REPORT OF 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BIOLOGICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES (C-BICS 2018)

The Department of Biosciences of Capital University of Science and Technology organized 6th International Conference on Biological and Computational Sciences (C-BICS 2018) on December 13, 2018. This was the sixth conference in the series. The objective of the conference was to provide a platform where researchers and practitioners in the field of Bioinformatics and Biosciences could meet and share their experiences. The conference witnessed an active participation of Bioinformatics and Biosciences community from across the country.

Inaugural ceremony was hosted by Miss Sayyeda Eman Bukhari and recitation by Miss Aqsa Aftab. Session was followed by talk of Dean, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, CUST Dr. Muhammad Abdul Qadir. He highlighted the importance of biological sciences and various research areas of human genetics and other advanced biological sciences research areas. He identified various gaps which needed to be explored by Immunologists, Microbiologists and Biotechnologists.

Two keynote speakers, Dr. Aneel Paulus, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology (Mayo Clinic (US) and Prof. Dr. Khalid Farouk, Professor and Head of Urology Department, Foundation University, Islamabad also graced the event. Dr. Aneel Paulus introduced his research group and ongoing projects and mentioned various areas where collaborative research could be planned. Dr. Khalid Farouk enlightened the audience with the clinical aspects of urinary tract infections and treatments. At the end of inaugural session worthy Chief Guest, Prof. Dr. Ahsan Raza, enlightened with his experiences. He mentioned evolution of biological researchers during the course of time, the use of molecular tools for sequencing and then next generation sequencing, pyrosequencing and now advent of pharmacogenomics which helped medicine scientists to produce therapeutic personalized drugs.

Later on 5 parallel sessions were run. Total 171 Participants and guests attended the conference, 34 oral presentations were held in 5 sessions. During poster session, 27 posters from externals and 25 posters from CUST research students were presented. Participants came from various Universities from all over the Pakistan. International participants also graced the event. International representation was witnessed from these institutions, University of Stockholm, Sweden, Cologne Germany and Mayo Clinic US.

Concluding session was hosted by Miss Aimen Sajjid, Professor, Dr. Aqdas Malik, Pro Vice President, International Islamic University Islamabad graced the event as Chief Guest. Dr. Shaukat Iqbal recited the Quranic verses and presented the brief over view of the conference. Dr. Aqdas Malik enlightened the audience with a refreshing and inspiring talk. Shields were distributed among position holders and organizing committee members before formal closure.