Molecular Helminthology: An Integrated Approach

joint with Drugs Against Protozoan Parasites: Target Selection, Structural Biology and Medicinal Chemistry

Organizer(s): Philip T. LoVerde

Part of the Global Health Series, Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Sponsored by the International Center for Tropical Disease Research

Summary of Meeting:

This is an exciting time for the field of helminth host-parasite co-evolution. Advances in molecular and cellular biology of helminth parasite interactions with their hosts are being and are expected to accelerate as the genomic sequence of Schistosoma mansoni and Brugia malayi will each be at 3X coverage and more than 200,000 ESTs for Schistosoma and over 100,000 ESTs for nematode species will be available by the end of 2003. A renaissance of approach with studies on the transcriptome and proteome and of technology and tools, such as gene transfers, gene knockouts and RNA interference is underway. These tools, the manipulations and hypotheses they will allow, will be the topics for this unique conference. By the year 2005 the fruits of the new information and technological advances will be available. The Conference which combines broad areas of helminth research ranging from basic science such as developmental biology, signal transduction, neurobiology and functional genomics translated to the applied aspects such as targets for vaccine and drug design and drug resistance has as its theme how host and parasite molecules each contribute to host-parasite co-evolution. It is expected that the conference will promote collaboration among researchers with the goal of identifying new targets for the development of drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic tests, by providing the biological and informatic resources and tools for their rapid characterization and analysis, by analyzing the biological basis of host-parasite interactions and by attracting new young talent to the field. Certainly there are fascinating scientific questions waiting to be answered about helminths. Some of those questions have as their central theme the very nature of parasitism.

Discounted Abstract Deadline: December 8 2004

Discounted Registration Deadline: February 9 2005

We gratefully acknowledge additional support for this conference from:

New England Biolabs, Inc.

We gratefully acknowledge the generous grant for this conference provided by:

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Grant No. 1R13-AI063801-01

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Special thanks to the following for their support of Keystone Symposia initiatives to increase participation at this meeting by scientists from underrepresented backgrounds:

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