EMBO Global Exchange Lecture Course

on

 Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics of Malaria

21 November – 04 December, 2010

To be held at:

 National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi

Organizer:

Dr. Aparup Das, NIMR, New Delhi, India

Co-Organizers:

Dr Anavaj Sakuntabhai, Paris, France

Prof Christian Doerig, Lausanne, Switzerland

Call for Application

Applications are invited from PhD and Postdoctoral students working in Indian Universities/research Institutes/Industries to participate in the EMBO-sponsored Global Exchange Lecture Course.  The successful applicants should be willing to stay the entire duration of the course, display posters on their research results they currently pursue and deliver 10-minutes talk on their academic achievements at the end of the course.  Applications from students currently working on research projects devoting to any aspect of molecular and evolutionary genetics, especially on malaria/other vector-borne infectious disease will be given preference.

In total, forty (40) applicants will be selected to participate in the Lecturer Course

Brief course outline:

The course is designed to provide exposure and training on molecular evolutionary genetics in general and application of this subject in malaria, in particular to the Indian PhD and postdoctoral students.  The course will start with introduction on malaria epidemiology and its importance on public health prospective in India (AP Dash), and molecular population genetics, usage of genome scan to detect natural selection in genome (W Stephan) and theoretical and systems biology of malaria (S Sinha) will be introduced.  Considering malaria is a severe human infectious disease involving the protozoan parasite (Plasmodium) as the pathogen and Anopheline mosquitoes as vectors, the course is designed to provide enough training and exposure on molecular and evolutionary aspects of both.  Thus, Plasmodium whole genome sequencing and comparative genomics (J Carton), functional genomics of Plasmodium (C Doerig), molecular genetic aspects of parasite (TE Wellems),  immune genetics of malaria parasites (Ashis Das) and molecular genetics of drug resistance (C Rooper) will be discussed.  Similarly, cytotaxonomy and identification of Anopheles (N Nanda), molecular evolutionary genetics (J Conn), molecular genetics of speciation and insecticide resistance (OP Singh), molecular population genetics (U Arunyawat) and biochemical genetics of insecticide resistance (K Raghavendra) in different species of Anopheles will be talked about.  Furthermore, considering humans are continually infected with malaria and thus possibly evolving natural resistance mechanism to the disease to be detected through molecular evolutionary genetic studies, molecular genetic aspects of malaria infection (A Sakuntabhai), genetic factors in malaria susceptibility (MR Ranjit), malaria pharmacogenomics (A Sabbagh) and molecular aspects of drug metabolizing gene (E Poloni) will be conversed.  Finally, molecular population and evolutionary genetics of Indian malaria parasites, vectors and humans (Aparup Das) will be discussed in a nutshell.

Apart from oral presentations, laboratory practicals, group discussions, journal clubs and field trips for malaria sample collection will be conducted during the course.  Moreover, all the participants will present their ongoing work by displaying posters and delivering 10-minutes talk at the end of the course on their understanding on the molecular and evolutionary genetics of malaria. A half-day New Delhi tour, gala dinner, long lunch-cum-poster sessions will enable long interactions between the participants and the faculties of the lecture course.

Registration, travel support and local hospitality:

The registration fee for participating in the Lecture Course is Rs 1,000 for academic participants and Rs 30,000 for participants from industries.  The registration fee covers accommodation (twin-share basis), food and local hospitality in New Delhi for the entire course duration.  Depending on the EMBO fund availability, partial/full travel support (limited to III-tire A/C from the closest railway station of the participants to New Delhi), will be provided to each participant.  Each successful applicant will be intimated on the decision on the kind of travel support (whether full or partial) with the letter of selection.

How to apply:

All applications are handled through the Online Application Process. Click here for more information

In case of any query related to course, please contact the organizer [click here to send email]

Confirmed Speakers of the Course: