Diseases, from bacterial and viral infections to cancer to chronic maladies, are still among the greatest problems for mankind, in spite of tremendous progress in genetics, biology, and chemistry. Â Approaches to developing new treatments have changed over time, and so have the methodologies used, in order to solve the varied, new, challenging problems that may happen on the path to drug discovery. Â Together with ever-evolving experimental techniques, a variety of computational approaches have been applied at the various stages of the drug design process, and in the past two decades structure-based drug design has become one of the mainstream approaches. Â This method can be used to target protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions and nowadays is applicable to all aspects of drug discovery, including lead identification, lead optimization, ADMET prediction, and drug repurposing.Â

The purpose of the course is dual:
1) It will provide a review of the fundamentals and the application of crystallography to drug design, and an evaluation of the technology at the present state.
2) It will review the progress in this field and summarize the application and results to current fields of interest. Â
In addition to lectures, there will be hands-on workshops providing training in using modern computer programs.
The topics that will be covered are:
- Targeting Resistance in Design of Anti AIDS Drugs - Molecular Modeling and Drug Design - Targeting Protein-Protein Interactions - Drug Design Targeting Bromodomains - Targeting GPCRs for Drug Design - Targeting Influenza Virus Polymerase - The Small Molecule Universe - Molecular Obesity and Other Addictions in Drug Discovery - Energetics of Protein-Ligand Interactions - Docking Experiences and Expectations - Structure of Human G-Protein Coupled Receptor - Using ARP/WARP for Structure-Based Drug Design - Antibody Technologies to Stabilize Targets for NCE Screening - Drug Design Tales from AstraZeneca - High Resolution Protein-Ligand Interactions by X-rays and Neutrons - Virus Structure and Antiviral Drug Design - Structure-Based Design of Drugs Against Diabetes - Membrane Protein Structure - Structural Bioinformatics - Protein Aggregation and Drug Design - Turning on Enzymes with Small Molecules

ISC2014 will be of interest to postgraduate, postdoctoral and research scientists from industry and academy that deal everyday with crystallization but need further knowledge on the behaviour of crystallization from solutions. ISC2014 will provide five days of lectures and practical demonstrations related to the crystallization of drugs, food, agrochemicals, minerals and materials of new synthesis, from fundamental aspects to large scale techniques. As in previous years the program will cover subjects such as the crystallization of polymorphs, chiral compounds, hydrates, solvates and co-crystals as well as legal aspects related to the practice of crystallization. This year we will also focus on the mineral pattern formation and biomineralization. We expect an attendance of 90 students and 30 lecturers and exhibitors. The students have been invited to submit an abstract and to present their results in 3 dedicated poster sessions. The practical sessions consist of a Demonstration Fair, where a number of stands will simultaneously offer the students the opportunity of attending short (30 minutes) practical sessions carried by the teachers at scheduled times. This year we have extended the number of demonstrations and the time scheduled, namely May 28th afternoon and May 29th the whole day.

The workshop Hot Topics in Contemporary Crystallography will take place in Hotel Jakov, in the Solaris beach resort, near Šibenik, Croatia, from May, 10th to May, 15th, 2014. The official language of the workshop is English.

The Croatian Association of Crystallographers organizes this workshop to mark the 2014 - UN proclamed international year of crystallography in Croatia. Six "hot topics" will be addressed during the intense four working days of the workshop:

1. Hot topics in macromolecular crystallography (by prof. dr. Elspeth Garman, University of Oxford, UK),
2. The whole is more than the sum of its parts (by prof. dr. Hans-Beat Buergi, University of Bern, Switzerland),
3. Charge density (by prof. dr. Dietmar Stalke, University of Goettingen, Germany),
4. Absolute structure and absolute configuration (by prof. dr. Howard Flack, University of Geneve, Switzerland),
5. Twinning in crystallography (by dr. Regine Herbst-Irmer, University of Goettingen, Germany), and
6. Advanced solutions from the Cambridge Structural Database (by Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, UK).

