Biomania

The Biomania Student Scientific Meeting is taking place 3rd October 2017 in Brno. The one-day conference is dedicated to the students of Bachelor, Master and Doctoral programmes working on topics thematically related to Biotechnology and Biomedicine.

Active participants will have chance to present the results of their own projects and try out their presentation skills in relaxed informal atmosphere. Entries are divided into sessions which will be announced based on scope of received abstracts and the best presentation in each session as well as poster wins a valuable prize. Language of the conference is English.

Conference is held under the auspices of prof. Ing. Petr Dvořák, CSc., Vice-rector for Research, Masaryk University

Register for The Biomania Student Scientific Meeting 2017

Important deadlines and information

• Date: 3rd October 2017
• Registration: from 1st May 2017 to !EXTENDED! 15th August 2017 (Active participants) or 8th September 2017 (Passive participants). Maximum number of participants is limited. The organizers retain the right to limit the number of participants from one institution out of organizing Masaryk University to 15. Early registration is recommended.
• Deadline for abstracts: Till !EXTENDED! 15th August 2017 - please send your abstracts to marketa.wayhelova@biomania.cz. Abstract has to have an exact form, so please respect our instructions for active participants.
• Conference fee: Regular Fee - 900 CZK (35 EUR) / Reduced Pregradual Student Fee - 600 CZK (25 EUR). Please pay the conference fee by bank transfer till 8th September 2017. Pregradual students may apply for a reduced fee by sending a proof of Bachelor/Master student status to marketa.wayhelova@biomania.cz, otherwise Regular Fee will apply (see details below).
• Be careful when filling registration form – especially name, affiliation and email address, these data will be presented in Conference Book and on your labels. Once filled, cannot be changed!

Scientific committee

• Pablo Ivan Nikel, Ph.D.
  Senior Researcher & Group Leader at The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, DTU, Denmark
• Prof. Des R. Richardson B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.
  Chair of Cancer Cell Biology, The University of Sydney, Australia
• Assoc. Prof. Mgr. Monika Vítězová, Ph.D.
  Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, MU, Brno, Czech Republic
• Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Zbyněk Prokop, Ph.D.
  Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, MU, Brno, Czech Republic
• Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Ondřej Slabý, Ph.D.
  Research group Molecular Oncology II - Solid Tumours - CEITEC, MU, Brno, Czech Republic

Organizing committee

• RNDr. Jan Škoda, Ph.D. (Faculty of Science, MU, Brno)
  chairman
• Mgr. Martin Benešík (Faculty of Science, MU, Brno)
• Mgr. Tomáš Buryška (Faculty of Science, MU, Brno)
• Mgr. Pavel Dvořák, Ph.D. (Spanish National Centre for Biotechnology, Madrid, Spain)
• Mgr. Pavel Reichman (Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Halle, Germany)
• Mgr. Dana Štveráková (Faculty of Science, MU, Brno)
• Mgr. Markéta Wayhelová (Faculty of Science, MU, Brno)

Venue

Brno Observatory and Planetarium, Kraví hora 2 – Brno, Czech Republic

Programme

Invited Keyspeakers

Prof. Des R. Richardson B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.
Targeting the metastasis suppressor, NDRG1, and the drug resistance transporter, P-glycoprotein using novel anti-cancer drugs.

Professor Des Richardson holds the Chair of Cancer Cell Biology at the University of Sydney, Australia, and is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Senior Principal Research Fellow. He has published > 400 articles, reviews, patents, chapters etc., over his career with >92% as first, senior or corresponding author (H-index: 77; >22,300 citations over entire career; with >13,468 citations over the past 5 years and H-index: 54 over past 5 years: Google Scholar Accessed 21st July 2017). He is Executive Editor of BBA-General Subjects and has served on the Editorial Boards of >40 international journals, including J. Biol. Chem., Antioxidants Redox Signaling, Biochem. J., BBA-Mol Cell Res, Mol. Pharmacol., Pharmacol. Res., etc. As a major translational research achievement, he has developed the anti-cancer and anti-metastatic drug, DpC, which overcomes P-glycoprotein mediated drug resistance. This has led to commercialisation of DpC and the development of the international company, Oncochel Therapeutics LLC, USA and its Australian subsidiary, Oncochel Therapeutics Pty Ltd. Notably, DpC has entered multi-centre Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of advanced and resistant cancer.

