CONFERENCE TALKS
*students won international awards for best papers
29. Mushal Ali and Alan Christoffels. InsecTar: a database of microRNA targets in insects. ISCB Africa, African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Casablanca, Morocco. 13-15 March 2013
28. Ibrahim Ahmed, Eileen Hoal-van Helden, Peter Witbooi and Alan Christoffels. Prediction of human-Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein-protein interaction using multilayer neural network trained with particle swarm optimization. ISCB Africa, African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Casablanca, Morocco. 13-15 March 2013
27. Ruben Cloete, Ekow Oppon and Alan Christoffels. Homology modeling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis potential drug target candidates and docking studies to identify inhibitors. ISCB Africa, African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Casablanca, Morocco. 13-15 March 2013.
26. Adugna A. Woldesemayat, Peter van Heusden, Junaid Gamieldien, Bongani Ndimba and Alan Christoffels. Identification of candidate genes for drought tolerance in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor(L) Moench. ISCB Africa, African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Casablanca, Morocco. 13-15 March 2013
25. S. Muyanga, F. Khan, A. Pretorius and A. Christoffels. A computational study of carotenoid transcriptional regulation in A. thaliana during abiotic stress. ISMB, Long Beach California, July 2012.
24. Edna Rooth, Toni Sylvester, Trish Struthers and Alan Christoffels. How to be a health activist: TB intervention in Western Cape Schools. South African TB Conference. Durban, South Africa, June 2012
23. Mmakamohelo Direko, Alecia Naidu, Mario Jonas, Gordon Jamieson, Nico Gey van Pittius, Rob Warren and Alan Christoffels. Genome assembly of next generation sequencing data for the Oryx bacillus: species of the M. tuberculosis complex. South African TB Conference. Durban, South Africa, June 2012.
22. Ruben Cloete, Ekow Oppon and Alan Christoffels (2011). In-silico TB drug design using comparative genome analysis of DS, MDR and XDR isolates from kwazulu natal. ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference on Bioinformatics. 9-11 March 2011, Cape Town.
21. Kwofie, S., Radovanovic A., Bajic VB and Christoffels A (2011). Inferring enriched biological information from graphs composed of text-derived biomedical concepts of ontologies related to Hepatitis C Virus. ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference on Bioinformatics. 9-11 March 2011, Cape Town.
20. *Musa Nur Gabere, Vijayaraghava Seshadri Sundararajan, Ashley Pretorius, Saleem Adam, Alan Christoffels, Minna Lehväslaiho, and Vladimir B Bajic (2010). Dragon Antimicrobial Peptide Database: A collection of manually curated antimicrobial peptides. 22nd international Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) conference. Stellenbosch, Cape Town. 24-27 October 2010.
19. *Monique Maqungo, Mandeep Kaur, Samuel Kwofie, Aleksander Radovanovic, Ulf Schaefer, Sebastian Schmeier, Ekow Oppon, Alan Christoffels and Vladimir Bajic (2010). DDPC: Dragon database of genes associated with prostate cancer. 22nd international Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) conference. Stellenbosch, Cape Town. 24-27 October 2010.
18. *Alecia Naidu, Peter van Heusden, Rob Warren, Nico Gey van Pittius and Alan Christoffels(2010). Development of computational tools and management of next generation mycobacterial sequence data. 22nd international Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) conference. Stellenbosch, Cape Town. 24-27 October 2010
17. E. Rooth, T.Sylvester, P.Struthers and A. Christoffels (2010). A holistic participatory approach to counter TB and HIV/AIDS in Schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. London International Conference on Education. London
16. Ruben Cloete, Ekow Oppon and Alan Christoffels (2010) In-Silico TB drug design using comparative genome analysis of DS, MDR and XDR isolates from KZN. MRC Research Open Day. Tygerberg, Cape Town
15. Samuel Kwofie , Aleksandar Radovanovic, Vijayaraghava Sundararajan, Monique Maqungo, Alan Christoffels and Vladimir Bajic. Hepatitis C Virus Discovery Database (HCVdd). International Society for Computational Biology Africa ASBCB: Joint Conference on Bioinformatics of Infectious Diseases. 30 Nov – 05 Dec 2009, Bamako, Mali.
