Archived news - RCNS MedChemGroup

These are our archived news prior to July 2022. For more up-to-date information on our research group, please follow us on Twitter or Mastodon.

PhD defense
Based on her successful PhD defense on the 13th of December (Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics investigation of enzyme reactions), Dóra Judit Kiss was awarded with the PhD degree by the Doctoral Committee of the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Congratulations!
2022.02.10.

New PhD student joins our group
With the support of the Allostery in Drug Discovery Innovative Training Network (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2021 No. 675899 ALLODD), one PhD student has joined our research group for his full PhD programme at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. We are happy to welcome Vincenzo Di Lorenzo (from Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy) who will synthesize and investigate (covalent) allosteric modulators of protein function, that will be applied to therapeutically relevant systems.
2022.02.07.

Kajtár-Hollósi Award for Péter Ábrányi-Balogh
We congratulate our postdoctoral colleague, Péter Ábrányi-Balogh for being awarded by the Kajtár-Hollósi Foundation. The award recognizes the scientific achievements of outstanding young researchers.
2021.12.15.

Inaugural address
György M. Keserű has given his inaugural address as a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences today, titled "Drug discovery at the university, industry and academia".
2021.09.14.

New colleague
It is our pleasure to welcome Noémi Csorba, who will work on synthetic preparative chemistry and computational modeling.
2021.09.01.

Media coverage
Our Nature Communications paper on the SpotXplorer fragment library design approach was featured in the prominent scientific blogs Nature Portfolio Chemistry Community and Practical Fragments. In addition, the study received wide coverage in the Hungarian mainstream media, including origo.hu, hvg.hu, Klubrádió, nepszava.hu, and 24.hu, and was featured on the webpages of the Eötvös Loránd Research Network (in English), the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the Research Centre for Natural Sciences.
2021.06.10.

PhD defense
Based on his successful PhD defense on the 7th of January ("Development of methods for Covalent modification of proteins), László Petri was awarded with the PhD degree by the Doctoral Committee of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Congratulations!
2021.01.28.

Gábor Dénes Award for György M. Keserű
Our group congratulates György M. Keserű for being awarded with the Gábor Dénes Award of the NOVOFER Foundation. The Gábor Dénes Award recognizes Hungarian scientists and engineers with outstanding achievements in innovation, and in the coordination of highly complex innovative projects. In addition to his contributions to the discovery of several active pharmaceutical ingredients, the award recognizes the key role of Prof. Keserű in coordinating the development of the laboratory synthesis and industrial-scale production for the antiviral agent Favipiravir, an important pillar of managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary.
2020.12.09.

PhD defense
Based on his successful PhD defense on the 6th of November (Design and evaluation of covalent docking protocols for drug discovery), Andrea Scarpino was awarded with the PhD degree by the Doctoral Committee of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Congratulations!
2020.11.26.

Young Investigator Award for Péter Ábrányi-Balogh
Our group congratulates Péter Ábrányi-Balogh, who has been awarded with the AMAT/AHAA Award for Young Investigators of the Association of Hungarian-American Academicians.
2020.09.01.

Cover image
Our work on the Discovery of a novel kinase hinge binder fragment by dynamic undocking was featured on the front cover of the current issue of RSC Medicinal Chemistry. Special thanks for the artwork for Anita Rácz.
2020.05.29.

PhD defense
Based on his successful PhD defense on the 21st of February (Design and synthesis of D-amino acid oxidase inhibitors), Bence Szilágyi was awarded with the PhD degree by the Doctoral Committee of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Congratulations!
2020.05.29.

Junior Prima prize for Dávid Bajusz
Dávid Bajusz, research fellow of our group, has been awarded the Junior Prima prize in the category of science. Since 2007, the prize is awarded by the Hungarian Development Bank to Hungarian scientists under 33, who have shown exceptional performance and international recognition in scientific research, after a strict protocol for nomination, and assessment by an expert jury.
2019.11.27.

