Registration is now open for the 30th annual Molecular Parasitology and Vector Biology Symposium, hosted by the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. It will be held virtually on May 4.
This daylong regional conference on parasites and host/parasite interaction draws more than 200 attendees from many departments at UGA and colleagues from other institutions throughout the United States. Participants should register by Tuesday, April 27.
The Early Career Scholar is Emily R. Derbyshire, an assistant professor of chemistry at Duke University. The Derbyshire Lab uses both chemical tools and biological methods to uncover novel aspects of malaria parasite biology with the ultimate aim of identifying druggable targets. Projects range from developing assays for phenotypic and target-based screens to exploring biological pathways and identifying small molecules with potential therapeutic value. Their interdisciplinary collaborative program integrates chemical biology, molecular biology and biochemistry to globally interrogate parasite biology.
The keynote speaker is Daniel Goldberg, the David M. and Paula L. Kipnis Distinguished Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The Goldberg Lab is particularly interested in exported proteins in Plasmodium. The parasite exports several hundreds of proteins into its host erythrocyte. What are these proteins doing in the host cell and beyond? How do the proteins get out of the parasite? Their work involves a combination of biochemical, genetic, genomic, cell biological and physiological approaches aimed at understanding the biology of this nefarious organism.
Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other researchers are invited to present their research in either an oral or poster presentation. Abstracts for these presentations are due by Friday, April 9.
There is no cost to attend the symposium, but registration is required by Tuesday, April 27.
For more information and to register, please visit https://ctegd.uga.edu/events/symposium/.