By: Marlon T. Conato., Ph.D.
KKP Treasurer & Webinar Co-Chair
The third in a series of webminar events sponsored by the Kapisanang Kimika ng Pilipinas was conducted last June 15, 2022 and attended by more than 150 attendees. Two speakers gave interesting talks on the applications of computational methods in the design of new compounds and screening of potential drugs and pharmaceuticals.
The first speaker is Dr. Teodoro Laino from the IBM Research Europe in Zurich, Switzerland. He discussed on the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning towards new materials discovery. It focuses on the use of an internet-based laboratory software (IBM Rxn) that could facilitate chemical synthesis and provided concrete examples on the use of it. The QandA forum discussion followed right after the talk that revolved around the efficiency and limitations regarding the use of the software as well as its accessibility.
Thereafter, the second speaker, Dr. Amitava Roy from the University of Montana, USA delivered his seminar on the applications of computational methods on the screening of candidates as potential pharmaceuticals. It introduced the software, Drugsniffer and demonstrated its use in drug discovery based on binding affinity, among other to target proteins. The talk was followed by the QandA forum, to which further inquiry regarding the software was addressed. Overall, the event offered an excellent venue to introduce the use of computational methods in providing efficient tools that potentially could save experimentalists their valuable time and resources. The event was attended by researchers and students from various universities working in different fields of chemistry as well as molecular biology.