Drug Discovery for Ion Channels XXV

Ion channels are an important class of therapeutic drug targets, and mutations in ion channel genes are found to be responsible for an increasing number of diseases.  While conventional electrophysiological techniques permit the most detailed and direct study of ion channel function, they are limited due to the manual nature of the method and their low throughput.  Because of this, ion channels remain an underrepresented target class for drug discovery. 

The advent of higher throughput automated electrophysiology systems changed the face of ion channel drug discovery.  Since the inaugural “Drug Discovery for Ion Channels” satellite meeting, there have been many advances in ion channel drug discovery including new instrumentation and techniques.  For this year, we propose to continue the “Satellite Meeting” tradition at the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting and review the advances ion channel drug discovery. 

This year’s meeting will highlight presentations from drug discovery companies, companies that provide ion channel services to drug discovery companies and companies that provide products to ion channel drug discovery companies, as well as other speakers in the field of ion channel drug discovery, including several academic speakers. 

Our dear friend and colleague, Owen McManus, passed away unexpectedly at the end of December. Owen was an incredible talent in the drug discovery community and will be missed immensely by the large network of scientists, clinicians, and patients built over the 40 years that he devoted to his scientific career. Owen brought a wealth of intellect and a passion for scientific rigor to every project that he engaged in. He had a passion for therapeutic discovery in pain disorders and rare genetic disease, and had made instrumental contributions to these areas during his time at Quiver Bioscience, Merck, Johns Hopkins, and Essen Bioscience. Owen had an impact on every individual who was lucky enough to know and work with him. His absence will surely be felt by many, but the contributions he made to science and the memories we all hold of Owen – the many spirited debates and conversations, the laughs, and shared moments of accomplishment – will be treasured by us all. Our deepest sympathies are with Owen’s family and friends as we all process this tremendous loss.