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Al Sium SM, Torrejón E, Chowdhury SF, Ahmed R, Jain A, Treccani M, Veschetti L, Riaz A, Eranti P, Olguín-Orellana GJ. Adapting beyond borders: Insights from the 19th Student Council Symposium (SCS2023), the first hybrid ISCB Student Council global event. BIOINFORMATICS ADVANCES 2024; 4:vbae028. [PMID: 38606186 PMCID: PMC11007116 DOI: 10.1093/bioadv/vbae028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
Summary The 19th ISCB Student Council Symposium (SCS2023) organized by ISCB-SC adopted a hybrid format for the first time, allowing participants to engage in-person in Lyon, France, and virtually via an interactive online platform. The symposium prioritized inclusivity, featuring on-site sessions, poster presentations, and social activities for in-person attendees, while virtual participants accessed live sessions, interactive Q&A, and a virtual exhibit hall. Attendee statistics revealed a global reach, with Europe as the major contributor. SCS2023's success in bridging in-person and virtual experiences sets a precedent for future events in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. Availability and Implementation The details of the symposium, speaker information, schedules, and accepted abstracts, are available in the program booklet (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8173977). For organizers interested in adopting a similar hybrid model, it would be beneficial to have access to details regarding the online platform used, the types of sessions offered, and the challenges faced. Future iterations of SCS can address these aspects to further enhance accessibility and inclusivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syed Muktadir Al Sium
- Industrial Microbiology Research Division, BCSIR Chattogram Laboratories, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Chattogram 4220, Bangladesh
| | - Estefania Torrejón
- Metabolic Diseases Research Group, iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Sanjana Fatema Chowdhury
- Biological Research Division, BCSIR Dhaka Laboratories, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh
| | - Rubaiat Ahmed
- Laboratory of Population Genetics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Aakriti Jain
- Department of Biophysics, University of Delhi, New Delhi 110021, India
| | - Mirko Treccani
- GM Lab, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy
| | - Laura Veschetti
- GM Lab, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy
- Infections and Cystic Fibrosis Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Arsalan Riaz
- Precision Medicine Lab, National Center of Big Data and Cloud Computing, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan
| | - Pradeep Eranti
- Université Paris Cité, Inserm, T3S, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Gabriel J Olguín-Orellana
- Centro de Investigación de Estudios Avanzados del Maule (CIEAM), Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca 3460000, Chile
- Laboratorio de Bioinformática y Química Computacional, Departamento de Medicina Traslacional, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca 3480094, Chile
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Grover A, Riaz A, Al Sium SM, Dincaslan FB, Chowdhury SF, Olguin-Orellana GJ, Parra RG, Eranti P. 1st ASCS: Expanding the ISCB Student Council Symposia to Asia. F1000Res 2023; 12:703. [PMID: 37359786 PMCID: PMC10285320 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.135767.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Since 2004, the ISCB Student Council (ISCB-SC) has successfully organized Student Council Symposia across several continents, including North America, Latin America, Europe, and Africa, as well as local events led by more than 25 Regional Student Groups (RSG) across the world. The ISCB-SC Symposia provide students and early career researchers the chance to showcase their work at an international venue in a format that includes keynote talks, round table discussions, workshops, and more. After several efforts spanning several years to build enough critical mass in the region, we have successfully organized the first Asian Student Council Symposium (1st ASCS). This article discusses the organizational details of this unprecedented event, the challenges faced, and the lessons learned.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aayush Grover
- Department of Computer Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Arsalan Riaz
- CECOS-RMI Precision Medicine Lab, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Syed Muktadir Al Sium
- Industrial Microbiology Research Division, BCSIR Chattogram Laboratories, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Fatma B. Dincaslan
- Institute for Health Innovation and Technology, 117599, Singapore
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Sanjana Fatema Chowdhury
- Biological Research Division, BCSIR Dhaka Laboratories, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Gabriel J Olguin-Orellana
- Center for Bioinformatics, Simulation and Modeling (CBSM), Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Talca, 1 Poniente 1141, Talca, Chile
