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JOBIM 2026 Mini-Symposium: “International Interactions in Bioinformatics”

Full title: JOBIM 2026 Mini-Symposium “International Collaborations in Bioinformatics Focusing on Sequencing Technologies Applied to Health and Agriculture”

Date: July 2 (afternoon) during JOBIM 2026 in Strasbourg

This mini-symposium features a thematic session on international collaboration organized by the French Society for Bioinformatics (SFBI). It aims to foster scientific and institutional exchanges between the bioinformatics and computational biology communities.

Given that international collaborations play a central role in the development of interdisciplinary projects and the emergence of new methodological approaches, this session will provide a structured forum for discussion on the issues, opportunities, and challenges associated with such collaborations, particularly in the fields of health and agriculture.

Two professors will share their research and their perspectives on international trends in bioinformatics:

Professor Ana Tereza Ribeiro de Vasconcelos is a senior researcher at the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC), which reports directly to the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. She heads the LNCC’s Bioinformatics Laboratory and the Darcy Fontoura de Almeida Computational Genomics Unit. She is a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), a member of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB), and a member of The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS). She was the first president of the Brazilian Association of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (AB3C, the Brazilian Society of Bioinformatics).

Professor Justin PITA is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology at the College of Agricultural Sciences at Pennsylvania State University (USA) and a Senior Lecturer at Félix HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY University (Ivory Coast). He has over 25 years of experience in plant health research, particularly in the epidemiology of viral diseases and viral evolution, at renowned institutions in the United States and Africa, such as WAVE (Central and West African Virus Epidemiology), of which he is the Founder and Executive Director. WAVE operates in 14 countries across Central and West Africa (CWA), bringing together 17 research centers and universities. Its research-for-development program in CWA focuses on the diagnosis and surveillance of plant pathogens using high-throughput sequencing, modeling, and bioinformatics, as well as on strengthening infrastructure and human capacity.

The presentations will be followed by flash-talks by scientists from Brazil and Central and West Africa, followed by a discussion session aimed at identifying and discussing opportunities for future collaboration and interaction between our networks. 

This mini-symposium is open to all participants interested in the collaborative, organizational, and scientific aspects of bioinformatics and computational biology. The proposed partnerships may take various forms: setting up joint projects, reciprocal hosting of scientists, or organizing joint workshops and training sessions on topics where needs are identified. A focus will be placed on issues related to data management, computing infrastructure, and the principles of open science.

Participation is open to all JOBIM attendees. The mini-symposium will be available via videoconference.

Program

15h - 15h05 : Introduction

15h05 - 15h45 : Bioinformatics in Brazil: From genomic networks to multiomics integration: building science in a megadiverse nation - Professeure Ana Tereza Ribeiro de Vasconcelos

15h45 - 16h : 3 Flash presentations Brazil

   1) Program's Coding: The Code of Life - A pilot project for applying bioinformatics in high school education - Helena Lott Costa Rocha
   2) Plant Parasitism and Metal Transport: Complementary Narratives of Evolution and Molecular Innovation in Plants - Wenderson Felipe Costa Rodrigues
   3) EpiBuilder 2.0: A Dockerized Web Platform for In Silico Prediction and Analysis of Linear B-Cell Epitopes - Bruna Caroline Russi

16h - 16h30 : break

16h30 - 17h10 : Bridging the gap in computational biology: genomic surveillance and bioinformatic innovation for plant health and food security in Africa - Professeur Justin PITA

17h10 - 17h30 : 3 Flash presentations West Africa

   1) A Spatially Explicit Delay-Differential Framework for Optimal Disease Surveillance in Clonally Propagated Plants - Koissi SAVI
   2) Enhancing Genomic Prediction Accuracy for Complex Traits in Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Through Pangenome-Informed Variant Calling - Oloruntoba Isaac ABEGUNDE 
   3) Optimizing de novo assembly of RCA-enriched circular ssDNA viral genomes using long-read sequencing - Pakyendou Estel NAME 

17h30 - 17h50 : round-table discussion on scientific issues (management, open science, collaborations and potential links between these various networks)

Organizers & Sponsors