The West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) in collaboration with the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) and the Building Stronger Universities (BSU) initiative organized a Workshop on Modern Cell Biology at the Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology (BCMB). The workshop commenced on January 18, 2016 and ended on January 30, 2016.
The objective of the workshop is to help young scientists learn cell biology, methods for studying cells, and how they can be applied in their research work.

The workshop was officially opened by Prof. Isaac Asante, Head of Department- Plant and Environmental Biology who stood in for the Dean of School of Biological Sciences.
Also present were Dr. Gordon Awandare– Director of WACCBIP; Prof. Kwadwo A. Koram – Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR); Prof. George Obeng- Adjei; WACCBIP faculty and a member of BSU steering committee and Prof. Dick McIntosh – ASCB representative.

Welcoming participants to the workshop, the Head of Department (BCMB) and Director of WACCBIP, Dr. Gordon A. Awandare expressed his gratitude to the ASCB for sponsoring this workshop since 2009. He added that this is the first time the workshop is being sponsored by WACCBIP and urged participants to seize the opportunity and acquire as much knowledge from the experienced faculty they would be interacting with both formally and informally over the period of the workshop.
The workshop will also serve as a platform to equip graduate students with both theoretical knowledge and technical know -how as they prepare for their comprehensive exams and thesis research.

Prof. George Obeng – Adjei, WACCBIP faculty and a member of the BSU steering committee added that in line with the BSU initiative to make participating institutions stronger, the workshop will help produce skilled and motivated graduates who would employ   innovation, knowledge sharing and provide solutions to local and global challenges through research.

Prof. Isaac Asante in his opening speech indicated that the workshop is consistent with the University of Ghana's strategic vision of becoming a world class research- intensive institution, since the training will provide participants with the requisite knowledge and skill as they advance their respective research and career aspirations.
The workshop will consist of lectures, presentations, journal club discussions of selected papers from literature and hands on laboratory sessions.
Various faculty taught topics including: Protein folding and   structure,   Cell   Growth and Division,   TB   drug treatment and drug   resistance,   Next   Generation of Antibiotics from   Fungal Sources, Manipulating  Gene  Expression  in   malaria  to  fight  drug  resistance, Protein   Trafficking, Cell   Biology of Plasmodium,   Malaria  diagnostics, Naturally acquired immunity to   malaria, Genetic   manipulation  of  cells,  Concept   of  electrophoresis  and   blotting methods for   culturing eukaryotic cells, Flow  cytometry:  theory,  instrumentation and applications, Scientific integrity: image   manipulation, plagiarism, Grant  writing: obtaining   funding  in  Africa.






 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Participating faculty included scientist from the Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and the College of Health Sciences.
Other international faculty included: Prof John Richard McIntosh (University of Colorado), Prof. Kirk William Deitsch (Cornell University), Martha Cyert (Stanford University) and Joy Power (University of Colorado).