14. *Sarah Mwangi and Alan Christoffels. An Evolutioniary Genomics Approach towards analysis of Genes implicated in transmission of Trypanosomes between Tsetse fly and Mammalian host. International Society for Computational Biology Africa ASBCB: Joint Conference on Bioinformatics of Infectious Diseases. 30 Nov – 05 Dec 2009, Bamako, Mali.
13. Mark Wamalwa and Alan Christoffels. Comparative genomics analysis of Glossina morsitans transcriptome: vector for sleeping sickness. International Society for Computational Biology Africa ASBCB: Joint Conference on Bioinformatics of Infectious Diseases. 30 Nov – 05 Dec 2009, Bamako, Mali.
12. Molecular and population biology of mosquitos and other disease vectors. Alan Christoffels and the IGGI consortium. International Glossina Genome Initiative: Towards an understanding of the Glossina morsitans transcriptome. 19 - 26 Jul 2009, Kolymbari, Crete.
11. Tsetse fly transcriptome analysis. Alan Christoffels and the IGGI consortium. XXIII International Congress of Entomology, Durban, July 2008.
10. S Tan, A Christoffels, B Venkatesh and V Bajic. Comparison of core promoters in Fugu rubripes and human. 3rd Asia Pacific Bioinformatics Conference. 17 - 21 January 2005, Singapore.
9. A Christoffels. Evolution of teleost genomes and their implications for gene regulation. Temasek Life Science Laboratories Symposium. 21 July 2004, Singapore.
8. A Christoffels. Evolutionary rearrangements between the Fugu and Human genomes. Workshop on Bioinformatics and Genomics: Methods, Data and Predictions. Institute for InfoComm Research. National University of Singapore, 24-26 June 2002, Singapore.
7. A. Christoffels, R. Miller, and W. Hide. EST clustering. 7th International Conference on Intelligent Systems in Molecular Biology. 1999, Heidelberg, Germany
6. A Christoffels, R Miller, J Burke, B Karlak, A Ptitsyn, T Broveak and W Hide. The development of a resource of virtual human genes. 8th Biennia Southern African Society of Human Genetics. 9-12 March 1999. Harbor's Edge Hotel Gordons Bay South Africa.
5. A Christoffels, R Miller and W Hide. Investigating alternate gene expression utilizing processed ESTs. Genome mapping, sequencing & biology. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, USA.13-17th May 1998.
4. R Miller, J Burke, A Christoffels and W Hide. Towards a comprehensive conceptual consensus of the expressed human genome. A novel error analytical approach to EST consensus database. DOE Human Genome Program. Contractor-Grantee Workshop VI. Sante Fe New Mexico 9-13th November 1997.
3. T de Jager, A Christoffels, P Brink and V Corfield. The progressive familial heart block gene search: refining the target area. 7th Biennial Congress of the Southern African Society of Human Genetics. Kwa Maritane, South Africa,1997.
2. A Christoffels, A Ferreira, P Brink and V. Corfield. Clinical significance of genetic linkage analysis studies in PFHB1. 12th Academic Year Day. Department of Internal Medicine. Tygerberg Medical School, South Africa. 1996.
1. A. Ferreira, A Christoffels, P Brink and V Corfield. The search for the progressive familial heartblock gene. Fine mapping of chromosome 19q13.3-13.4. 6th Biennial Congress of the Southern African Society of Human Genetics. Club Mykonos, Langebaan, South Africa, 1995.
CONFERENCE POSTERS
*students won awards for best poster
51. Samuel Egieyeh, James Syce, Sarel Malan and Alan Christoffels. Analysis and comparison of the molecular scaffolds of currently approved antimalarial drugs and natural plants products that have shown antiplasmodial activities. 17th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (WCP2014) to be held from 13-18 July 2014 at the CTICC in Cape Town, South Africa.
51. Samuel Egieyeh, James Syce, Sarel Malan and Alan Christoffels. Computer Aided Antimalarial Drug Design from Phytochemicals with in-vitro antiplasmodial activities: Chemoinformatics and Docking analysis. 6th MIM Pan-African Malaria Conference: "Moving towards malaria elimination: Investing in research and control. The International Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa. 6 - 11 October 2013.
50. Akin Abayomi, Alan Christoffels, Ravnit Grewal, Carmen Swanepoel, Tayo Fakunle, Beverley van Rooyen, Catherine Rossouw, Michael Sheldon. Development of the H3Africa Cape Town Biorepository as an integral part of the H3Africa Consortium to Facilitate Studies on Biodiversity, Disease & Pharmacogenomics of African Populations. ISBER Australia May 2013.
