Pre-Conference Short Courses (SC)*:

Tuesday, April 10

1:00pm-2:00pm Registration

2:00pm-5:00pm (all short courses)

SC1:
Using Classical Statistics & Experiment Design to Reduce 
Noise in Your Next Microarray Experiment
Thomas J. Downey Jr., President & CEO, Partek, Inc.
Microarray data contains treatment and/or phenotype effects embedded in a sea of technical and biological noise. This workshop will demonstrate how to use proven statistical methods of experiment design and data analysis to reliably identify biological effects of interest while controlling and removing noise due to biological and technical nuisance effects. Attendees will learn how to employ completely randomized block designs to isolate and remove batch effects due to processing batches, etc. clearly revealing the signals from the biological factors of interest. In addition to p-values, estimates of ratios and fold-changes will be examined from a statistical perspective. The techniques will be demonstrated using gene expression, copy number, exon, and ChIP-on-Chip regulation studies.Attendees will learn how to apply and interpret statistical techniques such as analysis of variance (ANOVA) -including mixed linear models and linear contrasts, multiple test corrections, and principal components analysis.

SC2:
The Communication Route in Tissue – Based Diagnosis: From Telepathology to Grid Technology
Klaus Kayser, M.D., Ph.D., Director of UICC Telepathology Consultation Center, Charite Berlin 
Juergen Goertler, Ph.D., IBM DeepComputing
The key points of the course will be:

• Medical aspects of tissue –base diagnosis focusing on influence of modern telecommunication technology

• Historical development of telepathology and telemedicine

• Implementation of virtual pathology institutions (VPIs)

• Virtual slide technology and its implementation

• Automated measurements in immunohistochemistry and its open access (EAMUS.DE)

• Open access pre-screening in conventional surgical pathology

• Extension of  multiple point VPIs by Grid technology

• Globalization and perspectives of tissue – based diagnosis

SC3:
Laser Capture Microscopy – Optimizing Results
Virginia Espina, Research Assistant Professor, Applied Proteomics & Molecular Medicine, George Mason University

* Separate Registration Required