Pathology in tropical medicine

The pathology o f a parasitic disease is a major link between the investigating parasitologist and those concerned with its epidemiology, socioeconomic impact, clinical treatment and control. The epidemiologist requires information about the incidence and prevalence of major pathological lesions attributable to on infection, which in turn will determine the social and economic impact of the disease and thus its priority for control. For both diagnosis and treatment, the clinician requires an understanding of the pathological mechanisms, and the potential for new drugs or vaccine development largely depends on such understanding. Recent years have seen remarkable improvements in determining the nature of pathology associated with parasitic infections. and in understanding their causative mechanisms. With this issue, Parasitology Today begins a series of special reviews designed to bring together these insights into parasite pathology (see pages 271-282). In this introductory overview. Charles Mackenzie traces the origins and development of the science.     

The third Central and Eastern European Proteomic conference

The third Central and Eastern European Proteomic Conference was held at Hotel Benzcur, Budapest, Hungary, from the 6–9 October 2009. The meeting was the third in a series of proteomic conferences to be held in this region of Europe, with the key aim of strengthening the links with scientists from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as international groups worldwide. It was attended by more than 150 delegates from various countries and many proteomic topics, including biomarker discovery, post-translational modifications, clinical proteomics, as well as new proteomic technologies, which may facilitate future progress, were discussed over the 3 days.