Ádám Kelemen leaves the Medchem Group
Ádám Kelemen leaves the Medicinal Chemistry Group to work for the biotech company Soft Flow, in Pécs. Our group greatly appreciates the ten very productive years that Ádám spent with us (both as former colleagues and friends), and we wish him a lot of success in his new occupation, and look forward to collaborate with him in the future.
2019.11.01.

Visiting professor
György Miklós Keserű is appointed as a visiting professor of the Anhui University of Technology, China during his visit in October. We are looking forward to collaborating with the research group of Prof. Xinya Han in oncology-related medicinal chemistry.
2019.10.15.

Scientific Reports editorial board
György Miklós Keserű is appointed as an editorial board member for the Chemical Biology section of Scientific Reports.
2019.07.05.

Cover image in ChemMedChem
Our work on the discovery of covalent ligands by Dynamic Undocking (DUckCov) was featured on the front cover of ChemMedChem. Special thanks for the artwork for Anita Rácz and Andrea Scarpino.
2019.05.21.

Hungarian Academy of Sciences membership
The 191. General Assembly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has appointed György M. Keserű as a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
2019.05.07.

Brain Research Days
Our group was represented by Ádám Kelemen, Dóra Judit Kiss, Levente Mihalovits and Zoltán Orgován on the Brain Research Days, an educational/scientific-disseminatory forum organized on March 12-13 at the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest. Photos are included in the gallery.
2019.03.13.

MedChemWatch
Our recent work on covalent warhead library design was highlighted in this month's MedChemWatch newsletter of EFMC.
2019.02.18.

PhD defense
Ádám Andor Kelemen has successfully defended his PhD thesis (Fragment-based approaches in GPCR-targeted drug discovery) at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Congratulations!
2018.12.13.

Junior Prima prize for Péter Ábrányi-Balogh
Péter Ábrányi-Balogh, research fellow of our group, has been awarded the Junior Prima prize in the category of science. Since 2007, the prize is awarded by the Hungarian Development Bank to Hungarian scientists under 33, who have shown exceptional performance and international recognition in scientific research, after a strict protocol for nomination, and assessment by an expert jury.
2018.11.24.

Featured article on the website of NKFIH
Our recent results in the development of new STAT inhibitors - together with the Moriggl and Gunning groups - were featured on the website of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary. The article is also available in Hungarian, featuring a video interview.
2018.07.06.

Publication prize for László Petri
László Petri, junior researcher of our group and PhD student of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) has won first prize on the documentary/scientific-educational publication contest organized by BME, the Pro Progressio Foundation and the Hungarian documentary/scientific journal Élet és Tudomány (Life and Science). His work, titled Régi-új fegyver: Kovalens kötés a rák ellen (Old-new weapon: Covalent bond against cancer) will appear in print in Élet és Tudomány, while László will give a radio interview on the Hungarian national (Kossuth) Radio's scientific programme Tér-Idő (Space-Time).
2018.06.25.

Media appearance
The story of our joint success with the Moriggl and Gunning groups has received wide coverage in mainstream Hungarian media. More details on 24.hu, origo.hu, 444.hu, and rtlklub.hu.
2018.03.23.

Breakthrough in the therapeutic options for acute myeloid leukemia
As a result of our collaboration with the research groups or Richard Moriggl (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research and University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria) and Patrick Gunning (University of Toronto, Canada), we have recently published a research paper in the Nature-group journal Leukemia, describing a new, promising lead compound for the inhibition of the STAT5 protein. More details are available in Hungarian on the website of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary.
2018.03.20.

Visiting researcher
We are happy to welcome David Hamilton from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, who will work on the synthesis and testing of fragment-sized covalent inhibitors.
2018.03.12.

