Ghana Biomedical Convention 01 10Th Anniversary Celebrations ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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A New Era of Biomedical Research and Development in West Africa Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research University of Ghana 26th – 28th July 2017 Ghana Biomedical Convention 01 10th Anniversary Celebrations ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Ghana Biomedical Convention (GBC) gratefully acknowledges the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), University of Ghana for the generous use of facilities and equipment. The Ghana Biomedical Convention (GBC) sincerely thanks Inqaba Biotec and DCL Laboratory Products LTD for their financial contribution to this year's conference. GBC also acknowledges the President, the Board of Directors, the Scientific Committee and the Local Organizing Committee for putting up this program. Ghana Biomedical Convention 02 10th Anniversary Celebrations Meeting Schedule DAY 1 - Wednesday 26th July 2017 6.30 – Registration and Poster Set-up 9.00 – 9.30am Opening Ceremony 9.30 – 10.30am 10th Anniversary Presentation and Awards Ceremony 10.30 – 11.30am Break and Registration 11.30 – 12.30pm Session I – Short talks 12.40 – 1.40pm Session II – Short talks 1.40 – 2.30pm Lunch 2.30 – 4.00pm Poster Viewing and Interaction – Even numbers 4.00 – 4.20pm Vendor Talk 4.20 – 5.30pm Session III – Short talks 5.30 – Poster removal & Socialization DAY 2 - Thursday 27th July 2017 7.30 – Registration 8.50 – 9.00am Announcements 9.00 – 10.00am Keynote Address: Professor Kim Williamson 10.00 – 10.50am Break 11.00 – 12.00pm Session IV – Short talks 12.10 – 1.10pm Session V – Short talks 1.10 – 2.10pm Lunch 2.10 – 3.40pm Poster Viewing and Interaction – Odd numbers 3.40 – 4.00pm Vendor Talk 4.00 – 5.00pm Session VI – Short talks 5.00 – 5.20pm Break 5.20 – 6.20pm Session VII – Short talks 6.30pm Social Event Ghana Biomedical Convention 03 10th Anniversary Celebrations DAY 3 FRIDAY 28th July 2017 8.00 – Registration 8.50 – 9.00am Announcements 9.00 – 10.00am Keynote Address: Professor Michael Wilson 10.00 – 10.50am Break 11.00 – 12.00pm Session VIII – Short talks 12.10 – 1.10pm Session IX – Short talks 1.10 – 2.10pm Lunch 2.10 – 3.10pm Session X – Short talks 3.10 – 4.30pm Business Meeting 4.30 Closing Ceremony Board Meeting Ghana Biomedical Convention 04 10th Anniversary Celebrations Message from the President t r e m e n d o u s p r o g r e s s a n d a transformation in innovative biomedical research training through conferences, workshops and student mentorship activities. Our scientists are also dedicated to promoting biomedical science in Ghana to improve public health. The conferences and workshops are carefully coordinated and run in several academic institutions in Ghana. The annual meeting continues to produce a range of capacity building and educational initiatives designed to increase the proportion of researchers in Elvis K Tiburu, President,GBC Ghana engaged in the global biomedical research enterprise. This is achieved Hello and welcome! through the advice of endowed Board We appreciate your visit to our Members, Scientists and Students website. This is the tenth Volunteers. Our support base is friends of anniversary of our flagship the Organization, loyal sponsors around conference, the Ghana Biomedical the globe including the Ghana Convention, sponsored by the Biomedical Research Network (GBRN), Convention for Biomedical a sister organization located in Boston, Research Ghana (CoBReG). The Massachusetts, USA. There are several organization was formed in 2007 activities lining up for the tenth and launched its first conference in anniversary celebration that should make Ghana in 2008. It was formed by it very exciting. seasoned researchers, teachers and healthcare professionals both within and outside Africa. We are very grateful to you for taking the CoBReG's main focus is to bring time to attend our conference. biomedical research scientists around the globe together for the purpose of promoting and Elvis K Tiburu, PhD, CoBReG President conducting innovative research to and HOD, Dept. of Biomedical benefit the African continent. In Engineering, U of Ghana the past ten years we have seen Ghana Biomedical Convention 0208 10th Anniversary Celebrations Message from the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) research have also seen tremendous growth due to the ability of the few scientists in these areas to inspire and mentor young talented students to remain in the biomedical sciences despite it not being as financially rewarding as other professions. This year we want to lay emphasis on the role scientific research and development can play in the socioeconomic and technological advancement of Ghana and West Africa as a whole. It is our hope that we will all recognize the urgent need to scale up and conduct innovative cutting edge research, which can It is with great pleasure that I translate into policy for