International Workshop on Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics of Pathogenic Microorganisms, June 17-19, 1996 (fwd)

Listas Ecologia Biologia ecobio at Venezuela.MIT.EDU
Wed Mar 6 15:19:13 BRT 1996



                    FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT


                    International Workshop on
               Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary  Genetics
                    of Pathogenic Microorganisms

                               June 17-19, 1996

     A three-day international workshop at the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC) is being organized under the auspices of the CDC, 
ORSTOM (the National French agency for scientific research in developing 
countries), and CNRS (the National French agency for basic research).  This 
workshop will bring together clinicians, epidemiologists, molecular 
biologists, and evolutionary geneticists working on infectious diseases 
(parasites, fungi, bacteria, and viruses) to discuss the various genetic 
tools in studies of microbe identification, evolution, and epidemiologic 
investigations.
     Health care providers, public health professionals, and laboratory 
scientists are facing a range of issues in combating infectious diseases. 
 To meet this challenge, the scientific community needs to be able to 
rapidly identify infectious agents in a manner that allows discrimination of 
closely related strains and species, and to use genetic information for 
studying evolution, emergence, and dispersal of these pathogens.
     Over the last two decades, intense efforts have been devoted in several 
laboratories toward developing molecular tools for the detection and strain 
identification of pathogens.  Some of these tools have been employed in 
epidemiologic investigations of infectious agents in hospitals and 
communities.  Studies of population genetics have also created opportunities 
for strain identification and molecular taxonomy and for exploring the 
relationship between genetic diversity and properties of medical relevance 
such as virulence, resistance to drugs, antigenic variation, susceptibility 
to potential vaccines, and host and vector specificity.
     To address the emerging infectious disease threats, the National Center 
for Infectious Diseases (NCID), CDC, has developed a strategic plan that 
emphasizes using surveillance and applied research to maintain a strong 
defense against infectious diseases.  A goal of this plan is the integration 
of laboratory science and epidemiology to develop and use tools to detect 
and promptly identify emerging and re-emerging pathogens, and investigate 
factors that influence their emergence.
       This  workshop will provide health care providers, public health 
professionals, and laboratory scientists, who are using different tools to 
work on different pathogens, an opportunity to interact and discuss the 
joint use of methodologies needed to meet the challenges of the diagnosis 
and management of emerging, re-emerging, and endemic infectious diseases.
     
     For more information about the workshop, please contact Dr. Michel 
Tibayrenc [770-488-4524 (phone), 770-488-4454 (fax), mdt3 at CIDDPD2.EM.CDC.GOV 
(e-mail)] or Dr. Altaf Lal [770-488-4047 (phone), 770-488-4454 (fax), 
 aal1 at CIDDPD2.EM.CDC.GOV (e-mail)].







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