UCSF to Host World Malaria Day Symposium on April 25
Malaria Researchers to Discuss Latest Innovations
To celebrate World Malaria Day 2012, on Wednesday, April 25 UCSF Global Health Sciences (GHS) is hosting the Bay Area World Malaria Day Symposium from 8:30 a.m to 1:30 p.m. at the Gladstone Institutes buildng, 1650 Owens Street, at Mission Bay.
Jaime Sepulveda, the executive director of GHS and a former director of Mexico's National Institutes for Health, will open the symposium at 8:30. UC Berkeley professor Jay Keasling, director of the Physical Biosciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will deliver the keynote address at 9 a.m. See the full agenda here. [PDF]
Keasling is an expert in synthetic biology, through which microbes are turned into factories to improve production of useful chemicals, and founded a company, Amyris, which pioneered the use of microbes that make artemisinic acid, a precursor of artemisinin, an anti-malarial therapeutic.
The three themes that speakers will address during the day are:
- research and exploration — including vaccine development, iimproved diagnostic tools, resistance-detection mechanisms, and genetic mapping of malaria vectors;
- technical innovation — including new drug formulations, drug delivery methodologies, use of mobile phones in surveillance efforts, novel manufacturing and anti-counterfeiting technologies; and
- the implementation of innovative programs — including on-the-ground programs that build capacity, and programs to measure, prevent and treat malaria.
Both professionals and students will present five-minute “sound bites” on their work.
The symposium is one of hundreds of events taking place around the globe in support of a day dedicated to celebrating progress and emphasizing the need for continued work in the global fight against malaria.
Seating is limited to 150. The registration deadline is Wednesday, April 18. Registration includes breakfast and lunch. Tickets are $35 for general admission and $15 for students (ID required).