The Foundation’s mission is the organization and sponsorship of international conferences, symposia, and educational programs which are dedicated to the advancement of bioorganic and medicinal chemistry. 

The Medicinal and Bioorganic Chemistry Foundation (MBCF) was incorporated in 1994 as a 501(c )(3) federally tax-exempt non-profit organization.

Initiatives

The MBCF’s first major initiative was to establish the Winter Conference Series in Medicinal and Bioorganic Chemistry. Now established as a seminal conference series within the medicinal chemistry community, this biennial event presents a program of symposia dedicated to technologies and principles at the cutting edge of bioorganic and medicinal chemistry. 

The first Winter Conference was held in January 1995, at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Since that first conference, the MBCF has sponsored subsequent workshops in January 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005.  Beginning on February 26 – March 2, 2006 in Clearwater Beach, Florida we are adding a new series to the Steamboat Series and plan to continue a mountain and beach location.  Our next dates for Steamboat Springs are January 21-25, 2007.  

Previous keynote speakers include Professors John Katzenellenbogen, Stephen Benkovic, Stephen Hanessian, Dale Boger, Chi-Huey Wong and Pfizer associate, Christopher A. Lipinski.  Professor Daniel H. Rich will be the keynote speaker in Clearwater Beach, Florida in 2006 and Professor Laura Kiessling will be the keynote speaker in Steamboat Springs in 2007.

Awards and Honors

The MBCF also recognizes the contributions that prominent individuals have made to the advancement of medicinal and bioorganic chemistry. At each Winter Conference, an individual is honored as a keynote speaker. 

In 1998, the MBCF instituted a travel grants program to encourage participation by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the Winter conferences. Recipients of these awards were selected on the basis of research summaries and letters of support, and were invited to present their work during a special symposium. We encourage anyone who is interested in participating in this program for the 2006 or 2007 conferences to review the Graduate Student Fellowship link found on the Home page.

Board Members

Members of the MBCF Board of Directors are as follows:

Professor Gary Grunewald, University of Kansas, 1994 (GGrunewa@Rx.Pharm.Ukans.edu)
Professor Lester Mitscher, University of Kansas 1994 (Lmitscher@Rx.Pharm.Ukans.edu)
Dr. Michael Rafferty (raffe01@mac.com)
Professor Victor Snieckus, Queens University, 1994 (snieckus@chem.queensu.ca)
Dr. Daniel Flynn, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, 1994 (dflynn@deciphera.com)
Professor Tony Barrett, Imperial College, 1999 (agm.barrett@imperial.ac.uk)
Dr. Bryan Norman, Eli Lilly Co., 1999 (NORMAN_BRYAN_H@LILLY.COM)
Dr. Jack Hodges, Berry & Associates, Inc., 2003 (jhodges@berryassoc.com)
Dr. Philippe G. Nanterment, Merck, 2007 (philippe_nantermet@merck.com)
Professor Mike VanNieuwenhze, Indiana University, 2008 (mvannieu@indiana.edu)