On October 10th, 2024, the College of Pharmacy at Gulf Medical University hosted a research seminar featuring Dr. Ahmed Elkerdawy, Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Lincoln, UK. The event was attended by faculty members from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, along with students from the Master’s program in Drug Discovery and Development.
Dr. Elkerdawy’s seminar, titled “Integrated Computer-aided Drug Design in Medicinal Chemistry Research,” explored the intersection of synthetic chemistry and computational methods for drug discovery. With over 70 publications, Dr. Elkerdawy has extensive experience in utilizing computer-aided drug design (CADD) to identify and optimize lead compounds for diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and inflammatory conditions.
Throughout the session, Dr. Elkerdawy shared a detailed breakdown of ligand-target interactions and the various CADD methodologies. He delved into both Structure-Based Drug Design (SBDD) and Ligand-Based Drug Design (LBDD), explaining techniques like molecular docking simulations, molecular dynamics, and De Novo design within SBDD, as well as similarity searches, pharmacophore modeling, and Quantitative-structure activity relationship QSAR in LBDD.
Dr. Elkerdawy explained how virtual screening techniques are revolutionizing lead discovery, alongside the integration of Integrated CADD (ICADD) strategies in modern drug design.
The seminar concluded with a case study focusing on the discovery of novel GSK-3β inhibitors, followed by a lively discussion on how CADD is transforming the drug discovery and development process, proving to be an indispensable tool for the future of medicinal chemistry.