DAY 1 – May 11, 2026
8:00 – 8:45
Breakfast/Networking
8:45 – 9:00
Welcome
9:00 – 10:00
Keynote Presentation
Building Better Medicines: Structural Biology at the Core of Enlicitide Drug Development
Sandra Gabelli, Global Head of Protein and Structural Chemistry – Merck & Co., Inc.
10:00 – 10:20
Coffee Break
10:20 – 12:00
Session 1: Tools of the Trade and Cryo-EM (Chair: Eva Cunha)
- Cryo-EM, AI and Accelerated Drug Design: Emerging Intersections
Sriram Subramanian, CEO – Gandeeva Therapeutics - Automated, high-throughput Cryo-Electron Microscopy Structures Determination of Antibody-Antigen complexes using EPU Autogrid and RELION Schemes
Tobias Herrmann, Senior Scientist II – Sanofi - Cryo-EM Structures of Human VPS4A and VPS4B Reveal Conserved Mechanism of ESCRT III Engagement
Rachel Palte, Principal Scientist – Merck & Co., Inc.
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch
13:00 – 14:20
Session 2: AI/ML in Drug Discovery and the Future of Structural Biology (Chair: Jill Chrencik)
- Making X-ray and Cryo-EM Heterogeneity Actionable: Physics-Based, Density-Driven Ensemble Refinement for Modern Therapeutic Modalities and AI/ML-Ready Datasets
Lance Westerhoff, CEO – QuantumBio Inc. - Toward a foundational shift in AI-driven drug discovery: improving co-folding models with federated networks
Robin Roehm, CEO – Apheris
14:20 – 14:40
Sponsor Presentation
Accelerating Membrane Protein Structure-Guided Design: Automated Cell-Free Production of GPCRs and Transporters for Cryo-EM
Eric Swansen, Field Application Scientist – Nuclera
14:40 – 15:00
Coffee Break
15:00 – 16:40
Session 3: Membrane Proteins (Chair: Elena Levin)
- Integrating structural, biophysical, and screening workflows for GPCR hit identification
Jay Bertrand, Head of Global Structural Biology – Evotec (US), Inc. - Structure Determination of Membrane Proteins in Native Plasma Membrane Vesicles
Przemyslaw Dutka, Senior Systems Specialist – Genentech, Inc. - Cryo-EM analysis reveals multiple (conformational and)assembly states of Kv1.3 modulated by membrane environment and inhibitor binding
Julius Nitsche, Functional Group Leader Membrane Protein Production – Proteros
16:40 – 18:00
Poster Session
18:00 – 20:00
Networking Happy Hour
TAP 151 Bar & Grill
151 N First St, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA
DAY 2 – May 12, 2026
8:00 – 9:00
Breakfast/Networking
9:00 – 10:00
Keynote Presentation
Drug Discovery: How We Got Here (and Where We Might be Going)
Derek Lowe, Director in Chemical Biology Therapeutics – Novartis
10:00 – 10:20
Coffee Break
10:20 – 10:40
Sponsor Presentation
Screening binding-induced conformational changes in proteins with a molecular friction sensor
Ulrich Rant, CSO – Bruker Biosensors, Professor for Physical Chemistry of TU Dresden, Director of the Kurt-Schwabe-Institute for Sensor Technologies
10:40 – 12:00
Panel Discussion
Frontiers in Structural Biology for Drug Discovery and Development
- Jay Chodaparambil, Distinguished Scientist – Sanofi
- Melanie Adams-Cioaba, Senior Director – ThermoFisher
- Alisia Fadini, Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Columbia University
- Derek Lowe, Director in Chemical Biology Therapeutics – Novartis
- Robin Roehm, CEO – Apheris
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch
13:00 – 14:20
Session 4: Structurally enabled platforms (Chair: Kerren Swinger)
- Structural and functional basis of PU.1-BAF interaction reveals a novel interface for targeting undruggable transcription factors
Jozlyn Clasman, Senior Scientist – Foghorn Therapeutics - Structural Basis of Directionality Control in Large Serine Integrases
Heewhan Shin, Postdoc – University of Chicago - KNOMATIC Platform: Accelerating Drug Discovery for Novel ATPase Targets
Brian Sosa-Alvarado, Head of Platform and Structural Biology – MOMA Therapeutics
14:20 – 14:40
Sponsor Presentation ALPX Cryo-EM Platform:
Turning Structural Complexity into Therapeutic Opportunity Lucrezia Vittoria Viti, Cryo-EM Expert, ALPX
14:40 – 15:00
Coffee Break
15:00 – 16:00
Session 5: Conformational dynamics (allostery) (Chair: Rui Xu)
- CryoEM study of CRBN E3 ligase- insights from an allosteric view
Zeba Rizvi, Postdoc – Scripps Research - Discovery, biophysical, and structural characterization of a new family of positive allosteric modulators for MRGPRX1
Alexander Ulrich, Senior Scientist – Nuvisan
16:00 – 17:00
Session 6: Biologics (Chair: Joseph Batchelor)
- Utilizing SBDD to enable new E3 ligases for targeted protein degradation
Katie Digianantonio, Senior Research Investigator – Arvinas - Structure-based antigen design for the Sanofi Vaccines portfolio
Ching-Lin Hsieh, Head of Structural Biology, Computational Antigen Design – Sanofi
17:00 – 17:20
Wrap Up
17:30 – 19:30
Networking Happy Hour together with Structural Biology Society Boston
- Lamplighter Brewing Co.
