Close encounters: Designing drugs that recruit the cell’s own machinery to fight cancer and beyond – Michael Erb, PhD
May 20, 2026
Some of the most devastating diseases are driven by proteins that cannot be targeted with conventional drugs. Scientists are now discovering ways to control disease by recruiting the cell’s own machinery to tackle this challenge. In this free Front Row lecture, Associate Professor Michael Erb takes the audience inside the cell to explain how his team is developing “proximity” drugs. Erb’s innovation has implications to change how scientists and cells join forces to fight against breast, prostate and blood cancers. Join us to learn how proximity drugs can eliminate proteins, rewire essential cellular pathways, and enable researchers to target previously “undruggable” proteins.
Advancing the vision: An experiment in rethinking the nonprofit biomedical research model – Pete Schultz, PhD
April 22, 2026
In his Front Row lecture, President and CEO Pete Schultz will highlight the progress Scripps Research has made in pioneering a new model for non-profit biomedical research. He will describe how integrating basic science and translational research under one roof is accelerating next-generation medicines—from new immunotherapies for cancer and innovative medicines for infectious disease to regenerative treatments for heart, lung, and intestinal tissues. At a time of uncertainty in federal science funding, this model is not only advancing human health but also helping to generate sustainable support for innovative scientific research and for training the next generation of scientific leaders.
The choreography of life: What a protein’s “dance” says about health and disease – Dorothee Kern, PhD
March 11, 2026
Proteins are the molecular machines that regulate our tissues, organs and biological processes. But these complex molecules don’t just sit still—they “dance.” For Professor Dorothee Kern, understanding this choreography is key to understanding the difference between health and disease. In this free Front Row lecture, Kern will share how her team combines AI and experimental techniques to visualize protein movements in action. Kern will explain how mapping these dynamic motions via “protein movies” can guide the development of longer-lasting drugs with vastly reduced side effects for cancer, metabolic disease and more.
The sweet side of drug discovery: How sugars can help shape the future of medicines – Yuzhong Liu, PhD
February 11, 2026
Some of the most powerful medicines we use today come from natural products, which are specialized molecules that plants and microbes have evolved over millions of years. Sugars play a key role in these compounds—determining how the molecule behaves, where it travels in the body and how strongly it activates the immune system. In this free Front Row lecture, Scripps Research chemist Yuzhong Liu demonstrated how her lab uses synthetic biology to decode the role of sugars in medicine—helping scientists build next-generation vaccine adjuvants, cancer therapies and safer treatments.