Day 2 :
Keynote Forum
Daqing Ma
Imperial College London, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, UK
Keynote: The role of necroptosis in the pathogenesis of lung injury following kidney transplant and beyond
Time : 09:30-10:05
Biography:
Daqing Ma is a Reader and Head of Anaesthesia Research of the Section of Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine & Intensive Care, Department of Surgery & Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK. He has more than 150 publications of original articles being published in the English peer reviewed journals (e.g. PNAS, Annals of Neurology, Annals of Surgery, BMJ, JASN, Kidney International, The FASEB Journal, Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesiology and etc.) covering research fields of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, Neuroscience, Neurology and Nephrology. He is a fellow elect of Royal College of Anaesthetists (UK). He is a Board Member of British Journal of Anaesthesia and a council member of Anaesthetic Research Society (UK). He is an Academic Editor of PLoS One and an Associate Editor of Journal Alzheimer Disease and Editorial Board Member of other 5 journals.
Abstract:
Necroptosis is a type of regulated cell death dependent on the activity of receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein (RIP) kinases. However, unlike apoptosis, it is caspase-independent. Increasing evidence has implicated necroptosis in the pathogenesis of disease, including ischemic injury, neurodegeneration, viral infection and many others. Key players of the necroptosis signalling pathway are now widely recognized as therapeutic targets. Necrostatins may be developed as potent inhibitors of necroptosis, targeting the activity of RIP1. Necrostatin-1, the first generation of necrostatins, has been shown to confer potent protective effects in different animal models. This lecture covers the role of necroptosis in the pathogenesis of lung injury after kidney transplant and other solid organ injury following ischaemia/reperfusion.
Keynote Forum
Du Toit Loots
North-West University, South Africa
Keynote: “TB or not TB†that is the question – Understanding and diagnosing TB using metabolomics
Time : 10:05-10:40
Biography:
Du Toit Loots currently heads the “Infectious and Acquired Disease Metabolomics” unit at NWU, with a focus on new biomarker discovery for better characterizing and diagnosing diseases, TB in particular. He has, to date, contributed to a total of 68 publications: 60 of which are peer reviewed scientific manuscripts in top international journals, 4 chapters in books and 4 publications in non-peer reviewed popular magazines. He is currently International Editor for Journal of Cell and Tissue Research and has additionally registered 1 full patent, with application to TB diagnostics, and published a new synthesis method for NaFe(III)EDTA, a highly bioavailable form of iron for combating anaemia. In recognition of these efforts, he received a number of awards including the: International Nestle Nutrition Institute for Africa Research Award; Janssen-Cilag Award, International ARP Walker Research Award and International Scripps Centre for Integrative Medicine\\\\\\\'s Research Award.
Abstract:
Despite the fervent genomic and proteomic based research efforts to date, since its discovery in 1882, TB is still a major global problem, and hence new approaches are necessary to better characterize and diagnose this disease. Using a variety of LC-MS, GC-MS and NMR metabolomics based methodologies, we have investigated tuberculosis from a variety of different perspectives, for the purpose of identifying new biomarkers which better explain the mechanisms related to drug resistance, virulence, growth and host-microbe interactions/adaptations. Furthermore, these biomarkers are also showing promise for the development of improved diagnostic approaches, not only for identifying TB complex, but also for detecting drug resistant strains, distinguishing various Mycobacterium species, and predicting treatment outcome.