
Winner Announcement
On behalf of the chair of the 6th International Electronic Conference on Medicinal Chemistry (ECMC-6), we are pleased to announce the winners of the Conference Award:
Best Poster Award
- Adeyemi Rahman, Isabel Rozas, "Derivatives of Guanidine-Based DNA Minor Groove Binders as Antiprotozoal Agents".
Born in the United States and of Nigerian origin, I arrived in Ireland at a very young age. I completed my undergraduate degree in Medicinal Chemistry (2017) at University College Dublin. From my studies, I developed a great interest in drug discovery and development. Currently, I am in the final year of my Ph.D. at Trinity College Dublin under the supervision of Prof. Isabel Rozas. The main area of research of the Rozas group is framed within the medicinal chemistry field where we have focused on the development of potential anticancer, antipsychotic and anti-infective agents. My Ph.D. focuses on the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of guanidine-based derivatives as potential treatments for infectious diseases such as malaria, African sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis and Tuberculosis.
Best Presentation Award
- Valentina Barcherini et al., "Optimizing the Oxazoloisoindolinone Family: Identification and Biological Evaluation of a Potent and Selective Indole-Based p53 Activator in Human Colorectal Cancer".
Valentina Barcherini is a third-year Ph.D. student in Medicinal Chemistry in the group of Prof. Maria Santos at Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Lisbon. Valentina’s doctoral research is centered on the development of novel small molecules that act as p53-MDMs protein–protein interaction inhibitors to tackle cancer. Valentina holds a Master’s degree in Bioorganic Chemistry from the New University of Lisbon, Portugal. She graduated in Applied Chemistry from the University of Padova (Italy).
Best Oral Communication Award
- Mauro Ravera, Elisabetta Gabano, Domenico Osella "Dual- and Multi-Action Pt(IV) Antitumor Prodrugs or How to Kill Two bBirds with One Stone".
Professor Mauro Ravera is an Associate Professor of General and Inorganic Chemistry at the Department of Sciences and Technological Innovation of the Università del Piemonte Orientale in Alessandria (Italy).
Since the mid-1990s, together with Prof. Domenico Osella and more recently, with Prof. Elisabetta Gabano, both co-authors of the presentation, he has worked in the field of anticancer metallo-drugs, in particular platinum-based compounds. Moreover, part of the research of Mauro Ravera is devoted to the study of the redox properties of coordination compounds of biological interest with electrochemical techniques.
His decades-long research is summarized in more than 110 publications, which include research articles and review papers and over 180 conference abstracts and communications.
At the same time, we congratulate the Pascal Marchand and Thierry Besson teams for winning the prize of 1-day of hands-on/testing using microwaves offered by Microwave Technologies Consulting for “Synthesis of Potential Bioactive Benzo-, Pyrido- or Pyrazinothieno[3,2-d]pyrimidin- 4-amine Analogs of MPC-6827”. We would also like to congratulate the Laura Figuerola-Asencio team for being awarded the free 1-year ADMET Predictor® academic license offered by Simulations Plus sponsored by ADMET Predictor and the Ana Rita Neves team being awarded FREE ABSOLUTE CONFIGURATION BY VCD for "Lead optimization in the search for new antifouling compounds".
In addition, we congratulate the Camille Tisnerat and Amina Yusuf Jega teams for winning the Travel Awards of $250 offered by BioTools for “Synthesis and biological evaluation of new enantiopure 4-aminoalcohol-quinoline and -fluorene hybrids as antimalarial drugs” and “Identification of novel compounds from Neocarya macrophylla against toxins from Naja nigricollis using computational approach”, respectively.
Welcome from the Chair
On behalf of the MDPI journal Pharmaceuticals, it is my pleasure to invite you to participate to the 6th edition of our series of International Electronic Conferences on Medicinal Chemistry.
The event will occur online during the entire month of November 2020 and logging in as an author is now open. Our scientific committee welcomes posters, slideshows, as well as videos dedicated to all aspects of medicinal chemistry. You have many reasons to contribute to this conference: logging in is absolutely free of charge, and your work will be accessible to thousands of scientists from all over the world.
The most outstanding works, as elected by the scientific committee, will be rewarded with grants offered by the sponsoring journal Pharmaceuticals.
I hope to have the opportunity to virtually meet you as a contributor or a visitor in the future and I look forward to posting the results of your research in your preferred format.
Call for participations
The members of the scientific committee are pleased to announce the Call for Participations for the 6th International Electronic Conference on Medicinal Chemistry and to invite each researcher working in the exciting fields of medicinal chemistry and drug-related sciences to share her/his recent results with her/his colleagues around the world.
The conference will cover a wide range of aspects involved in drug discovery and development. A non exhaustive list of topics that will be considered comprises:
ADMET
Animal experimentation
Assay development
Biomarkers
Biomolecules
Biosensors
Biotechnology
Chemical synthesis
Clinical studies and side effects reports
Combinatorial chemistry
Drug delivery (including bioconjugates and prodrugs)
High throughput screening
Hit identification
Imaging techniques
In silico experiments
In vitro and in vivo studies
Lead optimization
Omics
Pharmaceutical analysis
Scale-up
Structure–activity relationships
Target selection.
Participation to the 6th International Electronic Conference on Medicinal Chemistry is absolutely free of charge for contributors and visitors. Researchers are invited to provide a short abstract (250 words maximum without figure) on line at http://www.sciforum.net/login from now until October 28, 2019. Acceptance will be notified within a week after submission of the abstract. Then the author(s) will be asked to present their work (in English) in the form of a poster, a slideshow, or a video using the templates provided by the conference (see Instructions for Authors). All accepted submissions will be displayed online, at https://sciforum.net/conference/ECMC2020, on November 1-30, 2020.
Authors of the most outstanding contributions, as selected by the Scientific Committee, will be invited to publish their work as a research article free of charge or at a discounted price, in a Special Issue of the journal Pharmaceuticals.
The Scientific Committee looks forward to receiving contributions in response to this Call and will be glad to provide any further information to interested parties. Questions may be addressed to the chairman via e-mail at [email protected] or to the Pharmaceuticals editorial office at [email protected]
We thank you in advance for your attendance of this conference and look forward to a stimulating exchange.
Conference Chairs