Pablo Ivan Nikel, Ph.D.
Digging deep into central carbon metabolism: Level-3 metabolic engineering of environmental bacteria

Pablo Iván Nikel is a Senior Researcher and Group Leader at The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain, Denmark). He has spent most of his scientific career working at the interface between Chemical Biology, Metabolic Engineering, and Synthetic Biology of different bacterial species. Having obtained an undergraduate degree in Biotechnology in Buenos Aires (Argentina), he moved into the broad field of Molecular Biology for his Ph.D. working in the design of recombinant Escherichia coli strains for the production of reduced biochemicals (such as bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates). He spent one year at Rice University (Houston, Texas), developing cutting-edge technologies for quantitative physiology analysis of microbial cells under the supervision of Profs. George N. Bennett and Ka-Yiu San. Dr. Nikel then joined the research team of Prof. Víctor de Lorenzo (Madrid, Spain) as a post-doctoral associate supported by an EMBO Long-term fellowship and then he got support from the European Union through a grant from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions to exploit new frontiers in Metabolic Engineering of alternative cell platforms. Over the last few years, he has mostly focused on the metabolic taming of environmental bacteria, especially Pseudomonas putida, for specific applications in bespoke biocatalysis and energy-efficient bioprocesses. His laboratory in DTU Biosustain (Systems Environmental Microbiology) continues to pursue the longstanding goal of engineering superior biocatalysts based in soil bacteria as the physical chasses by using state-of-the-art Synthetic Biology approaches.

Final programme

• 8:00 - 9:00 Registration
• 9:00 - 9:15 Opening of the conference
• 9:15 - 10:00 Key Lecture - K-01 - Des R. Richardson: Moving targets, the triad of death, and designing new agents for cancer therapy
• 10:00 - 10:30 Coffee break I
• 10:30 - 12:00 Session I – Molecular Oncology & Medicine
  • 10:30–10:45 T-01 - Anna Kotrbová: Emerging role of Wnt/Planar Cell Polarity pathway in progression of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma
  • 10:45–11:00 T-02 - Jirina Zackova Suchanova: Retargeting of Polyomavirus Based Particles to Cancer Cells
  • 11:00–11:15 T-03 - Karolina Trachtova: Bioinformatic analysis of microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs in malignant B cells
  • 11:15–11:30 T-04 - Petra Macigová: The use of phospho-protein arrays in the identification of possible therapeutic targets in pediatric sarcomas
  • 11:30–11:45 T-05 - Marketa Wayhelova: The clinical impact of targeted „next-generation“ sequencing in molecular diagnostics of intellectual disabilities and multiple congenital abnormalities
  • 11:45–12:00 T-06 - Simona Slezakova: Association of interleukin-8 gene variability with recurrent aphthous stomatitis
• 12:00 - 13:00 Lunch break
• 13:00 - 14:00 Poster session
• 14:00 - 15:30 Session II – Cell Biology and Modern Approaches in Molecular Research
  • 14:00–14:15 T-07 - Veronika Fedorová: Different mechanisms of p16/INK4A regulation in human embryonic and neural stem cells
  • 14:15–14:30 T-08 - Zsofia Turi: Downregulation of HEATR1 impairs ribosome biogenesis and activates p53 via RPL5/RPL11-MDM2 pathway
  • 14:30–14:45 T-09 - Affiefa Yawer: Connexin-mediated gap junctional communication: a functional biomarker of male’s reproductive toxicity
  • 14:45–15:00 T-10 - Jan Raska: Toxicology for the 21st century – stem cells, 3D and beyond
  • 15:00–15:15 T-11 - Jakub Sumbal: Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) as a dynamic regulator of mammary gland branching morphogenesis
  • 15:15–15:30 T-12 - Marek Černík: Physiologically relevant vasculature models based on microfluidic systems
• 15:30 - 16:00 Coffee break II
• 16:00 - 17:00 Key Lecture - K-02 - Pablo I. Nikel: Digging deep into central carbon metabolism: Level-3 metabolic engineering of environmental bacteria
• 17:00 - 17:15 Short break
• 17:15 - 19:00 Session III – Molecular Research in Bacteriology and Virology
  • 17:15–17:30 T-13 - Lukáš Chrást: Engineering of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida strains for degradation of anthropogenic pollutant
  • 17:30–17:45 T-14 - Martina Janoušková: Synthesis and Degradation of Ms1 in Mycobacterium smegmatis
  • 17:45–18:00 T-15 - Lenka Fišarová: Coagulase-negative staphylococci as a source of antimicrobial resistance genes
  • 18:00–18:15 T-16 - Dana Štveráková: Rapid identification of intact staphylococcal bacteriophages using MALDI-TOF MS
  • 18:15–18:30 T-17 - Veronika Vrbovská: Molecular typing and genome variability of Staphylococcus petrasii
  • 18:30–18:45 T-18 - Petra Sudzinová: HelD, a Novel Transcription Factor from Bacillus subtilis, and its Role in the Cell
  • 18:45–19:00 T-19 - Markéta Kopecká: Respirometric activity of activated sludge influenced by chemical substances
• 19:00 - 19:30 Announcement of the best presentation and poster awards
• 19:30 - 24:00 Conference party

