Welcome from the APS President

On behalf of the American Peptide Society, I would like to welcome you to the 28th American Peptide Symposium in beautiful Scottsdale Arizona. The theme of the meeting, “At the Peptide Frontier”, captures the spirit of peptide science at this year’s gathering. Our symposium co-chairs, Rob Garbaccio and Dave Chenoweth, have put together a fantastic program of cutting-edge science that will educate, excite and inspire. The symposium also showcases outstanding companies who will be exhibiting their services and technologies that help make the science possible. Take a break from the talks and go and see what they have to offer.

Joel Schneider

The impact of peptide science as a scientific discipline continues to be high. Peptides comprise new block buster drugs that directly impact our health. They are augmenters of immunity and building blocks for new materials, just to name a few of their functions. Synthetic chemistry and genetic methods continue to be developed that enable their production, and their physical properties still intrigue us, as we further tease out the molecular-level interactions that define their folding and function.

Our Society brings together the people that make this all possible. We are a community that have found common ground in a class of molecules we have all come to love. Our members are faculty and students from the best academic institutions across the world; we are researchers and leaders at top companies and government organizations; we are editors, policy makers and entrepreneurs starting companies. Our members make seminal discoveries that impact, build, and drive science. You will be reminded of this as you listen to the lectures, view the posters, and take in the talks of this year’s award winners — congratulations are in order, their work has significantly impacted the field.

It has been a pleasure and honor to serve the society as president. I have had the pleasure to work with an outstanding group of officers, councilors, and administrators. Thank you all for your hard work. I wish the continuing officers and newly elected officials good luck in their ftuture endeavors. They are an outstanding crew; the Society is in very good hands.

I have been a member of the APS for my entire career and have, and continue, to thoroughly enjoy the experience. I have met some of my best friends amongst its members and continue to draw scientific inspiration from your discoveries. I encourage all of you to introduce the APS to your students, friends and colleagues so that they may experience the same. Importantly, please get involved. Run for office/council or join one of the committees. It will be rewarding.

This year’s symposium was the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication. Our sponsorship committee went above and beyond in their efforts, kudos to Steve Miller, Heba Salim and Wendy Hartsock. Our colleagues at Indiana University Conferences and Lars Sahl who make it all happen deserve a special thanks. If you happen to see the symposium co-chairs Rob and Dave strolling around the resort, give them a special shout-out, thanking them for their hard work. Importantly, the symposium, and quite frankly, our Peptide Society, would be lost without the dedication, perseverance, and diligent work of Lauren Cline. Thank you, Lauren!

Lastly, I would like to thank all of you for attending the symposium. Please engage, learn, network and enjoy the science and venue.

Best regards,
Joel Schneider