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October 4th, 2024 at GSK’s Medicines Research Centre in Stevenage

This symposium is organized in honour of Frank Blaney.  Frank was an early adopter of computational chemistry, championing its use in industry and was a founding member of the MGMS.  Known for his innovative work in molecular modelling and drug discovery, Frank’s many associations included Oxford University, Queen’s University Belfast, GSK, Sosei Heptares and the MGMS.

This meeting brings together leading scientists to discuss their pioneering work in utilizing computational methods to address a wide array of challenges in the biological sciences. The event serves as a platform to celebrate Frank’s legacy and inspire further advancements in the field.

More details can be obtained from https://irinatkhnv.wixsite.com/fb-symposium

Awarded for: Figure 3 published in “Online tools to easily build virtual molecular models for display in augmented and virtual reality on the web” by Fabio Cortes Rodriguez, Matteo Dal Peraro, Luciano A. Abriata

Published in 2022 in the Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling, Vol 114, July 2022, 108164

The MGMS is saddened to hear of the death of Prof. Robert (Bob) Langridge on November 11th.

Bob, who has died at the age of 90, was a true pioneer of molecular graphics. His PhD work at the University of London was supervised by Maurice Wilkins, and included the first application of a stored program digital computer (the IBM 650) to the analysis of DNA structure. Working in Oxford, essentially as technical support for the strong group of crystallographers located there, he created some of the first images of molecular structures. He was largely responsible for developing methods to display depictions of molecules as solid surfaces rather than ball and stick representations.

Denied a full academic post in the U.K. he moved to California with a chair at the University of California, San Francisco, where he founded the Graduate Program in Bioengineering and created the UCSF Computer Graphics Laboratory.

Bob will be much missed.

(Thanks to Prof. Graham Richards)

The MGMS is delighted to announce that the winner of the 6^th MGMS Frank Blaney Award is Dr Matthew Grayson.

Dr Matthew Grayson is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the University of Bath in the Department of Chemistry. Dr Grayson’s research group are developing new, rapid, high-throughput computational screening approaches to the design of reactions through the use of molecular modelling and machine learning. These methods provide faster and more cost-effective alternatives to trial-and-error experimentation in chemical synthesis. More information can be found on the Grayson group website.

The MGMS committee extends its warmest congratulations to Matt.

To support postdoctoral and young independent researchers, and to remember MGMS founder member Dr Frank Blaney, the MGMS has established the Frank Blaney Award (formerly the Silver Jubilee Award). This is awarded to outstanding young researchers in the field.

Nominations are now sought for the MGMS Frank Blaney Award 2023. All aspects of each candidate’s contributions to the field of molecular modelling and related areas (covering computational molecular science, including the development of methods, scientific hypotheses and insights, research presentations, patents, software and algorithms) may be considered by the Award Committee.

More details can be found here. 

Details of past winners can be found here.