Venue address for the 5th of June is updated!!!
If you are interested to join the Early Career Researcher event but have not registered for this, you are still welcomed!
NB: Only on-site participation is possible in the workshop B and workshop C – and only for registered participants!
Pre-conference workshops and early career researcher event are integral parts of SBSP conferences. They are small focused meetings aiming to provoke intellectual discussion over critical issues, methods and theories emerging in the field.
Date: 5th of June, 2023
Time of the workshops: 14:00-16:00
Time of the early career researcher event: 16:30-18:00
LIST OF WORKSHOPS AND EARLY CAREER RESEARCHER SYMPOSIUM
WORKSHOP A – This workshop is FULL!
A discussion panel on interdisciplinary challenges in the field of parasitology
* June 6th (NB!), 16:00-18:00, Conference Centre of the University of Tartu Library (Struve 1)
Organizers: Prof. Mindaugas Šarkunas (Lithuania), Ants Tull (Estonia), Teivi Laurimäe (Estonia), Liina Kinkar (Estonia)
WORKSHOP B – This workshop is FULL!
The basic principles of modelling host-parasite interactions
* June 5th, 14:00-16:00, The Estonian University of Life Sciences building, Kreutzwaldi 56
Organizer: Dr. Dominique J. Bicout (France)
WORKSHOP C – This workshop is FULL
Parasitology decoded: current and future potential of genomic technologies in parasitological research
* June 5th, 14:00-16:00, The Estonian University of Life Sciences building, Kreutzwaldi 56
Organizers: Kristina Noreikiene (Estonia), Alfonso Diaz-Suarez (Estonia), Konrad Taube (Estonia), Anti Vasemägi (Sweden)
EARLY CAREER RESEARCHER EVENT
* June 5th, 16:30-18:00, The Estonian University of Life Sciences building, Kreutzwaldi 56
Organizer: Azzurra Santoro (Italy)
NB: Coffee and snacks are offered between the workshop and the early career researcher event.
Registration
Registration for the workshops and for the early career researcher event is open, together with the conference registration. Conference fees include both, the workshops and the early career researcher event. A limited number of participants can attend the workshops.
NB: Please let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to attend the registered workshop.
NEW Venue
Workshop B, C and the Early Career Researchers’ event takes place at the Institute of Forestry and Engineering (Tehnikamaja), the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Fr.R. Kreutzwaldi 56, Tartu
There will be directions to guide you to the correct room!
NB: The exact room where the workshops and early career researcher event will take place will be confirmed.
Content of the workshops in choice
WORKSHOP A
Information about the Workshop A
A discussion panel on interdisciplinary challenges in the field of parasitology
Time: on the 6th of June (NB!) from 16:00 to 18:00 at the Conference Centre of the University of Tartu Library
Content of the workshop:
1. Introduction to the topic.
2. Group work: Identifying the everyday challenges and shortcomings within the field of parasitology in the region (apart from funding).
3. Potential solutions to each of the problems raised.
Organizers: Prof. Mindaugas Šarkunas, PhD (Lithuania); Ants Tull, PhD (Estonia); Teivi Laurimäe, PhD (Estonia); Liina Kinkar, PhD (Estonia)
WORKSHOP B
The basic principles of modelling host-parasite interactions.
Content of the workshop (2h):
I – Basics of micro vs macro parasite models
II – Examples of Transmission Dynamics Models
II.1 – Echinococcus multilocularis
II.2 – Toxoplasma gondii
III – Open discussion, exchanges
Organizer: Dominique J. Bicout, PhD, HDR (France)
PI researcher at VetAgro Sup (veterinary school) in Lyon and lecturer at the University Grenoble Alpes, France. My research interests concern the modeling in Biophysics and Health – Environment, in particular on the mathematical epidemiology, eco-epidemiology of communicable and vector-borne diseases, zoonoses, environmental exposure of populations to chemical substances, and health risk assessment. I am also appointed as an expert at the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) and at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
WORKSHOP C
Parasitology decoded: current and future potential of genomic technologies in parasitological research
Genomic technologies are providing unprecedented opportunities for high-throughput analysis of parasite diversity, an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms behind host-parasite interactions, evolution and much more. During this workshop we will overview genomic advancements, identify most promising areas of future development and disclose possible pitfalls that may hinder the progress. Workshop discussion outcomes are envisioned to form a backbone of an opinion paper to be prepared after the event bridging wide range of parasite-host models of medical, veterinary and ecological importance.
