The 1st European Summer School on 'proteomic basics'--the students view. 12-18 August, 2007 Kloster Neustift, Brixen/Bressanone, South Tyrol, Italy

Fifty postgraduate and postdoctoral delegates from all over Europe attended the week-long '1st European Summer School on Proteomic Basics' in Kloster Neustift in the Italian South Tyrol in August 2007. Invited proteomics experts gave tutorial lectures on Proteomics techniques with an emphasis on sample preparation, protein separation and purification in the first of an annual series of Proteomics Summer Schools funded by the EU and the Volkswagen Stiftung.     

'Proteomic basics--sample preparation and separation': the 1st European Summer School in Kloster Neustift, 12-18 August, 2007 Brixen/Bressanone, South Tyrol, Italy

Proteomics is rapidly developing into a routine approach for protein analysis in many laboratories. The series of European-wide Summer Schools 'Proteomics Basics' (http://www.proteomic-basics.eu/) aims at teaching of comprehensive knowledge in proteomics research and applied technologies for master and graduate students and postdocs currently moving into the field of proteomic research. In the next 3 years the series will cover the theoretical basis of the fundamental topics in the various areas of proteomic analysis, i.e. sample preparation and handling, mass spectrometry, post-translational modifications and quantitation given by leading experts in the field. This summer school series embodies a unique advantage in comparison with conventional scientific meetings and university curricula: internationally renowned experts will give a detailed perspective view of the fundamentals of their particular proteome research area, something which is usually not encountered at conferences and congresses. Here, we give a report on the first European Summer School 'Sample Preparation and Handling' within the series 'Proteomic Basics' that was held at the monastery in Neustift close to Bressanone/Brixen, Italy from August 12 to 18, 2007.     

Challenges and prospects for biomarker research: A current perspective from the developing world

Majority of deaths due to communicable and non-communicable diseases occur in the low and middle-income nations (LMNs), mainly due to the lack of early diagnoses and timely treatments. In such a scenario, biomarkers serve as an indispensible resource that can be used as indicators of biological processes, specific disease conditions or response to therapeutic interventions. Evaluation, diagnosis and management of diseases in developing world by following/extrapolating the findings obtained on the basis of the research work involving only the populations from the developed countries, could often be highly misleading due to existence of diverse patterns of diseases in developing countries compared to the developed world. Biomarker candidates identified from high-throughput integrated omics technologies have promising potential; however, their actual clinical applications are found to be limited, primarily due to the challenges of disease heterogeneity and pre-analytical variability associated with the biomarker discovery pipeline. Additionally, in the developing world, economic crunches, lack of awareness and education, paucity of biorepositories, enormous diversities in socio-epidemiological background, ethnicity, lifestyle, diet, exposure to various environmental risk factors and infectious agents, and ethical and social issues also cumulatively hinder biomarker discovery ventures. Establishment of standard operating procedures, comprehensive data repositories and exchange of scientific findings are crucial for reducing the variability and fragmentation of data. This review highlights the challenges associated with the discovery, validation and translational phases of biomarker research in LMNs with some of their amenable solutions and future prospects. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Biomarkers: A Proteomic Challenge.     

The International Proteomics Tutorial Programme (IPTP): a teaching tool box for the proteomics community

The most critical functions of the various proteomics organisations are the training of young scientists and the dissemination of information to the general scientific community. The education committees of the Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) and the European Proteomics Association (EuPA) together with their national counterparts are therefore launching the International Proteomics Tutorial Programme to meet these needs. The programme is being led by Peter James (Sweden), Thierry Rabilloud (France) and Kazuyuki Nakamura (Japan). It involves collaboration between the leading proteomics journals: Journal of Proteome Research, Journal of Proteomics, Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, and Proteomics. The overall level is aimed at Masters/PhD level students who are starting out their research and who would benefit from a solid grounding in the techniques used in modern protein-based research. The tutorial program will cover core techniques and basics as an introduction to scientists new to the field. At a later stage the programme may be expanded with a series of more advanced topics focussing on the application of proteomics techniques to biological problem solving. The entire series of articles and slides will be made freely available for teaching use at the Journals and Organisations homepages and at a special website, www.proteomicstutorials.org.     

EuPA achieves visibility - an activity report on the first three years

Plans for the European Proteomics Association (EuPA) were conceived and established during 2004 and 2005, and culminated in the formal inception of the organisation during the 4th HUPO World Congress held in Munich in 2005. The mission from the outset has been three-tiered and is to: i) strengthen the national Proteomics organizations in their efforts; ii) to co-ordinate and provide educational programs, and iii) to advance the networking of scientists through meetings, workshops and student exchange. Linked to the mission were objectives to emphasise the benefits and contributions of Proteomics to biological and industrial researchers, the general public and science policy makers in Europe. In addition, the EuPA set out to promote scientific exchange for all applications and technology development related to Proteomics, and coordinate joint activities of national Proteomics societies at the European level. To achieve these tasks an organisational structure was conceived whereby four Activity Committees (Conferences/Communications, Education, EuPA-HUPO-Interactions and Funding) were implemented and a General Council consisting of all member countries. The remarkable rise and progress the EuPA has achieved in this small time frame is reported here.