Medicinal chemistry conference-2021 (MedChem-2021) is being organized with a focus on ‘Emerging infectious diseases and therapeutic strategies’, and is part of our ongoing efforts to promote education and research in medicinal chemistry and related areas. This is the seventh (7th) Medicinal Chemistry Conference in the series, organized and conducted by the Department of Chemistry, IIT-Madras, as a part of our activities related to IITM-AstraZeneca Endowment Program. We have been conducting such theme-based biennial conferences since 2009, and were fortunate to have eminent personalities from industry, academia as well as practicing physicians as the speakers. The first conference, in the series entitled ‘Current Trends in Medicinal Chemistry’ was held in 2009 to sensitize the importance of this highly multidisciplinary discipline, among the student community, at large. Subsequently, each conference had focused on specific therapeutic areas. The MedChem-2011 focused on ‘Anti-Infective Drug Discovery and Development’,...