New techniques of molecular diagnosis developed in the Cuban Pedro Kouri Institute in association with the Belgium Institute of Tropical medicine Antwerp.

Date:

November 26^th, 27^th and 28^th 2012

Time:

8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., in November 28^th until 12:30 m.

Place:

PECET, SIU – Headquarters of Research at the University of Antioquia,  calle 62 No. 52-59, laboratory 632.

Addressed to:

Undergraduate and postgraduate students, science technicians, professionals in medicine, biology, biotechnology and related areas.

Professors:

Ana Margarita Montalvo, PhD, Pedro Kuori  Institute, Cuba

Jorge Fraga, MSc, in parasitology, Pedro Kuori  Institute, Cuba

Carlos Muskus, MSc, PhD, Coordinator of the Molecular and Computational  Unit, PECET, Colombia.

Payment form:

Deposit or funds transfer to Fundación Universidad de Antioquia en Bancolombia, savings account No. 008-558556-82. Send the deposit receipt to the e-mail: comunicaciones.pecet@siu.udea.edu.co

Enrollment and more information at:

www.pecet-colombia.org

http://www.worldleish.org/

The provision ceremony, held in private on  October 29th at 3:00 pm in the SIU, had also attendance of the General Vice Principal of the University of Antioquia, Dr. Jhon Jairo Arboleda, the Dean of the Medicine Faculty, Dr. Elmer Gaviria and the Deputy Director of the SIU, Dr. Luis Fernando Garcia.

This certification confirms the good clinical practice performed by the PECET in all procedures which has led the team to be selected by international organizations such as WHO, Inviragen, Corixa, DNDi, among others, as a reference for the clinical evaluation of drugs and vaccines against tropical diseases, being at the present time, the country’s main center for clinical trials on these diseases.

The ISO 9001:2008 certification recognizes the work of continuous improvement in the PECET implemented, and confirms its forward direction to provide better service to users and their commitment to work towards improving the quality of life of communities affected.

This recognition by ICONTEC adds to those received last year: INVIMA certification in GCP and licensure by the Regional Health Board of Antioquia (DSSA by its initials in Spanish) to provide specialized consulting services in tropical medicine, sampling, processing and reading clinical laboratory samples and pharmaceutical service.

MEDELLIN, Colombia – 13 Sep 2011: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and University of Antioquia’s Tropical Disease Study and Control Program (PECET) today announced a joint research project, Drug Search for Leishmaniasis, using computer power from IBM’s World Community Grid.

World Community Grid pools and uses the idle computing power of volunteers’ personal computers around the world to help accelerate scientific research that addresses humanitarian challenges. IBM will provide the computational power of World Community Grid for free so that University of Antioquia can predict potential inhibitors or drugs that will control this disease. Additionally, IBM will donate the server and software licenses that will support the project operation at University of Antioquia’s PECET.

The research project will try to find potential inhibitors of the Leishmaniasis parasite, or explore the application of drugs currently used to treat similar diseases. Using the computational power of World Community Grid enables the screening of 600,000 potentially useful chemical compounds stored in a public drug database.

The idea is to virtually apply these compounds against 5,300 Leishmania proteins in an effort to identify prospective drug treatments. Instead of implementing costly and lengthy laboratory trials, or spending dozens of years performing computations on small computers, millions of experiments will be simulated using the software installed in the devices comprising World Community Grid. “Conducting this same project in a local cluster would take more or less 70 to 100 years.

With World Community Grid, it will be completed in a maximum of two years. This is evidence of the data processing capacity of this network dedicated to provide computational resources to try to find a solution to the problems that besiege communities in need around the world, as is the case of Leishmaniasis.

This disease urgently calls for new and effective treatments, given that the number of infected patients has climbed to more than two million people in 97 countries,” said Carlos Muskus, Coordinator, Molecular and Computational Biology, PECET, and project leader.

World Community Grid is a network of more than two million individual computers, providing donated computer power during the time in which their computers are idle, creating the world’s largest and fastest computing grid to benefit of humankind. World Community Grid is based on IT innovation, combined with scientific and visionary research, plus volunteer, collective and nonprofit actions to create a smarter planet.

