The 5th and final workshop of the COST 857 action took place from May 27th to 31st in the lush fisher´s village of Kolymbari on the island of Crete. This COST action (European Cooperation in the field of Scientifical and Technical research) was dedicated to work on parasitic protozoa. The latest results from research on diseases with immensely high significance for human and animal health like malaria, toxoplasmosis or coccidiosis were presented and discussed by Europe´s leading researchers in these fields.
The core topics of the event were discovery of new targets for drug development, vaccine development, host-parasite relationships, parasite genetics and biochemical processes. Besides experienced researchers there were also a lot of young scientists who took the chance to present their work to the scientific community. Klaus Teichmann from the BIOMIN Research Center presented his work on antiparasitic bioassays, alongside with researchers from Merck USA, Intervet, the Sanger Institute, IAH Compton and many more. The strong support for a young generation of scientists was a general feature of this COST action and helps to ensure the future competitiveness of Europe in science and technology.
At the quiet and picturesque venue the scientific debates were not only pursued in the lecture hall, but also afterwards at dinner and between swimming in the sea. None of the participants could escape the folk dance group on the last evening that presented their skills and invited for traditional Greek dancing.
The actual COST program will end this year, but the application for a follow-up COST action is currently in preparation and hopefully there will be support for networking in this important field in the future as well. |
