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June 28, 2010

African Society of Human Genetics

June 23, 2010

AfSHG is proud to announce the launch of the H3Africa: The Human Heredity and Health in Africa project. The project is a partnership between The National Institutes of Health, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Wellcome Trust. The initiative will support population-based genetic studies in Africa of common, non-communicable disorders such as heart disease and cancer, as well as communicable diseases such as malaria.

The project was formally launched on Tuesday June 22, 2010 at a press conference in London, UK. Watch the full press briefing at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0H8KwmWaAY or read a transcript of the press conference at: http://www.genome.gov/Pages/Newsroom/Webcasts/Transcript-H3-AfricaPressConference.pdf.

June 6, 2010

A dedicated website has been set up for the 2011 Joint Meeting at:  http://www.humangenetics2011.org. All conference-specific information and updates will be posted on this website.

A flier/postcard for the conference can be found here.

January 25, 2010

The next conference, The 2011 Joint Meeting of the African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG) and Southern African Society of Human Genetics (SASHG) will be held in Cape Town on March 6-9,2011. Please note the change in dates. The venue will be the International Convention Center, Cape Town, South Africa.

The theme of the meeting will be: Building Capacity for Genomic and Translational Research in Africa. The sub-themes are: The Microbiome and Health;  Translational Research: Pharmacological and Forensic Applications of Genetics;  Networks for Research, Training and Capacity Building;  Data/Benefit Sharing and Biorepositories;  North-South and South-South Collaborations in Genetics Research;  Genomics and Infectious Diseases.

Please bookmark these dates. This meeting, the 7th annual conference for the AfSHG, will be the second one to hold in the South African subcontinent and the second joint meeting with the SASHG.

September 8, 2009

 The 2010 Conference of the African Society of Human Genetics will take place 10-13 October, 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa. Please bookmark these dates. This meeting, our 7th annual conference, will be the second one to hold in the South African subcontinent. More information will follow in the next few weeks. 

June 10, 2009

Formal proposals to host the 2010 meeting are now being accepted. If you want to make a bid to host the conference, please download the proposal template and send in the completed proposal by June 28, 2009.

The 2009 AGM Minutes was posted today.

For those who registered as AfSHG member at the Yaounde meeting, but have not submitted a membership registration form, please do so in order for us to update our membership database and to add you to our mailing list. The form can be found here and should be sent to membership@afshg.org or faxed to ++44 (0)20 79588111 c/o Branwen Hennig.

May 19, 2009

The 2009 Conference Program and Book of Abstracts was posted today. Because of its size (3.6 MB), you may wish to right-click and "Save as..." if you have a slow internet connection.

March 05, 2009

A new version of the conference program was posted today.

February 27, 2009

For payment of conference registration and membership fees at AfSHG2009, the preferred method for this year's conference is payment in cash on site at the conference. An alternative is by personal check drawn on a US bank. Unfortunately, the Society will be unable to process credit card payments this year (unlike at the last conference).

February 05, 2009

A new version of the conference program was posted today.

If you require a letter of invitation to support your visa application to attend the conference, please contact Shirley Freeman (freeman@afshg.org).

To get assistance with travel, travel and other arrangements "on ground" in Cameroon, please contact: Dr Ambroise WONKAM at ambroise.wonkam@medecine.unige.ch  Tel : 00237 96 40 15 93

December 12, 2008

Abstract submission for the 2009 conference  is now closed.

November 24, 2008

The draft conference program has now been posted online. Please review it to see the invited speakers, scientific sessions and panels. A list of hotels is now available, with contact information to assist you in making reservations.

October 30, 2008

Abstract submission is now open. Please submit your abstracts after reviewing the guidelines for authors. Please note that abstract submission closes on December 07, 2008.

More information about the conference program, scientific sessions,  and travel will become available soon. Do check back soon.

August 05, 2008

November 29, 2007

November 26, 2007

Our most recent meeting, the 5th Annual Meeting of the African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG), was held November 2 - 5, 2007 in conjunction with the First Annual Meeting of the Division of Human Genetics and Genome Research and the National Society of Human Genetics of Egypt. The conference theme was: Genomics Research in Africa: Implications for Disease Diagnosis, Treatment and Drug Development. You can read about the many exciting sessions in the detailed conference program. The Conference venue was the National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.

