We facilitate collaboration between medicinal chemists from developed and developing countries who share a vision of tackling diseases endemic to tropical regions of the world. Our strategies and goals are similar to those of the Medicinal Chemistry Working Group, but we are different in that we do most of our work through large-scale, collaborative EU initiatives.

We hold Observer Status in the B22 Action of the European Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST) scheme. COST Action B22 brings together scientists from academia and industry, in Europe and elsewhere, and encourages them to combine their expertise in chemistry, biology to develop new anti-parasitic drugs. The Action aims to exploit the latest advances in post-genomic research and technology.

COST B22 runs until 2007, and the next and final Annual Congress will take place on 10-13 June 2007 in Dundee, Scotland.

Travel Awards to Annual COST B22 Meetings. Since 2004, IOCD has provided travel grants to 8-10 scientists from developing countries to attend the Annual COST B22 Meetings. These meetings have been held in Antwerp, Belgium (2004), Siena, Italy (2005); and Athens, Greece (2006). Click here to read about the recipients of the 2006 awards. Click here to read about the recipients of the 2007 awards.

Recipients of IOCD support to attend the 2007 COST B22 meeting in Dundee. At the far left is Fred Opperdoes, Chair of the IOCD Working Group on Tropical Diseases and member of the COST B22 management committee.

Click on the appropriate year to download an IOCD report on the Annual Congresses of 2005, 2006 and 2007.

For the 2007 Congress, IOCD named the inaugural winner of its IOCD Founders Fund Award, a prize of $5,000 that permits a young scientist from a developing country to receive specialized training in a COST-associated laboratory. The winner of the IOCD Founders Fund Award was selected by a committee of the five chairs of the COST B22 working groups: Prof. Dolores Gonzalez-Pacanowska, Prof. Graham Coombs, Prof. Donatella Taramelli, Dr. Arsalam Kharazmi, Dr. Francisco Gamarro, and Prof. Fred Opperdoes.

Marco Sealey-Cardona graduated from the Universidad de los Andes in Mérida, Venezuela, and is at present working at the Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina "López Neyra", CSIC, Granada, Spain. He expects to defend his thesis later this year, after which he will seek a postdoctoral position in Europe.

Marco Sealey-Cardona, inaugural winner of the IOCD Founders Fund Award, stands next to his research poster at the 2007 COST B22 meeting in Dundee.