Symposium

Save the date! The 33rd Annual Molecular Parasitology & Vector Biology Symposium will be held on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

About

Each spring, CTEGD hosts a day-long interactive conference on parasites and host/parasite interactions. This regional symposium routinely draws 200+ attendees from many departments in at least four different colleges or schools at UGA, and colleagues from other institutions in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee.

The Molecular Parasitology/Vector Biology Symposium includes talks from graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and leading researchers and concludes with a keynote address by an internationally acclaimed investigator in the field of parasitology or vector biology. Poster sessions and a full-catered lunch are also on the schedule for this free event held at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, GA.

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Download the pdf of the flyer for the 33rd Annual Molecular Parasitology & Vector Biology Symposium.

flyer for the 33rd Annual Molecular Parasitology & Vector Biology SymposiumThe Symposium is made possible in part due to the generous financial support of friends and alumni. Please consider giving a tax-deductible gift today.

General Symposium Information

Poster set-up: Poster set-up begins at 8:30 am. Each poster will have an assigned number to indicate where the poster should be hung. All posters should be displayed by the first poster viewing session. All posters should be taken down by 5:00 pm.

Oral presentations: If you are presenting a talk, a link will be sent for you to upload your presentation prior to May 2. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact David Peterson at dspete [at] uga.edu

Parking: There is a pay deck next to the Georgia Center that visitors may use. If the South Campus Deck is full, you may also park in the Carlton Street Deck that is about a 5-minute walk from the Georgia Center. See more information about visitor parking on campus.

Room temperature: You may wish to bring a sweater or light jacket as the meeting room is often on the cooler side.

Wi-Fi access: The Georgia Center is equipped with eduroam access for those coming from universities participating in that program. You would use your university login credentials to access the “eduroam” network (this includes UGA faculty, staff, and students using their MyId). All other visitors should use the “UGA” network and follow the login instructions to accept the terms of use.

Hotel rooms: For those wishing to stay overnight, reservations can be made at The Georgia Center Hotel. There are also several hotels downtown.

Registration and Abstract Submission

Registration coming soon

If you would like to present a talk or poster at the symposium, when registering be sure to check ‘yes’ to poster or speak at the symposium. You will be sent an email with further information on submitting your abstract. There is limited space for poster and oral presentations.

Abstract Submission Guidelines

  • All abstracts must be submitted online by Monday, April 15, 2024.
  • Abstracts should include Title, Author(s), and Affiliation(s). Please follow the format below.
    • This is the title of a presentation abstract
      Donna Huber1 and David Peterson1, 2
      1CTEGD, UGA, Athens, GA 2Dept. of Infectious Diseases, CVM, UGA, Athens, GA
  • Limit your submission to 22 lines inclusive of Title, Author(s), Affiliation(s), and Abstract (using Calibri 11 for the font).
  • After registering to present a poster or talk you will receive an email with a link to upload your abstract to a OneDrive folder.
  • Please label your file with LAST NAME and Presentation Type (Oral or Poster), i.e. Huber_Poster
  • Notification of acceptance will be emailed to you after the April 15 submission deadline.
  • See the example abstract in the OneDrive folder for a properly formatted abstract..

 

2024 Invited Speakers

Astra Bryant, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the department of Physiology & Biophysics at University of Washington, Seattle. Learn more about her research interests.

David Sibley, Ph. D. is the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology, School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Learn more about his research interests.

Past Symposium Books

Click on the cover to view that year’s abstract book.