- Laboratorio de Bioinformática y Química Computacional, Departamento de Medicina Traslacional, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| | | | - Pradeep Eranti
- Universite Paris Cite, Inserm, UMRS-1124, Group of Genomic Epidemiology of Multifactorial Diseases, Paris, France
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Osorio-Mogollon C, Grentzinger V, Olguin-Orellana GJ, Ayala-Ruano S, Gupta S, Eranti P, Grover A, Cuypers B, Fatima N, Shome S, Rahman F, Parra RG. ISCB Student Council Symposium 2021, a virtual global venue: challenges and lessons learned. F1000Res 2023; 12:50. [PMID: 36704314 PMCID: PMC9837453 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.129945.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Since 2004, the ISCB Student Council has been organizing different symposia worldwide, gathering together the community of young computational biologists. Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic situation, the world scientific community was forced to cancel in-person meetings for almost two years, imposing the adoption of virtual formats instead. After the successful editions of our continental symposia in 2020 in the USA, Latin America, and Europe, we organized our flagship global event, the Student Council Symposium (SCS) 2021, trying to apply all previous lessons learned and to exploit the advantages that virtuality has to offer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Victor Grentzinger
- Laboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA Research Institute, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Gabriel J. Olguin-Orellana
- Center for Bioinformatics, Simulation and Modeling (CBSM), Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile
| | - Sebastian Ayala-Ruano
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Shruti Gupta
- School of Computational and Integrative Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Dehli, India
| | - Pradeep Eranti
- Universite Paris Cit ´e, Inserm, UMRS-1124, Group of Genomic Epidemiology and Multifactorial Diseases, Paris, France
| | - Aayush Grover
- International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, Bangalore, India
| | - Bart Cuypers
- Adrem Data Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | | | - Sayane Shome
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, Stanford University,, California, USA
| | - Farzana Rahman
- Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Environment, Kingston University, London, UK,
| | - R. Gonzalo Parra
- Computational Biology Group, Life Sciences Department, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Barcelona, Spain,
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Ayala-Ruano S, Hernandez F, Ortega A, Infante D, Carrascal D, Sánchez-Luquez K, Puche-Quiñonez R. Highlights of the 1st Ecuadorian-Venezuelan Symposium of Young Researchers in Bioinformatics (1SEVJIB). F1000Res 2022; 11:1086. [PMID: 36176547 PMCID: PMC9500400 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.125381.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly changed how scientific conferences are organized, fostering virtual meetings. These online events have allowed students and researchers to overcome geographical, administrative and economic barriers to attend and organize high-quality international symposiums. Moreover, these virtual conferences have contributed to the creation of inclusive activities that strengthen scientific communities. Here, we summarize the main activities and learnings from the 1st Ecuadorian-Venezuelan Symposium of Young Bioinformatics Researchers (1SEVJIB), organized by the Ecuadorian and Venezuelan ISCB-SC Regional Student Groups (RSGs). This symposium aimed to provide an opportunity for undergraduate and postgraduate students from Ecuador, Venezuela, and other Latin American countries to share their Bioinformatics research. The 1SEVJIB was the first bi-national conference organized by two RSGs from Latin America (LatAm). This symposium was a two-day virtual meeting with five activities: 1) oral student presentations, 2) poster session, 3) keynote lectures, 4) workshop, and 5) round table. This conference promoted the scientific exchange and cooperation networks between young Bioinformatics researchers and students from Ecuador, Venezuela, and LatAm, giving them opportunities to boost their scientific careers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Ayala-Ruano
- Grupo de Medicina Molecular y Traslacional (MeM&T), Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Fernando Hernandez
- Centro de Medicina Experimental, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Arantxa Ortega
- Grupo Modelado Inteligente de Sistemas, Universidad de Cádiz, Algeciras, Spain
| | - Deliana Infante
- Centro de Medicina Experimental, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Daniela Carrascal
- Unidad de Estudios Genéticos y Forenses, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Karen Sánchez-Luquez
- Unidad de Estudios Genéticos y Forenses, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Rafael Puche-Quiñonez
- Unidad de Estudios Genéticos y Forenses, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela,
