Objectives

• Update researchers in training on the experimental approaches used in the study of host-pathogen interactions in model organisms.
• Promote existing interactions and create new ones among the scientific and academic communities of the participating institutions.
• Generate interdisciplinary training settings at the national and international levels.

Student Profile

Graduate and undergraduate students in areas related to biomedical research. Proficiency in English is required. Students must have completed a formal course in molecular and/or cellular biology and/or in immunology.

Please take the following information into account to complete the pre-registration form:

• You must write a letter of a maximum of 250 words in English specifying how it will benefit you.

Attach the following documents in a single PDF file no larger than 25MB:

• Transcript of records or Degree Diploma.
• B1/B2 English language certificate.
• Letter of recommendation from a teacher (in the case of a thesis student, preferably the thesis director), stating why this course will benefit your training.

Course Structure

The course is worth 3 credits (52 in-person hours and 92 hours of independent work).
Minimum attendance requirement: 90% (47 of the 52 in-person hours)

The following table presents the distribution of in-person course hours:

Pedagogical Strategies

1. Review and Preparation. Given the course’s emphasis on research methods, during the first week, students, together with faculty from the Universidad Nacional Bogotá Campus, will review fundamental cell and molecular biology concepts needed to understand the infectious models covered throughout the course. They will also become familiar with the life and transmission cycles of the pathogens studied in the research papers they will present during the first week of the course.
   
   1. Preparatory materials will be uploaded to Classroom three weeks before the course. Once the list of admitted students is available, students will be enrolled so they have sufficient time to complete the readings and preparatory reading-check exercises.
2. Journal Club on Primary Articles. Students will give oral presentations in groups and hold discussions on the primary articles assigned from the list provided.
3. Lectures by National and International Researchers. During the second week of the course, lecture sessions by visiting professors will be held. Presenters will be asked to emphasize the following aspects:
   
   1. What is the research problem?
   2. What experimental strategy do they use to answer their research questions, and what is the rationale for using it?
   3. Provide examples from their own work of the application of these strategies, including interpretation of the results obtained.
   4. These sessions will allow students to learn firsthand about the state of the art in a variety of contemporary experimental approaches used to study microorganisms with pathogenic potential for humans and animals.
4. Research Symposium. On the seventh day (Nov-20th), a symposium will be held featuring presentations by invited guests and researchers from the Universidad Nacional, including students who wish to present their results. During these presentations, students will have an additional opportunity to interact with the researchers.

Assessment

Assessment will be conducted by the course organizers (i.e., Professors Maria Clara Echeverry, Carlos Clavijo and Maritza Jaramillo) during the first and third weeks of the course.

This assessment consists of:

1. Week 1: Reading check on assigned textbook chapters and review articles that will provide basic cell and molecular biology concepts relevant to understanding the research lines presented during the course and symposium (see page 4, Section 7. Bibliography, Pedagogical Resources, and Reading Due Session): 30%.
2. Week 1 – Journal Club section: Oral presentation of a scientific article (see pages 5-6, Evaluation Sessions 1 and 2 - Journal Club): 30%.
3. Week 3 – Journal Club section: Reading check on articles presented and discussed during the Journal Club sessions (six articles in total): 40%.

Bibliography, Pedagogical Resources, and Reading Due Session

Molecular Biology of the Cell. 7th. Edition -2022. Editors: Peter Walter, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Alexander D. Johnson, David Morgan, Bruce Alberts, Rebecca Heald.

Molecular Medical Microbiology. 2nd Edition – 2015. Editors: YiWei Tang, Musa Hindiyeh, Dongyou Liu, Andrew Sails, Paul Spearman, JingRen Zhang.

