Science Shaping Our World (SHOW): Combating Drug Resistance: Lessons from HIV-1 Protease and Beyond

When: Thursday, July 29, 2010

From: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Where: Microsoft New England Research & Development Center

              1 Memorial Drive             

              Cambridge, MA 02142

              Phone: 857.453.6000

 Evening Speaker: Celia A. Schiffer, Ph.D.

• Dr. Schiffer is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School where her laboratory primarily studies the molecular basis for drug resistance in HIV and more recently Hepatitis C.  Dr. Schiffer’s research has focused on conceptualizing an interdisciplinary approach toward avoidance of drug resistance and she co-founded the Institute for Drug Resistance. 

July’s SHOW will focus on the development of novel strategies towards addressing drug resistance in diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C.  As drugs that have worked in the past become less and less effective due to the emergence of drug resistant pathogen variants, how will we combat these new and emerging more lethal strains?  Through her research, Dr. Schiffer has developed a new paradigm for avoiding drug resistance that likely translates to other diseases and is the basis for the design of her novel picomolar HIV-1 protease inhibitors.

These novel inhibitors have been shown to be more potent in viral cultures of wild-type AND drug resistant viruses as compared to current leading commercially available HIV-1 protease inhibitors.  These results strongly support the premise that: through developing strategies to counter the advent of drug resistance early on in the drug design process, inhibitors can be developed that are more robust against drug resistance overall.

Please join us for an excellent evening of science, technology, and networking.  Event sign-in begins at 6:00 PM at the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center. Event pre-registration is free and required for event admittance.  Presentation will begin at 6:30 PM followed by a Q&A session with the speaker.  Following the presentation, you are invited to join us for networking and further discussion with the speaker.  Light food and refreshments will be provided. 

SHOW is brought to you by Munevar & Associates, Inc., a life science technology development and commercialization company with space provided by Microsoft New England Research & Development Center.

http://showjuly2010.eventbrite.com/