For members, please check out the notes of the annual general meeting held during the conference.

Thanks to all for an exciting and productive meeting !

October 19, 2007

October 02, 2007

October 01, 2007

September 18, 2007

July 30, 2007

Updated information about hotel accomodation is now available. Do check the page for more hotel options. A downloadable version is available as well. 

Useful information (e.g. currency, weather, travel links) about the conference site may be found here.

As usual, we have provided a downloadable conference announcement here to email or print for your colleagues and friends.

Please, check out the conference information and registration pages. To submit abstracts, please follow the instructions about preparation and submission of abstracts.

June 25, 2007

Information about hotel accomodation is also available.

March 27, 2007

January 05, 2007

November 09, 2006

Photo albums of conferences:

    2003 Conference Photo Album

    2005 Conference Photo Album

    2006 Conference Photo Album

November 06, 2006

October 27, 2006

October 02, 2006

The conference was attended by over 120 participants from 16 countries. The society welcomed for the first time participants from the North African region. The conference venue, the International Livestock Research Institute campus, provided a beautiful setting for the meeting and participants renewed acquaintances, made new friends and established new collaborations. Participants enjoyed a wealth of keynote presentations, invited talks, oral abstracts and poster presentations. Tutorial sessions were held on “Mapping Complex Traits” (led by Joseph Beyene, Scott Wiiliams and Nicole Walley) and “Using HapMap Data” (led by Adebowale Adeyemo, David Bentley and Charles Rotimi). The quality of presentations was high and the discussion lively.

 As part of the conference, participants visited the National Museum at which one of the highlights was viewing the bones of the famous “Lucy” (Australopithecus afarensis) and other early hominids. The National Ethnographic Museum, located at the old imperial palace of the late Emperor Haile Selassie, was also visited. The society dinner was held on June 3^rd and participants enjoyed a lively performance by a traditional Ethiopian dance group.

May 19, 2006

March 01, 2006

February 15, 2006

Registration for the 2006 Meeting is now open.  The 2006 conference registration fee is US $50 for individuals from developing countries and US$ 100 for those from Europe or North America. 

To register, go to the online registration form and fill in your details.  Payment can be made in either of two ways:

(1) By a check drawn on a US bank and mailed to: African Society of Human Genetics, Attention: Shirley Freeman, National Human Genome Center, 2041 Georgia Avenue NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20060, USA.

(2) On site at the conference.

Please, if you cannot send a check drawn on a US bank, do not send other forms of payment as they cannot be cashed by the society at the present time. Just wait to pay onsite at the conference.

Abstract submission is now open. Remember to check the instructions for authors before submitting your abstract. A downloadable set of instructions and a sample abstract are also available to assist in preparing abstracts.

The best way to submit an abstract is to use the online abstract submission form. If you cannot use this form for any reason, please email Dr. Melanie Newport (m.j.newport@bsms.ac.uk) or Jayne Wellington (J.Wellington@bsms.ac.uk).

Information about the conference, including: registration, program and abstract submission may be found on the Conference page.  

To download a conference flyer, please click here. 

You may wish to check out the provisional program. It promises to be a rich and exciting time!

February 06, 2006

The 2006 Meeting will now hold June 3-5, 2006. The theme of the meeting is Human Genetic Variation and Disease. The conference venue is the International Livestock Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting will hold in conjunction with the 42nd Annual Conference of the Ethiopian Medical Association. Information about the conference, including: registration, program and abstract submission may be found on the Conference page.  Members of the conference commitees have been working hard to set up everything just right.

To download a conference flyer, please click here. Feel free to distribute this flyer to colleagues, students and other interested people.

You may wish to check out the provisional program. It promises to be a rich and exciting time!

September 26, 2005  

The 2006 meeting will now hold June 3-4, 2006, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Please bookmark these dates.

