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The organising secretariate of 21st National Congress of Parasitology cordially invites you to participate in the annual congress of Indian Society of Parasitology to be held at Panjab University, Chandigarh from 14-16 November,2009. The focal theme of this year congress is "Education and Research in Parasitology in the service of mankind"

About Panjab University : "Tamaso maa Jyotirgamaya" a Sanskrit quote meaning Lead me from darkness to light the emblem of Panjab University Chandigarh justifies the efforts of the institution in enlightening the society by imparting education. Starting from scratch at Lahore (now in Pakistan) in 1882, the Panjab University survived the tremors of partition in 1947 but was dispersed with its camp office at Shimla and various teaching departments at Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Delhi. The present day Panjab University campus designed by a French architect was established in 1956 in sectors 14 and 25 in Chandigarh Panjab University has come a long way since its establishment to being awarded the NAAC five star status and being recognized by the UGC as the University with potential for excellence in biomedical research. Panjab University has been conferred with the Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE) award in 2008 by DST, for its performance in the field of research for the next three years. The University has completed its Golden Jubilee in 2008 and is a front runner in all aspects of academic, research and extracurricular activities to its faculty and students alike. Panjab University is imparting quality education in the major areas of science and technology, humanities, social sciences, performing arts and sports.

About Zoology Department : The Zoology Department has completed 106 years of teaching and research in 2009. Zoology department was established at Lahore in 1902. It was shifted to government college, Hoshiarpur after partition and finally relocated in its present premises in July,1960. The UGC recognized the Department for Special Assistance Programme (SAP) in 1985 and extended it for 15 years subsequently, in three phases. The Department was also funded under the COSIST programme from 1996-2001 and was conferred the Centre of Advanced Studies (CAS) in "Biodiversity and Cell & Molecular Biology" by UGC in 2006.During last several years, as an endeavour to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field of life sciences, the Zoology department has successfully organized 20 National and regional Symposia/Conferences/Workshops. The present Congress is a continuation of the same tradition and is being jointly organized with the Indian Society for Parasitology.

About the Conference : Parasitic diseases caused by helminths and protozoa are major causes of human disease and misery in most countries of the tropics. They plague billions of people, kill millions annually, and inflict debilitating injuries on additional millions. WHO estimates that one person in every four harbors parasitic worms. Attempts to develop drugs or vaccines against these pathogens have been hampered by the difficulty to cultivate them in vitro, the complexity of their multicellular organization and/or multistage development, added to their impressive antigenic variability. On top of it, several human activities have led to the emergence and spread of new diseases and globalization has helped spread some of the deadliest infectious diseases known to humans by bringing more and more people into contact with animal diseases that have subsequently jumped species (zoonotic) barriers. It is in this context that the education and research in Parasitology needs a regular rethink on the part of the professionals. Equally important is the percolation of the policies resulting out of the brain storming to the general masses so that they can be made aware of the preventive as well as the therapeutic regimens. As a biological discipline, parasitology draws heavily on techniques from fields such as cell biology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, genetics, evolution and ecology. The deliberations in the Congress will be based on this backdrop and will include talks from subject experts and scientists working in the aforesaid areas. The conference will have following main sections: - "Physiology, cellular and molecular biochemistry "Taxonomy, ecology, epidemiology and modeling "Diagnosis, pathology, immune response and vaccines "Chemotherapy and drug resistance "Vector biology and control "Host-parasite interactions "Veterinary Parasitology.