Pre-Conference Workshop
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Workshop A - 9am-11.30am
Lay of the Land – An Overview of the GPCR Target Space
Reviewing what are the hot targets among the GPCR Family. Adhesion
receptors have shown promise with their extracellular domains and can
therefore be manipulated by antibodies. Several Cryo-structures recently
released for adhesion receptors that will only enhance our understanding and accelerate development. Amongst the 830 GPCRs not all are relevant and some hot targets exist even in chemokine, and peptide receptors too.
Attend this workshop to:
- Understand the promise adhesion receptors have shown and how one might begin to go about targeting this untapped class
- Review potential approaches and opportunities for targeting the chemokine system.
- Uncover some of the novel tools streamlining chemokine and adhesion receptor understanding
Workshop Leaders:

Gregory Tall
Associate Professor
University of Michigan

Sudarshan Rajagopal
Associate Professor
Duke University

Laurent Sabbagh
Head of Biology
Domain Therapeutics
Morning Networking Break | 11.30am -12.30pm
Workshop B - 12.30pm-3pm
A Deep-Dive into Allosteric Modulation in the Context of GPCR Signaling
Attend this workshop to:
- Understand allosteric modulation in the context of GPCRs
- Leverage the therapeutic potential of peptide receptors with allosteric modulation
- Acquire awareness of the neuro psychiatric conditions where allosteric modulation is showing real promise
Workshop Leaders:

Sivaraj Sivaramakrishnan
Professor
University of Minnesota

Uwe Klein
Senior Vice President, Biological Sciences
Septerna

Ryan Strachan
Principal Scientist
Septerna
Afternoon Networking Break | 3pm - 3.30pm
Workshop C - 3.30pm-6pm
Venture Capital Perspective: What do They Want to See from Budding GPCR Firms
As interest grows for GPCR drug discovery and development, its key to keep Workshop Leaders: one eye on how venture capitalists view the space and what’s likely to tip them into investment.
Attend this workshop to:
- Acquire the knowhow on what interests venture capital firms right now with respect to GPCRs
- Build your GPCR drug discovery and development pipelines with
opportunities for venture capital firms in mind
Workshop Leader:

Abe Bassan
Vice President
Samsara BioCapital

Youseff Bennani
Managing Partner
CTI Life Sciences