49. Mushal Ali, Hiba Abdallah, Lizette Koekemoer and Alan Christoffels. Identification and characterization of microRNAs expressed in Malaria vector Anopheles funestus developmental stages by high throughput sequencing. Malaria – Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cell Biology. New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. 20-25 January 2013.
48. Hesse U, Mafofo J, Mbandi S, Moncho OM, van Heusden P, Husselmann L, Rees J and Christoffels A. Genome of Venturia inaequalis – the causal agent of apple scab. 21st Annual International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology and 12th European Conference on Computational Biology. 21-23 July 2013.
47. Z.Jalali Sefid Dashti, J. Gamieldien and A.G Christoffels. Computational identification of post-transcriptional regulatory motifs in iron-regulated genes of G.morsitans. South African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Stellenbosch South Africa. September 2012
46. M Jalali Sefid Dashti, M Kotze, S Janse van Rensburg, A Christoffels and J Gamieldien. A semantic database to aid in the implication of novel multiple sclerosis causative variants using ‘guilt-by-indirect-association. South African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Stellenbosch South Africa. September 2012.
45. D Mapiye, A Christoffels and J Gamieldien. Development of an optimised cross-platform expression array integration method and its application to breast cancer. South African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Stellenbosch South Africa. September 2012.
44. Barbara Picone, Luca Sineo and Alan Christoffels. Susceptibility to Mycobacterium tuberculosis: importance of multiple key genes in human and non-human primates. South African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Stellenbosch South Africa. September 2012
43. Stanley Mbandi-Kimbung, Uljana Hesse, Gordon Jamieson, Peter van Heusden, Jasper Rees and Alan Christoffels. Reducing noise in Venturia inequalis reconstructed transcripts. South African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Stellenbosch South Africa. September 2012
42. Wisdom, A Akurugu, Cedric Werely and Alan Christoffels. Effects of nucleotide variation on the structure and function of human arylamine N-acetyltransferase 1. South African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Stellenbosch South Africa. September 2012.
41. Roetz, N, Möller, M, Tiffin, N, Christoffels A, Hoal, E. Variants in Host Susceptibility to Tuberculosis using SNP Array. ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference on Bioinformatics, Cape Town, South Africa, March 2011.
40. Mark Wamalwa. The transcriptome profile of Glossina morsitans morsitans: a vector for sleeping sickness.ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference on Bioinformatics, Cape Town, South Africa, March 2011.
39. Alecia Naidu, Mmakamohelo Direko, Peter van Heusden, Junaid Gamieldien, Paul van Helden, Rob Warren, Nico Gey van Pittius, Alan Christoffels. Development of a computational framework for the management of next generation Mycobacterial Sequencing Data. ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference on Bioinformatics, Cape Town, South Africa, March 2011.
38. Stanley Kimbung, Jean-Marc Celton, Oreetseng Moncho, Lizex Husselman, Adugna Woldesemayat, Joseph Mafofo, Peter van Huesden, Jasper Rees, Alan Christoffels. A Computational Framework for Venturia Inaequalis Genomics. ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference on Bioinformatics, Cape Town, South Africa, March 2011.
37. Adugna A. Woldesemayat, Junaid Gamieldien, Bongani Ndimba and Alan Christoffels. Computational identification of candidate genes for drought tolerance in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference on Bioinformatics. 9-11 March 2011, Cape Town.
36. Musa Gabere, William Noble, Mushal Allam, Peter van Heusden, Vladimir Bajic and Alan Christoffels. HAPP: Hematophagous antimicrobial peptide predictor. ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference on Bioinformatics. 9-11 March 2011, Cape Town.
35. S Muyanga, A Pretorius, F Khan and Christoffels (2011). Discovery of provitamin A carotenoid biosynthesis transcriptional regulation using computational tools. ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference on Bioinformatics. 9-11 March 2011, Cape Town.
34. Z.Chikwambi, A Christoffels and D.J.G Rees (2011). Developmental peel and pulp tissue specific mRNA expression profiling in Malus x domestica Borkh. Cv “Golden Delicious” Fruit. Biotechnology Fruit Conference. Pretoria.
