Past Events

March 9^th, 2021

Organized by:

COMSTECH, Secretariat, Islamabad

In collaboration with

Pakistan Biotechnology Information Center (PABIC),

Karachi Chapter

at the

COMSTECH, Secretariat, Islamabad

REGISTRATION PROCESS

Please register at  https://forms.gle/FnM9Akjc7ZKHGxKo6

Kindly register before 28 Feb. 2021. Registered participants will receive e-certificates.

CONTACT PERSON

Mr. Ikram Abbasi
Program Manager,
COMSTECH Secretariat, 33-Constitution Avenue, G-5/2, Islamabad, Pakistan
Phone No. : 92 51 9220681-3
Fax : 92 51 9211115, 9220265, 9205264

Note: This event is planned to be a hybrid event (Physical and virtual)

Program

held on December 21-22, 2020, at COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Güzel

Director of Drug Discovery and Development Research Center, Istanbul Medipol University, Turkey

Date and Time: 18^th Februray 2021; 03:00 pm Pakistan Standard Time; 02:00 pm Gulf Standard Time: 10:00 am Greenwich Mean Time

Short Abstract: As the world shaken by pandemic Covid-19, small molecule inhibitors have previously been heavily investigated in different studies as possible therapeutics in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. In Turkey we began investigating potential treatment options and decided to collaborate with a local pharma company named Atabay. Within a short period of time, we have successfully completed full lab and industrial scale of three molecules that have been vastly used for Covid-19 treatment such as Favipiravir (Fav), Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), Remdesivir (Rem). The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak all over the world has led the researchers to strive to develop drugs or vaccines to prevent or halt the progression of this culprit.

As the literature supports, Favipiravir is approved by some countries, including India, for COVID-19 treatment. Favipiravir has shown rapid viral clearance and faster clinical improvement. Various treatment recommendations include Favipiravir for COVID-19 treatment we began to investigate and immediately started synthetic strategy for these medicines. To minimize and reduce the external dependency we as a group of 12 researchers started local synthesis and isolated our lab and stayed in the hotel during the entire project term. During our study we have established cost effective route to expedite the process and filed a domestic patent and currently preparing manuscript for publication. During the seminar, the short time success story and local licensing adventure will be highlighted.

Target Audience: This webinar is open to academicians, scientists, and general public from all the member OIC states.

Profile of Speaker: Dr. Guzel graduated from Hacettepe University School of Engineering with a B. Sc degree in Chemistry in 1987 and completed his M. Sc. and Ph. D. Degrees on Organic/Medicinal Chemistry at Clemson University, Clemson, SC in 1996 and 2001 respectively. He worked as organic lab coordinator at Northeastern University and later joined to ArQule Inc.as Sr. Synthetic Organic Chemist upon his graduation. He then joined to TransTech Pharma Inc, in High Point, NC and assumed various positions in Medicinal Chemistry Department between 2001 and 2014. In 2014 he started working as an Assistant Professor at International School of Medicine in Department of Medical Pharmacology at Istanbul Medipol University. In 2017 he was promoted to Associate Professor in medical pharmacology acting as a chair. In 2019 he was appointed as the department chair of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology. In January 2020, he then became the director of Drug Discovery and Development Research Center in newly established Health Sciences and

Technologies Research Institute, currently leading two critical drug development projects for Covid-19 with a local pharma company as well as several domestic and European granted drug discovery projects in Molecular Discovery and Development laboratories of the university.

Link for registration and E- certificate:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScR_7bWHVhXMtDC5oEkXu9TEOhLKQVtfXmQEp4fl6z86ZV1_Q/viewform

Procedure to join.

Link will be shared with registered participants.