April 11, 2005

The 2005 joint meeting with the Southern African Society of Human Genetics was successfully held between March 13-17, 2005. The congress was well-attended and invited speakers included: Myles Axton (Editor, Nature Genetics), David Bentley (Head of Human Genetics, the Sanger Institute), Sir Walter Bodmer (Head, CRUK Cancer and Immunogenetics Lab, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford), Christina Chambers (Program Director, California Teratogen Information Service and Clinical Research Program), Sinuhe Hahn (Director, Laboratory of Prental Medicine, Women's Hospital, Basel), Tim Hubbard (Head of Human Genome Analysis, the Sanger Institute), Kenneth Jones (Professor of Pediatrics, UCSD School of Medicine & Director of Genetics and Dysmorphology, Kaiser Permanente) and Danilo Moretti-Ferreira (Professor of Genetics, Botucatu Medical School of Sao Paulo State University and Chairman of Genetic Counselling Services). During the meeting, there was an excursion to Sterkfontein caves and a talk on the excavations at the caves given by Professor Ron Clarke from the Sterkfontein Research Unit at the Department of Anatomical Science, University of Wittwaterstrand.

 The AfSHG held its 2005 General Meeting on the 14th and 15th March. We welcomed several new members at these meetings. The summary of the deliberations at the meetings has since been circulated to members. Notable outcomes of the meeting include:

1. A decision to hold the next meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in May 2006. The meeting is likely to be during the last week of May. Do bookmark the dates.

2. Nomination of committees (an Organizing Committee and a Program Committee), to handle the planning for the conference.

3. Appointment of a Managing Editor - Roland Ikheloa - for our journal. He is already working with several other members of the society to get the journal started.

4. Several suggestions on how to proceed to establish the society on a firmer footing.

February 10, 2005

The deadline for early registration for the 2005 Joint Congress of the Southern Africa Society of Human Genetics and African Society of Human Genetics has been extended by one week - from February 11 to February 18, 2005.

Register early to take advantage of the cost savings offered by the early registration rates. Again, the last day for early registration is Friday February 18, 2005.

February 10, 2005

You can now pay for the 2005 meeting by credit card. To do that, print out the credit card authorization form, fill it and fax it to Conferplan Incorporated at 0027(11) 794 4263 with your registration forms. This should prove more convenient to many people planning to attend.

February 01, 2005

The web site has been updated with information about the 2005 meeting . Apologies for the lateness in updating the web site. Most of the discussion and information about the meeting had been communicated through our mailing list. Do check out the conference pages and inform your friends and colleagues.

30 January 2004

The web site has been updated with material from the 2003 meeting. If you want to see some of the presentations or the photos, head for the 2003 Meeting section. There is also a forum at http://www.afshg.org/forum/ and by now, you should have received your first message from the listserv.

29 January 2004

The society is listed on the World Health Organisation's Genome Resources Center web site. Check the page here. The site also has a listing of many other societies and organizations active in genetics, genomics, bioinformatics and related fields..

08-10 Decebmber, 2003

The 2003 Meeting of the society held in Accra, Ghana. There were two days of presentations and discussion, followed by a day touring Elmina Castle. For further information about the meeting, do check the 2003 Meeting page. Support for the meeting was provided by the National Institutes of Health: Forgarty International Center, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Human Genome Research Institute, and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. You can see a copy of the actual printed program used during the meeting here (pages 1 and 4, pages 2 and 3).

01 December 2003

A poster announcing the opening ceremony of the 2003 meeting can be found here.

27 November 2003

A tour of Elmina Castle has been arranged for December 10, 2003. The time will be 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

26 November, 2003

Updated program for the 2003 AfSHG posted. Check it out here.

04 November, 2003

Updated program for the 2003 AfSHG posted. Check it out here.

28 October, 2003

This is to remind everyone planning to attend the 2003 AfSHG conference to make their travel arrangements as soon as possible to avoid last-minute difficulties. As the month of December approaches, it becomes more difficult and more expensive to get one's choice of flights. Therefore, make your reservations as quickly as possible.

27 October, 2003

There is updated information regarding hotel accomodation for the 2003 meeting. We have successfully negotiated a special room rate for the conference. Conference participants who plan to stay at the conference venue, La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, will now pay $100 per night for a single room and $120 per night for a double room. An updated registration form can be downloaded here .

14 October, 2003

The ISHIB 2003 meeting has been cancelled [you can read more at www.ishib.org ]. This is relevant to the Society because the ISHIB meeting and the AfSHG 2003 inaugural meeting were to have run concurrently. Nonetheless, the AfSHG 2003 meeting will hold as scheduled on December 8-9, 2003 .