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Kaya Y, Karakulak T, Can Saylan C, Gür ER, Tatlıdil E, Güleşen S, Betül Dinçaslan F, Dönertaş HM. Lessons from a ten-year-long journey: building a student-driven computational biology society across Turkey. F1000Res 2022; 11. [PMID: 35136586 PMCID: PMC8792875 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.107886.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The Regional Student Group Turkey (RSG-Turkey) is officially associated with the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Student Council (SC). At the RSG-Turkey, we aim to contribute to the early-career researchers in computational biology and bioinformatics fields by providing opportunities for improving their academic and technical skills in the field. Over the last ten years, we have built a well-known student-driven academic society in Turkey that organizes numerous events every year and continues to grow with over 650 current members. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of RSG-Turkey, in this communication, we share our experiences, five main lessons we learned, and the steps to establish a long-standing academic community: having a clear mission, building a robust structure, effective communication, turning challenges into opportunities, and building collaborations. We believe that our experiences can help students and academics establish long-standing communities in fast-developing areas like bioinformatics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasin Kaya
- Department of Biology, Institute of Science, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara, 06800, Turkey
| | - Tülay Karakulak
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Cemil Can Saylan
- Computational Science and Engineering Department, Informatics Institute, Istanbul Technical University, Sariyer, Istanbul, 34467, Turkey
| | - E. Ravza Gür
- MRC WIMM Centre for Computational Biology, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DS, UK
- MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DS, UK
| | - Engin Tatlıdil
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Izmir Institute of Technology, Urla, Izmir, 35430, Turkey
| | | | - Fatma Betül Dinçaslan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117583, Singapore
- Institute for Health Innovation and Technology, Singapore, 117599, Singapore
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Kilpatrick AM, Rahman F, Anjum A, Shome S, Andalib KMS, Banik S, Chowdhury SF, Coombe P, Astroz YC, Douglas JM, Eranti P, Kiran AD, Kumar S, Lim H, Lorenzi V, Lubiana T, Mahmud S, Puche R, Rybarczyk A, Al Sium SM, Twesigomwe D, Zok T, Orengo CA, Friedberg I, Kelso JF, Welch L. OUP accepted manuscript. Bioinformatics 2022; 38:i19-i27. [PMID: 35758800 PMCID: PMC9235509 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btac236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Motivation Wikipedia is one of the most important channels for the public communication of science and is frequently accessed as an educational resource in computational biology. Joint efforts between the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) and the Computational Biology taskforce of WikiProject Molecular Biology (a group of expert Wikipedia editors) have considerably improved computational biology representation on Wikipedia in recent years. However, there is still an urgent need for further improvement in quality, especially when compared to related scientific fields such as genetics and medicine. Facilitating involvement of members from ISCB Communities of Special Interest (COSIs) would improve a vital open education resource in computational biology, additionally allowing COSIs to provide a quality educational resource highly specific to their subfield. Results We generate a list of around 1500 English Wikipedia articles relating to computational biology and describe the development of a binary COSI-Article matrix, linking COSIs to relevant articles and thereby defining domain-specific open educational resources. Our analysis of the COSI-Article matrix data provides a quantitative assessment of computational biology representation on Wikipedia against other fields and at a COSI-specific level. Furthermore, we conducted similarity analysis and subsequent clustering of COSI-Article data to provide insight into potential relationships between COSIs. Finally, based on our analysis, we suggest courses of action to improve the quality of computational biology representation on Wikipedia.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Audra Anjum
- Office of Instructional Innovation, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
| | - Sayane Shome
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Shrabonti Banik
- Faculty of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh
| | - Sanjana F Chowdhury
- BCSIR Dhaka Laboratory, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | | | - Yesid Cuesta Astroz
- Colombian Institute of Tropical Medicine, CES University, Medellín, Colombia
| | - J Maxwell Douglas
- Department of Molecular Oncology, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Aleyna D Kiran
