Bioinformatics for Immunologists (Virtual)

This course – organised in association with EMBL-EBI – will provide participants with an introduction to a range of bioinformatics resources and approaches applicable to immunological research. The resources introduced during the course will cover a variety of data types, from genomic and proteomic data to computational models, biological pathways, and reaction information.

Participants will gain experience of the analysis pipelines for NGS experiments relevant to immunology and will be led through an exploration of this data to identify information of interest. They will also learn how data from several sources can be integrated to provide a wider view of their research, thereby enabling them to be more confident users of their own data and that from public sources.

The course is aimed at individuals working in immunology research who have minimal experience in bioinformatics. Applicants are expected to be at an early stage of using bioinformatics in their research with the need to develop their skills and knowledge further. Participants will need a basic knowledge of the Unix command line, and the R statistical package. We recommend these free tutorials:

• Introduction to the Unix environment – http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/
• Basic R concepts – http://www.r-tutor.com/r-introduction

Virtual course format

Participants will learn via a mix of pre-recorded lectures, live presentations, trainer Q&A sessions and hands-on training. Practical experience will be developed through group activities and trainer-led computational exercises. Live sessions will be delivered using Zoom with additional support and communication via Slack.

Pre-recorded material will be made available to registered participants before the start of the course. Computational practicals will run on EMBL-EBI’s virtual training infrastructure, meaning participants will not require access to a powerful computer or install complex software on their machines.

After this course participants should be able to:

• Locate and search publicly available bioinformatics data of interest
• Use software and tools to manipulate and analyse immunological data
• Apply appropriate bioinformatics methodologies to their research
• Combine different types of data to gain further immunological insights

The course will start at 8:30 Monday 27 September and finish at ~ 15:15 on Friday 1 October 2021. All time are in GMT. See the time where you are here

The course will explore several bioinformatics resources relevant to immunology including:

• Computation approaches for flow cytometry
• Bulk and Single-cell RNA sequencing and databases of regulatory information
• Tools to extract mechanism relevant for immunology from ‘Omics’ data
• Approaches to analysing adaptive immune receptor repertoire
• Immunology databases
• EMBL-EBI data resources: IntAct, Reactome, BioModels

Scientific programme committee

Dayane Araujo
EMBL-EBI

Anna Lorenc
Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK

Confirmed speakers

Sierra Barone – Vanderbilt School of Medicine, USA
Aurelien Dugourd – Heidelberg University, Germany
Johannes Griss –  EMBL-EBI,  UK
Christopher Hall – Babraham Institute, UK
Jonathan Irish – Vanderbilt School of Medicine, USA
Birgit Meldal – EMBL-EBI, UK
Ben Moore – EMBL-EBI,  UK
Kalpana Pannershelvam–  EMBL-EBI,  UK
Marta Perez Alcantara – Wellcome Sanger Institute,  UK
Livia Perfetto – EMBL-EBI, UK
Julio Saez-Roriguez – Heidelberg University,  Germany
Rahuman Sherrif – EMBL-EBI, UK
Thawfeek Varusai – EMBL-EBI, UK

 Event organisers

Lucy Criddle – Events Organisaer
Treasa Creavin – Scientific Programme Manager

Prerequisites

Applicants are expected to be at an early stage of using bioinformatics in their research with the need to develop their skills and knowledge further. Participants will need a basic knowledge of the Unix command line, and the R statistical package. We recommend these free tutorials:

• Introduction to the Unix environment – http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/
• Basic R concepts – http://www.r-tutor.com/r-introduction

How to Apply
Please complete the online application form. Places are limited and will be awarded on merit. If you have any problems with the online application process, please contact us.

Please note: Applications must be supported by a recommendation from a scientific or clinical sponsor (e.g. supervisor, line manager or head of department). A request for a supporting statement will be sent to your nominated sponsor automatically during the application process. Applicants must ensure that their sponsor provides this supporting statement by the application deadline. Applications without a supporting statement cannot be considered.

Bursaries

A limited number of registration bursaries are available to attend this course (up to 50% of the standard registration fee) from the courses and conference programme.
The following documents will need to be provided:

• CV
• A justification letter (explain how you will benefit from attending the course)
• A supporting letter from supervisor stating financial need