Biomedical Lab Training Course-Prague

Announcement of Biomedical Lab Training Course for Scientists from Central/Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, September 2002

Genome-wide Approaches to Understanding Bacterial Pathogenesis
Prague, Czech Republic
September 8-21, 2002

With funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the U.S. National Research Council is sponsoring an intensive lab course for researchers from Central/Eastern Europe at the Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, in Prague. Due to the intensive nature of the program, classes will be conducted Monday through Saturday each week. Students will therefore need to arrive in Prague Sunday, September 8, and depart Sunday, September 22, 2002. The application deadline has passed and students for the course have been selected (see list below).

The aim of the course is to introduce students to modern molecular tools and their application towards understanding the activities of infectious agents and the host response. The course will cover a number of concepts and technologies that are relevant to analysis of host-pathogen interactions. A selected group of experts from Europe and the United States will provide lectures and lead interactive discussions. The laboratory component of the course involves hands-on application of technologies that can be applied to a wide range of systems of host-pathogen interactions.

Genomic analysis of microorganisms
In vivo expression analysis
Use of microarrays in transcriptional profiling of global responses in bacterial pathogens and human cells
Proteomic approaches and biological mass spectrometry
Invasive strategies of bacterial pathogens
Protein trafficking by bacterial pathogens
Mechanism of action of bacterial toxins
Phage display and similar combinatorial methods

Design and manufacture of DNA microarrays
Use of microarrays in transcriptional profiling of global responses in bacterial pathogens and human cells
Two-dimensional electrophoresis
Protein identification by mass spectrometry
Use of transposon mutagenesis in genetic analysis of host-pathogen interactions

Prof. Stephen Lory, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

Dr. Peter Sebo, Head, Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Bacterial Pathogens, Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.

Inquiries regarding the program may be addressed to Kelly Robbins via e-mail (krobbins@nas.edu) or fax (202-334-2644).