical research, and thus impacts global health which is central to the NIH mission. Likewise, increasing the scientific community's understanding of the unique and valuable properties of heterocycles is important for continued progress towards the treatment of disease. This proposal therefore requests partial support from NIH for a scientific meeting on Heterocyclic Compounds as a Gordon Research Conference to be held at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island from June 15 to June 20, 2014. The continuing long-term goal of this conference is to bring together leading scientists from academic, government and industrial laboratories around the world having research interests in the synthesis and properties of heterocyclic compounds to present and discuss their latest unpublished research with the aim of defining new fundamental questions and potential answers in the field. The conference also seeks to build and support an established community of scientists with shared research interests and complementary areas of expertise to facilitate open communication and collaborative research in this important area.
The specific aims of the 2014 meeting are: 1) to be the premiere conference of 2014 in this field, with sessions exploring important contemporary research areas;2) to bring together a broad spectrum of chemists that fully represents the current and future research community working on heterocyclic compounds;3) to promote an environment where recognized leaders and emerging contributors in the field can present and discuss significant unpublished research. To achieve these aims, the conference chair has invited a diverse set of distinguished scientists to serve as speakers and discussion leaders at the conference. The program will focus on contemporary challenges in the synthesis and applications of heterocyclic compounds, including a session on the use of such compounds in oncology research and the development of cancer therapeutics. The chair will also make efforts to reach out to the scientific community to seek an applicant pool reflecting the diversity of the research community in this field. Support from NIH will be especially useful in promoting diversity among the conference participants by allowing the chair to facilitate attendance by early career scientists from under-represented groups by underwriting their conference registration costs.
The 2014 Gordon Research Conference on Heterocyclic Compounds will bring together scientists from academic, government and industrial laboratories around the world having research interests in the synthesis and properties of heterocyclic compounds. The 2014 conference program will feature contemporary research topics such as chemistry and the environment and new applications of heterocyclic compounds to the treatment of cancer and neglected tropical diseases, as well as the development and application of new chemical methods for their synthesis. The program will include both established and new investigators, with every effort made to insure the conference participants will reflect the diversity of scientists involved in research related to heterocyclic compounds, including women, minorities and the disabled.
