Martin Stillman (chair)
Department of Chemistry,
The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7
Tel: 1-519-661-2111 x83821
FAX: 1-519-661-3022
e-mail: (Conference Administration) canbic@uwo.ca
(MJS) martin.stillman@uwo.ca
Find us on facebook:
www.facebook.com/canbic.ca
Department of Chemistry,
The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7
Tel: 1-519-661-2111 x83821
FAX: 1-519-661-3022
e-mail: (Conference Administration) canbic@uwo.ca
(MJS) martin.stillman@uwo.ca
Find us on facebook:
www.facebook.com/canbic.ca
Supported by The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Overview of the Conference
About the conference
The 9th Georgian Bay International Conference on Bioinorganic Chemistry continues the tradition established by the International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (ICBIC) that takes place around the world every two years of bringing together scientists researching the vitally important biological chemistry of metals. This present conference may be the first in Canada specifically focused on bioinorganic chemistry with such a significant international participation.
About the date and location of the conference
The conference will start in the afternoon of Tuesday May 20th 2025 with Registration at the Microtel Inn Parry Sound ( the “Conference Hotel”), continuing for 3 days in the Stockey Centre, Parry Sound, with parallel sessions from 08:30 to 18:30 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The Welcome Reception will take place in the Stockey Centre during the Wednesday evening. An excursion on the Island Queen will acquaint the participants with the beautiful landscape that surrounds Parry Sound and the coastline of Georgian Bay. A poster session will be held in the Stockey Centre during the Thursday evening. A closing banquet will be held during the Friday evening in the Stockey Centre. Coaches will depart an Airport Hotel close to Toronto Pearson Airport on the Tuesday afternoon and return to Pearson Airport (YYZ) departures on the Saturday morning.
About bioinorganic chemistry
Bioinorganic chemistry encompasses an extremely wide range of disciplines that in many cases cross many boundaries and the conferences, journals (see additional) and monographs concerning bioinorganic chemistry describe work from molecular biology to analytical chemistry to the toxic effects of metals to synthetic chemistry to spectroscopic methods involving an extremely wide range of tools and may be finally, to theoretical calculations. The research concerns the metabolism of essential and toxic metals, the synthetic mimics and models of metals in biological molecules, synthetic approaches to duplicate biological function, the mechanistic details of metal function in biology, effects and therapeutic response to the toxicity of metals, metals as therapeutic agents. As is clear, these research areas touch on all aspects of the well-being of human life, from nutrition to the environment to medical intervention. Proteins are the work horses in life and metals are critical to more than 30% of all proteins. How metals are transported into and out of organisms and how metals are incorporated into biologically important compounds to activate these compounds for function are key focuses of bioinorganic research. Undergraduate courses continue to be developed, for example The University of Western Ontario offers courses at 2nd and 3rd year levels.
About the symposia to be offered
The conference will comprise 3 days of talks and posters the focus will be on the bioinorganic chemistry of the porphyrinoids (all rings; all metals; heme proteins), of the metallothioneins, of the Group 11 and 12 metals, of the toxic metals (especially As), and of other systems of bioinorganic interest. Symposia will include spectroscopic studies (including magnetic circular dichroism, resonance Raman, EPR, IR); structural aspects from NMR and XAFS techniques, and theoretical results (especially application of ground state DFT and TD-DFT calculations to metal binding sites in biological systems). The symposium on heme binding proteins will bring into focus approaches to alleviate the devastating effects of the MRSA bacteria now sweeping hospitals across North America.
About the relationship between this meeting and the National Chemistry Conference
This is usually a satellite meeting to the Canadian National Chemistry Conference.
About the organizing team
The international organizing committee is Martin Stillman (U Western Ontario), chair, Prof. Nagao Kobayashi (Shinshu University, Ueda, Japan) Prof. John Dawson (U. S. Carolina, USA), and Prof. Zhifeng Ding (U. Western Ontario). The local organizing committee is led by members of Martin Stillman's and Zhifeng Ding's groups..
About support
The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, through the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Research Office are supporting the infrastructure. Please see the Sponsors' Tab for more complete information.
About the ambience to think and talk science
There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion in this beautiful location on the dock in Parry Sound. The International organizing committee encourages your participation through oral papers or posters in this exciting event.
