Annual Summit Showcasing Medical Advances in Drug Discovery Returns to Phoenix

What: Discovering New Medicines in Arizona: Drug Discovery and Development Summit
When: Tuesday, Sept. 27, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Where: University of Arizona Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB), 435 N. 5th Street, Phoenix

The University of Arizona Cancer Center and the Arizona Center for Drug Discovery in the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy will co-host the fourth annual “Discovering New Medicines in Arizona: Drug Discovery and Development Summit” on Tuesday, Sept. 27, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in Phoenix.

The summit serves as a platform for the exchange of ideas and a showcase of the promising avenues to discovering new drugs for treating cancer, COVID-19 and other prevalent diseases in Arizona.

“Attendees can expect to hear from the best in the field of drug discovery and how interdisciplinary collaboration spanning a wide range of health care specialties can lead to effective therapies for patient-centered care,” said Rick G. Schnellmann, PhD, dean of the UArizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy and Howard J. Schaeffer Endowed Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

“We are looking forward to our first in-person summit since the pandemic began and the opportunity to forge new connections as we endeavor to improve the quality of life of our patients,” said Joann Sweasy, PhD, Nancy C. and Craig M. Berge Endowed Chair and UArizona Cancer Center director. 

Featured speakers include:

• Junaid Arshad, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson, UArizona Cancer Center member
• Jennifer S. Carew, PhD, associate professor of medicine in the College of Medicine – Tucson, co-director, UArizona Cancer Center’s Hematological Malignancies Disease Team
• Maaike Everts, PhD, executive director, Critical Path Institute’s Translational Therapeutics Accelerator
• Emmanuel Katsanis, MD, professor of pediatrics, Louise Thomas Chair in Pediatric Cancer Research, Peter and Paula Fasseas Chair in Cancer Research in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson, UArizona Cancer Center member, BIO5 Institute member
• Hongmin Li, PhD, professor of pharmacology and toxicology, R. Ken and Donna Coit Endowed Chair in Drug Discovery in the Coit College of Pharmacy, BIO5 Institute member
• Jianqin Lu, BPharm, PhD, assistant professor of pharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics in the Coit College of Pharmacy, BIO5 Institute member
• Juanita L. Merchant, MD, PhD, Regents Professor of Medicine, chief of the Division of Gastroenterology in the College of Medicine – Tucson, UArizona Cancer Center member, BIO5 Institute member

Registration is required and closes on Friday, Sept. 16. Free parking vouchers will be available during check-in for guests parking at the Phoenix Bioscience Core parking garage.