Lab handbook : basics to work with extracellular vesicles : 27th - 29th of September 2022, Tartu, Estonia

About COMBIVET AND BSEV JOINT SUMMER SCHOOL 2022. The Combivet and BSEV Joint Summer School is organized by the COMBIVET ERA Chair of Comparative Medicine in the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences of the Estonian University of Life Sciences and Baltic society of Extracellular Vesicles. The program is supported by the European Union (Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 857418). In this exclusive summer school, the students will get hands on experience in the basics of EV isolation, characterization and the related data analysis from a panel of international experts with years of experience in handling EVs. A series of lectures covering the required theoretical knowledge, best practices, tips and tricks, troubleshooting and adherence to the standards set by the International Society for Extracellular vesicles (ISEV) would also be offered. Latest developments in the field such as mass production of EVs will be thoroughly discussed along with the basics such as size exclusion chromatography, tangential flow filtration, ultracentrifugation, nanoparticle tracking analysis, flow cytometry for EVs, EV RNA extraction and characterization. The school is well suited for EV researchers who require a firm foundation in basics to begin their journey into the world of EV research.

It's a pleasure to welcome you to the first hands-on training school of "Basics to work with Extracellular Vesicles" jointly organized by the COMBIVET ERA Chair of Comparative Medicine in the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences of the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, University of Tartu and Baltic Society of Extracellular Vesicles. However, this is also the 5th research school organized by the Fazeli lab on "Basics to work with Extracellular Vesicles". In recent years, Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) have gained considerable interest across different scientific communities, particularly those working with cancer, infectious and inflammatory diseases. In addition, EVs have emerged as important mediators of cell-cell interactions, making them very attractive targets for biomarker discovery platforms and therapeutics. If in the past EVs were a hot topic in just Human Medicine, now investigators in Veterinary Medicine and even those working with plants and microorganisms are becoming interested in working on this amazing new and attractive field of science. Under the COMBIVET ERA Chair of Comparative Medicine in the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences of the Estonian University of Life Sciences and previously, under the ERA chair of Translational Genomics program of the University of Tartu, we have formed a nucleus of collaboration between different researchers interested in studying EVs, their characteristics, and their possible role in a range of human and animal diseases and conditions including infertility and other reproductive disorders, osteoarthritis, and psoriasis. Subsequently, we have gained substantial experience in different aspects of the purification and characterization of EVs. Most importantly, we have managed to publish our EV research studies in many reputed journals, bult up excellent collaborations and apply our knowledge about Evs to many new fields of science and medicine. Recently, with the establishment of Baltic Society of Extracellular vesicles, we started collaborating more with scientist and professionals working in the field of EVs in the Baltic region. The current research school is aimed at introducing the trainees to the basics of working with EVs. Given their minute size and enigmatic nature, studying EVs' physical and chemical characteristics requires a specific set of skills, many of which may be unfamiliar even to veteran biomedical researchers. Hence, with this training school, our mission is to impart these skills and educate trainees with skills helping them shape the future generation of researchers working on this exciting new field of science. This training school would not have been possible without the hard work of the members of the Fazeli lab in Tartu, who were instrumental in organizing the event, and our collaborators from around the world and the researchers who have dedicated their valuable time to share their expert knowledge with us during the course of the research school. I would like to thank all of them and you for participating in the EV Summer School. Alireza Fazeli, Professor ERA Chair of Comparative Medicine in the Institute of Veterinary, Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia