Modern Phenotypic Drug Discovery: From Chemical Biology to Therapeutics - ABSTRACT
Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Modern Phenotypic Drug Discovery: From
Chemical Biology to Therapeutics, organized by Drs. Bridget Wagner, Neil Carragher, Jeremy Jenkins and
Laura Kiessling. The conference will be held in Denver, Colorado from May 22-25, 2022.
Phenotypic Drug Discovery (PDD) as an approach to drug discovery and chemical biology has been building
momentum and excitement in both academia and industry. The convergence of new technology platforms
(e.g., induced pluripotent stem cells, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, 3D biology, advanced imaging) with other
disciplines such as cheminformatics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence have led to an exciting
renaissance of PDD. This conference will bring together researchers performing or interested in phenotypic
drug discovery from across academia and industry. Although modern advances in PDD span both academic
and industry sectors, there are few non-commercial drug discovery-focused meetings available for the
community, and the Keystone Symposia program is a premiere forum for this topic. This conference aims to
share information and best practices in new PDD technologies, biological models, and human disease areas,
as well as foster collaborative discussions across academia and industry. Additionally, this conference
program will address several critical barriers in the field: how to improve the physiological relevance of
phenotypic models and identifying a phenotypic target and understanding a compound’s mechanism of action
(MoA). It is anticipated that attendees will leave with a renewed appreciation for phenotypic strategies in a
wide variety of areas in chemical biology, and that the field will be advanced by expanding our collective efforts
to push the boundaries of improved assay models and cutting-edge MoA technologies.