A five day workshop from 26 November-30 November, 2017 was jointly organized by ideSHi-CMBT and icddr,b on applied genetics and genomics for biomedical researchers. Lectures and training exercises were dealt by visiting guests, Dr. Nick Thomson from the Sanger Institute, UK; Dr. Diane Genereux from the BROAD institute, USA; Prof. Ann Dalton from Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Dr. Sanjan Kumar Das of Barisal Biotech; Dr. Niaz Ahmed and Dr. Ramani from icddrb.
Day 1:
Dr. Firdausi Qadri
Acting Senior Director, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b
“High Throughput Technologies in Better Understanding Enteric Infections”- our experience so far.“
Doctor Qadri’s focus was upon epidemiology of cholera infection in Bangladesh based on her research work with national and international collaborations
Dr. Kaiissar Mannoor
Senior Scientist and Head, ideSHi
“Power of DNA Technologies in Screening & Diagnosis of Genetic Disorders”-
Dr. Mannoor discussed the use of molecular based technologies for diagnosis and detection of in-born errors of metabolism
Prof. Nicholas Robert Thomson
Sanger Institute, UK
Molecular Microbiologist and Genome Scientist
“Genomic Epidemiology of Cholera”
Dr. Thomson, in his first scientific session of the seminar examined the movement of Cholera pathogenic strains based on phylogenetic analysis of sequences, using geographical and historical context to demonstrate the possibility of unexpected origins and predictable patterns.
Dr. Diane Genereux
Broad Institute of Harvard University, USA
“Host-side Genomics as a Portal into the Dynamics of Cholera Infection”
Dr. Genereux for her first scientific session went into the details of narrowing down from a multitude of levels the most relevant sequences from genome data for particular disorders or diseases using statistical tools such as Manhattan plots.
Day 2:
Dr. Niaz Ahmed
Senior Director, Laboratory Sciences & Services Division, icddr,b
“Comparative Genomics of Pathogenic Bacteria”
Dr. Niaz Ahmed’s lecture focused on the evolution of bacterial genomes using Mycobacterium leprae, Helicobacter pylori and Escherichia coli as the primary archetypes. He conceptually reasoned how some bacteria such as M. leprae have been shedding its core genome over the past 100 million years to settle into a parasitic niche, while others such as H. pylori and E. coli favor the uptake of accessory genes in favor of a more versatile, free-living lifestyle.
Day 3:
Prof. Nicholas Robert Thomson
Molecular Microbiologist and Genome Scientist, Sanger Institute, UK
“What Does a Bacterial Genome Look Like and How Does It Vary”
Dr. Thomson gave a comprehensive hands-on training to our researchers on the comparative genomics tool, Artemis Comparison Tool (ACT)
Dr. Ramani Baddam
Senior International Fellow, icddrb
“Introduction to Next Generation technologies & Data analysis
Dr. Ramani shared her expertise on the use of various sequencing platforms including Sanger, Ilumina and PacBio technologies.
Day 4:
Dr. Diane Genereux
Broad Institute of Harvard University, USA
Dr. Genereux focused on the applications of Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) for investigation of key locations of significance in sequence reads before finishing with an exercise on building Manhattan Plots from raw data.
Prof. Ann Dalton
Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, U.K.
“Variant nomenclature and its application in clinical practice”
Professor Dalton trained how researchers or clinicians must interpret the coding classification of various sequence mutations using authentic patient results.
Dr. Sanjan Kumar Das
Chief Scientific Officer, Barisal Biotechnology UK Ltd
Dr. Das emphasized the importance of advancing the field structural genomics versus traditional genomics. He used his time to inspire philosophy, sacrifice, integrity and benevolence to attendees as he concluded the session.
Day 5:
Dr. Tahmina gave an introduction on the current emerging pathogen outbreaks a world-wide and local perspective. She elucidated the processes of using molecular and serological methodologies to report pandemics outbreaks including Zika, Chikungunya and Dengue from clinical samples obtained from around the country