Dr. Jean Jacques Vanden Eynde
Former Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Mons-UMONS, Belgium
Editor-in-Chief of Pharmaceuticals, Former Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Mons-UMONS, Belgium
Editor-in-Chief of Pharmaceuticals, Former Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Mons-UMONS, Belgium
[email protected]
Conference Committee

Prof. Dr. Thierry Besson
Normandie Univ, UNIROUEN, INSA Rouen, CNRS, COBRA UMR 6014, F-76000 Rouen, France
chemistry of heterocyclic compounds; microwave-assisted chemistry; kinases inhibitors; green chemistry applied to bioactive compounds; Alzheimer disease; Down syndrom; cancer
chemistry of heterocyclic compounds; microwave-assisted chemistry; kinases inhibitors; green chemistry applied to bioactive compounds; Alzheimer disease; Down syndrom; cancer

Dr. Conor R. Caffrey
Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic Diseases, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
biochemistry of and small molecule drug discovery for parasitic protozoa and helminths; 'neglected' tropical diseases; high-throughput and high content screening, and assay devlopment; point-of-care diagnostics; proteolysis
biochemistry of and small molecule drug discovery for parasitic protozoa and helminths; 'neglected' tropical diseases; high-throughput and high content screening, and assay devlopment; point-of-care diagnostics; proteolysis

Dr. Francois Dufrasne
Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine CP 205/5, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
medicinal chemistry; anticancer metal complexes; asymmetric synthesis
medicinal chemistry; anticancer metal complexes; asymmetric synthesis

Dr. Andrea Duranti
Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
medicinal chemistry; drug design; cannabinoids; sugar-based surfactants
medicinal chemistry; drug design; cannabinoids; sugar-based surfactants

Dr. Marialuigia Fantacuzzi
Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università degli Studi “G. d'Annunzio”, Chieti, Italy
aromatase inhibitors; bioactive compounds; small molecules; anticancer activity; medicinal chemistry; synthesis; drug discovery; PPAR agonists and antagonists; antiproliferative agents; nitric oxide synthase inhibitors
aromatase inhibitors; bioactive compounds; small molecules; anticancer activity; medicinal chemistry; synthesis; drug discovery; PPAR agonists and antagonists; antiproliferative agents; nitric oxide synthase inhibitors

Prof. Dr. Paweł Kafarski
Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland
medicinal chemistry; organic synthesis; biotransformations; enzyme inhibitors; organophosphonates; peptide mimetics; natural products in food
medicinal chemistry; organic synthesis; biotransformations; enzyme inhibitors; organophosphonates; peptide mimetics; natural products in food

Dr. Jong Heon Kim
Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research Unit, Western Regional Research Center, USDA‐ARS, 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA 94710, USA
antifungal agents; drug resistance; molecular medicine; redox molecules; signal transduction
antifungal agents; drug resistance; molecular medicine; redox molecules; signal transduction

Dr. Simone Lucarini
Assistant Professor at the Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Section of Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Urbino, Italy
medicinal chemistry; NMR; synthetic organic chemistry; anticancer drugs; melatonin; bisindoles; sugar-based surfactants; adenosine A2A receptor ligands; asymmentric synthesis; macrocycles; foldamers
medicinal chemistry; NMR; synthetic organic chemistry; anticancer drugs; melatonin; bisindoles; sugar-based surfactants; adenosine A2A receptor ligands; asymmentric synthesis; macrocycles; foldamers

Dr. Annie Mayence
Formerly professor at the Haute Ecole Provinciale de Hainaut-Condorcet, 7330 Saint-Ghislain, Belgium
medicinal chemistry; organic synthesis; parasitic diseases; orphan drugs
medicinal chemistry; organic synthesis; parasitic diseases; orphan drugs

