The in vitro and ex vivo culture and maintenance of parasites involves highly complex procedures, which are subject to many variables. Parasites have very complex life cycles and, depending on the life cycle stage, may require different culture or maintenance parameters. New media and conditions for improving parasites growth or survival outside the natural host is continuously needed to study the parasites and for practical or related applications which calls for investigations

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will motivate the continued exerted efforts in creating an understanding on the In Vitro and Ex Vivo Cultivation and Studies of Parasites and Development of Culture Media and other novel culture and maintenance conditions and applications. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Applications of in vitro and ex vivo for diagnosis of parasitic diseases and related conditions, and for drug screening and improvements in chemotherapy
• Applications of in vitro and ex vivo systems for immunological studies, antigen and antibody production and vaccines development
• Use of in vitro and ex vivo systems for hosts-parasites genetics and molecular studies, differentiation of clinical isolates and determination of strain differences
• Development and testing of novel physical conditions including artificial stromal support systems for cultivation or maintenance of parasites and cells, and ex vivo culture techniques using Bioreactor systems
• Methods for cryopreservation and storage of parasites and cells, and for manipulation of parasites and cells including synchronization and expansion for practical or even commercialization purposes
• Development and testing of culture media for cultivation of parasites and cells, and use of culture media and conditions developed for cultivating one parasite species or developmental stage for growing or maintaining another parasite species or even unrelated organisms, cells, and even sperms and ova for artificial insemination and in vitro and ex vivo fertilization
• Development of serum-free media (SFM) for cultivation and studies of various parasites and cells, and in vitro identification of positive determinants of culture media and their optimal concentrations for parasites and cell growth.

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/tswj/parasitology/tcpd/ according to the following timetable: