Science Researcher Update: Spotlight on Meetings, Conferences, and Events

The choice of the optimum solid-state form is critical for successful pharmaceutical development. Broadly defined, form includes polymorphs, hydrates, solvates, salts, co-crystals etc.  Microscopy is well- suited to the study of solid-state form.

This workshop covers the use of the microscope in both early pharmaceutical development when the form is chosen and in later stages of development where the form is monitored for stability.

The material in this workshop is broadly separated by development phase into form discovery and form understanding. Form discovery usually occurs before first time in human (FTIH) into Phase 1. Form understanding generally occurs in Phase 1 and Phase 2, although some work extends into Phase 3.

This workshop emphasizes the role of microscopy in each aspect of form understanding. Although we will discuss solid-state theory and fundamentals, the workshop relies heavily on case studies, demonstrations, and instrument usage.

The NYSCF conference is unique: it focuses on translational stem cell research, demonstrating the potential to advance cures for the major diseases of our time.

It is designed for all professionals with an interest in stem cell research, including physicians, researchers, clinical investigators, professors, government and health officials, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. The panels on Wednesday are designed to reach a broader audience, including the lay public.

Following 8 successful years, the Immunogenicity and Bioassay Summit is expanding to include SIX short courses, TWO training seminars, AND a one-day immersive symposium in addition to our THREE conference tracks. These events provide an invaluable opportunity to learn how the experts manage the challenges of Immunogenicity Assessment, Prediction and Risk Mitigation, as well as Bioanalytical and Bioassay Development.  Once again, attendees will hear from the regulatory authorities and be able to discuss their challenges with them. NEW this year is a focus on Bioassays for Immuno-Oncology, Immunology for Scientists in Biotherapeutic Discovery and Development, and an Introduction to Design of Experiments. The 2017 summit features:

• 250+ Global Attendees
• 75 Scientific Presentations & Case Studies, including FDA
• Exhibit & Poster Hall
• Track-hopping allowed for concurrent conferences
• Panel Discussions

Advances in the generation and selection of antibodies from combinatorial libraries allow for the rapid production of antibodies from immune and non-immune sources. This intensive laboratory/lecture course will focus on the construction of combinatorial antibody libraries expressed on the surface of filamentous phage and the subsequent selection of desired antibodies from the library. Students will learn the theoretical and practical aspects of constructing combinatorial libraries from immune and non-immune sources as well as the construction of synthetic antibody libraries. Antigen-specific recombinant monoclonal antibodies will be selected from the library. Production, purification and characterization of antibody fragments expressed in E. coli will also be covered.

The lecture series, presented by course faculty and a number of invited speakers, will emphasize theory and practice of antibody display technologies, expression of antibodies in E. coli and mammalian cells, antibody structure and function, bacterial display of antibodies and other ligand-binding domains, the immunobiology of the antibody response, and the use of monoclonal antibodies for therapy including the design of chimeric antigen receptor T cells. We will also discuss principles and protocols for generation and analysis of immune repertoires determined by Next Generation Sequencing.

Whether you have no prior training or work experience in quantitative risk analysis, or if you want to further improve your risk analysis skills, you will be interested in our course, Epidemiology and Food Safety Risk Analysis (formerly Animal Agriculture & Food Safety Risk Analysis and Disease Modeling).

This 5-day class covers the basic principles of risk analysis, essential probability and statistics theory, stochastic processes, core risk modeling principles, and incorporates the latest innovations in modeling methods. Thanks to the case studies that guide participants through the main steps in developing a risk assessment model, it provides participants with hands-on skills to effectively use a risk modeling software environment, while learning good practices and common mistakes to avoid.

Oxford Global Conferences are proud to present the 2nd Annual Biomarkers & Precision Medicine USA Congress co-located with our 4th Annual Drug Discovery USA Congress, taking place on the 09-10 October 2017 in San Diego, USA.

Over 250 delegates representing leading biotech companies, global pharma organisations and internationally renowned academic institutions.

Over 40 presentations, case studies and panel discussions focused on the key issues in biomarker research, companion diagnostics, personalized medicine and clinical biomarkers.

5 Interactive Streams:
• Biomarkers in Drug Discovery and Development – Translation and Precision Medicine in Auto-Immune Diseases, CNS, Oncology, and Infectious Diseases
• Personalised Medicine, Companion Diagnostics & Patient Testing
• Innovations in Biomarker Research – Informatics, Data Management, Assay Development, Imaging Technologies
• Biomarker in Clinical Development & Clinical Trials
• Clinical Diagnostics, NGS & Genomic Markers and Genetic Testing

14 pre-scheduled one to one meetings, exhibition and informal networking opportunities.

Oxford Global’s 4th Annual Drug Discovery USA Congress will take place on 9–10 October 2017 in San Diego, USA, bringing together over 250 key opinion leaders in drug discovery. This exciting conference showcases the latest technologies and approaches being utilised across Immuno-therapy, Autoimmune diseases, Neuroscience and Oncology. Further sessions consider the key updates in medicinal and computational chemistry. The two-day congress offers an interactive platform for high level discussions, ensuring valuable networking and interactive sessions.

4 Interactive Streams:

• Drug Discovery Innovation and Strategies, Enabling Technologies for Immuno-therapy, Autoimmune Diseases, Neuroscience & Oncology
• Successful Phenotypic Drug Discovery: High Content Screening
• Discovery Chemistry: Medicinal and Computational Chemistry
• Discovery Chemistry: Medicinal Chemistry and Novel Approaches to Drug Design

Free Webinar Recording:

Advance in Fragmented-based Drug Discovery 
Hosted by Vincent Stoll, Associate Director of Structural Biology, AbbVie
Download for Free: http://bit.ly/2cuVKoT

For further information regarding prices and possible discounts, please contact Guillaume Alonso on g.alonso@oxfordglobal.co.uk or call +44 (0)1865 248 455.

This is a unique didactic/hands-on workshop that provides a comprehensive overview of respiratory biology and, in particular, the use of mice as model systems of human lung diseases. The objectives of the workshop include reviews of basic lung biology, structure-function issues surrounding respiratory mechanics, immune responses linked with the pulmonary compartments as well as the lung microenvironment, and the techniques/strategies for reproducible measurements of lung function in mice. Laboratory-based exercises will provide participants with hands-on experience measuring airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR), lung volumes and pressure-volume (PV) curves, lung morphometry, sampling techniques and mouse lung histopathology. In addition, the course will review basic mouse genetics, housing and breeding strategies, and survival surgical techniques. The course faculty is comprised of prominent members of the research community who are supported by a core group of research scientists providing insights into cutting edge technologies and experimental strategies. 

Part of this workshop includes pathology sessions.  If you have any FIXED slides you would like to have analyzed by the workshop pathologist, please bring them with you.  Additionally, if you have any interesting FIXED slides you would like to share with the group, please bring these as well.  IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT BRING FRESH TISSUE TO THE JACKSON LABORATORY!

Participants completing this workshop will have a working knowledge of basic pulmonary biology and the pathophysiology/histopathology accompanying lung diseases. More importantly, participants will gain the needed exposure to laboratory-based techniques for quantifying pulmonary structure, immunobiology, and lung function – all key endpoint metrics needed to utilize mice as model systems of human respiratory diseases.

Synposis: Topics covered in this course include: image enhancement, segmentation, tracking, feature extraction, image classification, machine learning including deep learning, noise analysis and uncertainty prediction, and statistical hypothesis testing. All topics will be covered in theory lectures and computer exercises. Exercises will be done on images from ongoing research projects in the instructors’ labs and will target actual research questions. An important subject in the course will be software design, addressing both the implementation of optimized algorithms and sharable code, and programming in teams.

Student requirements and course structure: The course will admit graduate students and junior postdocs with backgrounds in mathematics, physics, and/or engineering, who are currently conducting research in cellular and developmental biology. Students with no formal training in the quantitative sciences may also be considered if space is available and if initial experience in the practice of computer image analysis in microscopy is documented in the application. We will accept a maximum of 12 students. This size has been proven ideal since the first implementation of the course in 2011, and is also defined by the funds made available through an NIH grant. The course will be free for all admitted students, with the exception of travel expenditure to and from Woods Hole.

The course will contain two theory lectures per day. The rest of the course time will be primarily devoted to computer exercises under the guidance of the four course instructors and two TAs. To broaden the perspectives and encourage discussions, there will also be several evening seminars by invited faculty and by the students themselves.

The software projects will be done in small teams. This course structure is designed to train the students in the practicalities of code sharing and collaborative problem solving, allowing them to tackle complex image analysis problems when they return to their home institutions. At the end of the course, students will be encouraged to take home their own projects and the library code they integrated. The course will use MATLAB as the programming language, one of the most widespread platforms for scientific computing.

Importantly, this is not a course for students who wish to get familiar with MATLAB programming. On the contrary, we expect students to have basic knowledge of MATLAB (or solid expertise in another modular and/or object-oriented programming language), allowing them to start using Matlab on Day 1 for solving image and data analysis problems related to cell and developmental biology. Once the student body is identified, we will publicize tutorial materials for self-study.

The 33rd Annual Echocardiography in Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Disease Symposium returns to the Rochester, MN campus of the Mayo Clinic and will highlight the use of echocardiography and other cardiac imaging techniques to recognize, understand, and manage patients with congenital heart disease using a case based format. This four-day symposium is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the anatomy, clinical aspects, imaging, and management of patients with congenital heart disease. The symposium will include case discussions, didactic seminars, anatomic and imaging correlations, discussion of multimodal imaging and live, hands-on scanning seminars to illustrate the impact of cardiac imaging on treatment, diagnosis, and management of patients with congenital heart disease.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

• Describe the anatomy and physiology of common congenital cardiac conditions as well as the surgical/interventional procedures used to treat them
• Interpret 2-D echo/Doppler hemodynamics in the setting of congenital heart disease
• Recognize limitations of echocardiography and other imaging techniques
• Integrate the most up-to-date echocardiographic and multimodality imaging techniques into patient management

INTENDED AUDIENCE:

This course is designed for pediatric and adult cardiologists, surgeons, fellows in training, and cardiac sonographers. The emphasis is on echocardiography. Participants should have a good working knowledge of echocardiography.