Message by Elisa Uliassi, Leader of the HG4 on YRI
Dear OneHealthdrugs Colleagues and Young Researcher Innovators (YRI),
the OneHealthdrugs Marathon days took place online on November 25-28, 2024 and has been a great opportunity for all young investigators to share and discuss their research and to network with all attendees. The dedicated YRI session held on Nov 28 has been chaired by Elisa Uliassi (HG4 YRI leader) and Gulsah Bayraktar (WG5 leader). This day has provided the ideal international platform for YRI to present their research work in the field of vector-borne parasitic diseases (VBPDs), covering medicinal chemistry/green chemistry, pharmacology/parasitology and ecotoxicology topics.
The marathon was well attended by YRI (>50% of presenters and participants). The YRI session included 5 presentations on STSM conducted during the 2nd year, 5 YRI oral communications and 1 inspiring lecture given by Dr. Sheraz Gul. The session and the discussion after each presentation were highly interactive and interesting. We underscored the urgent need to broaden the drugs available to fight VBPDs and the need to substantially change existing approaches to drug discovery and development. At the end of the presentations, a committee consisting of Prof. Anabela Cordeiro-da-Silva, Dr. Elisa Uliassi and Dr. Gulsah Bayraktar awarded 2 YRIs that presented in the Onehealthdrugs marathon: 1 for STSM and 1 for YRI. The 2 winners are:
Revealing the Mechanism of Action of the innovative antileishmanial agent H80 through fractionated MS Proteomics, untargeted metabolomics, and fluorescence imaging
Towards knowing your target in Leishmania: establishment of validated in situ assays for antileishmanial drug discovery
We hope that we have helped to strengthen YRI's foundation in OHD topics and to increase their involvement in our OHD Action.
I would like to thank all the organizers, speakers and participants for their invaluable contributions and active participation in this marathon. A special thanks goes to Prof. Anabela Cordeiro-da-Silva. We thank Prof. Paola Costi for her guidance and dedication to the OneHealthdrugs COST Action.
Once again, we thank everyone who made this event possible.
With best regards
Elisa