AIBBC TRAINING WORKSHOPS IN ADVANCED BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES
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THEME:Capacity development for practical implementation at the point of need

Updated information about AIBBC 2023 workshops is available on the AIBBC 2023 website. Click below to access AIBBC 2023 WEBSITE

Dates: Oct. 30th-Nov. 1st, 2023

Venue: KALRO, Naivasha, Kenya

Capacity: 100 Participants (we will close once capacity is reached)

Application page to open soon.

Full program with time lines will be posted later

BELOW INFORMATION IS ABOUT PAST AIBBC TRAINING WORKSHOPS (not current)

DETAILS OF COURSES OFFERED IN PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS

Course 1

Title: Flow Cytometry: Understanding & applications

Instructor:

Prof. J. Paul Robinson, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Summary

We propose a two day short course to serve as an introduction (first half) and advanced (second half) course to introduce the fundamentals and applications of flow cytometry across a range of life science applications. Flow cytometry has become a go-to technology for single cell analysis. The first half day will be for those who want to learn about the fundamentals of how flow cytometry works. It will assume no background in the field and bring you up to a firm level of knowledge. The afternoon course will introduce the instrumentation and demonstrate actual sample running and basic analysis. Day two will introduced more advanced areas including multicolor analysis, high throughput screening, advanced multiparameter analysis, spectral technologies, cell sorting (theory only) and clinical applications for example. This course will provide the participants with a strong background level of understanding of the technology, current limitations, and the future opportunities.

Who should attend?

Our target audience are individuals who would like to expand their knowledge of flow cytometry as well individuals who would like to become more expert in the advanced areas of the technology.  This is an opportunity to learn about future applications as well as what the impact the technology may have on informatics, automation and clinical diagnostics, and the role quality control and differences across all current commercial technologies.

Benefits.

You will become a “mini-expert” in your institution by the end of this course. You will understand the unique terminology as well as all of the fundamental concepts that will be taught by experienced teachers who know how to impart knowledge in easy-to-understand ways. By the end of this course, participants will be confident that they will be well informed on this technology and have a strong perspective of how it fits or competes with other measurement technologies.

Presenter Biography

J. Paul Robinson is the SVM Professor of Cytomics and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. He has been involved in developing and using flow cytometers for over 35 years.  For the past 27 years he has been teaching graduate courses in the field. He has edited 9 book focused on flow cytometry technologies and he is the editor-in-chief of Current Protocols in Cytometry.

Course 2

Title: Point of care diagnostics for resource-limited settings

Instructor/s:

Prof. Aman Russom, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Prof. Linnes Jacqueline, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Prof. Tamara Kinzer-Ursen, PhD,Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Summary

POC diagnostics are poised to reshape the delivery of healthcare system in both high-resource and resource limited settings. In this workshop, we will give an overview of this rapidly growing field with focus on the use of microfluidic technologies that integrate complex biochemical analyses into automated systems for resource-limited settings. The fist portion of the course will focus on fundamental microfluidics and the second will integrate this information into hands-on experiments fabricating and testing microfluidic devices as we investigate current products and future directions in point of care diagnostics.

Who should attend?

Our target audience is individuals who would like to acquire or expand their knowledge of the emerging field of point-of-care diagnostics. Primarily target are graduate students and postdocs and well as clinicians, scientists, and engineers interested in infectious disease detection with a focus on microfluidic and paper-based technologies.

Benefits to attendees

The aim of this mini-course is to give an introduction to POC diagnostics and will highlight basic concepts of microfluidics with emphasis on POC applications. This course will focus on point-of-care (POC) diagnostics for infectious disease detection in resource-limited settings, device fabrication, available options and future directions. After this course, you will be able to describe the concept of “Lab-on-a-chip” and participate in scientific discussions regarding the usefulness of micro-and nanotechnology for a given biological problem at point of care. You will gain hands on experience fabricating microfluidic devices and will be able to identify major targets, sample matrices and preparation requirements as well as methods of detection and signal amplification. You will gain hands on experience fabricating microfluidic and paperfluidic devices as well as working with current POC technologies. For newcomers to this field, this is a good opportunity to learn and identify possible new application areas for your own current and future research.

Presenter Biography

Aman Russom is Associate Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Sweden. His research focuses on microfluidics with emphasis on sample preparation for clinical and point of care diagnostics and has more than 15 years experience in the field of microfluidics. For the past 5 years he has been teaching graduate courses and workshops in the field.

Jacqueline Linnes is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA. Her laboratory develops real-time detection technologies to prevent, diagnose, and better understand the pathogenesis of diseases. She focuses on non-invasive sample collection and rapid detection of pathogens and biomolecules to efficiently diagnose a variety of environmental, bacterial, and viral pathogens at the point of care.

