The graduate students and Faculty of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences welcome you to the 2026 MAGSS conference held at Wayne State University in Midtown Detroit. The MAGSS conference is devoted to graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty interested in the sciences of drug discovery, drug development, and drug action.  This 1.5-day conference is an excellent opportunity to share research, learn cutting-edge science, and network with fellow graduate students and faculty from universities in the region.

This year, we are excited to have two outstanding keynote speakers

Dr. William Roush

Executive Vice President, Head
of Small Molecule Research

Dr. Roush is an organic and medicinal chemist with over 40 years of experience advancing small-molecule therapeutics. He has made pioneering contributions to stereocontrolled synthesis and natural product chemistry, held faculty positions at MIT, Indiana University, the University of Michigan, and Scripps, and now leads the small-molecule drug discovery efforts at Odyssey Therapeutics.

Dr. Barbara Slusher

Director, Johns Hopkins Drug
Discovery

Dr. Slusher is a neuroscientist and drug discovery expert with more than 30 years of academic and industry experience. She spent 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry, contributing to several FDA-approved drugs. At Johns Hopkins, she directs the Drug Discovery program, co-founded four biotech companies, and launched the International Consortium for Academic Drug Discovery.