Address: COMSTECH Secretariat, 33-Constitution Avenue, G-5/2, Islamabad 
Phone No. : 92 51 9220681-3
Email: Khazima@comstech.org ; comstech@comstech.org

“Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning in Life Sciences”

March 25, 2021

Venue: COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad-Pakistan

Deadline for Applications: March 07, 2021

Introduction

The Islamic world is very diverse, comprising many developing countries, which are still in need of awareness and knowledge regarding the latest scientific research techniques. As science progresses, the current research topics touch many fields of expertise requiring interdisciplinary expertise. In this scenario, researchers, scientists working in all fields of natural sciences have to indulge themselves in research techniques from other disciplines to produce authentic and reliable research.

High throughput genomic and proteomic techniques have revolutionized the pace of scientific discovery while pouring tons of data into the databases. Use of technologies like Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Molecular docking paved the way for DNA to phenotype investigations in quite a less time and resources.

Realizing the importance of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Life Sciences, COMSTECH in collaboration with International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), karachi has planned a one-day workshop focusing on the subject in March 2021.

Objective

The objective of this COMSTECH – ICCBS International Workshop on “Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning in Life Sciences” is to highlight the role of modern-day Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques in life sciences research and product development. It will benefit researchers from life sciences such as; Medical sciences, Biosciences, Chemistry, Physics, Statistics, Bio-Medical engineering, Computer Sciences and Bioinformatics. This conference will provide a strong foundation on the theoretical and practical aspects of data sciences with reference to life sciences research. This international workshop will bring together the researchers, scientists, industrials partners, and practitioners interested in the analysis, design, and development of AI and ML techniques to be applied in life sciences research and development.

Target Audience:

Scientists, researchers, medical professionals involved in life sciences, computer scientists and young entrepreneurs from the OIC countries.

Key Contents:

The workshop will cover the following topics highlighting the role of AI & ML in:

• Genomics
• Transcriptomics
• Proteomics and drug design
• Health care
• Agriculture

Travel & Local Hospitality:

COMSTECH will arrange local hospitality, for all selected participants. Travel support will be provided to the speakers/resource persons only. Participants are expected to get their travel funding from their parent organizations/country of origin.

Registration Process:

Step 1: Open online registration form, physical participation and virtual participation

Step 2: Read instructions in the application form carefully and submit a properly filled form along with your CV.

Step 3: Selected candidates will be notified through email; hence, applicants are required to check their emails regularly.

Venue:

The workshop will be held at the COMSTECH headquarters, Islamabad. The city was purpose-built as the capital of sixth largest globally and second most populous (in OIC) country Pakistan in the year 1966. Pakistan, according to the Forbes magazine, is a hidden treasure for tourists with rich cultural diversity, ancient history, diverse landscape, cuisines, modern cities, and locally produced items.

Technical Focal Persons

• Dr. Waseem Haider

Assistant Professor
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Group (CBBG)
COMSATS University Islamabad

• Dr. Reaz Uddin

Associate Professor
Computational Biology
ICCBS, University of Karachi

Workshop Coordinator

Muhammad Haris Akram

Programme Manager, COMSTECH

Tel: +92-51-9220681-3

Email: haris@comstech.org

Dates & Time: 11^th February 2021 (03:00pm – 04:30pm Pakistan Standard Time)

On the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science this year, COMSTECH brings together a panel of illuminating scientists and champions of women in STEM to shed light on new opportunities & challenges that have risen due to emergence of COVID-19 pandemic. 

Themes

Theme areas to be covered

• Shift in research & academic models due to COVID-19
• Impact of COVID-19 on open science and global research collaboration
• Contribution of Women scientists in the covid-19 pandemic
• Policy shifts required to increase  women’s participation in national and sub-national decision-making processes related to STEM

Format: Panel discussion with 15-20 minutes to each panelists and 15 minutes for Q/Ans session.

Participation: This event is open to science policy makers, academicians, scientists and general public globally.

