Report on the 2nd International Conference on Vaccines Research & Development (Vaccines R&D-2016)
The 2nd International Conference on Vaccines Research and Development (Vaccines R&D 2016) in the beautiful Cartagena city brought together more than 250 experts of the leading institutes and organizations to share their knowledge and research findings in the development of vaccines. The conference at the Hotel Las Americas De Indias, Cartagena, Colombia has gathered special guests: Belisario Betancur, former president of Colombia and the Colombian famous scientist Manuel Elkin Patarroyo.
United Scientific Group (USG) is obliged to the co-organizers of Vaccines R&D-2016: LIMOR, Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales (U.D.C.A) University of Rosario, FIDIC, COLCIENCIAS Colombia, Chamber of Commerce and Integra IT for their outstanding support and participation.
Vaccines R&D-2016 started with the inaugural ceremony dais shared with special guests: Belisario Betancur, former president of Colombia; Dr. Sudhakar Yakkanti, Sr. Vice President of United Scientific Group; Prof. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo, Fundacion Instituto de Inmunologia de Colombia and Prof. Jose Manuel Restrepo, President of Rosario University, Colombia.
Day-1 keynote session starred with Dr. Nancy Sullivan, Biodefense Research Section, Vaccine Research Center, NIH, USA presentation on “Protective Monotherapy Against Lethal Ebola Virus Infection: Structural and Molecular Basis of Potent Neutralization”.
The post lunch session continued with another keynote presentation on “Rules and Principles for the Development of New Vaccines” by Prof. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo M, Fundacion Instituto De Inmunologia De Colombia – FIDIC, Colombia followed by featured presentations and poster presentations. Apart from these keynote speeches on day one, Vaccines R&D-2016 also featured special presentations of Drs. Ana Flisser, Farshad Guirakhoo, Zelig Eshhar, Douglas M. Watts, Adams L. Garry, L. Mario Amzel and continued with poster presentations by attendees from all around the world.
The second day of the conference started with a keynote session with presentation on “NMR Based Structural Biology in Immunity and Neurodegeneration/Protection” by Prof. Christian Griesinger, Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany followed by two parallel sessions of featured presentations chaired by Dr. Ivan Dario Velez B, PECET, Colombia and Dr. Michael Hust, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany. The day 2 concluded with Cultural Programs Sponsored by Tourism Department, Government of Colombia.
Day three of the summit started with a keynote presentation on “Malaria Research at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR)” by Prof. Kwadwo Ansah KORAM, University of Ghana, Ghana, continued with two parallel sessions of featured presentations chaired by Dr. Jorge E. Gomez Marin, Universidad del Quindío, Colombia and Dr. Pedro N Villegas, Poultry Diagnostic & Research Center, USA. This three-day event was successfully concluded with valedictory remarks by Prof. Patarroyo. Overall, the meeting was well received and attended, promoting a lively interaction among the attendees and fostering several potential interactions.