Registered participants

You can register here.

Active participants

• Barák Martin, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Botka Tibor, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Celá Andrea, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Černík Marek, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Dave Zankruti, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Demko Martin, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Elrefae Lina, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Ergir Ece, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
• Fedorová Veronika, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Fišarová Lenka, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Herůdková Jarmila, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Chrást Lukáš, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Janoušková Martina, Institute of Microbiology, AS CR, Praha, Czech Republic
• Jarábková Veronika, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Trnava, Slovak Republic
• Kopecká Markéta, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Kopková Alena, Masaryk university, Brno, Czech Republic
• Kotrbová Anna, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Kováč Jozef, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Krkoška Martin, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Macigová Petra, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Nevídalová Hana, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Novák David, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Pašková Kateřina, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Pospíšil Jiří, Institute of Microbiology of the CAS, v. v. i., Prague, Czech Republic
• Rabata Anas, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Raška Jan, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Sekavova Alzbeta, Charles University, Faculty of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
• Slezáková Simona, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Spustova Karolina, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Sudzinová Petra, Institute of Microbiology of the CAS, v.v.i., Prague, Czech Republic
• Suchánková Jana, Institute of Biophysics of the CAS, v. v. i., Brno, Czech Republic
• Sumbal Jakub, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Šafaříková Eva, Institute of Biophysics of the CAS, v. v. i., Brno, Czech Republic
• Šetinová Dita, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
• Šetinová Dita, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
• Štveráková Dana, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Tišáková Lenka, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Trnava, Slovak Republic
• Trachtová Karolína, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Troják Matej, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Turi Zsofia, Palacky University, Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Olomouc, Czech Republic
• Válková Lucie, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Váňová Jana, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
• Vrbovská Veronika, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Yawer Affiefa, RECETOX Masaryk University , Brno, Czech Republic
• Žáčková Suchanová Jiřina, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Passive participants

• Baráková Alžběta, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Baran Aleš, SERENDIPITY, Přerov, Czech Republic
• Bosáková Veronika, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Břenková Barbora, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Buryška Tomáš, Masaryk university, Brno, Czech Republic
• Čechová Gabriela, Merck sro, Prague, Czech Republic
• Dvořák Pavel, CNB-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
• Flora Martin, Gymnázium Brno, tř. Kpt. Jaroše, p. o., Brno, Czech Republic
• Fojtů Michaela, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Hajnal Matej, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Hatlapatková Kristina, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Jaros Josef, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Krupkova Olga, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
• Krzyzankova Marcela, BioVendor, Brno, Czech Republic
• Moráň Lukáš, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Němcová Hana, Masaryk Univerity, Brno, Czech Republic
• Peltanová Barbora, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Reichman Pavel, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Halle (Saale), Germany
• Romanovská Františka, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Škoda Jan, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Trebichalská Zuzana, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Wayhelová Markéta , Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Conference fee

