Skyline view of University of Kansas Lawrence campus

Chemical Biology Symposium 2026

Friday, Oct. 16 – Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026
University of Kansas | Lawrence, KS

On behalf of the Center for Chemical Biology of Infectious Disease and the Graduate Training Program in Chemical Biology at the University of Kansas, we are excited to announce that the 5th annual KU Chemical Biology Symposium is scheduled for Oct. 16-17 in Lawrence, Kansas.

As in previous years, the symposium will begin on Friday afternoon at the Jayhawk Welcome Center and continue Saturday at the KU School of Pharmacy. Paul J. Hergenrother, professor of chemistry and the Kenneth L. Rinehart Jr. Endowed Chair in Natural Products Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, will deliver the Friday night keynote address, and James Morris will be the Saturday keynote speaker. Dr. Morris is the College of Science Dean's Distinguished Professor in the Department of Genetics & Biochemistry at Clemson University.

Symposium Schedule

 

Friday, Oct. 16 | Jayhawk Welcome Center

Schedule for Friday, Oct. 16
TimeSession TitleRoom 
4 – 4:45 p.m.Welcome Session
Check-in, drinks + light refreshments
General greeting from symposium organizers 
 		Seymour Pub & Bruckmiller Room 
4:45 – 6 p.m.Keynote Presentation: Dr. Paul Hergenrother
Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | "Novel Antibiotics that Spare the Gut Microbiome"

Session Chair: Anna Marstall		Berkley Presentation Room 
6 – 7 p.m.Dinner  
7 – 8 p.m.

Lighting Talks by Graduate Trainees
Session Chair: Ashten Gentry

  • Jane March, KU Department of Chemistry, Whelan Lab | “Increasing the Proteolytic Accessibility of Highly Glycosylated Mucins Through Chemical Release of O-glycans”
     
  • Tymber Moody, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences, Dalton Lab | “Identification and Analysis of Repurposed Therapeutics for the Rare Mitochondrial Disorder, WARS2 Deficiency”
     
  • Jack Petersen, KU Department of Chemistry, Hartley Lab | “Defining the Role of ACAT1 in Cholesterol Recycling During Remyelination”
     
  • Vanessa Schmidt, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences, Chandler Lab | “Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance in the Bacterial Pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa”
     
  • Anna Marstall, KU Department of Chemistry, Hanson Lab | “Novel Hapten Design for a Vaccine Against Dexmedetomidine Derivatives”
  


Saturday, Oct. 17 | School of Pharmacy

Schedule for Saturday, Oct. 17
TimeSession TitleRoom 
8:30 – 9:15 a.m.Morning Social Session
Check-in + light refreshments		Atrium 
9:15 – 10 a.m.

Session 1
15-minute presentations followed by ~3 minutes of questions
Session Chair: Jane March

  • Symposium Organizers | Welcome + Brief Opening Comments
     
  • Clarissa Durie, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri Department of Biochemistry | “Architectural Regulation of Metabolic Enzyme Complexes in Bacteria”
     
  • Michaella Rekowski, Core Facility Director, KU Medical Center Department of Cancer Biology | “Multiomic Capabilities at the Mass Spectrometry & Proteomics Core at the University of Kansas Medical Center”
Room 2020 
10 – 10:45 a.m.Poster Session 1
Odd-numbered posters		Atrium 
10:45 – 11 a.m.Break  
11 a.m. – noonKeynote Presentation: Dr. James Morris
Professor, Department of Genetics & Biochemistry, Clemson University | "Development of Novel Leads Against the Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae Naegleria fowleri"

Session Chair: Andrew Daufel 		Room 2020 
Noon – 1 p.m.Lunch
Box lunches		Mortar & Pestle, Basement 
1 – 2 p.m.

Session 2
15-minute presentations followed by ~3 minutes of questions
Session Chair: Jane March

  • Ilya Vakser, Professor, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences | “Atomic-Resolution Simulation of the Cell at Long Timescales”
     
  • Dwight Deay III, Chief Scientific Officer, Design-Zyme LLC | “Novel Hapten Design for a Vaccine Against Nitazene Opioids”
     
  • Dingran Chang, Assistant Professor, KU Department of Chemistry | “Engineering Functional Nucleic Acids for Molecular Recognition and Biosensing”
Room 2020 
2 – 2:15 p.m.Break  
2:15 – 3:15 p.m.

Session 3
15-minute presentations followed by ~3 minutes of questions
Session Chair: Andrew Daufel

  • Justin Randall, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri-Kansas City Department of Science & Engineering | “Rapid, Synthetic Discovery and Development of Therapeutic Antimicrobial Peptides”
     
  • Kendrick Smith, Assistant Professor, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences | "Title TBD" 
     
  • Qiwen Dong, Assistant Professor, KUMC Department of Molecular Genetics & Immunology | "Phenotypic Heterogeneity in Clostridioides difficile Virulence"
Room 2020 
3:15 – 4 p.m.Poster Session 2
Even-numbered posters		Atrium 
4 – 4:15 p.m.Break  
4:15 – 5 p.m.

Session 4
15-minute presentations followed by ~3 minutes of questions
Session Chair: Vanessa Schmidt

  • Prakash Kharel, Assistant Professor, KUMC Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | "G-quadruplex Topology and their Neighborhood Determine the Mechanism of Bioactivities of Guanine-rich Therapeutic Oligos"
  • Shikha Singh Chauhan, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma Department of Chemistry | "Decoding Cyclic Nucleotide Signaling: From Chemical Biology to New Therapeutic Opportunities"
Room 2020 
5 – 5:20 p.m.Poster + Flash Talk Award CeremonyAtrium