Link for registration and E- certificate

https://forms.gle/x4b9MCgrnsR4XJhc8

 Procedure to join

Topic: A panel discussion on STEM – Women in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Time: Feb 11, 2021, 03:00 PM Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81123276693?pwd=WXdNcFVUMGRZcGNYWGtqVUFaZ1VaUT09

Meeting ID: 811 2327 6693
Passcode: 011156

Participants can be part of this thought provoking discussion by giving their feedback and suggestions on the questionnaire link below. Participants will receive E-certificates.

https://forms.gle/KhXoHqdyCgfR51RR9

Contact Information:  

Phone No. : 92 51 9220681-3

Email: Khazima@comstech.org  ; comstech@comstech.org  

Brief intro of Panelists

H.E. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary
Coordinator General COMSTECH, Director International Centre for Chemistry and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), university of Karachi,Pakistan

A member and fellow of many prestigious societies including Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences, Islamic Academy of Sciences, Chemical Society of Pakistan, Royal Society of Chemistry (London) and LEAD-International.

The recipient of the 1st Khawarizmi International Award and Prize from the President of Islamic Republic of Iran, Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Award in Education by the President of Azerbaijan and COMSTECH Award in Chemistry by the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Won several national and international awards such as Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the President of Pakistan, Pakistan Academy of Sciences Gold Medal, National Book Foundation Prize on best book and the Third World Academy of Sciences Young Scientist Prize.

Received the prestigious title of “Distinguish National Professor” from the Higher Education Commission in 2004.

Prof. Dr. Tim Unwin

•  Honorary Professor at Lanzhou University in China.

• Co-Founder of TEQ together (an initiative to change men’s attitudes and behaviors towards women and technology), Chair of the Intellectual Leadership Team of the DFID-World Bank technology for Education Hub.
• A Distinguished Fellow of the Globalization, Ageing, Innovation and Care Network at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

Prof. Dr. Khatijah Yusoff

• First woman being selected as Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic and International Affairs at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
• A highly respected academician and a much-acclaimed virologist who has distinguished herself through her extensive work on the Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV), a poultry virus.
• Worked for Office of the Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, establishing the National Science and Research Council, the Nanotechnology Directorate, the National Bioethics Council, and the National Institutes of Biotechnology.
• Elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia in 2007 and a Fellow of the Islamic World Academy of Sciences in 2008 and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 2010.
• The second Asian scientist ever to win the UNESCO Carlos Finlay Prize in 2005 for her outstanding work in the field.

Dr. Rana Dajani                                                                       

• Palestinian-Jordanian molecular biologist, professor of biology and biotechnology at Hashemite University.
• Member of the United Nations Women Jordan Advisory Council
• Recipient of the Jordan’s Order of Al Hussein for Distinguished Contributions of the Second Class.
• Recipient of Library of Congress Literacy Award Best Practices
• Recipient of A Stars Impact Award,
• Recipient of The Synergos Arab World Social Innovators award 2009
• Recipient of A WISE Award

Dr. Sumbla Farooq Sheikh  

Dr. Sheikh is currently working at the Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital, Tuebingen University, Germany.

She has also been working as an Adjunct Professor at HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Pakistan since 2017.

Her research primarily focuses on the design and development of contrast agents for the early detection of cancer with a special focus on glioblastoma and prostate carcinoma.

Organized by:

COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad in Collaboration with the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) Karachi, Pakistan

March 11-12, 2021

Note: All selected candidates have been informed about the outcome of their registration.

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), is a technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on pumps to pass a pressurized liquid solvent containing the sample mixture through a column filled with a solid adsorbent material. Each component in the sample interacts slightly differently with the adsorbent material, causing different flow rates for the different components and leading to the separation of the components as they flow out of the column. Because of this versatility, HPLC is used in a variety of industrial and scientific applications, such as pharmaceutical, environmental, forensics, and chemicals. This two-day online certificate course comprised of lectures followed by training sessions on “Basic concepts and techniques in HPLC”. The course is designed to teach the basic skills of HPLC to participants from all scientific disciplines those have little or no previous experience in HPLC hands on work. It is also an ideal course for those who would like to consolidate their current, basic skill level and to further polish their handling skills.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

The course is designed for the large group of audience including graduate students, scientists, research scholars, and medical doctors those have interest to work on HPLC in related fields. People from variety of disciplines and academic backgrounds including chemistry, pharmacy, pesticide science, environmental science, forensics, archeology, etc., can get benefit from this workshop.