Individuals can donate their computers’ time to these projects by registering at www.worldcommunitygrid.org, and installing a secure, free software program in their personal computers running Linux, Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. Computers request data from the World Community Grid server when they are idle, or between key strokes during non compute-intensive jobs. In this way, they can help complete the protein computations required to perform the Leishmaniasis research in Colombia. Sponsored by IBM, World Community Grid has offered researchers worldwide the equivalent of millions of dollars’ worth of free computational power to enable medical, nutritional, energy and environmental research. At present, more than 548,310 users and 1,729,127 devices are part of IBM’s World Community Grid in 88 countries, including Colombia. World Community Grid’s server runs Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) software, maintained at Berkeley University and supported by the National Science Foundation.

Projects undertaken by the World Community Grid, which have yielded dozens of peer-reviewed scientific research papers, include efforts to cure muscular dystrophy and cancer, as well as to develop cheaper and more efficient solar cells. Other projects include Fight AIDS@ Home with Scripps Research Institute, which found two compounds that may lead to new treatments of drug-resistant HIV strains.

The Nutritious Rice for the World project completed 12 million computational transactions in 11,000 computing hours, in an effort to achieve healthier, more disease and weather-resistant rice strains. And the Genome Comparison project run by Fiocruz has organized and standardized the way scientists understand the role of gene sequences in maintaining health or causing illness. IBM has been a leader in corporate social responsibility and corporate citizenship for 100 years.

IBM puts initiatives into place that address vital issues, such as the environment, community economic development, education, health, literacy, language, and culture.

To learn more about IBM’s corporate citizenship initiatives, please visit: http://www.ibm.com/blogs/citizen-ibm.

The vaccine known as DENVax will be developed by Inviragen Inc. – an American biotech company – that contacted PECET to evaluate in Colombia this vaccine containing the four serotypes of dengue. It means the vaccine should protect against infection by all forms of the virus. “This is a genetically modified vaccine that successfully passed all tests in pre-clinical and animal model studies thus demonstrating to be safe and immunogenic. Moreover, the vaccine is also being evaluated in healthy volunteers in the United States”, says Doctor Iván Darío Vélez, head of the study and director of PECET.

A previous trial was conducted in San Nicolas Valley at Rionegro, Colombia, located at 2400 mts above sea level, where the mosquito vector of dengue has not been found yet. Suitable population through which clinical phase studies can be conducted was defined there. “Our purpose is to inject the vaccine or a placebo (inactive substance) for 9 months and evaluate vaccine safety and ability to induce an immune response”, says Professor Vélez.

In order to begin phase I trials the vaccine protocol was introduced to the Bioethics Committee of the University Research Headquarters at the Universidad de Antioquia (SIU), INVIMA and the Ministry of Social Protection who endorsed the project since it f ulfilled requirements such as accomplishing procedures and rules of Good Clinical Practices. The protocol was also approved by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) besides having ongoing international monitoring, among others.

Clinical trials of 3 candidate vaccines against dengue are being conducted worldwide currently.

Dengue fever is a severe mosquito-borne disease comparable to influenza and caused by dengue virus. It is present in tropical countries around the world such as Southeast Asia, India, the Caribbean, South and Central America including Colombia, the Pacific islands and some regions of Africa and Australia.

Dengue fever and its complications (dengue hemorrhagic fever/shock syndrome) are a serious public health problem of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world since it involves a new arousal of this viral disease. Such a situation has alerted not only international health agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) but governments and ministries of endemic countries. Outbreaks occur in Central and South America. The situation in Colombia is pretty serious since it holds high both typical and hemorrhagic dengue incidence”, claims Dr. Vélez.

In Medellín, Alejandro Valencia Tobón (PECET’s resercher) y Andrés Ramírez Valencia (Member of the Bóreas kite club and the Cataviento company) were involved in the OSOW 2010. They presented the proposal “Tropical diseases on flight”, which envisions a non-conventional public health work through kites. The kites were flown in Bellavista, a small town in Antioquia, near to Medellin, in Colombia.

At OSOW webside you can see the kite flights around the world on this date: http://subvision.net/sky/osow/one.sky.2010/index.htm

22 November–3 December 2010

22 November–3 December 2010

Sponsored by: TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases

Organized and hosted by: the Program for the Study and Control of Tropical Diseases (PECET), University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia

All applications must be received by 30 September 2010

Introduction

The genetic transformation of disease vectors has opened a new era for control of viral and parasitic diseases by significantly reducing the ability of some vectors to transmit pathogens. Recently there has been progress in the genetic transformation of Aedes and Anophelesmosquitoes to make them refractory to the transmission of dengue virus and Plasmodiumrespectively. However, this technology raises concerns not only in the scientific world, but also in the general population with regard to safety for humans and the environment, handling, feasibility, efficiency, and release of such genetically modified organisms, especially in Latin American countries.

