Pharmacology: PROTACs – Understanding the Science & Potential in Drug Development with Professor Mark Searcey from University of East Anglia

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In this Pharmacology session, Mark Searcey, Professor in the School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology at University of East Anglia, will run an interactive talk for students on PROTACs – Understanding the Science & Potential in Drug Development.

Making new medicines is tough. Companies spend millions on trying to make something that will have an effect on the disease they are trying to target and can make thousands of molecules before they come up with one that is a drug.

What if we could use the machinery in a human cell to do the work for us? What if we could get the cell itself to prevent the disease it is suffering from? That is the basis of a new approach to drug design – new drugs that are called PROTACs or PROteolysis TArgeting ChimeraS.

We will talk about the drug discovery process in general, what it involves, how long it takes and what most drugs in the clinic target. Then we’ll see how the approach to making PROTACs is changing the way we think about drugs.

Lecturer Profile: Professor Mark Searcey

Our events are designed so that a group of students can take part from a classroom or students and teachers can take part as individuals, either from school or from home. There is no charge to take part.

As a live, participative event, this session will not be recorded but slides and other resources will be shared after the event, where available.

Suitable for: Aged 16+ pre-university students studying, or with a possible interest in studying, Chemistry, Biology, Pharmacology and related disciplines. Student groups as well as students and teachers joining individually are very welcome.

Preparation/Pre-Reading: Students may wish to consider the topic in advance and questions they have. Students can also think about questions about studying at university level.

The IT Setup: The event will be run on Zoom and participants will be able to join using laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. If you are joining as a school group, we recommend connecting with one device and projecting on to a whiteboard. You will be able to interact with the speaker via typed comments and questions and/or via a microphone. Full details will be sent to those who have registered (see below) prior to the event.

Booking a Place: This is free for schools and colleges. If you would like to take part in this event, please register your interest using the link to the registration form below:

Register here