- Department of Bioengineering, Ege University, Bornova, Turkey
| | - Sachendra Kumar
- IISc Mathematics Initiative, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
| | - Hyeri Lim
- Department of Biomedical Data Intelligence, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Valentina Lorenzi
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
- European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK
| | - Tiago Lubiana
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Ronin Institute, Montclair, NJ, USA
| | - Sakib Mahmud
- Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
| | - Rafael Puche
- Genetics and Forensic Studies Unit, Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Agnieszka Rybarczyk
- Institute of Computing Science, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland
| | - Syed Muktadir Al Sium
- BCSIR Dhaka Laboratory, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - David Twesigomwe
- Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Division of Human Genetics, National Health Laboratory Service and School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Tomasz Zok
- Institute of Computing Science, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland
| | - Christine A Orengo
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Iddo Friedberg
- Program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Janet F Kelso
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lonnie Welch
- School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
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Olguín-Orellana GJ, Papadimitriou S, Langtry Yáñez A, Eranti P, Flores-Vallejo RDC, Castillo-Orozco AI, Mayoral-Peña K, Parra RG. 6th European Student Council Symposium (ESCS): overcoming obstacles to enhance virtuality, connectivity, inclusivity and community engagement. F1000Res 2021; 10. [PMID: 33537121 PMCID: PMC7836082 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.40666.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
This editorial summarises the organisation, activities, and scientific content of the 6th European Student Council Symposium (ESCS) organised by the International Society for Computational Biology Student Council (ISCB-SC). The event was held on September 6, 2020, as a satellite event preceding the ISCB's 19th European Conference in Computational Biology. Both events were first planned to be held in-person in Sitges, Spain, but moved virtually as a strategy to face the SARS-CoV2 sanitary crisis. This completely unforeseen situation has posed several challenges that have been successfully addressed thanks to the robust ISCB Student Council community structure and the strong commitment of the organisers. Despite all the obstacles and challenges, we have found that virtuality has several advantages that can continue to be kept to improve in-person meetings in the future and make conferences more inclusive allowing a larger audience to participate.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Ana I Castillo-Orozco
- Department of Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | | | - R Gonzalo Parra
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Genome Biology Unit, Heidelberg, Germany
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Castillo-Vilcahuaman C, Valdivia C, Osorio-Mogollón C, Silva-Andrade C, Puche R, Ayala-Ruano S, Cuesta-Astroz Y, Parra RG. 4th ISCB Latin American Student Council Symposium: a virtual and inclusive experience during COVID-19 times. F1000Res 2020; 9. [PMID: 33363714 PMCID: PMC7739094 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.28330.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Since 2014, the ISCB Latin American Student Council Symposium (LA-SCS) serves as the main biannual activity where students from all levels, postdocs and early researchers from the entire Latin American region can gather to discuss recent advances in the fields of bioinformatics and computational biology. This time we faced a major unexpected obstacle, a worldwide pandemic that has completely disrupted human activities at a planetary scale. Countless conferences have been either canceled, reprogrammed for the next year or moved to a virtual format. However, thanks to an important strengthening of the Latin American student network and the creation of several new RSGs in the continent, we were able to get together a fearless team that aimed to overcome the pandemic obstacles and still organise the 4th LA-SCS. Here we summarize our experiences in our first virtual symposium.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Catalina Valdivia
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | | | - Claudia Silva-Andrade
- Laboratorio de Biología de Redes, Centro de Genómica y Bioinformática, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
| | - Rafael Puche
- Unidad de Estudios Genéticos y Forenses, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Sebastián Ayala-Ruano
- Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales (COCIBA-USFQ), Quito, Ecuador
| | - Yesid Cuesta-Astroz
- Colombian Institute of Tropical Medicine - CES University, Medellin, Colombia
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