Medical Biodefence conference

01 Nov 2013

On 22-25 October, 2013 the Medical Biodefense Conference 2013 was held in Munich, Germany at the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology. The STCU supported delegation consisted of the specialists of the Ukrainian Anti-Plague Station (UAPS) of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine: Dr. Liliya Zinich, Mrs. Nadiya Pidchenko and the STCU Bio Senior Specialist Dr. Vlada Pashynska.
Besides the plenary sessions that addressed more general aspects of biodefense, including historical investigation of the Soviet biological weapon program, the Medical Biodefence Conference 2013 scientific program also focused on topics of special interests such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrom, recent plague investigations in Madagaskar and Mongolia, genomics and metagenomics issues, etc.


The UAPS participants presented a report “Results of surveillance for cholera in Ukraine in 2012”. The STCU delegates took also an active part in the advanced Scenarion Workshop in the framework of the conference and in the industry exhibition of the biodefence equipment. During the conference the STCU participants have visited the BSL-3 facility at the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology where they have been familiarized with the laboratory structure and biosecurity aspects of the laboratory functioning. A number of collaborative contacts of the UAPS and STCU specialists with foreign colleagues have been established with the purpose of the following training of the UAPS staff in the framework of the STCU project “Biosafety and Biosecurity Improvement at the Ukrainian Anti-Plague Station in Simferopol”.