The workshop aims at:

• Promotion of excellence and innovation in crystallography,
• Transfer of state-of-the-art knowledge and know-how to the most talented and motivated PhD students and postdocs in crystallography and related disciplines,
• Popularization of crystallography, and
• Celebration of the International Year of Crystallography (2014) in Croatia.

Participants, who will be chosen among the highly motivated applilcants - young scientists working in crystallography and related fields, will be invited to present their own research via short (10 to 15 mins) talks or on posters. A small number of participants invited to the workshop (27) will give a chance to young crystallographers to share their ideas and experience among them, as well as to discuss their work and problems they encounter with the experienced senior scientists who will be attending the workshop as lecturers or tutors.

Synchrotron radiation has become an indispensable tool for many macromolecular crystallography groups. Some synchrotron-specific skills are difficult to learn without ones having an intensive hands-on training program. But not all research groups have the luxury of providing long training sessions for students and postdocs. To provide such an educational experience, we have designed a course in Rapid Data Collection and Structure Solving.

Related Information

• RapiData Header Image: View | Download | About (pdf)
• Previous Course Pictures:Â 2013Â |Â 2012Â |Â 2011Â |Â 2010Â |Â 2009Â |Â 2008Â |Â 2002-2007
• Brookhaven National Laboratory: View Videos (YouTube)

Sponsors

This course is sponsored by a grant from the Biomedical Technology Research Centers (BTRC) of NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to Photon Sciences and the Biosciences Department at Brookhaven, and in part by support from the Department of Energy Office of Biological and Environmental Research.

We also thank the International Union of Crystallography and Brookhaven Science Associates for financial assistance for this course.

Macromolecular Crystallography School 2014

"From data processing to structure refinement and beyond"

April 8th - 16th, 2014 Instituto de Física de São Carlos/USP, São Paulo, Brasil
Intended for advanced PhD students, postdocs and young scientists Theoretical and in-depth tutorial training on state-of-the-art methods in macromolecular crystallography
Main Topics

• Diffraction data processing
• Phasing and structure determination
• Model refinement and validation

The school is intended to give a general overview of modern methods in electron crystallography with a strong accent on electron diffraction tomography. The students will learn basics of crystallography, image and diffraction pattern formation in a transmission electron microscope and most common methods of structure analysis using electron scattering data. Two transmission electron microscopy (TEM) labs are available in order to get an extended experience in diffraction tomographic data acquisition â€" at the Technical University of Darmstadt and the University of Mainz. Diverse data processing approaches will be presented during afternoon seminars. With the knowledge gained from the school the participants will be able to run tomographic experiments on their own and have a deep understanding of data processing upon their return to the home institution.  Basic crystallographic or TEM knowledge is desired; nevertheless both topics will be covered in a deep and deductive way. Students from diverse fields (chemistry, physics, biology, etc.) are encouraged to apply.

The 2014 Powder Diffraction and Rietveld Refinement School will be held at the University of Durham from Sunday 30th March to Thursday 3rd of April. Lectures will be given by Jeremy Cockcroft, Andy Fitch, John Evans and Ivana Evans. There will also be small group tutorials and a large number of hands-on practical computer sessions.
Topics to be covered will include:

• Data collection strategies for X-ray and neutron diffraction
• Constant wavelength and time of flight diffraction
• Modelling peak shapes
• Indexing powder patterns
• Rietveld, Le Bail and Pawley fitting methods
• X-ray and neutron combined Rietveld refinement
• Extended solids and molecular systems
• Restrained refinements
• Rigid body refinements
• Magnetic refinements will not be explicitly covered.

The 12th Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association

We cordially invite you to attend the 2013 Asian Crystallographic Association Meeting (AsCA'13), which will be held at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong. The venue for the meeting has been moved from Dhaka, Bangladesh due to security concerns. The new dates for the meeting are 7-10 December 2013 (Sat - Tues). The meeting will cover diverse aspects of crystallographic research ranging from materials to life sciences and incorporating synchrotron and neutron studies. This meeting in 2013 is special since the International Union of Crystallography is celebrating the centenary of X-ray crystallography by the Braggs. The meeting is also a prelude to the upcoming International Year of Crystallography, IYCr2014.

Se-Won Suh
President, AsCA