national development. welcome you all to this year's Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to all our G h a n a B i o m e d i c a l distinguished guests for making the time to be with Convention (GBC) Annual us today and throughout the entire conference. Your Conference here at the support and encouragement is very much Noguchi Memorial Institute appreciated. Thank you very much for supporting for Medical Research, our efforts at building this common platform for the University of Ghana. This year dissemination of key scientific data that is urgently also marks 10 years since the inception of GBC and needed for national transformation. therefore is the 10th anniversary celebration GBC. This year's To all 2017 GBC presenters and participants, you are meeting has therefore been very welcome to this year's conference and it is our appropriately themed “A new hope that you will all leave this conference with era of biomedical research and refined ideas and new collaborations that will further development in West Africa”. Biomedical research in Ghana enhance our collective output and impact as research and West Africa as a whole has scientists. witnessed tangible advances over the last few years. This we To participants who are joining us for the first time, believe has been driven in large part by the passion and we warmly welcome you and look forward to seeing perseverance of W. African you at future meetings. We wish you all a very scientists and researchers both at fruitful time of deliberation and exchange at this home and abroad who strive to overcome financial and other year's meeting. challenges that impede the smooth conduct of cutting edge On Behalf of the Local Organizing Committee research in Ghana and beyond. Message from the Scientific Committee Many areas of biomedical Ghana Biomedical Convention 09 10th Anniversary Celebrations Message from the Scientific Committee It gives me great pleasure to welcome you once again to our annual Biomedical Convention. Would you believe that it has been 10 years since the first meeting at the Institute of Local Government? From very humble beginnings, we have overcome all obstacles to be this robust organization promoting science and mentoring young scientists in the sub-region. As part of this year's program, we wish to express our sincere gratitude and to our founding fathers and mothers. From an international conference in Europe where the idea was mooted, to the assembly of both the Diaspora and the Ghana teams, the organization of the inaugural and subsequent meetings, we can say we've successfully come a long way. Therefore, unlike progression of the meeting. previous meetings, after the opening ceremony, in Poster presenters can mount place of the first keynote, we will have a 10 year posters on the first day and anniversary ceremony, where selected founding keep them up till the last day of members will give an interesting presentation of the the convention. Participants beginnings and how far we have progressed. Not with even numbers should be trying to take the shine, I leave this aspect to the by their posters during the presenters. poser session and interaction on Wednesday and odd This year is really the 10th anniversary and we had numbers will be on Thursday over a 110 submitted abstracts which is a record. Five during and after lunch. I also abstracts were however rejected for lack of clarity and entreat participants to interact mainly for being below the standard of the meeting. during the breaks and Abstracts were from the African sub region, Europe socialization times to establish and the Americas. They covered a variety of areas collaboration, mentorship and from Biomedical Engineering, Public Health, exchange of ideas scientific or Disability and Clinical Research, Nutrition and Food otherwise. It is my fervent Safety, Plant Medicine and Toxicology, Genomics, hope that this year's meeting Molecular Biology and Biochemistry amongst will be one of the best as we others. I take this moment to thank all members of the expect a large gathering. Scientific Committee who graciously reviewed and Welcome to Accra, welcome scored all abstracts submitted. It will not have been to Noguchi and welcome to possible without your dedication and commitment. GBC 2017. Together let's march on in the name of Due to the number of abstracts and oral presentations science and thank you all for requested, we have increased the number of talks to making this possible. 40 presentations reduced the time slot from 15 to 12 minutes. We are hoping oral presenters will stick On Behalf of the Scientific strictly to the time allocation to enable the successful Committee. Ghana Biomedical Convention 10 10th Anniversary Celebrations Keynote Speaker – Professor Kim Williamson Dr. Kim C. Williamson recently joined the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Faculty as a Professor in the Microbiology and Immunology Department. Her primary research interests are malaria immunity and transmission.