110 N First St, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA
DAY 1
07:30 – 08:45
Breakfast/Networking
08:45 – 09:45
Keynote Presentation: “How viruses enter cells: a case history for Structural Cell Biology in 2025”
Stephen Harrison, Professor – Harvard Medical School/Investigator – Howard Hughes Medical Institute
9:45 – 10:45
Session 1: Membrane Protein Structure Guided Design (Chair: Kathleen Aertgeerts)
- Structural Insights into Activation of Proteinase-Activated Receptors (PARs)
Aaron McGrath, Associate Director – Takeda - Efficient near-native membrane protein stabilization with next-generation synthetic polymers
Jan Kubicek, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer – Cube Biotech
11:00 – 12:00
Session 2: Developing Fragments to Drugs: Challenges & Victories (Chair: Paul Shaffer)
- Proteros WRN Case Study with Cystallographic Fragment Screening
Debora Konz Makino, Vice President Integrated Early Drug Discovery – Proteros Biostructures - Fragment-based screening approach reveals non-orthosteric pockets in the search for allosteric inhibitors of tau-tubulin kinase 1
Robert Hayes, Principal Scientist – Merck & Co.
12:00 – 12:30
Presentation
- The Impact of Cryo-Electron Microscopy in Pharmaceutical Research
Pascal Lill, Business Development, Thermo Fisher Scientific
12:30 – 13:15
Lunch
13:15 – 14:45
Session 3: Conformational Dynamics and Allostery (Chair: Jeremy Wilbur)
- Dissection of the eIF2B conformational landscape using cryo-EM
Udit Dalwadi, Scientist – Altos Labs - Enhancing Therapeutic Design Against SARS-CoV2 Using Machine Learning and Cryo-EM
Anne Jecrois, Scientist II – Generate Biomedicines - Fragment screening and MD approaches reveal cryptic pocket in tumor suppressor ARID1B
Christine Carbone, Scientist II, Structural Biology – Relay Therapeutics
14:45 – 15:45
Keynote Presentation: “RCSB Protein Data Bank: An open-access digital research resource for the benefit of all humanity”
Stephen K. Burley, Director RCSB Protein Data Bank/Professor – Rutgers University
16:00 – 17:30
Session 4: Structural Biology of Targeted Protein Degradation (Chair: Steven Kazmirski)
- Structural and functional validation of DCAF2 for targeted protein degradation
Weiru Wang, Executive Director Protein Sciences and Structural Biology – Frontier Medicines - Structural biology efforts to characterize a novel RAF-MEK molecular glue, (NST-628 in phase 1 clinical)
Brad Quade, Principal Scientist – Versant NewCo - Cryo-EM ternary complex structure provides insights into the potent and selective degradation of IRAK4 by the heterobifunctional oral degrader, KT-474
Xue Fei, Structural Biologist – Kymera Therapeutics
18:00 – 19:00
Networking Happy Hour – Catalyst Restaurant
DAY 2
07:30 – 08:45
Breakfast/Networking
08:45 – 09:30
Session 5: Tools of the Trade (Chair: Chip Lesburg)
- Surface-mutagenesis strategies to enable structural biology crystallization platforms
Alexander Ulrich, Senior Scientist/Lab Head – Nuvisan - From Small Molecules to Biologics: Bridging the Gap: Unlocking the Potential of Cryo-EM for Dynamic Ensembles
Claudio Catalano, Senior Scientist – Nanoimaging Services - ML-PEPPER: A Machine Learning Algorithm for Proteome-Wide Binding Site Identification
Byron DeLaBarre, Founder & Principal – The Consulting Biochemist - The Synergy of CryoEM and AI in Biologics Discovery
Joe Batchelor, Head of Structure, US Large Molecules Research – Sanofi
Posters will be available during break sessions.
09:30 – 10:30
Keynote Presentation: “You can’t avoid the avoid-ome”
James Fraser, Professor – University of California, San Francisco
Mark Murcko, Founding CSO/Board Member at Dewpoint Therapeutics and Relay Therapeutics
11:00 – 12:30
Session 6: Biologics (Chair: Byron DeLaBarre)
- Discovery of broadly neutralizing anti-SARS CoV2 antibodies using sequence and structural data
Richard Martin, Senior Scientist – Invivyd - Identification and Engineering of Potent Bispecific Antibodies that Protect Against HSV Recurrent Disease
Hector Viadiu, Principal Scientist 2 – Gilead Sciences - An Integrative Structure-Based Approach to Discovering mRNA-targeted Small Molecules
Elena Menichelli, Director/Head of Structural Biology – Arrakis Therapeutics
12:30 – 13:15
Lunch Presentation – Nuclera
- From Expression to Structure: Accelerating Protein Production to Structural Analysis with eProtein Discovery
Chava Angell, Key Account Manager – East Coast, Nuclera
15:15 – 16:45
Session 8: Cryo-EM synergies with Molecular Modeling and Computational Models (Chair: Sara Goetz)
- PTPN2, immuno-oncology, challenging target, degrader, crystallography, cryo-EM Qi Hao, Principal Scientist, Associate Director – Calico Labs
- Structural Landscape of Human MutSβ in DNA Mismatch Repair Dissected by Cryo-EM Jung-Hoon Lee, Head of Cryo-EM Lab – Proteros Biostructures
- Advancing the Development & Applications of Time-Resolved Cryo-EM
Radoslav Enchev, Group Leader – The Francis Crick Institute
17:00
End of Conference
13:15 – 14:45
Session 7: AI/ML in Structural Biology and Drug Discovery (Chair: Peter Horanyi)
- PIRATE: Plundering AlphaFold Predictions to Automate Protein Engineering.
Graham Richardson, Senior Scientist – Evotec - Structure-Based Kinase Screening For In-Silico Safety Profiling
Edward Miller, Executive Director – Schrodinger - AI in Drug Design – Hype or Reality
Alexander Hillisch, Head of Global CADD – UCB BioSciences GmbH