Researchers from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and College of Arts and Sciences are planning the 80th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Parasitologists (ASP) on July 8-11 at the Riverview Plaza Hotel in Mobile, Ala. More than 250 scientists and students from across the United States and approximately ten foreign countries are expected to attend.

The conference will bring some of the world's brightest parasitology researchers to the Gulf Coast and focus on new developments in the field of parasitology. Scientific sessions will be devoted to advances in the molecular biology of coccidia (single-celled organisms such Toxoplasma), immunology, host- parasite
interactions, epidemiology and life cycles, and the detection, diagnosis and regulatory control of parasites.

The four-day conference features research conducted at USA, as well as parasitology experts from around the world. Faculty from USA involved in the organization of the meeting include Drs. Stephen Kayes, professor of cell biology and neuroscience; Sailen Barik, professor of biochemistry; and Jack O'Brien, assistant professor of biology.

Kayes chaired the committee that planned and organized the meeting, and as vice president of ASP will preside over the President's Symposium on "The Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites." He also arranged an interactive education workshop on July 11 for southwest Alabama middle and high school teachers that will focus on the use of marine hosts and their parasites to teach basic principals of general biology.

Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts and the relationship between them. Parasites are the most common life form on the planet, encompassing the smallest uni-cellular organisms to very large and complex multicellular organisms such flatworms and roundworms.

The American Society of Parasitologists has over 1,500 members involved in the study and teaching of parasitology. The ASP was founded in 1924 and has contributed to other fields such as medicine, biochemistry, ecology, immunology, molecular biology, physiology, and systematics.

For more information regarding the meeting, see
http://asp.unl.edu/meetings/.