33. Samson Muyanga, Firdous Khan and Alan Christoffels (2011). Computational discovery of caroteniod pathway networks. Holticulture GMO symposium. Kruger National Park, September 2011.
32. F. Khan, S. Muyanga, A. Pretorius, E.Wurtzel, A. Christoffels (2011). A computational study of carotenoid gene expression using microarray data. Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biologists. Spain.
31. Patricia Struthers, Edna Rooth, Toni Sylvester, Alan Christoffels (2010). A creative interactive approach to learning about TB and HIV: A resource for developing life skills in Grade 8. Public Health Association of South Africa. East London. 29th November – 1st December 2010.
30. Ruben Cloete, Ekow Oppon and Alan Christoffels (2010) . In silico TB drug design using comparative genome analysis of DS, MDR and XDR isolates from KZN. Workshop on Molecular modeling and Drug design. Centre for modeling and drug design. University of Hyderabad. 2-7 August 2010.
29. Edwin Murungi, Sumir Panji and Alan Christoffels (2010). Genome mining, characterization and evolutionary analysis of SNARE proteins in Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi. African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation (ANDI), Nairobi Kenya, 11-13 October 2010
28. Murungi Edwin and Christoffels Alan (2009) Genome mining of trypanosoma brucei SNARE proteins and an investigation of their evolution. Genome informatics. Cold Spring Harbor. New York, USA
27. Mark Wamalwa and Alan Christoffels (2009). Comparative genome analysis of Glossina morsitans transcriptome: a vector for sleeping sickness. Genome Informatics. Cold Spring Harbor. New York, USA
26. Mushal Allam and Alan Christoffels (2009) Bioinformatic prediction of microRNA targets in Anopheles gambiae: Towards an understanding of parasitic control by blood-sucking mosquito. International Society for Computational Biology Africa ASBCB: Joint Conference on Bioinformatics of Infectious Diseases,30 Nov – 05 Dec 2009, Bamako, Mali.
25. Musa N Gaberere, Alan Christoffels and Vladimir Bajic (2009). In-silico prediction of antimicrobial peptides in Tsetse fly using profile hidden Markov model and support vector machine. International Society for Computational Biology Africa ASBCB: Joint Conference on Bioinformatics of Infectious Diseases. 30 Nov – 05 Dec 2009, Bamako, Mali.
24. Feziwe Mpondo, Mario Jonas, Winston Hide and Alan Christoffels. A comparative genomics approach towards classifying immunity-related proteins in the tsetse fly. Medical Research Council Research Day. 14 & 15 Sep 2009, Parow, Cape Town.
23. Aaron Chuah, Richard Bartfai, Laszlo Orban and Alan Christoffels (2006). ModEST: a GMOD-based Framework for cross-species integration of transcripts into closely-related genomes. Genome Informatics Workshop (GIW2006), December 2006, Japan
22. A Christoffels, R Bartfai, H Srinivasan, H Komen and L Orban (2006). Comparative genomics in cyprinids: Common carp ESTs help the annotation of the zebrafish genome. InCob2006. 18 - 20 December 2006. New Delhi India.
21. Alan Christoffels, Hamsa Srinivasan, Richard Bartfai, Vladimir Bajic, Hans Komen and Laszlo Orban. Comparative Genomics of two Cyprinid Species. Consortium for post genome science conference. March 2006.
20. Allison H.C. Soo, Juguang Xiao and A Christoffels. Gene Duplication Detection (GDD): Web-based phylogenetic analysis. 13th Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology. 25 - 29June 2005, Detroit Michigan, USA.
19. Alan Christoffels, Sydney Brenner and Byrappa Venkatesh. Tetraodon genome analysis provides further evidence for whole-genome duplication in the ray-finned fish lineage. Functional Genomics of Pufferfish. TODAI International Symposium. 3 - 6 November 2004, Tokyo Japan.
18. Yong Hwee Loh, Alan Christoffels, Sydney Brenner, Walter Hunziker and Byrappa Venkatesh. Evolution and diversity of claudin genes in vertebrates: Genome-wide analysis in Fugu reveals extensive expansion in teleost fish. Biology of Genomes. 12 - 16 May 2004 Cold Spring Harbor New York USA.
17. Alan Christoffels, Sinlam Tan, Byrappa Venkatesh, Vladimir Bajic. Re-defining the promoter boundaries of teleost genes. Biology of Genomes. 12 - 16 May 2004. Cold Spring Harbor New York USA.
