Pre-Meeting Courses Highlight Program

2007 Pre-Meeting Courses

ASTMH will hold two pre-meeting courses immediately prior to the annual meeting in November.

Clinical Pre-Meeting Course
Chagas Disease (American Trypanosomiasis): No Longer an Exotic Disease
November 3-4, 2007

Recent implementation of donor screening for Trypanosoma cruzi infection by the American Red Cross and other blood banks across the United States highlights the urgent need for clinicians, laboratorians and public health professionals to understand Chagas disease, its diagnosis and treatment. In the United States, it is estimated that more than 100,000 immigrants have Chagas disease and most are unaware of their infection.

This intensive course will provide a comprehensive review of the disease for tropical disease experts, cardiologists, obstetricians, blood bankers and others. It will cover the epidemiology of infection in Latin America, where 10-12 million persons are infected, and the situation outside of Latin America, such as in the United States, where in addition to infected immigrants, cases of Chagas disease have been transmitted by local vectors, by blood transfusion, by organ transplantation, congenitally and by laboratory accident.

The course will focus on the diagnosis and management of acute, chronic, and congenital infections, cardiac and gastrointestinal complications, and considerations for special populations such as immunocompromised persons or pregnant mothers. In addition, there will be updates on the status of control programs in endemic countries, implementation of blood donor screening in the Unites States, scientific developments in diagnosis and treatment, and the experience of the CDC Drug Service, which is the sole source of anti-parasitic drug for Chagas disease in the United States. A series of case histories will illustrate the approach to the person with subclinical infection and other syndromes.

The course agenda with topics, speakers and registration information is available at http://www.astmh.org/meetings/clinical_reg_brochure.pdf.

Parasitology Pre-Meeting Course
Systems Biology: Approaches to Understanding Infectious Disease
November 3, 2007

This course will target scientists, physicians, clinicians, graduate students and educators with interests in the rapidly evolving field of systems biology and its use in understanding the complex interactions and pathways involved in infectious diseases.

Topics will include an overview of systems biology, database development and visualization tools, uncovering complex protein interactions, identifying large scale networks of interactions and how these efforts are being used to understand complex human biology and response to pathogens.

Download the full agenda with topics and speakers at http://www.astmh.org/meetings/parasitology_reg_brochure.pdf.

Register Onsite for the Annual Meeting
It's not too late to register for the 56th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Simply register onsite. When you arrive at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, please proceed to the ASTMH Onsite Registration Desk. Remember to bring some form of payment including either cash, travelers cheques, credit card (Visa, MasterCard or American Express) or check. Visit the annual meeting registration page for registration hours, pricing and more information.

Online Program Planner Now Available
The ASTMH Online Program Planner allows you to plan your schedule for the meeting in advance. Search for a specific presentation or presenter, browse through lists of sessions, or create your own personal itinerary of sessions and meeting events.

Print this Page - opens a new window
E-mail this Page