On 8 August 2011, at the invitation of Prof. LIU Hong, professor James R. Halpert from the University of California visited Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and delivered an academic lecture titled ‘Conformational plasticity of mammalian cytochromes P450: Implications for prediction of drug metabolism from X-ray crystal structures’. The lecture focused on the progress and challenges in structure-function analysis of cytochromes P450 2B. Professor Halpert presented his new concept of predicting the drug metabolism through X-ray crystal structures of mammalian cytochromes P450. The lecture intrigued a heat discussion between professor Halpert and the attendees. After the lecture, professor Halpert visited the Center of Drug Metabolism at SIMM and had a high opinion of the excellent research work at the center.
James R. Halpert is a professor and the associate dean of Skaggs school of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences at the University of California. His research interest mainly focuses on the structure-function analysis of cytochromes P450 2B and structural basis of human cytochrome P450 3A specificity and activation.
