About MIKIW

The first medicinal chemistry meeting-in-miniature was held in 1963 at the University of Iowa. These meetings have often been referred to as 'MIKI' meetings as the founders originated from the Departments of Medicinal Chemistry at the Universities of Minnesota, Illinois at Chicago, Kansas, and Iowa. Since then, these four universities have alternately hosted the MIKI meetings each year. In 2018, the School of Pharmacy at University of Wisconsin-Madison joined the original MIKI lineup, thus creating 'MIKIW'.

MIKIW is the longest-running and largest regional medicinal chemistry conference in the United States. The MIKIW meetings have historically been organized and led entirely by graduate students on an annual basis. The meeting integrates over 200 graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty members for a two-day, multidisciplinary conference that exposes students and faculty alike to a wide array of medicinal chemistry aspects. The conference provides an excellent environment in which research is presented as symposium talks and poster presentations.

The MIKIW meeting aims to promote scientific discussion and exchange of ideas that encompasses medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, chemical synthesis, bioanalytical chemistry, chemical biology, and drug metabolism between scientists across universities. Additionally, graduate students are given the valuable opportunity to present their research as a short oral presentation and/or in a poster presentation in order to develop and hone their scientific communication skills. Since 1966, the host university has invited an eminent scientist to deliver a keynote address. This year, the University of Iowa is pleased to have Dr. Christopher McCurdy (University of Florida) as our keynote speaker. The keynote talks allow MIKIW participants the unique opportunity to interact both professionally and socially with one of the top scientists in the field.

In 2020, the MIKIW meeting was postponed due to COVID-19 and in 2021, the University of Wisconsin-Madison hosted the first ever fully virtual MIKIW meeting. The 2022 MIKIW meeting here at Iowa marked the first in-person meeting since 2019 due to circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. We are happy to once again be hosting this event under normal circumstances.

MIKIW Founders

Past MIKIW Keynote Speakers

The previous keynote speakers are among the most accomplished scientists. Scientists from this esteemed group include Nobel laureates, members of the National Academy of Sciences, leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, and many members of the ACS Medicinal Chemistry Division Hall of Fame. In 2026, we are pleased to have Dr. Christopher McCurdy deliver the keynote address.