Content of the workshop (2h):
- Introduction to the use of genomics in parasitology
- Discussions
- Final thoughts
Organizers: Kristina Noreikiene (Estonia), Alfonso Diaz-Suarez (Estonia), Konrad Taube (Estonia), Anti Vasemägi (Sweden)
The workshop will be led by researchers whose main interests lays at the intersection between evolution, genomics, and parasitology with the main emphasis on fish-parasite interactions. Dr. Kristina Noreikiene is a researcher whose main interest is host-parasite interactions. She studies parasite effects on host at different levels of biological organization from transcriptomes to populations. Alfonso Diaz-Suarez is a PhD candidate, employing various genetic and genomic approaches to study fish populations and parasite inter- and intraspecific diversity. Konrad Taube is a PhD student interested in molecular basis of adaptation to humic environments and host-parasite interaction. Prof. Anti Vasemägi has a broad experience in evolutionary and aquatic ecology as well as a long-standing interest in the use of various genomic approaches to better understand both fishes and their parasites.
Early Career Researchers’ event
The early career researchers will give a talk about their journey as an early career researcher – from the beginning to now. Why they decided to be a researcher, what kinds of ups and downs they have faced, what have been their achievements.
What are their further and future goals in the field of science.
Followed by open discussion and recommendations for starting a research position or a programme.
Early career researcher and the main organizer of this symposium:
Azzurra Santoro, DVM, PhD (Italy)
Azzurra Santoro graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Perugia in 2014. She holds a PhD in “Public Health and Experimental Veterinary Sciences”. She currently works at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), body of Italian Health Service, as a researcher member of the European Union Reference Laboratory for Parasites. Here she deals with research and diagnostics regarding neglected and fooborne parasitic zoonoses, with a focus on cystic and alveolar echinococcosis.
Early career researcher: Elisabeth Dorbek-Kolin, B.Sc, DVM, PhD (Estonia)
Elisabeth Dorbek-Kolin graduated from the Estonian University of Life Sciences in 2015 with a Degree in Veterinary Medicine. She continued her career in the same university as part of the teaching staff (infectious diseases and virology) and as a PhD student. Her PhD (graduated in 2023) about Cryptosporidium spp. in calves combined different aspects of parasitology, immunology, and faecal microbiota studies. Besides academia she has worked as a small animal veterinarian and official meat inspection veterinarian for poultry in Finland. She also spent a year as a trainee in EFSA, Italy, in Animal health and welfare team. Her special interests are One Health and zoonotic diseases.
Dr. Carolina Chagas is a Senior Researcher, and
Dr. Vaidas Palinauskas is a Chief Researcher at the P.B.Šivickis Parasitology Laboratory, Nature Research Centre (NRC), Vilnius, Lithuania.
Carolina received her Ph.D. from the University of São Paulo (Institute of Tropical Medicine) in 2016. She investigated the diversity of haemosporidian parasites infecting captive and wild birds in São Paulo, Brazil. She worked with clinical analysis of wild animals at São Paulo Zoo, Brazil, for 11 years. In the last 5 years in the institution, she worked as chief of the Clinical Analysis Laboratory at the Applied Research Department. In 2018, she moved to Lithuania to do a postdoc related to the molecular characterization of avian haemosporidian parasites and the determination of their vectors. In 2021, a proposal for a National project for young researchers was funded, and she started her second postdoc.
Vaidas received his Ph.D. from Vilnius University (Institute of Ecology), where he studied avian malaria parasites. In 2018 Vaidas was elected to the Young Academy of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and served as the Chair of the Young Academy in 2022.
In 2022 Vaidas also was among the initiative group members who established the Early Career Researchers Committee at the NRC and was elected as the Chair of the Committee for two years. The presenter will share insights about the importance of such units in academic institutions for improving integration, involvement, mentorship, interdisciplinarity, and collaboration.
