Event

The Bioinformatics Workshop 2015 Conference entitled 20th International Bioinformatics Workshop on Virus Evolution and Molecular Epidemiology (VEME) takes place from Sunday August 9 – Friday August 14.

The International Bioinformatics Workshop on VEME workshop is recognized as one of the best international virus bioinformatics courses in the world and has so far been organized in Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Greece, Portugal, the USA, South Africa, The Netherlands, Serbia and Italy. The workshop will provide 90 participants with intensive training in the mathematical principles and computer applications used in the study virus evolution and for conducting detailed molecular epidemiological investigations. The workshop will include lectures and computer practical session where students will have the opportunity to analyse their own research data. Each student will also present a poster about their research.

For further details, please click here.

Please note: Some sessions are open to UWI staff and students who are not registered for the conference. For interested persons, sessions highlighted in yellow in this Excel spreadsheet are open to unregistered UWI staff and students. As space may be limited in some sessions, unregistered participants must confirm their interest by email to christine.carrington@sta.uwi.edu (including the date, time and title of the sessions they wish to attend) by Thursday August 6, 2015.  

There will be two public Open Lectures taking place on August 10 and 12.

For information on the Open Lecture on August 10, please click here.

On August 12, Professor Karen Nelson (J. Craig Venter Institute, USA) will be presenting on the topic, Next generation technologies and potential applications in human health and disease. 

This event takes place at 6.30pm.                              

To RSVP please email: veme2015@sta.uwi.edu or call 662-7072 ext 4643 (Sarah). 

About Professor Karen Nelson

Karen Nelson is the President of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) where she has worked for the past 18 years. Prior to being appointed President, she held a number of other positions at the Institute, including Director of JCVI's Rockville Campus, and Director of Human Microbiology and Metagenomics in the Department of Human Genomic Medicine at the JCVI. For more information on the featured speaker, please click here.

Abstract

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a term that describes the range of modern sequencing technologies that are being used to study different environments.  NGS is being used to interrogate our soils, oceans, and plants but of major significance these technologies are being applied to human health. With these technologies with have learnt that the human body is home to millions of bacterial cells (the microbiome) that are essential for our growth and development.  We are also learning that these bacteria can be monitored to understand disease onset, as well as the presence of viruses and other infectious diseases in the human body.  The study of these microbial species in various human populations has presented new opportunities for the development of novel diagnostics and therapeutic approaches to diseases.