ISHG 2021
The International Symposium on Human Genetics 2021 – ISHG 2021
Dates: Tuesday, 9 & Wednesday, 10 March 2021
Virtual Conference Platform
This Symposium aims to provide a taster for the ICHG2022, since it was postponed by almost a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are bringing together exceptional speakers for two sessions on topics that are highly relevant to human geneticists and these discussions will be picked up again at the main meeting in 2022. Each session will last for two hours, one accommodating western time zones and the other eastern time zones.
DAY 1: The shaping of modern human genomes: migration, admixture and ancient genomic introgression
Tuesday, 9 March 2021
3 – 5 pm SAST
Since the emergence of modern man in Africa between 400,000 and 600,000 years ago, evolutionary forces have been shaping the human genome. Studies on the genomes of people living today and some who died thousands of years ago provide clues to our past and we begin to unravel a story of migration, admixture and adaptation. In this session we start with African population genomics, then adaptive signatures and introgression form extinct hominids to the peopling of Asia. .
| Speaker | Country | Suggested Topic |
| Charles Rotimi & Michele Ramsay (Chairs) | USA / South Africa | Significance of the modern human origins and evolutionary processes |
| Ananyo Choudhury | South Africa | H3Africa population genomics studies – selection and adaptation |
| Sarah Tishkoff | USA | Genetic selection: Skin colour and lactase persistence |
| TBC | TBC | Ancient DNA studies – Neanderthal introgression |
| Partha P Majumder | India | Genome Asia |
| All speakers & Chairs | Discussion Q&A format (LIVE) | |
| Chairs | Wrap-up |
DAY 2: Infectious diseases and our genome
Wednesday, 10 March 2021
Time: 9 – 11 am SAST
SSince the origin of modern man, people have been plagued by pathogens, threatening their health and causing premature death in hundreds of thousands of people over short time periods. Malaria and trypanosomiasis continue to cause high morbidity and mortality in Africa and the world is staggering under the COVID-19 pandemic. What have we learned about human adaptation, our immune responses and how vulnerable or resilient do variations in our genomes make us?
| Speaker | Country | Suggested Topic |
| Ambroise Wonkam / Poh San Lai |
South Africa/Cameroon / Singapore | Significance of infections in shaping the human genome and adaptation strategies |
| Solomon Ofori-Acquah, PhD | Ghana | Malaria and sickle cell disease in Africa |
| Prof George Gao | China | The role of host genome variation in the time of COVID-19 |
| Sarah Dunstan | Australia | Host-pathogen interactions of a number of infectious diseases including tuberculosis, malaria and enteric fever |
| Mihai Netea | The Netherlands | Immune deficiency and susceptibility to infections |
| All speakers, Chairs & Raj Ramesar | Discussion Q&A format (LIVE) | |
| Chairs | Wrap-up |
Cost: No charge
Sponsorship opportunities are available for companies to cover the costs. If you are interested in contributing, please contact Carolyn Melnick on caro@soafrica.com or +27 82 223 1338.
