MIKIW History 

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 Minnesota is pleased to have Dr. Nicole C. Goodwin (GSK) 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.

MIKIW Founders 

MINNESOTA     ILLINOIS     KANSAS       IOWA

O. Gisvold       L. Bauer     M. P. Mertes     J. G. Cannon 

P. S. Portoghese       C. Coviello     E. E. Smissman     D. T. Witiak 

T. O. Soine       R. Daniels     R. A. Wiley 

    J. E. Gearien


Past Keynote Speakers 


Year     Host       Speaker               Association

2022 The University of Iowa Dr. Kate Carroll Scripps Research 

2021 The University of Wisconsin-Madison Dr. Emma R. Parmee Janssen Research & Development

2020 MIKIW Canceled due to COVID-19 NA NA 

2019 The University of Kansas Dr. Nicholas A. Meanwell Bristol-Myers Squibb

2018 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Michelle Arkin University of California, San Francisco

2017 University of Minnesota Dr. Uttam K. Tambar UT Southwestern Medical Center

2016 The University of Iowa Dr. Amy Hauck Newman NIH-NIDA

2015 The University of Kansas Dr. Bruce Roth Genentech

2014 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Paul Wender Stanford University

2013 University of Minnesota Dr. Marvin J. Miller University of Notre Dame

2012 The University of Iowa Dr. Heidi E. Hamm Vanderbilt University

2011 The University of Kansas Dr. Dennis C. Liotta Emory University

2010 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Tomáš Hudlický Brock University

2009 University of Minnesota Dr. Dale Boger Scripps Research Institute

2008 The University of Iowa Dr. Daniel Kahne Harvard University

2007 The University of Kansas Dr. Albert Padwa Emory University

2006 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. William Fenical University of California, San Diego

2005 University of Minnesota Dr. Christopher Lipinski Pfizer, Inc.

2004 The University of Iowa Dr. Kenner Rice NIH

2003 The University of Kansas Dr. C. Dale Poulter University of Utah

2002 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Richard B. Silverman Northwestern University

2001 University of Minnesota Dr. Andrew Hamilton Yale University

2000 The University of Iowa Dr. Michael Marletta University of Michigan

1999 The University of Kansas Dr. Roger M. Friedinger Merck Research Laboratories

1998 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Richard A. Lerner Scripps Research Institute

1997 University of Minnesota Dr. John Montgomery Biocryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

1996 The University of Iowa Dr. David Nichols Purdue University

1995 The University of Kansas Dr. Paul Anderson Dupont Merck Pharmaceuticals

1994 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Arthur Patchett Merck Research Laboratories

1993 University of Minnesota Dr. Daniel Rich University of Wisconsin, Madison

1992 The University of Iowa Dr. Laurence Hurley University of Texas, Austin

1991 The University of Kansas Dr. Julius Rebek Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1990 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Koji Nakanishi Columbia University

1989 University of Minnesota Dr. John Katzenellenbogen University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

1988 The University of Iowa Dr. Carl Djerrasi Stanford University

1987 The University of Kansas Dr. William Roush Indiana University

1986 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Joseph Fried University of Chicago

1985 University of Minnesota Dr. David Triggle SUNY Buffalo

1984 The University of Iowa Dr. Alan Katritzky University of Florida

1983 University of Wisconsin-Madison Dr. Paul Bartlett University of California, Berkeley

1982 The University of Kansas Dr. Henry Rapoport University of California, Berkeley

1981 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Harry Wasserman Yale University

1980 University of Minnesota Dr. Eugene Jorgensen University of California, San Francisco

1979 The University of Iowa Dr. Alan Sartorelli Yale University

1978 The University of Kansas Dr. Albert Meyers Colorado State University

1977 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Heinz Floss Purdue University

1976 University of Minnesota Dr. Donald Jerina NIH

1975 The University of Iowa Dr. Everett May NIH

1974 The University of Kansas Dr. Marjorie Horning Baylor University

1973 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Arnold Brossi Hoffman-LaRoche

1972 University of Minnesota Dr. Gertrude Elion Burroughs-Wellcome

1971 The University of Iowa Dr. Bernard Belleau University of Ottawa

1970 The University of Kansas Dr. Corwin Hansch Pomona College

1969 University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Everett Maynert University of Illinois

1968 University of Minnesota Dr. Bernard Baker University of California, Santa Barbara

1967 The University of Iowa Dr. Julius Axelrod NIH

1966 The University of Kansas Dr. Richard Schowen The University of Kansas