News
- NEW! Updated Nov. 27: Preliminary Program Book for download – CLICK HERE (PDF)
- ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference Call for Late Poster Submissions
- Thanks to the support of KAUST Investigator Dr Anna Tramontano, who is organizing a symposium on "Systems view of biological organisms" as part of the main conference, we will be able to offer 20 full fellowships (valued at up to $1,700 each) to cover travel expenses, registration and accommodation for Africans attending ISCB Africa ASBCB.
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Tulio Oliveira (SANBI/South Africa) confirmed workshop on the usage of phylogenetic analysis to define the origin of HIV virus from simians (Chimpanzees and Sooty Mangabeys monkeys)
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Confirmed Workshop Speakers Christine Orengo (UCL/London), Anna Tramontano (La Sapienza/Rome)
FAQs
Where will the ISCB Africa ASBCB meeting be held?
The conference will take place at:
AZALAI HOTEL SALAM
BP 104 - Bamako – Mali
Tél : + (223) 20 22 12 00
Fax : + (223) 20 22 36 37
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: http://www.azalaihotels.com/salam.php
How do I make a hotel reservation to stay at the Azalai Hotel Salam?
Send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. providing your name, arrival and departure dates, and mention you are reserving a room for the "Bioinformatics Conference" at the discounted room rate of 75,000 FCA (normal rates are 90,000 and if you do not mention the conference you will not be offered the group rate). A one night deposit is required at the time of reservation and can be made with a credit card (Visa or American Express only), or by wire transfer. Please contact Seydou Doumbia if you require the wire transfer details.
The two days of workshops following the conference will be held at the University of Bamako Medical School. Transportation to the workshops will be provided from the hotel.
What other hotel accommodation options are there?
Several additional area hotel options recommended by the local organizers are listed on the Travel Information page HERE.
Who is organizing this meeting?
The meeting constitutes the first joint meeting of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) and the African Society of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (ASBCB), with the final day of the conference organized as a symposium sponsored by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
What is the purpose of this meeting?
The focus of the meeting is on Bioinformatics of Infectious Diseases: African Pathogens, Hosts and Vectors. It will provide a forum for discussions and an environment that fosters creation of new collaborations in an interdisciplinary environment. Scientists whose research focuses on the Bioinformatics of African pathogens, their hosts and their vectors are invited to participate. The meeting will also facilitate links between young and emerging scientists from Africa and their colleagues from the international community whose research may be highly relevant to their work.
How long is the meeting?
The meeting will consist of a 4-day conference followed by 2 optional student workshop days. Workshops will be presented by highly accomplished researchers. The main 4-day meeting will include keynote talks given by invited speakers from Africa and around the world.
Program Main Conference
NEW! Updated Nov. 27: Preliminary Program Book for download – CLICK HERE (PDF)
The conference will be held at: AZALAI HOTEL SALAM, Quartier du Fleuve - BP 104 - Bamako – Mali, Tél: + (223) 20 22 12 00, Fax : + (223) 20 22 36 37
Website: http://www.azalaihotels.com/salam.php
Conference Program
30th November 2009
8:00-9:00 Registration
Preliminary Session
9:00-9:30 Welcome Remarks:
Prof. Burkhard Rost (President ISCB)
Prof. Daniel Masiga (President ASBCB)
Madame Gillian Milovanovich (Ambassador to the United States)
Dr. Ousmane Touré (Minister of Health)
9:30 Conference Starts
Prof. Seydou Doumbia (Local Chair)
9:45-10:45 Opening Keynote: Charles Rotimi (Director of the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, US) Engaging African Scientists in the Genomic Revolution to Ensure that Tomorrow’s Biotechnology and Medicine will Work for African People
10:45-11:00 Coffee break
11:00-12:40 Session
1: Functional, structural and comparative genomics of pathogens
Session Chair: Manuel
Corpas (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK)
11:00-11:20 Amel Ghouila: Identification of novel protein domains in Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania species
11:20-11:40 Laurent Brehelin: Assessing functional annotation transfers with inter-species conserved coexpression: re-annotation of Plasmodium falciparum genes based on conserved coexpression with S. cerevisiae and D. melanogaster
11:40-12:40 Keynote: Erik Bongcam-Rudloff (Chair of EMBNet Board, Uppsala University, Sweden): Annotating next-sequencing data: new opportunities for worldwide collaborative work.