How to register? Online registration is easy – see the FAQ-Participants for comments about the registration process.
How to send an Abstract? Online is easy once you have registered, but note the deadline of 27th March for speakers and 7th April for poster presenters.
How to book a hotel? Booking soon after you register in January is important because there is limited space in the nearby hotels.
The 9th Georgian Bay International Conference on Bioinorganic Chemistry continues the tradition established by the International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (ICBIC) that takes place around the world every two years of bringing together scientists researching the vitally important biological chemistry of metals. This present conference may be the first in Canada specifically focused on bioinorganic chemistry with such a significant international participation.
About the date and location of the conference
The conference will start in the afternoon of Tuesday May 20th 2025 with Registration at the Microtel Inn Parry Sound ( the “Conference Hotel”), continuing for 3 days in the Stockey Centre, Parry Sound, with parallel sessions from 08:30 to 18:30 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The Welcome Reception will take place in the Stockey Centre during the Wednesday evening. An excursion on the Island Queen will acquaint the participants with the beautiful landscape that surrounds Parry Sound and the coastline of Georgian Bay. A poster session will be held in the Stockey Centre during the Thursday evening. A closing banquet will be held during the Friday evening in the Stockey Centre. Coaches will depart an Airport Hotel close to Toronto Pearson Airport on the Tuesday afternoon and return to Pearson Airport (YYZ) departures on the Saturday morning.
About bioinorganic chemistry
Bioinorganic chemistry encompasses an extremely wide range of disciplines that in many cases cross many boundaries and the conferences, journals (see additional) and monographs concerning bioinorganic chemistry describe work from molecular biology to analytical chemistry to the toxic effects of metals to synthetic chemistry to spectroscopic methods involving an extremely wide range of tools and may be finally, to theoretical calculations. The research concerns the metabolism of essential and toxic metals, the synthetic mimics and models of metals in biological molecules, synthetic approaches to duplicate biological function, the mechanistic details of metal function in biology, effects and therapeutic response to the toxicity of metals, metals as therapeutic agents. As is clear, these research areas touch on all aspects of the well-being of human life, from nutrition to the environment to medical intervention. Proteins are the work horses in life and metals are critical to more than 30% of all proteins. How metals are transported into and out of organisms and how metals are incorporated into biologically important compounds to activate these compounds for function are key focuses of bioinorganic research. Undergraduate courses continue to be developed, for example The University of Western Ontario offers courses at 2nd and 3rd year levels.
About the symposia to be offered
The conference will comprise 3 days of talks and posters the focus will be on the bioinorganic chemistry of the porphyrinoids (all rings; all metals; heme proteins), of the metallothioneins, of the Group 11 and 12 metals, of the toxic metals (especially As), and of other systems of bioinorganic interest. Symposia will include spectroscopic studies (including magnetic circular dichroism, resonance Raman, EPR, IR); structural aspects from NMR and XAFS techniques, and theoretical results (especially application of ground state DFT and TD-DFT calculations to metal binding sites in biological systems). The symposium on heme binding proteins will bring into focus approaches to alleviate the devastating effects of the MRSA bacteria now sweeping hospitals across North America.
About the relationship between this meeting and the National Chemistry Conference
This is usually a satellite meeting to the Canadian National Chemistry Conference.
About the organizing team
The international organizing committee is Martin Stillman (U Western Ontario), chair, Prof. Nagao Kobayashi (Shinshu University, Ueda, Japan) Prof. John Dawson (U. S. Carolina, USA), and Prof. Zhifeng Ding (U. Western Ontario). The local organizing committee is led by members of Martin Stillman's and Zhifeng Ding's groups..
About support
The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, through the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Research Office are supporting the infrastructure. Please see the Sponsors' Tab for more complete information.
About the ambience to think and talk science
There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion in this beautiful location on the dock in Parry Sound. The International organizing committee encourages your participation through oral papers or posters in this exciting event.
How to register? Online registration is easy – see the FAQ-Participants for comments about the registration process.
How to send an Abstract? Online is easy once you have registered, but note the deadline of 27th March for speakers and 7th April for poster presenters.
How to book a hotel? Booking soon after you register in January is important because there is limited space in the nearby hotels.