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Malaria, dengue fever and other global health issues to be examined at Upstate Medical University July 20, 21

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Biomedical researchers from around the world will convene on the Upstate Medical University campus July 20 and 21 for the first international meeting of the International Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Technology (IIBMST), to be held in the Medical Alumni Auditorium in Weiskotten Hall, 766 Irving Ave. in Syracuse.  There will be two scientific symposia, one on global health and the other on vision.  Both events are free and open to the public.

The IIBMST was created in 2009 by its three founding universities: SUNY Upstate Medical University, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, and National Cheng Kung University in Tainan City, Taiwan.

According to Steven Goodman, Ph.D., the IIBMST fosters research collaborations across three continents.  “IIBMST is an institute without walls that breaks down barriers between disciplines, academic research and industry, academic institutions and nations in the pursuit of ground-breaking biomedical research that will benefit all the world’s population,” said Goodman, vice president for research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies at Upstate, who also serves as the institute’s executive director.

The July 20 global health symposium will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. and address issues such as hepatitis B, malaria and dengue fever, which has seen recent outbreaks in Yemen and the Philippines and recent cases in Key West, Fla.  Presenters are James Kazura, M.D., of the Center for Global Health and Diseases at Case Western Reserve University; Timothy P. Endy, M.D., M.PH., F.A.C.P., of Upstate’s division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology and Public Health and Preventive Medicine; and Rosemary Rochford, Ph.D., of Upstate’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

The July 21 session, to be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. will focus on vision.  It is named for Upstate faculty member Robert Barlow, Ph.D., who died in December 2009, and who was the driving force that established the Center for Vision Research at Upstate and the SUNY Eye Institute.  Presenters include  Ido Perlman, Ph.D., of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; and Bill Brunken, Ph.D., of SUNY Downstate Medical Center and the SUNY Eye Institute; Jacobsen Scholar Barry E. Knox, Ph.D., of Upstate’s Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Ophthalmology, Center for Vision Research; and Eduardo Solessio, Ph.D., of Upstate’s Department of Ophthalmology, Center for Vision Research.

IIBMST membership is open to faculty members from an accredited institution who have interests in these research focus areas: cancer; infectious disease and emerging pathogens; disorders of the nervous system; diabetes, metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease; phamacogenetics and personalized medicine, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.

For more information about the symposium, visit www.upstate.edu/iibmst.