Chemistry plays a critical role in research on cancer diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. The AACR has created the Chemistry in Cancer Research Working Group to increase the profile of chemists within the Association and to strengthen their role in setting its research agenda. A critical goal of the Working Group is to increase awareness of young chemists about the exciting career opportunities that exist in the field of cancer research. Thus, the Working Group has organized a second joint Special Conference with the American Chemical Society to provide a forum for research discussions among chemists with cancer research interests.
This second unique conference will feature research and educational lectures by prominent leaders from all of the areas of chemistry which are critical to the discovery and development of new cancer therapeutics. The conference will encompass research highlights across a span of chemistry-related topics, from the use of chemical tools in cancer target identification and validation, the design of chemical libraries for hit-seeking, strategies for hit-seeking and lead optimization in drug discovery, strategies for drug targeting and delivery, and the use of imaging, proteomics, process chemistry and analytical chemistry in cancer drug development. The conference will follow a model, based on the highly successful educational sessions at AACR Annual Meetings and others, in which three invited symposium talks will be followed by a short presentation from abstracts submitted by younger investigators. We anticipate that this conference will energize younger chemical investigators and inform them of the many opportunities to apply the power of chemistry to important problems in the discovery and development of new cancer medicines.