On June 1-4, 2008 the International Workshop“Brucellosis as a Trans-boundary Infection of Animals and Humans which Needs to be Managed by Cooperative Efforts of Different Countries” was held at the SFES RCT&HRB FMBA of the RF (Serpukhov district, Moscow region). The workshop was organized by the Federal Medico-Biological Agency of the Russian Ministry of Public Health and Social Development, RCT&HRB FMBA RF, BioIndustry Initiative Program of the US Department of State, US Civilian Research and Development Foundation, and the International Science and Technology Center with the support of the Head of Serpukhov District Administration.

The main objectives of the workshop were:

In the meeting more than 80 scientists and experts from Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, USA, and Mexico participated. These scientists underlined the need to establish close scientific contacts with research institutions from CIS countries, Europe, USA, and Mexico to develop cooperative research projects and to arrange special training to upgrade the skills of scientists doing brucellosis-related research.

On June 01-07 ISTC took part in the international conference Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics and Nanobiotechnologies for Medicine (GPBNM-2008). The main goals of the Conference were to tackle the new challenges of genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and nanobiotechnologies with a special emphasis on applying them to modern theoretical and practical medicine, as well as strengthening the contacts between Russian and foreign specialists in these fields of science.

The Symposium was co-organized by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB), the International Human Proteome Organization (HUPO), the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC), the Federal Agency on Science and Innovation, the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russian Federation, the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), the Moscow Committee on Science and Technologies (MCST), the Moscow Department of Science and Industrial Policy, the Institute of Biomedical Chemistry RAMS, and the Noncommercial Partnership “Center of Proteomic Researches”.

See the complete program at: http://ibmc.p450.ru/gpbnm2008/ppr_en.htm

The 16th European Biomass Conference & Exhibition took place in Valencia, Spain, on June 2-6. With the help of ISTC, Russian scientists from Tver State Technical University and Tambov State University presented their views on new methods in the field of renewable energy. Participants expressed their interest in collaborating on ISTC projects.

For more information click here: http://www.conference-biomass.com/index.htm

The 10th International Conference ConSoil-2008 on problems of soil-water system contamination was held on June 3-6 2008 in Milan, Italy. The conference was devoted to several important topics:

The conference was organized and sponsored by the Provincia di Milano, the German Ministry of Education and Research, Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, Environ (Italy), TAMOIL (Italy).

More than 900 scientists, engineers, managers, project directors, business representatives, governmental officials from more than 43 countries attended the conference. About 50 lecture sessions and 200 presentations were given, in addition to 30 special sessions organized by research groups, organizations and project teams. Representatives of different countries and regions (Flanders, Germany and The Netherlands) highlighted the developments of special importance to them. The US EPA organized technical sessions every day and about 250 posters were presented.

A special ISTC session was organized on the following topics:

Radioactive contamination in Russia and other CIS countries

Special cases of toxic soil contamination

20 scientists from research institutes in Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan presented their project results related to the above-mentioned areas. The program and proceedings of this session have been published.

ISTC and its partners have funded more than 70 projects for the amount of $17 M USD in these specific fields of research.

For more information about the event: http://consoil.ufz.de/

The International Conference/ISTC workshop Bacteriophages - Fundamental and Practical Research Today & Tomorrow (Overview of the work performed in the field from 1917 to 2007) dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology & Virology was held on June 12-15, 2008 in Tbilisi, Georgia. The goals of the Conference were to:

The workshop materials were sent to the Ministries of Health, Environment & Agriculture of the participating CIS countries. A special memorandum was sent to the World Health Organization with recommendations to establish the pilot demonstration studies in the countries with high incidence of enteric infections by use of the bacteriophage preparations as a prophylactic means.

It is believed that the experience and knowledge of CIS and western colleagues can lead to a solution of the problem related to the emergence and re-emergence of health threatening multi-drug resistant bacteria and add the bacteriophages techniques to the arsenal of the therapeutic methods.

The Eliava Bacteriophage Institute has much experience in the field of bacteriophage therapy. The institute was founded in 1923 and its main research direction has remained unchanged since this time.

The Conference Laser Optics – 2008, held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, represents the largest scientific forum in the country in the fields of laser techniques and technology. It is focused on discussion and resolution of basic and applied problems in this area. The conference is included into the official list of meetings held under the aegis of international societies such as SPIE and OSA. Honorable Chairs of the Conference are Nobelists Charles Townes and Zhores Alferov.

More than 800 scientists from 42 countries attended the Conference, including scientists from USA, China, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan. Among the Conference participants were representatives of academic institutes and universities of Russia and other CIS states along with experts of the military-industrial complexes of these countries.

The unique role of ISTC in linking former Russian weapons scientists and the international scientific community was underlined during the meetings and discussions.

On June 24-26, the Russian–European Workshop DNA Repair and Epigenetic Regulation of Genome Stability brought together researchers working in the genome stability area to foster idea exchange and provide information on the latest works. This is a rapidly growing field of modern biomedical science that deals with genotoxicity issues, radiation biology and medicine. Defects in DNA repair systems cause serious hereditary diseases, cancer and aging. International collaboration in this field is very important development of optimal treatment strategies.

The workshop was organized by the Institute of Cytology, the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine and the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences.

The main topics of the Symposium and ISTC Workshop were:

About 100 scientists from different regions of Russia, UK, Germany, Norway, France, Switzerland, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, USA attended. Forty reports and lectures were made. The results of ISTC projects #3312, #2593, #1878, #2915 were presented at a special ISTC session. Meetings between Russian and Western researchers resulted in intentions of new ISTC project proposals.

It was agreed to strengthen and coordinate the efforts of Russia-Western collaboration in the field of DNA repair and genome stability through ISTC. The workshop program and abstracts of presentations were published.