Speaker: Kaveh Jorabchi, Georgetown University

Topic: Plasma-based ion sources for element-guided detection and standard-free quantitation of compounds

Date: Monday, October 19, 2026

Time: 6:15 pm Dinner, 7:15 pm Presentation

Location: Shimadzu Scientific Instrument, Inc. Training Center 7100 Riverwood Drive, Columbia, MD 21046 (Directions)

Dinner: Please RSVP to Mamie Lih (mamielih@gmail.com) by Friday, October 16 if you will be attending dinner.

Abstract: Nontargeted methods have become indispensable for characterizing bio- and environmental transformations of compounds. However, quantitation remains challenging because ionization efficiency is dependent on molecular structure, and authentic standards may not be available in many cases. Here, we present new developments in plasma-based ion sources that offer elemental detection on molecular MS platforms, rendering heteroatoms in molecules intrinsic nontargeted detection and quantitation tags. We will discuss technology development as well as biomedical and environmental applications of detecting F, Cl, S, and P, which are prevalent heteroatoms in pharmaceuticals and environmental contaminants.

Speaker: Eric Fischer, Harvard Medical School

Topic: Systematic discovery of Molecular Glue Degraders from scalable platforms to therapies

Date: Monday, September 21, 2026

Time: 6:00 pm Dinner and Vendor Night, 7:15 pm Presentation

Location: Shimadzu Scientific Instrument, Inc. Training Center 7100 Riverwood Drive, Columbia, MD 21046 (Directions)

Dinner: Please RSVP to Mamie Lih (mamielih@gmail.com) by Friday, September 18 if you will be attending the dinner.

Abstract: In recent years, the co-opting of ubiquitin ligases by small molecules for the targeted protein degradation of disease-causing proteins has emerged as a powerful pharmacologic modality. While the discovery of PROTACs has become a mainstay of drug discovery, discovery of novel molecular glue degraders particularly beyond CRBN modulators remains a major challenge for the field. I will present recent work on understanding the principles that govern molecular glue interactions, updates on our discovery platforms and recent examples of success to target novel and previously undruggable neo-substrates and to expand the repertoire of ligases enabled for molecular glues. I will specifically discuss our advances in high-throughput structural biology to rapidly enable discovery programs and enable fine tuning of machine learning models to prioritize hits.