An update on Cryptosporidium biology and therapeutic avenues, J Parasit Dis. 2022 Sep;46(3):923-939. doi: 10.1007/s12639-022-01510-5. Epub 2022 Jun 22

Foodborne cryptosporidiosis, International Journal for Parasitology Volume 48, Issue 1, January 2018, Pages 1-12

Investigation Update: Cyclospora Outbreak, July 2026 https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/07-26/investigation.html

Day 1 – Thursday, November 12

Day 2 – Friday, November 13

Evening Session – Evaluation Session 1 - Journal Club

Day 3 – Saturday, November 14 – Evaluation Session 2 – Journal Club

Day 4 – Tuesday, November 17

Day 5 – Wednesday, November 18

Day 6– Thursday, November 19

Day 7– Friday, November 20. – Symposium Detailed Schedule to be determined

Note: The participation of keynote speakers is subject to change due to force majeure or last-minute institutional scheduling conflicts. Any updates will be in a timely manner through our official channels.

Summary of CVs of Invited Researchers Participating in the Course and Symposium

Dr. Albert Descoteaux

Full Professor at INRS–Armand-Frappier Center and an Adjunct Professor at McGill University, where he earned his PhD in Parasitology (1991) before completing fellowships at the University of Kentucky and Harvard. He holds the Canada Research Chair in the Biology of Intracellular Parasitism, with funding from CIHR and NSERC.

Research Overview: Host-pathogen interactions, specifically how Leishmania affects the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria in host macrophages, alongside the biogenesis of the parasitophorous vacuole.

Dr. Laurent Chatel-Chaix

Full Professor at INRS–Armand-Frappier Center and Scientific Director of its Level 3 containment lab. He earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Montreal (2007) and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Montreal and the University of Heidelberg, specializing in hepatitis C, dengue, and Zika viruses.

Research Overview: Host-virus interactions and how flaviviruses (Dengue, Zika) morphologically and functionally hijack cellular machinery. Key areas include innate immunity, mitochondrial function, calcium homeostasis, and RNA metabolism.

Dr. Maritza Jaramillo

Full Professor at INRS–Armand-Frappier Center. She holds a BSc from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and a PhD from Université Laval, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in translational control at McGill University. She is an FRQS Senior Research Fellow, with funding from CIHR and NSERC.

Research Overview: Host-parasite interactions, specifically how dysregulated translation and turnover of host mRNAs drive the pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma gondii) and leishmaniasis (Leishmania spp.). Key areas include innate immunity, macrophage/trophoblast biology, cell signaling, and RNA biology.

Dr. Ryan Pardy

Assistant Professor at INRS–Armand-Frappier Center. He earned his BSc from Queen's University and his PhD from McGill University (2020), where he investigated T-cell responses to the Zika virus. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on how intestinal epithelial cells respond to interferon-gamma during Cryptosporidium infection.

Research Overview. Host-pathogen interactions, mucosal immunity, and how intestinal epithelial cells regulate their responsiveness to interferons to initiate cell-intrinsic defense mechanisms against pathogens like Zika virus and Cryptosporidium.

Dr. Simona Stäger

Full Professor at INRS–Armand-Frappier Center. She earned her DVM-PhD in Immunoparasitology from the University of Berne, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at Imperial College and LSHTM. She served as an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine before relocating her lab to INRS in 2011.

Research Overview: Regulation of the adaptive immune response during chronic infections. Her lab investigates the molecular mechanisms driving the development and maintenance of CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses, as well as B-cell interactions, using Leishmania, LCMV, and HIV models.

Dr. Frédéric Veyrier

Full Professor at INRS–Armand-Frappier Center and an Adjunct Professor at McGill University, where he earned his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology. He completed postdoctoral training at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and is an FRQS Senior Research Fellow. He also serves as the scientific lead for the Platform for the Characterization of Biological and Synthetic Nanovehicles.

Dr. José Robinson Ramírez-Pineda

Professor of Immunology at the University of Antioquia (UdeA) in Medellín, Colombia, where he has been a faculty member since 1998. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Bacteriology and a Master's degree in Biology (Genetics) from UdeA, followed by a PhD in Immunology.

Research Overview: Leads the Immunomodulation Research Group (GIM). His work spans preclinical and translational research, emphasizing host-pathogen interactions, innate immune responses to Leishmania infections, pathogenesis, and the development of chemically defined vaccines, immunotherapies, and anti-inflammatory small molecules.