Global Health through Research:
23rd Annual Molecular Parasitology/Vector Biology Symposium


Tuesday, April 30th, 2013 (8:30am - 5:00pm)

Location: UGA Hotel and Conference Center, University of Georgia.

There is no cost to attend, but registration is required.

This symposium provides an opportunity for participants in the parasitology and vector biology programs at the University of Georgia and other regional institutions to gather for a day-long interactive conference on parasites and host/parasite interactions. The symposium routinely draws 100 - 125 attendees from many departments in at least three different colleges at UGA, and colleagues from other institutions in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee.

Yasmine Belkaid, Ph.D.

Keynote Speaker
Yasmine Belkaid, Ph.D.
Chief, Mucosal Immunology Section
NIAID, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases

Major Areas of Research

  • Role of the microbiota in immunity to infection
  • Role of dietary metabolites in promoting immune regulation and immune responses to pathogens
  • Tissue specific regulatory responses to infection
  • Leishmania major, Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium and Microsporidium spp.
Dr. Yasmine Belkaid obtained her Ph.D. in 1996 from the Pasteur Institute in France on innate responses to Leishmania infection. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at NIAID on immune regulation during parasitic infections, she joined the Children's Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati as an assistant professor in 2002. In 2005, she joined the NIAID, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases as a tenure-track investigator and was appointed as a senior investigator in 2008. Since 2008, she has worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work focuses on immune regulation at sites colonized by commensals such as the gut and the skin.

See Dr. Belkaid's homepage for research and publications.

Abstracts, Oral and Poster Presentations 

All abstracts are to be submitted online. When registering to attend symposium, make sure you check "yes" to present at the symposium. You do not specify oral or poster at this point. Login information will be emailed to you. 

It is during the online abstract submission that you specify your preference for oral or poster presentation. There is limited time for oral presentations, and therefore a format assignment (oral or poster) will be included in your notification of acceptance.

Questions about abstracts? Contact David Peterson dspete@uga.edu

  • Abstracts are to be submitted online.
  • Abstracts are to be 300 words or less.
  • Submission deadline is Friday, April 19th.
  • Notification of acceptance will be emailed to you.