Mark your calendars: 4th International Blastocystis Conference - in Crete!

Hello all,

I'ts been a while, but I hope that you've been updating yourself through various networks, social media platforms, and what not.

Importantly, please mark your calendar for the 4th International Blastocystis Conference in Crete on the 18-19 September, 2024. Moreover, on the day before the conference (17^th of September 2024) we will organise two parallel workshops, one on the Epidemiology of Blastocystis (Working Group 1 of the COST Action) and the other one on subtyping (Working Group 2 of the COST Action).

You can find more info on the conference here.

And more about the COST action on Blastocystis here and here. 

We hope to see as many of you there as possible!

This is your chance to meet all of us old Blasto-Buggers who never seize to be amazed... ! 😀

Bonus info: The 1st International Blastocystis Conference took place in Ankara in 2015 and was organised by Prof Funda Dogruman-Al and her lovely team. The next one took place in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2018, where Prof Juan-David Ramirez and his great colleagues pulled off a really nice event. The third one was a virtual on (during COVID) in 2021, and now we look forward to the fourth one in the Mediterranean Sea!

Update on 3rd International Blastocystis Conference 2021 2-4 of June 2021

Hello!

I would like to draw your attention to updates on the 3rd International Blastocystis Conference, which is very much ON, although in the virtual format.

Please go here for information.

I really hope that you will support the conference by your presence and active participation!

"Even though we wanted to see you in person in the beautiful Chania next year, we have decided for everyone’s safety to convert the 3rd International Blastocystis Conference into a virtual conference. The conference will take place between 2nd and 4th of June 2021 and we will make sure that it will also be tailored in the various time zones."

3rd International Blastocystis Conference

I'm extremely pleased to inform you about the launching of the website for the 3rd International Blastocystis Conference in 2021, which can be accessed here.

There is already quite a lot of information on the site, and the website will be developed and updated continously.

One big thing for me would be to try and attract as many students as possible to the conference, since Blastocystis is a remarkable parasite to learn from. It's one of the few parasites that can be cultured (from both humans and animals), and cultures can serve as basis for extensive molecular work.

Another big thing would be to establish a working group that could assist researchers with analysing 'tricky' subtype data.

I'm very thankful to be part of the International Blastocystis Network, and I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone interested in Blastocystis a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Season's Greetings and Best Blastocystis Paper of the Year

The year of 2018 is coming to an end, and what a BLASTO year we had!

The 2nd International Blastocystis Conference was so much more than a worthy sequel to the conference in Ankara in 2015, - it was also the conference that initiated the tradition of having a conference on Blastocystis every three years! And as most of you probably know, the next conference will be in Crete in 2021. More info to follow.

We also had a specific Blastocystis session in ICOPA 2018 in Daegu, South Korea, and I expect that this is also something that we'll see more of in future conferences.

Most exciting Blastocystis-related paper of the year for me is probably the one published by Raul Tito and colleagues in the journal Gut, which is available for free download here. The paper is a good example of the opportunity we have to study Blastocystis across geographical regions and taxonomic kingdoms. I would very much like to re-congratulate Raul on his fantastic work! His work sets an example for all of us.

Everyone, please remember that we have founded the International Blastocystis Network, which is a memeber of World Federation of Parasitology. Please help us come up with ideas as to what it can be used for.

To those of you who celebrate Christmas: Happy Christmas!
And a Happy New Year to everyone!

Rune