We are pleased to offer our members the Fundamentals of Basic and Applied Phage Biology course at Lund University from May 12-16. This course provides a comprehensive theoretical overview and practical skills in phage biology, enabling participants to integrate phage techniques into their research.
Practicals: Include phage isolation, titre determination, infectivity assays, and mutant selection.
Expected Learning Outcomes: Participants will gain knowledge in phage diversity, ecological roles, molecular mechanisms of phage-bacteria interactions, and applications in treating antibiotic-resistant pathogens. They will also acquire essential laboratory techniques for phage research.
Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your research skills!
During the week of 7-11 October 2024, NDPIA organized its third course on microbiota and health that was held at Stora Brännbo in Sigtuna. As previous years, this course introduced the field of microbiomes with a focus on how microbiota affect the health of a host.
Group photo of the participants and organizers of Microbiota and Health 2024. The photo was taken by personnel at Stora Brännbo.
“This course exceeded my expectations. I was astonished by the thorough literature analysis performed by the lecturers to pinpoint the most essential information.”
-Anonymous participant
Seventeen national and international experts in the microbiome field, including Christine Moissl-Eichinger (Medical University Graz), Fredrik Bäckhed (University of Gothenburg), and Reetta Satokari (University of Helsinki) presented lectures and held engaged discussions on their topics. Areas covered include microbiota associated with the human gut, genitourinary tract, and mouth, interactions of the microbiota with the immune system, mucins and drugs and present-day trends on modifying the microbiota.
Lecture on “Introduction to microbiomes”, given by Björn Schröder, docent at Umeå University. Photo: Louise Lindbäck.Lecture on “Vaginal microbiome and women’s health”, given by Juan Du, associate professor at Karolinska Institute. Photo: Louise Lindbäck.
The Microbiota and Health course of 2024 offered a new segment in the schedule as two workshop sessions on microbiome data analysis were included.These were led by Luisa Hugerth, assistant professor at Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, and covered the topic on how to retrieve, annotate, and analyse metabarcoding data in R.
Workshop session on microbiome data analysis given by Luisa Hugerth, assistant professor at Uppsala University. Photo: Louise Lindbäck.
In addition to the lectures, course participants had the opportunity to present and discuss their own research with participants and lecturers during poster sessions and free time. As always during a NDPIA course, plenty of time was also dedicated to social activities to promote interactions and networking.
Students were presenting and discussing their work during poster sessions. Photo: Louise Lindbäck.Students and lecturers participating in a social activity playing Gut Check: The Microbiome game. Photo: Louise Lindbäck.Students and lecturers participating in a social activity playing Gut Check: The Microbiome game. Photo: Louise Lindbäck.
“The main strengths of the course I would say is the broad range of topics the different speakers covered. I learned a lot, perhaps the most, from the speakers that were in a different field than my own. Not only things that are just interesting, but also things I think I can apply in my own projects. The fact that the speakers were some of the top ones in their own field is also a major strength.”
For who? Our MOOCs are aimed at people with a scientific background equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in life sciences
Format : Each MOOC is made up of 30 video lectures of 10 minutes, focusing on key messages, recorded with international experts. Students can test their knowledge with quizzes.
Price : All content is available free of charge (videos, quizzes). There is the possibility to obtain a certificate for a fee.
When ? : Once registered you have unlimited access to our resources, not all MOOCs are open at the same time (see calendar).
In what Language? In English, with French and English subtitles
How to register ? create your account on the FUN platform
In May 2024, NDPIA offered a newly developed course on AI applications in infection biology. This course was held on 20-24 May at Rånäs Slott, Rånäs.
“The aim of this course was to introduce infection biologists to the often abstract and overwhelming idea of using AI in their research. By offering concrete examples of how to implement these tools, students gain confidence to apply these approaches in their own research projects.”
-Debra Milton, NDPIA National Director
Group photo of the participants and organizers of AI applications in infection biology 2024. The photo was taken by personnel at Rånäs Slott.
With the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), powerful tools are now available to analyze and to interpret complex biological data to enhance our understanding and combating of infectious diseases. We had eleven national and international experts in the field to introduce participants to AI methods used to predict disease outbreaks, to predict antibiotic resistance of pathogens, to survey pathogens and antibiotic resistance in the environment, to decipher host-pathogen interactions, to aid the development of new antimicrobials and to use AI responsibly.
“This was a fantastic course. Very useful and helpful to get such a thorough insight into this repidly developing field, and getting to know people active in it. I would highly recommend this course!”
-Anonymous participant
Lecture on “Clinical antimicrobial resistance prediction using machine learning”, given by Caroline Weis, Senior AI/ML Engineer and team leader for Clinical AI at GSK, Zurich. Photo: Hanna Eriksson.Lecture on “Responsible AI and future challenges”, given by Juan Carlos Nieves Sanchez, associate professor at Umeå University. Photo: Louise Lindbäck.
Integrating knowledge from multiple disciplines will be necessary to address many questions within infection biology. However, taking the first step to implement these tools in research projects can be daunting. Therefore, we also included three workshops in this course with concrete examples which was much appreciated by the students. The workshops were focused on the AlphaFold AI system, SIAMCAT metagenomic data analysis and scientific automation.
We aim to initiate discussions and collaborations across these disciplines, and the beautiful scenery of this venue ensured a relaxed atmosphere and many networking opportunities. The weather allowed poster sessions to be held both outdoors and indoors, with lively discussions also during break times. In addition, students and lecturers were engaged in several social activities including different games and utilizing the sauna and pools by the lake.
“Overall, the lecturers were very inclusive and interested in questions and discussions. Much appreciated!”
-Anonymous participant
Workshop session on automated science, given by Paul Jensen, assistant professor at the University of Michigan, and Mark Hendricks, assistant professor at the Whitman College, Washington. Photo: Louise Lindbäck.Students were presenting and discussing their work during poster sessions. Photo: Hanna Eriksson.Students were presenting and discussing their work during poster sessions. Photo: Hanna Eriksson.Students and lecturers taking part of course dinner. Photo: Hanna Eriksson.Students participating in social evening activities. Photo: Louise Lindbäck.
“Very nice structure of the course! I could on the later course days understand things thanks to the previous days lectures, which had not made sense to me otherwise. So a nice escalation through the course, which made it very useful.”
Source: Professor Graham Beards (Wikipedia)