The goal of this biosafety training course is threefold: (1) to increase the awareness of Latin American researchers and decision-makers to issues and challenges such as ethical, legal and social implications related to the development and implementation of this technology; (2) to ensure the feasibility and safety of using genetically modified disease vectors in Latin American countries; and (3) to build capacity in Latin America for the safe development and implementation of this technology.

Objectives of the course

To create a pool of regional scientists, decision-makers and community leaders well-trained in the assessment and management of biosafety related to the implementation of genetically modified disease vectors for the control of vector-borne diseases in Latin America.

Specific objectives

1. To outline requirements for field deployment of genetic control methods for disease vector control – e.g. for malaria and dengue.
2. To build capacity in Latin America for assessment and management of biosafety to ensure secure handling of issues associated with the field release of genetically modified vectors through the creation of a regional training centre.
3. To train Latin American researchers, personnel in vector control services and decision-makers in the assessment and management of biosafety for human health and the environment and to seed the creation of biosafety regulatory bodies.

Course content & language

The course will have a duration of two weeks, during which there will be lectures and hypothetical exercises. It will involve 15 trainees. The following topics will be covered in the course:

1. Basic principles of the genetic manipulation of vectors and their potential impact on humans and the environment.
2. Ethical, legal and social implications of the use of genetically modified vectors.
3. Identification of potential hazards; assessment and management of risks for humans and the environment; risk/benefit analysis.
4. Principles and practices for the assessment and management of biosafety and biosecurity in laboratories.
5. Creation and management of institutional or national biosafety review boards and ethics review committees.
6. Introduction to the development and application of a biosafety regulatory framework and its related legal principles at national levels for securing the development and use of vector control methods based on genetic modification strategies.

Course language: The course will be taught in English.

Eligibility criteria

The course aims to train dedicated Latin American researchers, vector biologists and decision-makers in vector control and the assessment and management of biosafety for human health and the environment. The course is also open to local community leaders. Approximately 15 Latin Americans belonging to the target group will be trained this year. A third course will be organized next year on the assessment and management of biosafety and on the set-up and management of regulatory principles and bodies.

Selection criteria

An international Committee in collaboration with TDR will review the applications and apply the following questions for selection of participants:

• What are the position and professional record of accomplishment of the candidate?
• Is the candidate a potential trainer?
• Is she/he able to further teach or advise people on this topic?
• What is the quality of the candidate’s application?

Financial support

The course is sponsored by TDR. The costs of all selected applicants will be covered (travel costs, hotel, meals and local transport). Wherever applicable, a return economy class (highly subsidized fare) air-(e)ticket between Medellín and the nearest airport to the selected candidate’s workplace will be supplied directly (electronically) by the organizers. Costs of hotels, meals and local transport will be covered by a reasonable per diem paid to trainees for the course period attended.

Application procedure

All applications must be submitted using this link to the application form (MS Word format).

Applicants should provide two letters of recommendation from their supervisors or other senior scientists stating how the training will be used in the immediate future.

The completed application form and letters of recommendation should be sent electronically to:

Dr Iván Darío Vélez

Email: biosafetyivanvelez@pecet-colombia.org

• All applications must be received by 30 September 2010.
• Successful applicants will be notified by 15 October 2010.
• Course dates: 22 November–3 December 2010.
• Course venue: Program for the Study and Control of Tropical Diseases (PECET), Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.

Course  Virtual Docking for Drug Discovery

INSCRIPCIONES CERRADAS

August 31 – September 3, 2010

Hosted by:

Program for the Study and Control of Tropical Diseases, University of Antioquia,

Sponsored by: PECET-WSAID and Colciencias.

Medellín, Colombia

Technical Information

Schedule:

8 sessions, 4 hours/session, 32 hours (Four days)

Number of participants:

15-20

Target public:

Graduate students, Professors, Researchers from Biology, Chemistry or computational sciences.