• Regular Fee: 900 CZK (35 EUR) / Reduced Pregradual Student Fee: 600 CZK (25 EUR)
• Regular Fee is applied for all registrations. In order to apply for Reduced Pregradual Student Fee, a proof of Bachelor/Master student status has to be sent to marketa.wayhelova@biomania.cz. Please note that you may pay the Reduced Pregradual Student Fee only after you received a confirmation email stating you are eligble to register as a pregradual student.
• Please pay the conference fee till 8th September 2017. Foreign participants may pay in place.
• Conference materials and Conference Party are included in both types of conference fee.

Conference book

Conference book with ISBN will be edited by MU Publishing. Please respect deadline for Abstracts. Abstract has to have an exact form, so please respect our instructions for active participants.

Instructions for active participants

Abstract

• It is necessary to prepare an abstract for your presentation or poster and send it till August 15, 2017 to marketa.wayhelova@biomania.cz.
• Title of your abstract is the same as the title of your presentation or poster.
• Abstract must follow rules written below.

Form of abstract
Please refer to a sample abstract to address the required format of your abstract. We recommend to use the sample abstract as a template when writing your own abstract.

The abstract must be written in English without any formatting (except italic for scientific species' names) as this will be deleted prior to being published. Except graphical changes, abstracts will be reproduced as submitted and unchanged in The Conference Book.
Minimum abstract length in total (including title, names of authors and affiliation) is 150 words, maximum length is 300 words. Abstracts longer than 300 words will be rejected without being evaluated. Try to avoid using reference citations in text. Figures, graphs or pictures can be used only exceptionally and their size will be reduced to fit the size of an appropriate text area of 300 words as a maximum.
The name of the presenting author should be indicated with an asterisk (*). The abstract must contain the full names of contributing authors in order of the authorship and full affiliations of authors identified with superscripts (1). Abstracts should briefly outline the main features, results and conclusions as well as their general significance.
Changes to your abstract cannot be made after final submission deadline. Please proofread your abstract carefully before a submission. This includes adding authors or correcting authors names or affiliations.

Presentation

• Please, try to summarize the main ideas of your work in 10-12 minute long presentation so the rest of the time (up to 5 minutes for each speaker) can be dedicated to the free relaxed discussion with the audience.
• It is necessary to prepare an abstract of your presentation.
• Presenters should arrive in the session room at the latest 20 minutes before the session is scheduled to begin in order to install and set up their presentation data.
• Data are accepted on USB memory stick or CD. The session room computers are equipped with a Windows™ operating system and Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Reader. We highly recommend having a back-up pdf version of yours PowerPoint presentations.

Poster

• Each author is responsible for setting up and removing his/her poster according to the conference schedule. Please setup your poster at the latest 30 minutes before the session starts. Please remove your poster after the conference ends.
• The poster panel is provided for each poster presentation. The maximum usable area for each panel is about A0 format - 84 cm (width) x 119 cm (height). Technical equipment necessary for installation of the poster onto the poster board will be provided on-site. The conference staff will be prepared to help you with the installation.
• It is possible to let your poster hanging on the poster board during the whole conference. During a dedicated poster session, authors will have the opportunity to accompany their posters, present and discuss them with conference attendees.

Conference Party

Maximum number of participants is limited to 130 persons, so early registration is recommended. Conference Party is taking place in the meeting venue.

Contacts

• marketa.wayhelova@biomania.cz – abstract acceptance; communication with participants and lecturers
• pavel.dvorak@biomania.cz – fundraising, communication with partners and sponsors
• jan.skoda@biomania.cz - promotion, webmaster

Previous Student Scientific Conferences

• The Biomania Student Scientific Meeting 2015
• The Student Scientific Conference on Biotechnology and Biomedicine 2013
• The Student Scientific Conference on Biotechnology and Biomedicine 2012
• The Student Scientific Conference on Cancer Research
• Studentská vědecká konference pro studenty pracující s geneticky modifikovanými organismy (GMO)