March 27, 2025
Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD) is excited to host its first-ever Canadian User Group Meeting! This landmark gathering will bring together scientists, researchers, and industry professionals to exchange ideas, share success stories, and explore innovative ways to leverage CDD Vault in drug discovery.
Join us for an engaging event filled with expert talks, interactive discussions, and valuable networking opportunities. Whether you’re an experienced user or new to CDD Vault, this is a great chance to connect with peers and enhance your research workflows.
What to Expect
- Meet the CDD Team: A unique chance to interact with the minds behind CDD, gaining insights and sharing your experiences.
- Networking Opportunities: Connect with peers, forge new collaborations, and engage in meaningful conversations.
- Interactive Sessions: Participate in discussions about the latest trends and challenges in drug discovery.
- Reserve Your Spot Now: The User Group Meeting is free for attendees and open to the scientific community worldwide. However, space is limited, so please RSVP through the link below.
Date: June 23, 2025
Location: The Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queens Park, Toronto, ON
Speakers & Panelists
Peter Toogood, PhD
Director of Michigan Drug Discovery | Research Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
Dr. Toogood's lab uses computational chemistry and organic synthesis to identify novel ligands and potential therapeutic strategies for targets implicated in cancer metabolism. Peter joined the University of Michigan in 2020. His previous appointments include Senior Vice President of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at the Ann Arbor-based start-up company, Lycera, and leadership roles in discovery chemistry at Parke-Davis/Pfizer. His drug discovery experience encompasses the fields of cancer immunology/inflammation, and infectious diseases. Dr. Toogood has helped to advance multiple compounds into human clinical trials and is a co-inventor of the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib for which he was a recipient of the American Chemical Society’s “Heroes in Chemistry” award. Dr. Toogood assists companies engaged in patent litigation and has provided testimony as an expert witness. Peter received his Ph.D. from Imperial College, London, working on the synthesis of azadirachtin with Professor Steven V. Ley. As a NATO postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, he worked in the laboratory of Professor Jeremy R. Knowles.
Mark Reed, PhD
CSO, Treventis Corporation
A distinguished figure in organic medicinal chemistry, Dr. Reed has made significant contributions in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly in protein misfolding. Co-founder of Treventis and a key figure at the University Health Network, his work focuses on identifying novel drug targets and advancing translational research.
Lee Fader, PhD
Vice-President of Chemistry, Congruence Therapeutics
With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Lee now holds the role of Vice President of Chemistry at Congruence Therapeutics. Here, he leads small molecule drug discovery effort from the intersection of medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, and artificial intelligence to discover new medicines for patients suffering from rare diseases.
Carolyn Cummins, PhD
Associate Professor and Graduate Director of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
Associate Scientific Director of the Next Generation Precision Medicine Initiative (PRiME)
Dr. Carolyn Cummins received her doctoral degree in pharmaceutical chemistry at UCSFResearch Scientist and obtained molecular biology and in vivo pharmacology experience in nuclear hormone receptors during postdoctoral training at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Her research program is interdisciplinary and focuses on the study of nuclear hormone receptors in treating human disease, focusing on drug target validation and early drug discovery. With expertise in pharmacokinetics, analytical chemistry, cell and molecular biology, and small animal physiology, her group is exploring the use of LXRbeta antagonists as a therapy to prevent metabolic complications of glucocorticoid treatment. Dr. Cummins has co-authored over 85 research publications and 3 patents. She has held over $6M in grant funding from CIHR, NSERC and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and is internationally recognized as a leader within the Endocrine Society, most recently serving as its Basic Science Chair for the annual meeting in 2023. She has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards from the University of Toronto. She is passionate about promoting translation of academic discoveries to practice and is helping to grow PRiME as a community hub and knowledge broker that promotes innovations in early drug discovery.
Alex Clark, PhD
Research Scientist, Collaborative Drug Discovery
Alex Clark has a doctorate in synthetic organometallic chemistry and has been designing chemistry software for 25 years. His role at CDD includes scoping out original research projects, building the first prototype, debugging the science, and then integrating the result into the flagship Vault product, after having discovered empirically which small subset of features
provide most of the value. His career has covered most aspects of computer aided drug discovery but he mostly concentrates on informatics, preferably involving molecules.
Ralphie Fiorenza
Product Manager, Collaborative Drug Discovery
Ralphie Fiorenza is a Product Manager at CDD Vault, where he leverages his extensive
laboratory experience to guide the development of scientific data management tools. His diverse background in biotech has provided him with hands-on expertise in studying primary immunodeficiencies, ER stress, NGS, and CRISPR technologies. As a former lab manager, Ralphie successfully oversaw the buildout of a thirty-bench lab, handling everything from equipment due diligence to contract negotiations. These varied experiences have shaped him into a creative problem solver with the ability to connect with and understand the needs of professionals across multiple research disciplines.
Kelly Bachovchin, PhD
Customer Engagement Specialist, Collaborative Drug Discovery
Kelly Bachovchin joined the CDD support team to begin her industrial career after completing her PhD in Chemistry at Northeastern University. While at Northeastern, Kelly’s researched focused on synthesizing and optimizing small molecule compounds for the treatment of neglected tropical diseases as part of Professor Michael Pollastri’s lab. Before receiving her PhD, Kelly also obtained a Master’s degree in Biotechnology and Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology, both from Kean University. As a former customer/user of CDD vault, Kelly has experienced first-hand how CDD vault is a powerful and collaborative platform. She wishes to help other scientists to better manage their data and globally connect to further their research as she embarks on her career at CDD.
Erin Davis, PhD
CTO, X-Chem
Erin joined X-Chem as their Chief Technology Officer in 2024 with a focus on advancing the company’s strategy of utilizing wet and in silico data generation systems to enhance its position as a drug discovery partner. She oversees the development of a comprehensive discovery platform that integrates DEL, medicinal and computational science, and machine learning, supporting all facets of the pre-clinical discovery process. Previously, Erin served as senior vice president of enterprise informatics at Schrödinger, at the helm of the business, science, and development aspects of its enterprise informatics and modeling platform, LiveDesign. She drove the platform’s explosive growth across the global pharmaceutical industry, supporting an evolution of integrative modeling-based drug discovery. She also founded the discovery informatics team, supporting technology development across Schrödinger’s internal drug discovery programs. Prior to joining Schrödinger, Erin held several technology leadership positions supporting better drug discovery, including head of US consulting for Chemaxon and US scientific relations manager for the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. Before moving to industry, Erin spent several years in academia at the medicinal and computational chemistry interface, wishing for better tools while researching neurochemical and antimicrobial drug design. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Montana in 2006 with a focus on the computational design of CNS compounds.
Jon Stokes, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University
Jon’s research focuses on the development and application of leading-edge machine learning techniques for novel drug discovery and design tasks, with an emphasis on antibacterial and neuro-oncology agents. Jon is the co-founder and CSO of Stoked Bio.
Josh Pottel, PhD
CEO, Molecular Forecaster
Josh leads Molecular Forecaster Inc. (MFI), where they are advancing small molecule drug discovery with proprietary tools and technology, expertise, and an all-in approach to collaboration. Josh has extensive training in computer-aided drug design. He completed his PhD at McGill University in the lab of Prof. Nicolas Moitessier, and went on to a postdoc with Prof. Brian Shoichet at UCSF. He is now combining his training as a chemist and as an entrepreneur to grow a sustainable service and software provider in drug discovery. More broadly, he hopes to be a critical contributor to a growing Canadian biotech sector in both scientific research and fostering entrepreneurship.
More to come...