WORKSHOP CONTENT

The program includes a series of online lectures and hands-on sessions on the following topics;

Introduction of HPLC (online lectures)

Working examples of analytical HPLCs (online lectures)

Optimum use of analytical HPLCs (hands-on sessions)

Optimum use of preparative HPLCs (hands-on sessions)

VENUE

Zoom Meeting
link will be shared with registered participants

RESOURCE PERSONS

Dr. Shakil Ahmed, Senior Research Officer, In charge Industry Analytical Center, H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Pakistan. Dr. Shakil has years of experience in the field of analytical chemistry. His current interests includes 1) Petrochemical industrial troubleshooting; 2) Pharmaceutical industrial troubleshooting; 3) Forensic support to law enforcement agencies; 3) Environmental protection agencies; 4) Residual pesticide analysis on the latest in the shortest time; 5) Narcotic analysis with regularity aspect; etc.

Dr. Jian-hua Huang, Assistant Professor, Hunan academy of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan province, China. Dr. Huang was elected as Excellent Young Innovators of Changsha City in 2018. His Supervisor is Prof. Yi-zeng Liang, a famous Chemometrics professor, who obtained “Lifetime Achievement Award in Chemometrics” in 2016, Barcelona. His major research focus on three parts: (1) Machine learning algorithm development and application in Metabolomics, bioinformatics and pattern recognition; (2) Quality control and new quality estimation methods development for Traditional Chinese Medicine; (3) Comprehensive application of herb resources.

Dr. Yan Wang, Assistant Professor, H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Pakistan. She got Ph. D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, China in 2014. She has over 40 research publications in reputed international journals with total scientific impact factor of 125, with citations 509, and h-index 14 (google scholar). Dr. Wang also has 21 publications in Chinese journals, 6 books and 8 patents. Her current research interest includes natural product chemistry, biotransformation and metabolomics.

WORKSHOP PROGRAM (Pakistan Standard Time)

Day One

12:00-12:05     Inauguration Ceremony

12:05-12:10     Recitation of the Holy Quran

12:10-12:20     Welcome Address by Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary

12:20-13:30     Lecture 1 entitled, “Introduction of Analytical HPLC” (Dr. Shakil)

13:30-14:30   Lecture 2 entitled, “Working examples of Analytical HPLC” (Dr. Huang)

Day Two

12:00-12:50     Practical Session, “Optimum use of Analytical HPLC”(Dr. Shakil)

12:50-14:15     Lecture 2 entitled “Introduction of Preparative HPLC” followed by Practical Session “Optimum use of Preparative HPLC” (Dr. Wang)

14:15-14:30     Closing Address by Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary

REGISTRATION PROCESS

Pl. register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexs1iNrRyuaGpn-KWavnpDKVwPFAMcziZiRZB2i59RjX-c_Q/viewform. Kindly fill the form and submit it to the undersigned before  09 March, 2021. Registered participants will receive e-certificates.

CONTACT PERSON

Khazima Muazim
Programme Manager
COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-9220681-3
Fax: +92-51-9205264, +92-51-9220265
Email: khazima@comstech.org

Dr. Syeda Tanveer Kausar Naim
Former Chairperson, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology
UNESCO International Advisory Board (IAB)

Date and Time: 15^th January 2021; 03:00 pm Pakistan Standard Time;
02:00 pm Gulf Standard Time
10:00 am Greenwich Mean Time

Abstract of Talk: After a short introduction about the relationship between Science, Technology and Innovation, the National Innovation Systems and role of STI Policies will be discussed.  Since the innovation systems of countries comprise several individual systems centered on specific technologies, the relevance of STI capabilities and importance of public policy instruments required towards creating a friendly business climate will be discussed. The last few slides will describe the essential institutional architecture required for promotion of innovation in the member states of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 

Target Audience: This webinar is open to academicians, scientists, and general public from all the member OIC states and beyond.

