III Virology Workshop
Third Virology Workshop at UESC, organised by the Virus Bioinformatics (BioVirLab) and Applied Pathology and Genetics (LAPAGEN) laboratories, with support from the Brazilian Society of Virology (SBV).
The Virology Workshop is an outreach initiative held annually at the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC), the result of a partnership between the Virus Bioinformatics Laboratory (BioVirLab) and the Applied Pathology and Genetics Laboratory (LAPAGEN), with support from the Brazilian Society of Virology (SBV).
In its third edition, under the theme “Virology and Bioinformatics”, the workshop brought together prominent scientists from across the field, from environmental to human virology, including Betânia Drumond, the current president of the SBV. That breadth helped bring current, high-quality knowledge to an academic community made up of research lecturers, professionals and students in training.
Topics such as the advances and challenges of dengue vaccine development, along with different methodological approaches to the study of viruses — cryo-electron microscopy and, fittingly for this year’s theme, bioinformatics — give the event an interdisciplinary identity of its own. The programme mixed a wide range of subjects, from basic science through to more technical approaches.
Epidemiology, surveillance and viral evolution also stood out as central themes in the talks and in the round table, prompting substantial discussion of how viruses adapt. These debates raised important reflections on the current landscape, and on the precautionary measures that should be adopted and monitored in the face of the outlook and the risks to the population.
The speakers invited to this third edition came from institutions of considerable standing in Brazilian and international science, including the Federal University of Western Bahia (UFOB), the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), the São José do Rio Preto Medical School (FAMERP), the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), the Institut Pasteur and the Adolfo Lutz Institute. This institutional diversity reinforces the broad, integrative character of the event, encouraging the exchange of experience, knowledge and different perspectives within virology.
In this context, the workshop is establishing itself as an important influence on the training of new scientists, on strengthening virology in the Northeast of Brazil, and on bringing teaching institutions closer together. That interaction was helped in particular by the presence of attendees and speakers from a range of universities and institutions, opening the way for new academic ties and scientific collaborations.