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