Single Cell LATAM Symposium: Connecting Communities and Advancing Research

The Brazilian National Institute of Cancer (INCA), and Wellcome Connecting Science (WCS), are excited to announce the first Single Cell LATAM Symposium: Connecting Communities and Advancing Research.

Over the past decade, single-cell genomics has witnessed rapid advancement, fundamentally altering how we approach and resolve biological inquiries. The ability to examine individual cells has unveiled gene expression dynamics and cellular diversity previously obscured in aggregate analysis. However, with the simultaneous profiling of millions of cells, challenges arise in experimental design, mitigating errors and biases, and handling extensive datasets. Nevertheless, this scenario is more demanding in Latin America (LATAM) countries, which face challenges due to limited infrastructure, funding constraints, and a shortage of expertise hindering the adoption of these advanced technologies.

To overcome the challenges in LATAM and promote a collaborative approach between countries, the Single Cell LATAM Symposium aims to bring together local researchers interested in single-cell technologies to discuss the latest key approaches in single-cell genomics while exploring questions that are distinctive to LATAM, such as challenges, opportunities, and how to improve capacity building in Single-Cell Genomics within the LATAM community. Spanning two days, the symposium is organised to cover a wide array of topics crucial for both newcomers and seasoned researchers in the field, including talks on the latest technological advances, dataset integration strategies, and the impacts of single-cell technologies on various diseases. The symposium also includes poster sessions and fosters informal interactions among LATAM experts, who are working at the forefront of the single-cell field, with researchers at all career stages.

Target audience

This event aims to bring together researchers, early and mid-career scientists, PhD students, and postdoctoral researchers based in Latin American countries who are excited about, performing or planning to perform single-cell genomics.

The Symposium registration starts at 12:00  BRT on Friday 16 August and closes at 18:30 BRT on Saturday 17 August 2024 (BRT: Brasilia time). The programme will also include poster sessions and short oral presentations from submitted abstracts, offering an opportunity to discuss their research.

Discussions aim to cover a variety of exciting topics, including:

• Recent technological advances and emerging trends;
• Challenges and opportunities in Single-Cell Genomics in Latin American countries;
• Improving data sharing and governance frameworks in Latin American countries;
• Single-Cell omics in immunology;
• Integration strategies for Single-Cell datasets;
• Diseases in the era of Single-Cell methodologies
• Overcoming technical challenges in Single-Cell applications

Scientific programme committee

Alvaro Lladser
Universidad San Sebastián, Chile

Danielle Bonfim
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Edith Kordon
Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Lucía Spangenberg
Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay

Ricardo Chinchilla
Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica 

Organising committee

Alica Matimba 
Wellcome Connecting Science, UK

Annie Squiavinato
National Institute of Cancer (INCA), Brazil  

Bianca Braga Frade 
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

David Adams 
Wellcome Sanger Institute, United Kingdom

Isabela Malta 
Wellcome Connecting Science, UK

Karon Chappell
Wellcome Connecting Science, UK

Liã Bárbara Arruda 
Wellcome Connecting Science, UK

Mariana Boroni
National Institute of Cancer (INCA), Brazil  

Nayara Tessarollo
National Institute of Cancer (INCA), Brazil  

Patricia Abrão Possik
National Institute of Cancer (INCA), Brazil  

Tamires Caixeta Alves 
National Institute of Cancer (INCA), Brazil  

Registration of Interest is open until the 20th June. Pre-selected participants will be invited to submit an abstract thereafter.

Invited attendees are welcome to submit abstracts for short talks and poster presentations on the main themes specified.

Abstracts will only be considered from registered delegates. All abstracts must be submitted by the deadline.

The scientific programme committee will assess your abstract after the deadline has passed and you will be notified whether you have been selected to present a short talk or poster presentation.