XX Winter School on "Epigenetics I: bNA methylation analysis" Organized by MKU

XX Winter School on "Epigenetics I: bNA methylation analysis"
16 - 30 November, 2011
Organized by 
School of Biological sciences, MKU

School of Biological sciences, MKU :
              Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), established in 1966, has 18 schools comprising 73 Departments, 66 affiliated Colleges and 15 Institutions. University Grants Commission (UGC) has recognized MKU as a "University with Potential for Excellence".
              Founded by the late Prof. S. Krishnaswamy, the School of Biological sciences (5135) stands as an Internationally reputed Centre of Excellence for research in modem biology. The SBS had pioneered in teaching Integrated Biology and Genomic Sciences.
              The focus of research in the school shifted in consonance with the contemporary developments. UGC has elevated SBS as the "Centre for Advanced Studies in Functional Genomics". SBS recently received support from Department of Biotechnology (DBT) to establish Interdisciplinary Program in Life Sciences (DBT-IPLS), The UGC has also supported SBS to establish the "Centre for Excellence in Genomic Sciences".

UGC-Networking Resource Centre in Biological sciences, MKU :
               
              UGC, in New Delhi has created Networking Resource Centres in various disciplines at leading University Departments/Research Institutions in India. The major objectives of the centres are to promote collaborative research, to provide access to advanced research facilities and to impart training to young researchers working in frontier areas of the respected subjects. SBS was recognized as a "Networking Resource Centre in Biological sciences (NRCBS)" in the year 2008,

UGC-NRCBS, MKU, with its state-of-the-art infrastructure, is functioning as a resource centre for training and research collaborations.

The activities of the UGC¬NRCBS include:

i) organizing summer and winter schools 
ii) guidance of PhD students of other Institute on experimental troubleshooting and research methodology 
iii) support for Ph.D students who are in need of equipment/laboratory facilities and
iv) strengthening the collaborative research initiatives in Biological sciences among universities and research Institutes.

Researchers from various parts of the country are trained in the winter/summer schools. The theme of the proposed winter school is "Epigenetics I: DNA methylation analysis"

About the Winter School :

Epigenetics is broadly classified as the study of inheritable alterations in the phenotype or gene expression in response to diet, developmental and environmental cues. Also, epigenetics studies inheritable changes of genes and gene expression that do not concern the original DNA nucleotide variations, such as mutations or polymorphisms.

Three different types of epigenetic variations are known to alter gene expression control, namely, rnethylation of genornic DNA, post-translational modification of histones and regulatory noncoding RNAs such as microRNAs. All three mechanisms concern extrinsic factors that can modulate the expression of genes, even though the encoding regions ofthe genes themselves are unchanged.

Age plays an important role in gene-environment interactions. Common diseases such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension increase with aging, which is correlated to the accumulation of epigenetic changes through the lifetime of an individual. Understanding epigenetics and epigenomics (the genome-wide distribution of epigenetic changes) will be essential in work related to many other topics requiring a thorough understanding of all aspects of genetics, such as stem cells, cloning, aging, synthetic biology, species conservation, evolution and Agriculture.

Epigenetics has an important role in shaping phenotypic alterations in health and disease in response to age and life-style variation and hence it seems likely that understanding and manipulating the epigenome hold enormous promise for preventing and treating common human diseases. For this reason, this winter school is aimed to provide the participating young researchers an overall experience in the field of Epigenetics with focused hands-on training on techniques to study DNA m.ethylation at the genome¬wide scale, to analyze gene-specific methylation and to investigate methylation status

Eligiblity :

• Applications are invited from research scholars, young faculty members and scientists working in research Departments of colleges or Universities/Research Institutes in India.
• Prefernces will be given to the candidates working or intended to work in the area of Epigenetics.

Application and Selection Procedure :

• The application form can be downloaded from www.nrcbsmku.org or www.genomicsmku.org
• Candidates should submit the filled in application form to
  Dr G.Gopalan,
  Convener,
  UGC-NRCBS Winter School on "Epigenetics I : DNA methylation analysis",
  School of Biological sciences,
  Madurai Kamraj University, Madurai-625021
  on or before October 30, 2011.
• Applications should be forwarded by their research supervisors / Head of the Department. The candidate will be selected based on their qualification and research interests.

For further information please contact:-

Dr. G. GOPALAN
Convener
UGC-NRCBS Winter School on
Epigeneties I: DNA methylation analysis'
School of Biological sciences,
Madurai Kamraj University,
Madurai-625021
Phone : 0452-2458212
Mobile : 91-960028129
E-mail : g.gopalan@nrcbsmku.org; ugcnrcbsmku@gmail.com

Deadline : 30.10.2011

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