Following our announcement, we are pleased to share the talk abstracts and programme for the UK-QSAR & Cheminformatics Society Meeting Spring 2026, taking place 21 April 2026 in Edinburgh.
Featured Talks
Silicon Supremacy? AI and Chemical Intelligence
Dr. John B. O. Mitchell (St. Andrews)
Evaluating the integration of Large Language Models into chemical research and higher education workflows.
Improving AFE Calculations Using FAST
Justina Ratkevičiūtė (Southampton)
Introducing a robust simulated tempering algorithm to enhance sampling efficiency in protein-ligand systems.
SpaceHASTEN: Trillion-Molecule Virtual Screening
Dr. Tuomo Kalliokoski (Orion Pharma)
Demonstrating open-source software for high-throughput screening of non-enumerated chemical spaces.
Predicting Protein Ligand Binding
Dr. Antonia Mey (Edinburgh)
Assessing affinity prediction models through robust statistical benchmarks and blinded large-scale datasets.
Advancing Design with the IsoDDE AI Engine
Dr. Franca Klingler (Isomorphic Labs)
Highlighting AI-directed de novo design and predictive performance in challenging protein-ligand interactions.
Safe and Sustainable Chemicals: The PINK Project
Dr. Alexe Haywood (Birmingham)
Repurposing generative AI for industrial chemical design within safety and sustainability frameworks.
Mitigating Assay Interference in HTS
Dr. Angelo Pugliese (BioAscent)
Utilizing machine learning and Bayesian optimization to engineer assay environments that suppress artifacts.
Enhancing ChEMBL: Drug Data Integration
Harris Ioannidis (EMBL-EBI)
Explaining the curation pipelines for drug and clinical candidate data to support chemical biology research.
Provisional Programme
| Time (UK) | Event Details |
| 09:00 – 09:45 | Arrival & registration |
| 09:45 – 10:00 | Opening Remarks (Dr. Christian Lemmen) |
| Session 1 | |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Dr. Franca Klingler (Isomorphic Labs) – Advancing Design with the IsoDDE AI Engine |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Dr. Tuomo Kalliokoski (Orion Pharma) – SpaceHASTEN: Trillion-Molecule Virtual Screening |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | BioSolveIT + Enamine – Collaborative Showcase: Exploring Vast Chemical Spaces |
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Dr. Alexe Haywood (University of Birmingham) – Safe and Sustainable Chemicals: The PINK Project |
| 12:00 – 13:30 | Lunch Break |
| Session 2 | |
| 13:30 – 14:00 | Dr. Antonia Mey (University of Edinburgh) – Predicting Protein Ligand Binding |
| 14:00 – 14:30 | Justina Ratkevičiūtė (University of Southampton) – Improving AFE Calculations Using FAST |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Dr. Angelo Pugliese (BioAscent) – Mitigating Assay Interference in HTS |
| 15:00 – 15:30 | Afternoon Break |
| Session 3 | |
| 15:30 – 16:00 | Harris Ioannidis (EMBL-EBI) – Enhancing ChEMBL: Drug Data Integration |
| 16:00 – 16:30 | Dr. John B. O. Mitchell (University of St. Andrews) – Silicon Supremacy? AI and Chemical Intelligence |
| 16:30 – 17:00 | Closing Remarks (Dr. Nathan Brown) |
Poster Deadline: 10 April
Registration Deadline: 14 April
Pre-Dinner: 20 April
Meeting: 21 April
Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. We also warmly encourage you to submit a poster to share your work with the community.