The ICOPA congress slogan “ancient parasites, old hosts, new knowledge” points to long lasting parasites, longevity of hosts and the new data shared during ICOPA. The ICOPA program includes symposia with invited speakers who were recommended by outstanding scientists around the world, by Presidents of National Societies of Parasitology, the International Scientific Advisory Board and the local scientific committee; all of them with the highest records in productivity.

DNDi presented and participated in symposia and satellite meetings at ICOPA.

Opening Ceremony

Opening Address: Dr Bernard Pécoul, Executive Director, DNDi

 

DNDi Symposia

1. Chagas Disease: Advances from discovery to access

Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2014
When: 16:00 – 17:30
Where: Salón Chapultepec B, Hotel Camino Real Polanco

Chair: Roberto Tapia-Conyer, Director General, Carlos Slim Foundation

Eric Chatelain, Head of Drug Discovery, DNDi
Challenges in Chagas drug discovery: in vitro and in vivo models [PDF | 2MB]
Isabela Ribeiro, Head of Chagas Programme, DNDi
New treatment opportunities for Chagas [PDF | 1MB]
Maria Elena Bottazzi, Associate Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine
Slim Initiative for vaccine development against tropical diseases: Recent advances on the development of a therapeutic vaccine against Chagas disease
Judith Herrera, Director Medical Department, Médecins Sans Frontières Spain
Ubaldo Mendoza Ambrosio, de Puerto Ángel, Pochutla, Chagas patient
Scaling up diagnostics and treatment of Chagas disease [PDF | 4.8MB]

2. Drug Discovery for Kinetoplastids

Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2014
When: 14:30 – 16:00
Where: Salón Camelias, Hotel Camino Real Polanco

Chair: Richard Glynne, Director of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF)

Charles Mowbray, Head of Drug Discovery, DNDi
New mechanisms to accelerate drug discovery for NTDs [PDF | 1.2MB]
Luiz Carlos Dias, Head Professor, Institute of Chemistry, UniCamp
Lead Optimization Latin America (LOLA): consortium models for drug discovery in endemic and emerging countries [PDF | 1.2MB]
James Mills, Computational Chemist, Co-founder and Partner at Sandexis and Owner at Bespoke Comp Chem Ltd.
New computational tools in screening against NTDs [PDF | 0.8MB]
José Maria Fiandor-Roman, Director de Unidad de Investigación, GSK Tres Cantos
New ways of working in the discovery of new medicines for diseases of the developing world


3. Challenges in Leishmaniasis Control

Date: Thursday, August 14, 2014
When: 
14:30 – 16:00
Where: 
Salón Terraza C, Hotel Camino Real Polanco

Chair: Daniel Argaw, Head of Leishmaniasis Program, Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization

Bhawna Sharma, Director of R&D Operations, DNDi India
Elimination of VL in the Indian subcontinent: Is it achievable? [PDF | 0.5MB]
Fabiana Alves, Clinical Manager, DNDi
Pitfalls in VL treatment: Regional differences and challenges [PDF | 1.1MB]
Manu Vanaerschot, Institute of Tropical Medicine – Antwerp
Treatment failure, drug resistance and VL control in the Indian subcontinent: lessons learnt from a multidisciplinary research project (Kaladrug-R) [PDF | 0.8MB]
Byron Arana, Head of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Programme, DNDi
Challenges in CL: Perspectives of treatment development and disease control [PDF | 0.8MB]
Carlos Slim Foundation Symposium


Viewpoints of public policies in parasitology: Protozoa

Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2014
When: 16:00 – 17:30
Where: Terraza C, Hotel Camino Real Polanco

Chair: Roberto Tapia-Conyer, Director General, Carlos Slim Foundation

Peter Hotez, National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Sabin Vaccine Institute, and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development
Shaping an evidence-based policy agenda for NTDs in the Americas
Eric Stobbaerts, Regional Executive Director, DNDi Latin America
Towards new mechanisms of innovation: How Latin America can become a R&D leader in the field of neglected diseases [PDF | 2.1MB]
Antonio Montresor, Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization
On track for 2020 NTD roadmap targets
Miguel Betancourt, Director de Soluciones Globales, Instituto Carlos Slim de la Salud
An innovative model for strengthening research and development of vaccines against NTDs

Symposium

Drugs for neglected diseases

Date: Thursday, August 14, 2014
Chair:
 Reto Brun, Scientific Project Leader, Swiss TPH

Fabiana Alves, Clinical Manager, DNDi
Seeking for alternative treatments for visceral leishmaniasis [PDF | 0.7MB]
Side Meetings

Friday, 8 August 2014

Closed meeting
Lessons Learned in the Management of Clinical Trials of Therapeutic Alternatives for Chagas
When: 9:00 – 13:00
Where: Hotel Genève
Closed meeting
New Tools for Diagnostic and Evaluation of Chagas Patients Meeting (NHEPACHA)
When:
 14:00 – 18:00
Where:
 Hotel Genève
Welcome Cocktail: Chagas Clinical Research Platform Annual Meeting
When: 19:00 – 21:00
Where: Patio, Hotel Genève


Saturday, 9 August 2014

Closed meeting
Chagas Clinical Research Platform Annual Meeting
ICOPA pre-congress
When: 8:30 – 17:00
Where: Room Chapultec, Hotel Camino Real Polanco


Sunday, 10 August 2014

Closed meeting
Chagas Experimental Animal Models for Drug Discovery
ICOPA pre-congress
When: 8:30 – 17:00
Where: Room Morelia, Hotel Camino Real Polanco

Cocktail: Chagas Global Coalition

Date: Monday, 11 August 2014
When: 19:00 – 21:00
Where: China Grill, Toy Garden area, Hotel Camino Real Polanco

Raising our voices!
Changing the paradigm for access to diagnosis and treatment of patients living with Chagas disease

Panellists: Pablo Kuri Morales, Secretaria de la Salud, Mexico; Bernard Pécoul, Executive Director, DNDi; Igor Almeida, University of Texas; Elvira Fernandez Cuevas, AMEPACH

Sand art storytelling: Shelly Xie

Special photo exhibition

 Press Releases

[Mexico City, Mexico – 12 August 2014]
New Drug Candidate for Chagas Disease Tested in Patients in Bolivia
Phase II Trial Launched to Test Safety and Efficacy of ‘Rediscovered’ Fexinidazole in 140 Adults with Chronic Indeterminate Chagas Disease
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) announced today at the International Congress of Parasitology (ICOPA), the launch of a Phase II drug trial to test fexinidazole, a drug shelved in the 1980s and ‘rediscovered’ by DNDi nearly a decade ago, for Chagas disease patients. The drug is also being tested in patients in Africa for two other parasitic diseases, sleeping sickness and visceral leishmaniasis.
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[Mexico City, Mexico – 11 August 2014] 
The Global Chagas Disease Coalition stages high-level event to encourage increased access to diagnosis and treatment of patients fighting Chagas disease
Of the 8 million people infected in the world, 1 million are Mexican
At the 2014 International Congress of Parasitology (ICOPA), the Global Chagas Disease Coalition launched the event “Let’s Raise Our Voice” to alert the world that of the 8 million patients infected with Chagas disease, 99% have not been treated. The aim of this event is to promote an alliance among governments, civil society, doctors, researchers, and patients to discuss simple actions that can be taken to boost patient access to diagnosis and treatment.
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Videos

DNDi released new videos on Chagas disease and cutaneous leishmaniasis during the conference:

Chagas Disease: A Silent Emergency
The Mark of Neglect: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis