BIOINFORMATICS TRAINING

NextGen Sequence Analysis

This hands-on training will equip participants with knowledge and skills on how to generate, manipulate, and analyze whole genome, whole exome, and targeted NGS data and discover germline SNPs, indels, SVs, and CNVs; somatic SNVs, SVs, and indels, and RNASeq SNPs and indels. The objective is to enhance the researchers‘ capacity to conduct world class scientific research and boost their institution‘s profile as a leading diagnostic and scientific centre.

Computer-Aided Drug Design

In this intensive training, partcipants will learn the science involved in disease target identification, virtual screening techniques, in-silico generation of ligands, protein optimization & energy minimization, molecular docking, creation of Grid Paramater & Dock Parameter files, running the Docking Algorithm, pharmacophore modeling, and drug repurposing.

They will also learn how to select potent inhibitors on the basis of binding energies and Lipinski‘s Rule of 5, how to look for H-bonds between ligands and active sites of protein residues as well as aspects of drug Likeness,ADME & Toxicity. Practical hands-on training will encompass training on the use of KenClust, software such as MarvinSketch, UCSF Chimera, AutoDock Tools, Ligand Scout,Open Babel, and SPDV among others. Lab work will include bacterial culture, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and genotoxicity testing.

PCR Bootcamp

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been hailed as one of the most important advances in molecular biology and is an indispensable tool in biomedical research. The objective of this intensive 5-day hands-on training is to impart transferrable skills on planning, setting-up, running and analysing PCR experiments.

Participants will be taken through principles of DNA replication, types and variants of PCR, and PCR principles and workflows. They will learn how to design and synthesize primers, prepare samples, design PCR assays, set up software, and apply PCR in DNA cloning for sequencing, functional gene analysis, disease diagnosis, paternity testing, and forensics. PCR Optimization and validation will also be taught. The course is right for any person who has an interest in starting to use PCR or current new users who want further training on Gene Expression Applications.

Bioinformatics 1

Bioinformatics is a discipline that involves the use of computer science and biology to solve biomedical or biological problems. It utilizes large amounts of data and complicated datasets to make deductions which are useful in solving medical or biological problems. Through bioinformatics, the aetiology of diseases can be investigated at gene level and understood hence making the discipline a vital tool in medicine. In this course, the student is introduced to the concepts of Bioinformatics. Hands-on sessions will familiarize students with the details and use of common tools and resources. The course will cover the use of NCBI's Entrez and EBI's SRS, EMBL, GenBank, DDBJ and other biological databases, file formats, BLAST, PSI-BLAST, ClustalW, phylogenetic analysis, protein analysis, Pfam, PRINTS, BLOCKS, Prosite and the PDB and MMDB. Principles of drug design (both structure-based and ligand-based) will be covered in depth and topics in whole transcriptome shotgun sequencing (RNA SEQ), transcriptomics, systems biology, and metabolomics will also be covered. An introduction to database design and the principles of programming languages and HTML/CSS scripting and database design using MySQL will also be provided

Metabolomics & Systems Biology

Metabolomics is the fastest growing area of life sciences and involves the systematic study of the small molecular metabolites in a cell, tissue, biofluid or cell culture media that are the tangible result of cellular processes or responses to an environmental stress. The main goal of metabolomics is to identify a list of differentially regulated metabolites for use in biomarker discovery, pathway analysis, model construction, and scientific literature.

The objective of this course is to acquaint the learner with emerging trends in metabolomics as well as equip him with skills for generating and interrogating metabolomic data. The course is ideal for students and researchers working in the pharma, biotech, food, and agricultural industries. In this course, students receive hands-on trainng on:

Experimental design of metabolomics studies

Sample preparation including extraction, chromatography, and ionization efficiency maximization

Generation of raw metabolomic LC/MS or GC/MS data

Pre-processing data analysis including conversion of raw data to the mXMZL format, feature detection, retention time correction and statistical analysis

Metabolite identification

Hypothesis testing and experimental validation