16. A. Christoffels, E.G.L. Koh, J.Chia, S. Aparicio, S. Brenner and B. Venkatesh. Fugu genome analysis provides evidence for a whole-genome duplication early during the evolution of ray-finned fishes. Biology of Genomes. 12-16 May 2004. Cold Spring Harbor New York USA.
15. Esther G.L. Koh, Kevin Lam, Alan Christoffels, Mark V Erdmann, Sydney Brenner, Byrappa Venkatesh. Hox Genes in the Indonesian Coelacanth Latimeria menadoensis. The international coastal and ocean exploration. 28-31 October 2003. East London, South Africa.
14. Christoffels A, Chia J-M, Hoon S, Stupka E, Aparicio S and Venkatesh B. Ancient gene duplication in the teleost lineage. Genome Informatics. August 2002. Wellcome Trust Genome Campus. Hinxton United Kingdom.
13. Winston Hide, Soraya Bardien-Kruger, Alan Christoffels, Johann Visagie, Mark McCarthy, Damian Smedley and Janet Kelso. Gene expression links phenotype to genome for disease gene candidate selection. Genome Sequencing & Biology. 7 - 11 May 2002. Cold Spring Harbor New York USA.
12. Christoffels A, Chia J-M, Hoon S, Stupka E, Aparicio S and Venkatesh B. Ancient gene duplication in the teleost lineage. Genome Sequencing & Biology. May 2002. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York USA.
11. S Bardien, A Ziskind, A Christoffels, W Hide. Construction of a controlled vocabulary for description of expression state of positional candidates for human genetics disorders. Miroaccray gene expression databases (MGEDIII). Stanford University School of Medicine 28 - 30th March 2001. Palo Alto, California USA.
10. A Christoffels, P van Heusden, S Bardien-Kruger, G Greyling, J Visagie, A van Gelder1, J Kelso, L Groenewald, T Hide. A direct connection between phenotype and genotype. SA disease gene discovery system. Genome Informatics. 8th August 2001, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus UK.
9. A Christoffels and W. Hide. Tissue specificity as a measure of disease candidacy. Genome Sequencing and Biology Conference. 12 - 14 May 2000. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York USA.
8. A Christoffels, R Miller A Ptitsyn, C Gopalakrishnan, P van Heusden, A van Gelder, J Kelso, T Broveak, W Hide. STACK_PACK and STACK. A novel comprehensive, hierachical EST clustering and consensus generation and analysis system providing unique insights into the human genome. ISMB 1999. Heidelberg Germany.
7. A Christoffels and W Hide. A rapid method for the establishment of candidacy of disease genes. 9th International genome sequencing and analysis conference. 13 - 16th September 1997. Hyatt Regency. Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
6. Z Makubalo, A Christoffels, Z Arieff, T de Jager, P Brink and V Corfield. Genetic screening of GSY1 and HRC: PFHB1 candidate genes and generation of A3T repeat markers. 7th Biennial congress of the Southern African Society of Human Genetics. Kwa Maritane, South Africa, 1997.
5. A. Ferreira, A. Christoffels, P. Brink and V. Corfield. Identification of the gene causing Progressive familial heart block 1, PhaseII fine mapping. 38th Academic year day. Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, 1996.
4. P Brink, A Christoffels, A Ferreira and V Corfield. DNA-based clinical dissection of PFHB1 a cardiac bundle branch disorder. The XV World congress of the international society of heart research. 2 - 7th July 1995. Prague
3. V. Corfield, J.C Moolman, A. Ferreira, T. de Jager, A. Christoffels and P. Brink. Defining the molecular causes of heart disease in South Africa. Mutation detection. 3rd International Workshop. 18 - 21 May 1995, Sweden
2. A. Christoffels, A. Ferreira, P. Brink and V. Corfield. Clinical significance of genetic linkage analysis studies in PFHB1. 6th Biennial Congress of the Southern African Society of Human Genetics. 26 - 30th March 1995. Club Mykonos, Langebaan. South Africa.
1. V. Corfield, A. Ferreira, J. Moolman, A. Christoffels and P. Brink. Archival tissue and buccal epithelial cells an alternative source of DNA in studies of familial disease. 34th Annual Congress of the Federation of South African Societies of Pathology. 3 - 6th July 1994. South Africa