Abstracts and Education

Late Breaker Abstract Submissions
Submission Deadline:  September 8, 2010
Download the Call for Abstracts.
Download the abstract submission guidelines.
Click here to submit your late breaker abstract.

Call for Abstracts
The submission deadline for the Call for Abstracts was May 4.  Abstract notices will be sent in early August.

Call for Symposia
The submission deadline was March 2.  Symposium notices have been sent.
Download the symposium guidelines.

Pre-Meeting Courses

Basic Science Pre-Meeting Course
November 2, 2010
Recent Advances in the Biology of Invertebrate Vectors and Implications for the Control of Tropical Diseases
Download course information with schedule, agenda and speakers.
This one-day course targets scientists, physicians, clinicians, graduate students and educators who wish to gain a better understanding of the biology of invertebrate vectors and their key role in the transmission of parasites, viruses and helminths that are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality, most especially in resource-constrained areas of the world.  Topics will include an overview of the major vector-borne diseases and current control measures, as well as those in development targeting the vector.  Presentations will consider the molecular, cellular, neurobiological and immunological advances that enhance our knowledge of vector biology, physiology, behavior and vector – pathogen and vector – host interactions, as well as for discovery of new approaches to disease control.

Clinical Pre-Meeting Course
November 2-3, 2010
Case Management of the Complicated Tropical Medicine Patient 
Download course information with schedule, agenda and speakers.
This 1.5-day course will target tropical medicine practitioners, infectious disease consultants, epidemiologists, clinical microbiologists, graduate students, public health physicians, medical educators and other health care professionals with an interest in clinical tropical medicine. This course will be an audience participation-based case-series of clinical unknowns covering major diagnostic and therapeutic challenges that clinicians face in the returning traveler or immigrant from overseas.  A panel of expert speakers will discuss the diagnosis and management of hemorrhagic fevers, travelers’ diarrhea, patients with eosinophilia, the management of liver abscess, assessment of rashes, management of seizures and approach to patients with hepatosplenomegaly.

Global Health Pre-Meeting Course
November 3, 2010
Haiti: A Case Study for Advancing Global Health
Download course information with schedule, agenda and speakers.
New for 2010!  This one-day course will target scientists in the tropical medicine field who represent academia, government, industry, military and private practice and have an interest in global health. Since its inception, ASTMH has worked to tackle health inequities through the forging of global multidisciplinary collaborations involving clinical, basic science and public health researchers and scholars in both the public and private sectors. In recent years, these concepts have matured and crystallized into a more formal cutting-edge discipline of Global Health. In 2009, ASTMH created a global health subsection as a forum to explore and promote the many components of Global Health, including human rights, global health education and training, new models of global partnerships, climate and environmental change and repercussions on health, the global health workforce crisis, non-communicable diseases and chronic health problems, innovative technology for low-resource settings and global health metrics. The 2010 Global Health pre-meeting course will highlight these important global health themes, taking the situation in Haiti post-earthquake as a case study.  The earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 killed more than 200,000 people, injured hundreds of thousands and left more than one million homeless. As devastating as this event was, a true understanding of the Haitian struggle requires exploration on a deeper level. Rampant poverty, disease, and human suffering existed in Haiti before the earthquake. A crumbling infrastructure, crowded conditions, and years of socio-political instability all contributed to the magnitude of the devastation and death toll when the earthquake hit. These conditions also prevented aid from reaching the most affected and needy populations as quickly as possible, despite an immediate and massive response from the global community. Foreign aid workers were unprepared to deal with such a level of turmoil and lack of preexisting infrastructure. As a consequence, an already distressed Haitian population is at higher risk of illness and death from preventable diseases, social violence, shattered infrastructure and malnutrition. Many questions remain on how to rebuild when most infrastructure and physical buildings have collapsed and where social, economic and political sectors have been so dramatically damaged. The course is designed to apply global health constructs and themes to our case study of Haiti, examining it in light of its past history and current issues and, in doing so, creating a dialogue about issues associated to short/long-term development, the role of partnerships in this process and an understanding of how the various approaches taken by foreign and local agencies contribute (or not) to development. 

Plenary Sessions

Opening Plenary Session
Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH
Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Charles Franklin Craig Lecture
Robert H. Gilman, MD, DTM&H
Professor
Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Commemorative Fund Lecture
Alejandro Cravioto
Executive Director
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B)
Dhaka, Bangladesh

President's Address
Edward T. Ryan, MD, DTM&H
Associate Professor, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Director, Tropical and Geographic Medicine Center
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts USA

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