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This week has seen approximately 400 parasitologists gather at the British Society for Parasitology’s (BSP) 53rd annual spring conference, which is being held at the BT Convention Centre on Liverpool’s waterfront. A number of researchers and scientists from LSTM have been involved in the organisation of the conference or are speaking at the event.
LSTM’s Professors Mark Taylor and Russell Stothard and Dr Emily Adams are prominent BSP Council members and have organised the event, which this year has a theme of Malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases and their Vectors. The conference has seven plenary speakers, including LSTM’s Director, Professor Janet Hemingway and has topics covering drug discovers; diagnostics developments; polyomics; Molecular and cellular biology; ecology; immunology; modelling and epidemiology.
The event is taking place over three days and concludes with a “Question Time” style debate chaired by LSTM’s Vice President, Peter Sissions on Saturday at 11.30am. The debate is entitled: “Conflict, environment & Ebola: Barriers to parasite control and elimination” and the panellists include LSTM’s Professors Janet Hemingway and Moses Bockarie. The event is open to the public and free to enter.
Dr Emily Adams who works within LSTM’s Research Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics (RCDD) is the Honorary Communications Secretary for the BSP and is delighted at the success of the event so far. She said: “It is fantastic that BSP has come to Liverpool and I am sure that all of the members and conference attendees will enjoy it from start to finish. We are delighted to welcome our plenary and keynote speakers, who are all eminent in their fields and we are all looking forward to what we hope will be a lively debate with Peter Sissions on Saturday. Our annual conference gives us an important opportunity to meet, share ideas and encourage excellence across the whole field of parasitology and I am delighted that we have had to opportunity to hold it here in Liverpool, a city with a rich parasitological history.”