12:40-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-14:40 Functional, structural and comparative
genomics of pathogens continued
14:00-14:20 Mark Wamalwa: Comparative genomic analysis of Glossina morsitans transcriptome: vector for sleeping sickness
14:20-14:40 Alban Mancheron: Ehrlichia Ruminantium Genome Segmentations Reveal Novel Homologous Genes
14:40-17:30 Session 2: Search and Design of Vaccines and Drugs
Session Chair: Reinhard Schneider (EMBL, Germany)
14:40-15:00 Marion Adebiyi: Elucidating the Drugs Resistance Mechanism(s) of the Malaria Parasite to Tetracyclines and Chloroquines
15:00-15:20 Mahmoud Elhefnawi: A comprehensive in silico methodology for optimal design and selection of therapeutic small interfering RNA molecules for the Influenza A Virus
15:20-15:50 Coffee break
15:50-16:10 Fourie Joubert: Discovery: A resource for the rational selection of drug target proteins and lead compounds in malaria
16:10-16:30 Isaac Oyewole: Dynamics of insecticide resistance to pyrethroid in Anopheles gambiae in southwestern Nigeria: A five year survey (2002-2007).
16:30-17:30 Keynote: Burkhard Rost (Columbia University, USA): Evolution teaches protein prediction
17:30-18:30 Inauguration of RSGs in Africa (Segun Fatumo)
1st December 2009
9:00-12:30 Session
3: Host/Pathogen Systems Biology
Session Chair: Winston
Hide (South African National Bioinformatics Institute & Harvard School of
Public Health)
9:00-10:00 Keynote: Karine Leroch (University of California Riverside) -Unraveling Gene Regulation Mechanisms in the Human Malaria Parasite: Insights Into Chromatin Remodeling
10:00-10:20 Vijay Nagarajan: Systems-level analysis of spatial constraints in biological networks using NetCirChro
10:20-10:40 Gaston Mazandu: Contribution of Microarray Data to the Advance of the Knowledge on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Interactome: The use of random Partial Least Squares (r-PLS) approach
10:40-11:10 Coffee break
11:10-11:30 Oussema Souiai: In silico prediction of protein-protein interactions in macrophages
11:30-11:50 Segun Fatumo: Host factors improve robustness of the metabolism of Plasmodium falciparum
11:50-12:10 Agostinho Antunes: The Evolutionary Dynamics of the Lion Panthera leo Revealed by Host and Viral FIV Population Genomics
12:10-12:30 Lawrence Okoror: Gene analysis of a newly isolated Lassa virus strain
12:30-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-17:10 Session
4: Database and Resource Development for Infectious Disease Research
Session Chair: Ezekiel
Adebiyi (Covenant University, Nigeria)
14:00-14:20 Samuel Kwofie: Hepatitis C Virus Discovery Database (HCVdd)
14:20-14:40 Odile Ouwe Missi Oukem-Boyer: Design and setting-up of a Bioinformatics platform dedicated to HIV drug resistance problems
14:40-15:00 Karyn Megy: Comparative Genomic Analysis of Mosquitoes, using Public Genomic Resources
15:00-15:20 Alan Christoffels: International Glossina Genome Initiative: Towards an understanding of the Glossina morsitans transcriptome
15:20-15:50 Coffee break
15:50-16:10 Jingming Ma: Development of a Web-based Data Management System for Clinical Immune Research
16:10-17:10 Keynote: David Roos (University of Pennsylvania): Designing and mining pathogen genome databases
17:30-19:30 PM: Poster session
2nd December 2009
9:00-10:00 ISCB, ASBCB and RSG Business Meeting -open to all participants
10.00-12:30 Session
5: Molecular Epidemiology and Evolution of Vectors, Pathogens and Hosts
Session Chair: Burkhard
Rost (Columbia University, USA)
10:00-10:20 Sarah Mwangi: An Evolutionary Genomics Approach towards analysis of Genes implicated in transmission of Trypanosomes between Tswtse fly and Mammalian host
10:20-10:40 Sheila Ommeh: Evolution of Mx gene haplotypes in the chicken genome towards viral diseases
10:40-11:10 Coffee break
11:10-11:30 Mathurin Koffi: Human African Trypanosomiasis seropositive subjects display identical microsatellite-based allelic profiles with parasitological confirmed patients
11:30-11:50 Allison Regier: Improved inversion predictions for Anopheline mosquitoes
11:50-12:10 Igor Sharakhov: High resolution cytogenetic map for Anopheles gambiaea tool for understanding genome organization and evolution
12:10-12:30 Henri Tonnang: Predicting and mapping under climate change scenario, the potential redistribution of malaria vectors in Africa: Informing malaria control programmes