poster for Molecular Parasitology and Vector Biology Symposium 2023

Past Keynote Speakers

2023Sabrina Absalon, Dept. of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Indiana University School of MedicineDECODING NEW PLAYERS IN PLASMODIUM NUCLEAR BIOLOGY USING EXPANSION MICROSCOPY
2023Robert Seder, Cellular Immunology Section, National Institutes of HealthSCIENTIFIC AND CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES TO PREVENT AND ELIMINATE MALARIA
2022Filipa Rijo-Ferreira, University of California, Berkeley School of Public HealthCIRCADIAN RHYTHMS IN PARASITIC DISEASES
2022Philippe Bastin, Trypansome Cell Biology Unit, Institut PasteurSINGLE CELL RNA SEQUENCING REVEALS TRYPANSOME DEVELOPMENT IN THE SALIVARY GLANDS OF THE TSETSE FLY
2021Emily R. Derbyshire, Duke UniversityINTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO REVEAL PLASMODIUM PARASITE VULNERABILITIES
2021Daniel Goldberg, Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisMALARIA PARASITE PLASMEPSINS: NOT JUST PLAIN OLD DEGRADATIVE PEPSINS
2019Matthew Collins, Emory UniversityEPITOPE TARGETS OF THE HUMAN ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO ZIKA VIRUS INFECTION
2019James Morris, Clemson UniversityPOUR SOME SUGAR ON ME: GLUCOSE, DEVELOPMENT, DRUG DISCOVERY, AND THE AFRICAN TRYPANOSOME
2019Tiffany Weinkoff, University of Arkansas for Medical SciencesTHE ROLE OF MYELOID CELLS IN VASCULAR REMODELING DURING LEISHMANIA MAJOR INFECTION
2019Marc-Jan Gubbels, Boston CollegeOF THE TOXOPLASMA GONDII BASAL COMPLEX PROTEOME: CELL DIVISION, APICAL ANNULI AND BEYOND
2018Patricia J. Johnson, UCLA Molecular Biology InstituteTRICHOMONAS VAGINALIS: HUMAN HOST AND PARASITE INTERACTIONS
2017Rick Fairhurst, M.D., Ph.D., NIAID Malaria Pathogenesis and Human Immunity UnitPIPERAQUINE RESISTANCE AND DIHYDROARTEMISININ-PIPERAQUINE TREATMENT FAILURE IN CAMBODIA
2016John Boothroyd, professor, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford School of MedicineCOMMUNICATING OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE: HOW THE INTRACELLULAR PARASITE, TOXOPLASMA GONDII, MOVES PROTEINS ACROSS THE PARASITOPHOROUS VACUOLE
2015Takafumi Tsuboi, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Proteo-Science Center at Ehime University, JapanWGCFS: AN INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR POST-GENOME MALARIA VACCINE RESEARCH
2015James KazurJames Kazuraa, M.D., professor of international health, medicine and pathology at Case Western Reserve University School of MedicinePARADOXES ON THE ROAD TO MALARIA ELIMINATION
2014Steve Reed, President and Chief Scientific Officer, IDRI
VACCINES FOR INTRACELLULAR PATHOGENS; LESSONS FROM LEISHMANIASIS AND TUBERCULOSIS
2013Yasmine Belkaid, Chief, Mucosal Immunology Section, NIAID, Laboratory of
Parasitic Diseases
2012Upinder Singh, Division Chief, Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine
2011Manuel Llinas, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University
2010William Petri, University of Virginia School of MedicineMALNUTRITION AND INFECTION: LEPTIN AS A MEDIATOR OF MUCOSAL IMMUNITY TO AMEBIASIS
2009Margaret Phillips, Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical SciencesTARGETING MALARIA DIHYDROOROTATE DEHYDROGENASE
2008CTEGD's 10th Anniversary
2007Karen Day, Department of Medical Parasitology, NYU Medical CenterTHE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF MALARIA - A GENETICIST’S VIEW
2006Stefan Kappe, Seattle Biomedical Research InstituteMALARIA LIVER STAGES: FROM BIOLOGY TO VACCINES
2005David Sacks, Laboratory of Parasitic Disease, NIHMOLECULAR ASPECTS OF LEISHMANIA – SAND FLY INTERACTIONS
2004Jim McKerrow, Department of Pathology, University of California - San FranciscoMEETING THE CHALLENGE OF ANTIPARASITIC DRUG DESIGN
2003Joseph Urban, Jr., Nutrient Requirements & Functions Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, USDA CYTOKINE REGULATION OF IMMUNE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTION DURING THE RESPONSE TO GASTROINTESTINAL PARASITES: LESSONS LEARNED FROM MICE AND PIGS
2002Scott Landfear, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health and Sciences UniversityMOLECULAR STRATEGIES FOR NUTRIENT ACQUISITION BY LEISHMANIA AND TRYPASOMES
2001Marilyn Parsons, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Department of Pathobiology, University of WashingtonBUILDING A PROTEIN INTERACTION NETWORK IN THE TRYPANOSOMA BRUCEI NUCLEOLUS
2000David Roos, Department of Biology, Computational Biology Training Programs, University of PennsylvaniaTOXOPLASMA AS A MODEL PARASITE: BIOCHEMISTERY, CELL BIOLOGY, MOLECULAR GENETICS, GENOMICS... AND BEYOND!