Background required:

Basic concepts in Chemistry and Physics

Basic skills in Scientific software

Cost:

$80,000 Pesos (Local currency)

Date:

August 31 to September 3, 2010

Instructors:

• Stan Watowich PhD. Associate Professor

Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

University of Texas Medical Branch.

• Robert Malmstrom, Research Associate.

Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

University of Texas Medical Branch.

Certification:

Yes

Justification:

The drug discovery process implies a combination of different disciplines with the main goal of bringing a drug to the market that can be employed to solve health problems. However the current experimental strategy takes long time to be completed and most of the drugs have problems on the clinical trials especially because of toxicity issues. Additionally the cost of this process is very high which limits developing countries to discover new drugs. Computational alternatives like Virtual docking constitutes an advantageous strategy that allow discovering new compounds with biological activity to be tested in the lab with less investment of money and time. There is an increasing interest of the Colombian scientific community (especially in Antioquia) to apply this computational strategies for drug discovery which motivate us to develop this course targeting those needs.

General Purpose:

To give an introduction to drug and target databases, techniques and tools employed on virtual docking with a particular focus on Drug Discovery.

Learning Objectives:

-         Learn how to use some drug and target databases to extract information of interest (about drugs)).

-         Understand the molecular concepts of Virtual Docking and its applications.

-         Develop skills in using the most common programs in Virtual docking applied to solve specific biological problems.

Contents:

1. Introduction to Docking (Day 1)

Responsible: Stan Watowich and Robert Malmstrom

Morning session

Drug discovery & development overview

Review of protein and chemical structures

Introduction to molecular graphics programs

Introduction to protein and chemical structure databases (e.g., Protein Data Bank, Cambridge Data bank)

Review of protein-ligand chemistry, energetics, kinetics, equilibrium

Interactive: visualizing proteins and analyzing protein-ligand interactions on individual PCs

Afternoon session

Computer-based drug discovery

Docking overview

Scoring methods & energy calculations

Docking procedure using AutoDock Vina tools

Interactive: docking experiments with test ligands on individual PCs

2. Virtual Screening Tutorial (Day 2)

Responsible: Stan Watowich and Robert Malmstrom

Morning session

Ligand preparation tools

Ligand libraries for virtual screening

Docking tools

Metrics for analyzing virtual screening programs

Comparison of docking programs

Docking applications for toxicity testing

Afternoon session

Experience with the project Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together

Interactive virtual screening and structure analysis on individual PCs

3.  Experimental Validation of “Hits” and High-Throughput Screening (Day 3)

Responsible: Robert Malmstrom

Morning session

Enzyme structure-function

Protein-ligand binding

Enzyme kinetics

Rate orders

Assay design

Considerations for biochemical assays in high-throughput screening

Afternoon session

Data interpretation and quantitative modeling

Interactive: fitting interaction models to kinetic data (using coupled differential equations) on individual PCs

4. Free energy calculations and data filtering (Day 4)

Responsible: Stan Watowich

Morning session

Drawbacks and limitations of virtual screening and docking

Filtering screening “hits” for experimental validation

Free energy calculations to reduce false positive “hits”

Filtering “hits” for solubility, drug-like characteristics

Cluster and similarity analysis

Data-mining for lead analogs to develop SAR

Afternoon session

Interactive: structure-based drug optimization and automated analog generation on individual PCs

Requirements:

Accepted participants must be able communicate in English and bring their own labtops. No Labtops would be provided in course.

All programs to be worked in course would be downloaded from the web the first day of the course.

Address:

The course will be held at the “Sede de Investigacion Universitaria” of the Universidad de Antioquia in the auditorium area, located in the first floor of the building.

Calle 62 No 52.-59

Phone: 219-6507 / 02

Application procedure

The first 15 persons that send the receipt of payment will be selected. Five extra applicants may be considered.

Important: To confirm your inscription remember sends the receipt marked with your personal information (complete name and surnames, document of identity, telephone number and city) to comunicaciones.pecet@siu.udea.edu.co or to the fax number (4 219-6511).

Payment deadline: 25 AUGUST, 2010.

Deposit or electronic transfer

Name of the Bank: BANCOLOMBIA

Type of account: CURRENT

Account number: 008522396-50

Name of the account: FUNDACIÓN UNIVERSIDAD DE ANTIOQUIA

NIT. 811.004.659-3