12:30-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-17:30 Session 6: Bioinformatics education,
curriculum development, challenges and opportunities
Session Chair: Daniel
Masiga (ICIPE, Nairobi)
14:00-14:20 Oyejide Ojo: Incorporating Bioinformatics into Biological Science Education in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges
14:20-14:40 Seydou Doumbia: African center for training in functional genomics of insect vectors of human disease: Challenges and Perspectives
14:40-15:00 Allan Orozco: Software Development in modelling and Virtual Exploration of Proteins: an alternative of technology and education in Central America
15:00-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-16:30 Keynote: Mike Tartakovsky and Yentram Huyen (NIAID, USA) -Building a Sustainable Bioinformatics Program: Opportunities and Challenges
16:30-17:30 Open discussion on education and capacity building
19:30 Gala Dinner Hotel Salaam
3rd December 2009 -- KAUST Day
9:00-12:20 Session
7: Systems View of Biological Organisms I
Session Chair: Anna
Tramontano (Sapienza University, Rome)
9:00-10:00 Keynote: Marc Marti-Renom The TDI kernel for open source drug discovery in tropical diseases
10:00-10:20 Itunuoluwa Ewejobi: In-silico Prediction of the Genetic Regulatory Interactions in Maurer’s Cleft Pathway of Plasmodium falciparum.
10:20-11:00 Coffee break
11:00-11:20 Jelili Oyelade: Computational Identification of Functional Modules in Plasmodium falciparum
11:20-11:40 Ibrahima Baber: A quantile method module implemented for microarray data normalization
11:40-12:00 Kais Ghedira: TSS identification, TFBS prediction in human and mouse and prediction of the regulatory network
12:00-12:20 Steven Nyanjom: Identification and Tissue Localisation of Putative Odorant Binding Proteins (OBPs) in Glossina (Diptera: Glossinidae)
12:20-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-17:20 Session
8: Systems View of Biological Organisms II
Session Chair: Marc
Marti-Renom (Instituto Principe Felipe, Spain)
14:00-14:20 Fidelis Cho-Ngwa: Molecular and bioinformatics characterisation of Onchocerca volvulus circulating intermediate filament, a target for sensitive monoclonal antibody-based diagnosis
14:20-14:50 Nishi Prabdial-Sing: Epitope analysis of genotype 5 Hepatitis C Virus against South African HLA backgrounds
15:10-15:30 Abibatou Mbodj: Qualitative dynamical modelling of Drosophila mesoderm
15:30-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-16:20 Olubanke Ogunlana: In-silico structural prediction of human Scavenger receptor type B1 (SRB1) - a novel approach to the discovery of prophylactic agent against Plasmodium falciparum
16:20-17:20 Closing Keynote: Anna Tramontano: Structural bioinformatics strategies to address the malaria challenge
17:20-18:00 Awards & Closing Remarks
Workshops
Friday 4th December 2009
Parallel Session 1:
9:00 AM - 12:15 PM David Roos: PlasmoDB
2:00 PM - 5:30 PM Erik Bongcam-Rudloff: Sequence
Analysis Using EMBOSS
Parallel Session 2:
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM (including lunch break) NIAID/NIH workshop, Jeff
Skinner: Introduction to R
Saturday 5th December 2009
Parallel Session 3:
9:00 AM - 12:15 PM Christine Orengo: Structural Bioinformatics
2:00 PM - 5:30 PM Neil
Lobo+Karyn Megy: VectorBase
Parallel Session 4:
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM (including lunch break) NIAID/NIH workshop, Sudhir
Varma:
Microarray Analysis
Using R/Bioconductor
Travel Fellowships
We are very pleased to announce that as many as 52 complete travel fellowships are available for African students and researchers to attend the ISCB Africa ASBCB Joint Conference on Bioinformatics of Infectious Diseases. The organizers acknowledge and thank KAUST for the sponsorship funding of the vast majority of these fellowships. The Wellcome Trust is also gratefully acknowledged for funding ten travel fellowships.
The Aim is to bring African students and researchers together to introduce them to a variety of research projects in computational biology, increase their awareness of the broad range of opportunities that exist in the field, and introduce them to some of the people leading this research internationally.
Funding and Eligibility:
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APPLICATION FORM: CLICK HERE
