ASTMH News

February 2012

 

1. ASTMH's Peter J. Hotez and James W. Kazura in The Atlantic: WRAIR Cuts Endanger Lives at Home and Abroad

In their editorial in the Washington, D.C.-based magazine The Atlantic, ASTMH leaders Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, and James W. Kazura, MD, issue a warning about the looming and dangerous cuts to the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research budget. They write, "Strangling WRAIR with ever-worsening budget cuts threatens the safety of our troops and their mission-readiness, as well as the health of our returning veterans. Cutting WRAIR will deprive our troops and the world's poorest people of one of America's greatest global health treasures. Both our national and our global security depend on a strengthened and robust WRAIR." Read the article here.

2. What Does the President's Budget Mean for Trop Med/Global Health Funding?

On February 13, the President released his administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget outlining his priorities for the agencies. This signals the start of the funding process. 
The total budget came in at $3.8 trillion, slightly above an estimated $3.78 trillion in spending for FY 2012. Most of the increases were seen in areas the President highlighted during his State of the Union Address: American manufacturing and infrastructure, jobs and education. Given the spending caps set forth in last year’s budget deal, the Department of Defense faced cuts in many of its programs. Health programs did not see the increases many were hoping for, with the NIH remaining almost level funding and the CDC taking a significant overall cut. Read about the implications on tropical medicine and global health funding. 

3. Society Applauds London Declaration to Combat 10 NTDs by 2020

In London on January 30, 13 pharmaceutical companies, the U.S., U.K. and U.A.E. governments, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank and other global health organizations announced a new, coordinated push to accelerate progress toward eliminating or controlling 10 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by the end of the decade. The Society issued a statement in support of this historic and visionary declaration.

A live webcast of the event featured Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General, WHO; Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the CEOs of nine leading pharmaceutical companies; senior government officials from Tanzania, Mozambique, Brazil and Zanzibar; and leaders in government, business and medicine. View the webcast here. 

View the Global Network's END7 video supporting the fight to end NTDs around the world.

4. ASTMH Goes to Peru

For the second year ASTMH is in Lima, Peru, today, February 16. This meeting features Peruvian scientific work presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Society speakers include AJTMH Editor Joseph Vinetz and ASTMH leaders Alan Magill and Daniel Bausch. View the conference agenda in English or Spanish. Read a recap and view photos from last year's Peru conference.

5. Did You Know? More than 98 Countries Represented at 60th Annual Meeting

ASTMH members hail from 83 countries across six continents. The global reach of the Society was evident at the Annual Meeting; the 3,787 attendees represented 97 countries and the United States. Outside of the U.S., the following countries were the most-represented: United Kingdom (208); Canada (70); Thailand (68); Switzerland (64); Kenya (55); Ghana (54); Australia (52); France (52); Peru (43); Brazil (42); and Tanzania (40).

Who traveled the farthest? Attendees from Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Singapore traveled more than 9,000 miles to attend the 60th Annual Meeting. Become an ASTMH member today and join a worldwide community of researchers, clinicians and other professionals dedicated to improving the world's health.

6. AJTMH Lyme Disease Article Generates Worldwide Media Coverage

Tick Tally Pinpoints Risk Areas for Lyme (Washington Post)
New Map Shows that Most Lyme-Infected Ticks are in Northeast, Northern Midwest (Scientific American)
Tracking Lyme Disease (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)
Geographic Pattern of Lyme Disease Mapped in Eastern U.S. (HCP Live/Healthday)
Tick Tally Reveals Lyme Disease Risk (National Public Radio)

7. Save the Date: 61st Annual Meeting

Mark your calendar for the 61st Annual Meeting, November 11-15, 2012 (Sunday through Thursday), at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Stay tuned to the ASTMH website and future issues of ASTMH News for the program, faculty and registration details and upcoming deadlines for awards, fellowships and more. See you in Atlanta!

8. Upcoming Deadlines

Call for Symposia
--Proposal submission deadline: March 6
--Download the Call for Symposia.
--Submit your symposium proposal.
Call for Abstracts (Call for Abstracts issued mid-March)
--Submission deadline: May 3
Travel Awards
--Application deadine: April 10
Benjamin H. Kean Traveling Fellowship in Tropical Medicine
--Application deadline: March 14
--Submit your application.
Burroughs/Wellcome Fund/ASTMH Postdoctoral Fellowship in Tropical Infectious Diseases
--Application deadline: August 2012
Centennial Travel Award in Basic Science Tropical Disease Research
--Application deadline: June 2012
Gorgas Memorial Institute Research Award
--Application deadline: July 2012
Robert E. Shope International Fellowship in Infectious Diseases
--Application deadline: May 2012