Profile of Speaker: Dr. Tanveer Kausar Naim obtained D.Phil from Sussex University, UK. She Served as Chairperson, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology and head STI Policy Research and Training Centre of the Secretariat of OIC Organization of Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) in Islamabad. Her major responsibilities included STI Policy advice, training and promotion of higher education and research. She was actively involved in facilitating research collaboration between Pakistani scientists with their colleagues in USA, UK, South Korea and China and was instrumental in connecting Pakistani scientists with their USA counterparts through GlORID network. She served as member of UNESCO International Advisory Board (IAB) on reform of the Science, Technology and Innovation System In Nigeria, conducted Technology Audit for Turkey under EU 7th Framework Program.  She also provided STI review and advisory services to Maldives, Gambia, and Pakistan. She has served as member of Board of Trustees of International Network for Promotion of Scientific Publications (INASP) at Oxford and as member of the quality control board of MERID project which helped create awareness in the Middle East scientific community about Horizon 2020 and other programmes of EU.  During 2018 she served as senior consultant to UNESCO for preparation of STI profiles of 56 members state of Islamic Development Bank and to propose policy instruments for the Bank towards helping member states build their STI capacity.

Poster of webinar:  Attached

Link for registration and E- certificate:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecyiKPqxRZkelStxnzfXqeWatbgkco-cSWRBKn8Sdyx0ej8w/viewform

Procedure to join:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81116925163?pwd=djE0TGJwcUhKSVN1dkZmNWliSWdMZz09
Meeting ID: 811 1692 5163
Passcode: 547866

Address: COMSTECH Secretariat, 33-Constitution Avenue, G-5/2, Islamabad 
Phone No. : 92 51 9220681-3
Email: Khazima@comstech.org ; comstech@comstech.org

Speaker:   Prof. Dr. Khalid Saeed Khan

Distinguished Investigator (Beatriz Galindo programme) , University of Granada, Spain
Former Editor-in-Chief of British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Founder of  Core Outcomes in Women’s and Newborn Health (CROWN) award winning initiative

Date and Time: 21st  January 2021
10:00am- 11:30am Pakistan Standard Time

flyer

Biography

Khalid Saeed Khan is Distinguished Investigator (Beatriz Galindo programme) at University of Granada, Spain. With an h-index>70 he has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers and supervised 25 higher-degree theses. He graduated in medicine from the Aga Khan University in its first health faculty cohort. Higher training at McMaster University led him to an academic career, focusing on patient-oriented clinical research. Khalid has contributed to many trials and meta-analyses: has run 48 primary research trials, recruiting 979,242 participants, and has published 149 systematic reviews, collating data from 6415 studies with 68,798,079 participants. He is the lead author of ‘Systematic Reviews to Support Evidence-Based Medicine’, which won a BMA Medical Book award. He is former Editor of BJOG, EBM-BMJ and BMC Med Educ. His Core Outcomes in Women’s and Newborn Health (CROWN) initiative was awarded a BMA Strutt and Harper grant to help reduce research waste. According to the instruction, Lyrica 300 mg is intended for the treatment of certain diseases. An average dose is 150-600 mg per day. This drug should be withdrawn by gradually reducing the dose. Meanwhile, withdrawal of Lyrica can cause such reactions as sickness, depression, excessive sweating, chill and lack of appetite.

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5084-7312

https://professorkhalidkhan.com

Registration:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6-K9iZO7IkehjE2Q8R0DJDGzMigqiLYFpHWJhuP8ec3vbyQ/viewform

Join us in Person (for residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi only)

COMSTECH Secretariat, 33-Constitution Avenue, G-5/2, Islamabad 

Or

Virtually join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85141644214?pwd=K2FKR05YT0ZOVDhSUlRKb0RiTS9tUT09
Meeting ID: 851 4164 4214
Passcode: 765808

Contact person:

Ms. Khazima Muazim
Programme Manager
COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad
E-mail: khazima@comstech.org