Malaria Experimental Genetics

3-9 March 2013

Wellcome Trust Genome Campus , Hinxton, Cambridge

Now closed for applications. To be kept updated on future course dates, please email us.

Course summary

This laboratory-based advanced course will give participants a working knowledge of and practical experience in cutting edge Plasmodium experimental genetics techniques, from designing gene targeting vectors and creating transgenic parasites to phenotyping the strains that result. The goal is to facilitate the participants’ own research careers by exposing them to state-of-the-art experimental approaches, while discussing the advantages and limitations of each approach.

The week-long practical course will cover experimental approaches to both the human parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) and the rodent parasite (Plasmodium berghei). The practical work will include several novel technological approaches, including production of gene targeting constructs using recombineering, which eliminates the need for PCR and restriction enzyme based ligation, and advanced molecular phenotyping approaches including next generation RNA sequencing and comparative mass spectrometry. The laboratory-based programme will be complemented by specific lectures in topical areas as well as a panel of distinguished guest speakers, who will present the latest research in the field.

Bursaries are available to attend this course. See below for details.

Programme

The overall strategy will be to follow a Plasmodium experimental genetics experiment from conception to completion, and will cover work with both P.berghei and P.falciparum. Topics to be covered will include:

Gene targeting vector construction

recombineering-based approaches to vector construction
consideration of the relative merits of different conditional expression approaches.

Transfection and genotyping

mechanics of transfection in both P. berghei and P. falciparum
verification of targeting using PCR and PFGE.

Molecular phenotyping

imaging approaches
comparative mass spectrometry
application of next generation sequencing to transcriptional profiling
flow cytometry-based phenotyping platforms.

Course instructors

Oliver Billker (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK)
Julian Rayner (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK)

Guest speakers

David Fidock (Columbia University, USA)
Markus Meissner (University of Glasgow, UK)
Mike Blackman (MRC National Institute for Medical Research, UK)
John Adams (University of South Florida, Tampa, USA)
Chris Janse, Blandine Franke-Fayard (LUMC, Leiden, The Netherlands, to be confirmed)

Feedback from previous courses

“The opportunity of attending this meeting is a great fortune to me to learn from many researchers. The new techniques and idea from the course, I will bring back to progress my research.”

“The course was very interactive and educative in all forms. The instructors and organiser have done a very wonderful job. This is about the best you would get from any such course.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course. Its real strengths for me were the exposure to such a broad range of techniques and technologies.”

How to apply

Prerequisites
Applicants should be postdoctoral scientists, PhD students or clinician scientists engaged in, or soon to commence, relevant research.

Cost
The course tuition fees are subsidised by The Wellcome Trust for scientists based in non-commercial institutions anywhere in the world. This is a residential course, without exception, and there is a fee of £750 towards board and lodging for non-commercial applicants. The fee for commercial applicants is £3550.

Bursaries
Bursaries are available for non-commercial applicants to cover up to 100% of the course fee. Funding is also available to assist with travel costs. Please note that bursaries are limited and will be awarded on merit. The Wellcome Trust gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the European Virtual Institute of Malaria Research ( EVIMalaR).

Deadlines
Now closed for applications.

Supported by:

European Virtual Institute of Malaria Research ( EVIMalaR)