Best presentation by a young scientist award
Dávid Bajusz was awarded at the 11th Winter Symposium on Chemometrics (held between February 26 - March 02 in St Petersburg, Russia) for the best presentation given by a young researcher, while his coauthor, Anita Rácz has received a Best poster prize. As their reward, the two young researchers will participate in the Copenhagen School of Chemometrics 2018.
2018.03.05.

New colleague
It is our pleasure to welcome András Németh, who will work on synthetic preparative chemistry.
2018.03.01.

New colleague
We are happy to welcome Gáspár Pándy, who will work on the computational modeling of G-protein coupled receptors.
2018.01.02.

PhD defense
Tamás Németh has successfully defended his PhD thesis (Synthesis and molecular recognition studies of acridono- and acridino-crown ether-based sensor and selector molecules) at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Congratulations!
2017.11.27.

PhD defense
Helga Bereczki has successfully defended her PhD thesis (Synthesis of functionalized silica aerogels and evaluation of their application fields) at the University of Debrecen. Congratulations!
2017.09.22.

PhD defense
Dávid Bajusz has successfully defended his PhD thesis (Discovery of novel Janus kinase inhibitors by virtual screening) at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Congratulations!
2017.08.25.

New colleague
It is our pleasure to welcome Tamás Németh, who will work on synthetic preparative chemistry.
2017.07.02.

Visiting researchers
We are happy to welcome the researchers of the University of Ljubljana, Janez Ilaš and Žiga Skok for our joint works on drug design and biochemistry.
2017.07.01.

New process chemistry grant received
Ministry for National Economy announced that the project entitled „Green chemistry processes for the intermediers of new, innovative agrochemicals at KISCHEMICALS” (GINOP-2.2.1-15/55) has been granted for the consortium of our group and KISCHEMICALS Ltd (KCH). KCH is involved in the production and trading of agrochemical intermediates and active ingredients. Based on our process chemistry expertise we join KCH to widen its product portfolio. The grant allows us to open a new lab at the Pannon University, Veszprém.
2017.06.06.

API process development with EGIS
National Office of Research, Development and Innovation announced that the project entitled „Research and development of innovative, value added APIs and formulated products for cardiovascular, oncological and CNS diseases” (KFI_16-1-2017-0170) has been granted for EGIS Pharmaceuticals, a member of Servier. Based on the long term partnership with EGIS our group is involved in the process chemistry activity of the project.
2017.06.01.

Visiting researcher
It is our pleasure to welcome Moira Rachman from the University of Barcelona for three months. Moira will work on the fragment-based design of novel JAK inhibitors.
2017.05.03.

Developing new chemistries for pharma research with Mcule
European Commission announced that the project entitled ”Building the Ultimate chemical database for drug discovery” of Mcule, a Hungary based company operating the world’s largest chemical web-shop. Under the H2020 SME Instruments Phase 2 grant (H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017) our group receives financial support from Mcule to develop new chemistries for pharma research. This collaboration opens the opportunity to commercialize our scaffolds and libraries to Mcule customers.
2017.05.03.

New colleague
We are happy to welcome our newest group member, Helga Bereczki, who will work on synthetic and analytical chemistry.
2017.05.03.

Grant for a new LC-MS/MS instrument received
Ministry for National Economy announced that our group, in consortium with three further RCNS labs won the research infrastructure grant (VEKOP-2.3.3-15-2016-00011) that allows us to install a new LC-MS/MS at our lab.
2017.05.01.

Visiting researcher
We are happy to welcome back Krzysztof Rataj from the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland), who will collaborate with us in GPCR-directed computational drug discovery.
2017.04.06.

National Competitiveness and Excellence Program (NVKP) finances a new oncology program in our group
Joining our expertise with FOTOTRONIC Ltd, a member of the Rasopathy consortium (NVKP_16-1-2016-0020) we started a new oncology program aiming the development of KRAS inhibitors. The collaboration is based on the rapidly developing covalent drug discovery platform of our group.
2017.03.17.

