Genomics and Clinical Microbiology

20-25 January 2013

Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge

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

Course summary

The study of bacterial genomes is revolutionising clinical microbiology, and the clinical microbiologists of the future will have to process and interpret data very different from that provided by the agar-centric clinical microbiology labs of the 20th century. This laboratory-based training course combines practical hands-on laboratory and bioinformatics work with a set of faculty lectures by leaders in this exciting area. The principal aim is to equip clinical scientists, specialist registrars, and consultants in medical microbiology (including joint medical microbiology and infectious diseases) with sufficient understanding of these areas to meet these challenges in the future. The course will concentrate on techniques that are currently practicable but will also look to the likely application of ‘next generation’ sequencing approaches to clinical microbiology.

PLEASE NOTE: bursaries are available for clinical and academic applicants from anywhere in the world to attend this course, see below for details. This includes bursaries for UK registrars. In addition, CPD accreditation (38 credits) was approved by the Royal College of Pathologists in 2012. A similar application will be submitted for the 2013 course.

Programme

The practical part of the course will include laboratory and computer sessions that will examine the application of molecular techniques in three areas:(i) Tuberculosis; (ii) enteric infections; and (iii) encapsulated bacteria, with demonstrations of the uses of different techniques applied to real clinical scenarios.Participants will use the data generated to make clinical and disease-control decisions.The course will include sample collection and preparation, characterisation with a variety of molecular techniques, and data interpretation using a variety of practical bioinformatic approaches.

The course will cover a range of cutting edge diagnostic techniques including:

Design of real time PCR tests for pathogen detection
Real time PCR to detect multiple pathogens
Whole genome sequencing
Mycobacterial typing methodologies
Pyrosequencing
Sequence based typing
PCR based typing
Bioinformatics

Areas/issues that will be addressed in practicals, demonstrations or lectures:

• Specimen collection and contamination problems
• Technique discrimination – demonstrate how to choose the appropriate technique
• Case studies demonstrating the benefits of 'genetics' over 'culture'
• Developing a molecular diagnostic service

Course instructors

• Professor Martin Maiden (University of Oxford)
• Professor Stephen Gillespie (University of St Andrews)
• Dr Cath Arnold (Health Protection Agency)

Guest speakers

• Dr Sebastien Gagneux (Swiss Tropical & Public Health Institute, Switzerland)
• Dr Jon Green (Health Protection Agency, UK)
• Professor Dag Harmsen (University of Münster, Germany)
• Professor Helen Lee (University of Cambridge, UK)
• Dr Paul Keim (The Translational Genomics Research Institute, AZ, USA)
• Dr Xavier Nassif (Unité de Pathogénie des Infections Systématiques, France)
• Professor Julian Parkhill (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK)
• Dr Harold Swerdlow (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK)
• Dr John Wain (Health Protection Agency, UK)

CPD Accreditation

CPD accreditation (38 credits) was approved by the Royal College of Pathologists in 2012. A similar application will be submitted for the 2013 course.

Read a review of the course in this BMJ article.

How to apply

Prerequisites
Applicants should be clinical scientists, specialist registrars or consultants in medical microbiology.

Cost
The course is subsidised by the Wellcome Trust. This is a residential course, without exception, and there is a fee of £695 towards board and lodging for clinical and academic applicants. The fee for commercial (non-academic) applicants is £3050.

Bursaries
Bursaries are available for clinical and academic applicants (50 per cent of fee) and are subject to open competition.

Deadlines
Now closed for applications.