Prof. Dr. Mary J Meegan
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, 152−160 Pearse Street, Dublin 2 D02 R590, Ireland
anticancer drug design; breast cancer; novel antiestrogens; tubulin targeting agents; azetidinones, antiestrogen-drug conjugates; estrogen receptor; Burkitt's Lymphoma; Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia
anticancer drug design; breast cancer; novel antiestrogens; tubulin targeting agents; azetidinones, antiestrogen-drug conjugates; estrogen receptor; Burkitt's Lymphoma; Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia

Prof. Dr. Valentina Onnis
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Unit of Pharmaceutical, Pharmacological and Nutraceutical Sciences Via Ospedale 72, I-09124 Cagliari, Italy
medicinal chemistry; enzyme inhibitors; heterocyclic compounds; antiproliferative agents
medicinal chemistry; enzyme inhibitors; heterocyclic compounds; antiproliferative agents

Prof. Dr. Andrea Porcheddu
Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Cittadella Universitaria, SS 554, bivio per Sestu, 09042, Monserrato (CA), Italy
peptide synthesis; peptide nucleic acid; indole synthesis; amide synthesis; mechanochemical reaction; borrowing hydrogen; microwave; heterocycle synthesis; hydroxamic acids
peptide synthesis; peptide nucleic acid; indole synthesis; amide synthesis; mechanochemical reaction; borrowing hydrogen; microwave; heterocycle synthesis; hydroxamic acids

Dr. Maria M. M. Santos
Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Professor Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
organic synthesis; medicinal chemistry; heterocycles; anticancer drugs; p53 activators; NMDA receptor antagonists
organic synthesis; medicinal chemistry; heterocycles; anticancer drugs; p53 activators; NMDA receptor antagonists

Prof. Dr. Osvaldo A. Santos-Filho
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, IPPN, CCS, Bloco H-Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ-21941-902, Brazil
molecular modeling; computer-aided drug design; bioinformatics; chemoinformatics
molecular modeling; computer-aided drug design; bioinformatics; chemoinformatics

Prof. Dr. Maria Emília de Sousa
Laboratório de Química Orgânica e Farmacêutica, Departamento de Ciências, Químicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313, Porto, Portugal,
Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR/CIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos, S/N 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
medicinal chemistry; organic synthesis; heterocycles, P-glycoprotein; anticancer; anticoagulants; chiral drugs; marine natural products
medicinal chemistry; organic synthesis; heterocycles, P-glycoprotein; anticancer; anticoagulants; chiral drugs; marine natural products
Instructions for Authors
Authors should submit their work online by registering with www.sciforum.net and using the "Start New Submission" function once logged into the system.
Researchers interested in attending the conference must submit an abstract of the work they intend to present (maximum 250 words without figure, without reference), no later than 28 October 2020.
After the abstract is accepted by the Scientific Committee (1–5 days after receipt of the abstract), the authors will be invited to prepare a full description of their work in the form of a poster, slideshow, or video.
Posters must be uploaded as a PDF file using the Poster_template.pptx file available at the end of this section.
Slideshows must be uploaded as a PDF file using the PPT_template_file.pptx file available at the end of this section.
Oral communications must be uploaded as a mp4 file (video) using the PPT_template_file.pptx file available at the end of this section.
This must be uploaded before 30 October 2020, for a final check.
Contributions will be displayed on the website using Sciforum.net’s proprietary slides viewer and will be accessible at https://sciforum.net/conference/ECMC2020 at the time of the conference. They can be prepared in exactly the same way as for any traditional conference where research results can be presented. Contributions must be converted to PDF format before submission, so that they can be easily and automatically converted to be displayed online.
The organization of posters is left completely up to the authors, provided that they use the conference’s template.
We recommend the following organization for your slideshow or video:
Length of the presentation: no more than 30 slides
Slide 1 (strictly one slide): Title, authors’ names, affiliation(s), email address of corresponding author, logos of the laboratory and/or institution (not mandatory);
Slide 2 (strictly one slide): Graphical abstract; repeat the title of the presentation, but avoid other text as far as possible;
Slide 3 (strictly one slide): Abstract (max. 250 words) and 3–5 keywords, separated by semicolons;
Slide 4 and following slides: These should contain (in the given sequence) Introduction, Results and Discussion, Conclusions;
Last slide: Acknowledgments, and logos of sponsors (not mandatory).
List of Authors (997)
Conference Awards
The following awards will be offered by our sponsors
The Awards
The open access peer-reviewed Journal Pharmaceuticals will offer one travel grant (500 CHF) to reward the best work in each session (poster, presentation, video). The best works will be selected by the members of the Scientific Committee.
BioTools will offer two travel grants (2 X 250 US$) for female students. Selection will be made by the Company following strict scientific criteria.
BioTools will offer one free absolute configuration determination using Vibrational Circular Dichroism (VCD). Selection will be made by the Company following strict scientific criteria.
Microwave Technologies Consulting will offer a 1-day hands on/testing using microwaves (2.45 GHz and 915 MHz) in its lab in Lyon (France). Travel and lodging are at the expense of the awardee. Selection will be made by the Company following strict scientific criteria.
Simulations Plus will offer one free 1-year ADMET Predictor academic license. Selection will be made by the Company following strict scientific criteria.
Exhibition Hall
