Tucked away in a corner of the University of Ghana, away from the fanfare of the metropolis and even from the hustle and bustle of university life is WACCBIP (West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens) and gathered there is a collection of world-class scientists is holding their annual workshop for first year Masters and PhD students.<\/p>\n
Usually these workshops run for a fortnight and are under the auspices of WACCBIP but with generous support from and collaboration with many institutions and organizations of repute.<\/p>\n
With the modest caption of \u201cboot camp\u201d the first four days will be dedicated to work on malaria. No African needs introduction to this killer disease and so we can only laud the unrelenting efforts being put into the further study and understanding of Malaria with a view to eventually eliminating it. This segment will be led mostly by Friedrich Frischknecht (University of Heidelberg) and Lars Hviid from the University of Copenhagen who will be supported by local researchers. Other participating faculty include:<\/p>\n
Emmanuel Amlabu, Univ. of Ghana<\/p>\n
Kirk Deitsch, Cornell Medical School<\/p>\n
Gordon Awandare, BCMB-Univ. of Ghana<\/p>\n
Yaw Aniweh, Univ. of Ghana<\/p>\n
Lydia Mosi, BCMB-Univ. of Ghana<\/p>\n
Jonathan Adjimani, BCMB-Univ. of Ghana<\/p>\n
Theresa Manful Gwira, BCMB-Univ. of Ghana<\/p>\n
Nancy Quashie, NMIMR-Univ. of Ghana<\/p>\n
Patrick Kobina Arthur, BCMB-Univ. of Ghana<\/p>\n
Henrietta Mensah-Brown, Univ. of Ghana<\/p>\n
Topics to be treated include:<\/p>\n
-Microscopy in Malaria Research<\/p>\n
-Biochemistry and Metabolism<\/p>\n
-General Immunology<\/p>\n
-Genetic Manipulation of Parasites<\/p>\n
-Flow Cytometry in Malaria Research<\/p>\n
-Malaria Cell Biology I<\/p>\n
-Malaria Immunology<\/p>\n
-Computational approaches for malaria drug and<\/p>\n
Vaccine discovery<\/p>\n
-PCR in Malaria Research<\/p>\n
-Cell invasion mechanisms of Malaria parasites<\/p>\n
-Malaria Cell Biology II and<\/p>\n
-Conundrums in Malaria Immunology<\/p>\n
The rest of the period will be used to discuss \u201cProtozoan pathogens: the molecular toolkit for analyzing cell biology and parasite functions\u201d. This is a special course on gene manipulation for protozoan parasites and will be jointly conducted by the Keith Gull\u2019s Oxford group with Kirk Deitsch (of ASCB and Cornell University) and Oliver Billker from Sanger Institute.<\/p>\n
Other than their remit, what puts this group apart from the \u2018usual workshop\u2019 is their choice of venue; their own premises. They even use the balcony for \u2018alfresco\u2019 coffee breaks. This is a refreshing departure from the practice of commandeering costly conference centers in 5 star hotels or resorts and feasting rather than working.<\/p>\n
One, also, cannot help but notice the absence of suits and high fashion. Some of the participants are clothed in what is sometimes referred to as \u201csmart casual\u201d while the rest are in jeans and khakis with neatly-ironed shirts. The sight is unassuming but the combined might of the participants is not as modest. And these here men and women are gathered to further the course of science all for the betterment of human existence. They are \u2018warriors\u2019 gallantly confronting those miniscule organisms called pathogens that have the power to fell even a giant.<\/p>\n
One can only applaud WACCBIP and their collaborators \u00a0for their groundbreaking work and to wish them well in their future exploits.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0WACCBIP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tucked away in a corner of the University of Ghana, away from the fanfare of the metropolis and even from the hustle and bustle of university life is WACCBIP (West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens) and gathered there is a collection of world-class scientists is holding their annual workshop for first year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,374],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n