Prof. Tamara Kinzer-Ursen is an Associate Professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. Research in the Kinzer-Ursem lab focuses on developing tools to advance quantitative descriptions of cellular processes and disease within three areas of expertise: 1) Using particle diffusivity measurements to quantify biomolecular processes; 2) Development of novel protein engineering technologies that enable quantitative description of protein function and elucidate disease mechanisms; and 3) Computational modeling of signal transduction mechanisms to understand cellular processes.

Course 3

Course Title: Molecular diagnostics (In situ Proximity Ligation Assay)

Instructor/s:

Prof. Masood Kamali-Moghaddam, Uppsala University
Dr. Radiosa Gallini, Uppsala University
1-2 Graduates, students to be assigned, Uppsala University

Summary

Proximity ligation assay (PLA) is a versatile technology for protein analyses. The technology can be used to detect proteins with high sensitivity and specificity in body fluids such as blood plasma and cerebrospinal fluids, in cell and tissue lysates as well as in cell lines and tissue sections. The PLA allows detection of proteins, post-translational modifications and protein-protein interactions.

In solid-phase PLA the target molecule is captured via an affinity binder – such as poly- or monoclonal antibody – immobilized on a solid support, for instance magnetic beads. The captured protein is then probed with a pair of affinity binders each equipped with a unique DNA oligonucleotide arm that once in proximity are hybridized to a connector DNA oligonucleotide, templating a ligation event. The resulted reporting DNA molecule is then amplified and quantified using real-time quantitative PCR.

The extreme specificity and sensitivity of target molecule detection are resulted from the requirement of multiple recognition events, combined with high efficiency of signal detection due to amplification of DNA molecules that form in the detection reactions. The multiple recognition of each target molecule also allows parallel analyses of panels of proteins in minute sample aliquots, while the DNA assisted readout avoids problems with cross-reactivity upon multiplexing. The technologies address common obstacles for high performance analyses of biomolecules, such as limitations in specificity, sensitivity and opportunities for parallel analysis.

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Who should attend?

Undergraduate and master students, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows/researcher who are currently involved in or plan to use protein analyses in their research.

Experience in working with ELISA and quantitative PCR will be a plus. 

Experience in working with fixated cells and immunohistochemistry will be a plus. 

Benefits to attendees

Learn hands-on state-of-the-art and advanced technology for image analysis. Have possibility to attend lectures and seminars discussing related technologies for protein analyses.

Presenter Biography

Prof. Masood Kamali Moghaddam is a pharmacist and molecular biologist with expertise in PLA and is the inventor of a variant of the PLA technology. He is also the head PLA proteomics facility providing services on advanced molecular tools such as In situ and solid-phase PLA.

Dr. Radiosa Gallini is an expert in molecular tool design and application who has worked extensively on the in situ PLA.

Course 4

Course Title: New insights into HIV infections & Antimicrobial Resistance, including Research Implementation from Bench to Bedside

Instructors:

Instructors: Prof. Elizabeth Bukusi, MD, PhD, (KEMRI, Kenya)
Prof. Guido Poli, MD, PhD (San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Itali) &
Dr. Eddy Odari (JKUAT, Kenya)

Summary

The course will examine the state of AMR and discuss ways to combat the emerging threat. Industry presentation on this important topic will be given by a representative of bioMerieux inc. In addition, the course will discuss antiretroviral therapy (ART), with focus on progress and challenges. For instance, challenges associated with increased life expectancy thanks to ART such as patients developing non-AIDS complications including cardiovascular diseases and cancer will be hightlighted and discussed. A major focus of the course will be to dissemintate new knowledge, close the remaining gaps and outline future perspectives about AMR and HIV. Points to be discussed are:

1. What is antimicrobial resistance stewardship and why do we need?
   

2. Strategies for antimicrobial resistance stewardship: What works and what doesn't?
   

3. HIV and Immunopathogenesis

4. Diagnostic tools and access to testing of HIV

5. Late presentation

6. When to start treatment

7. Serious Non AIDS events with particular attention to cardiovascular risk, bone and kidney diseases and cancer.

8. Retention in care

9. Mother to child transmission

10. Possibility of eradication

Who should attend?

Clinicians involved in adminstration of antimicrobial drugs or are involved in diagnosis and care of persons with HIV infection such as nurses. Since in the course there will be a part on basic science, also researchers interested in a better understanding of AMR and HIV infection can attend.

Benefits to attendees

To be updated on the last basic and clinical research on AMR and new insights into HIV infection, and to share clinical approach among clinicians and researchers from different countries.