National Competitiveness and Excellence Program (NVKP) Grant
Our group has received a National Competitiveness and Excellence Program (NVKP) Grant from the National Research, Development and Innovation Office to support our proposal on the research of pediatric malignancies, which are the leading causes of death for children below 14 years (NVKP_16-1-2016-0037). Although current haemato-oncological treatments can facilitate full recovery, solid tumours are lethal within 10 years for around half of the affected patients. Through a joint research effort with the 2nd Department of Pediatrics of the Semmelweis University and Meditop Pharmaceutical Ltd., we are planning to utilize state-of-the-art DNA sequencing techniques to identify biomarkers that correlate with the occurrence of these malignancies, propose protein targets for their treatment, and ultimately, identify and synthesize drug candidates that display promising effect on the given target. During this project, we will gain novel insight into the molecular and epidemiological background of the development of solid tumors, create a DNA sequencing test for prevention and targeted diagnostics, and hopefully improve the clinical prospects of pediatric patients with solid tumors.
2016.11.21.

Appointment
György M Keserű, head of the research group, has been named as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), a professional society based in the United Kingdom with over 50,000 members worldwide. Founded in 1841, RSC is the largest organization in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences. RSC partners with industry and academia, advises governments on policy, and promotes the talent, collaboration, innovation, information and ideas that lead to great advances in science. The designation Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) is given to elected Fellows who have made significant contributions to the chemical sciences. The names of newly elected Fellows are published each year in The Times (London). For more information on the Royal Society of Chemistry, please visit the official website here.
2016.11.16.

Visiting researcher
We are happy to welcome back Krzysztof Rataj from the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland), who will collaborate with us in GPCR-directed drug discovery.
2016.11.16.

New PhD students join our group
With the support of the FRAGments training NETwork (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2015 No. 675899 FRAGNET), two PhD students have joined our research group for a 3-year period, including a full PhD programme at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. We are happy to welcome Aaron Keeley (from University College Dublin, Ireland) and Andrea Scarpino (from University of Pisa, Italy), who will conduct synthetic and computational chemical research on fragment-based approaches in the development of covalent binders against relevant drug targets.
2016.09.06.

Visiting researcher
We are happy to welcome Janez Ilaš from the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), who joins our research group for three months to collaborate with us in the biophysical characterization of enzyme inhibitors.
2016.07.15.

New members
We are happy to welcome three new students: Zsófia Laskai, Márton Nagyházi and Valentina Varga as the newest members as the newest members of the Medicinal Chemistry Research Group.
2016.07.15.

Visiting researcher
We are happy to welcome Krzysztof Rataj from the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland), who joins our research group for two weeks to collaborate with us in GPCR-directed drug discovery.
2016.03.01.

New members
We are happy to welcome a PhD student, László Petri and five university students, Levente Kollár, Blanka Rinyu, Dénes Sóvári, Gabriella Suhó and Csaba Szabó as the newest members of the Medicinal Chemistry Research Group.
2016.03.01.

Cover image
Our paper titled Discovery of Subtype Selective Janus Kinase (JAK) Inhibitors by Structure-Based Virtual Screening is selected for the cover image of the current issue of the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.
2016.01.25.

PhD defense
József Balog has successfully defended his PhD thesis (Synthesis of novel isoquinoline derivatives) at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Congratulations, Józsi!
2015.12.01.

New members
We are happy to welcome Attila Egyed, Dóra Judit Kiss and Zoltán Orgován as the newest members of our research group.
2015.09.01.

FRAGNET consortium
The European Union has granted 3.9 M euro to our consortium from academia and SMEs from Hungary, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and UK. The funding enables the consortium to establish the Marie Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) FRAGNET of 15 PhD students and explore new research methods and applications in the emerging field of Fragment-Based Lead Discovery.
2015.08.27.

Hungarian Scientific Research Fund Grant
We are proud to be the recipients of a Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA) grant for our research on Janus kinase inhibitors. Read more on our ongoing research projects here.
2015.07.31.