The 6th ACGT Proteomics workshop kicked off at the University of Pretoria (UP) on the 1st of February 2016. Returning workshop facilitator, Prof Lennart Martens (from Ghent University) presented a two-day workshop to an enthusiastic group of delegates represented by UP, the Agricultural Research Council, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research , University of Free State and the National Health Laboratory Services.
Prof Martens gave a series of lectures and practicals on de novo sequencing, protein identification issues, protein inference and metaproteins. Ms Tracey Hurrell, a senior PhD student at UP, stood in for Prof Kathryn Lilley at the UP leg of the workshop. Ms Hurrell spent 18 months in Prof Lilley’s lab in Cambridge as a fellow and therefore was the perfect stand-in for Prof Lilley. Ms Hurrell gave lectures on post translational modifications, protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions, and spatio-temporal proteomics.
The lectures were well received by the delegates and the round table discussion sessions afforded the delegates the opportunity to interact with the experts and ask for guidance with regards to their own research. Prof Duncan Cromarty from UP and Dr Stoyan Stochev from CSIR (both experts in the proteomics field) were there to assist with the round table discussions.
The two-day workshop was replicated in Cape Town at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on the 4th to the 5th of February. Prof Jonathan Blackburn’s lab at UCT hosted the workshop in conjunction with ACGT; with Prof Martens and Prof Lilley facilitating the workshops.
The delegates who attended the UCT workshop were from UCT, Stellenbosch University, K-RITH and CPGR. The facilitators used the same programme that they used at UP. Some of the Western Cape proteomics experts that assisted the facilitators during the round table discussions included Drs Zack McDonald and Nelson Soares, and Proffs David Tabb and Jonathan Blackburn.
Talks about forming a formal Proteomics Society came up after the UCT leg of the workshop. The ACGT plans to have a Proteomics symposium later this year. A formal discussion about the Proteomics society can be held at the symposium. The ACGT will also host a Skyline workshop in December for data analysis. Details about the two events will be circulated in due course.
The organizers and facilitators wish to express their sincere gratitude for the financial assistance provided by the Bioinformatics Service Platform (BSP).
