From the Editor's Desk

William E. Collins, Ph.D. and Geoffrey M. Jeffery, Sc.D.

This issue of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene News brings several new features for and about ASTMH members that we hope will be of interest. As editor, I hope to use the News to keep membership informed of the activities of individual members, including awards, significant accomplishments and other milestones in the lives and careers of society members. We will also reflect on significant events in our society’s history and how those events have shaped us into the organization we are today.

We will therefore have a section on Members in the News. In this issue, we acknowledge those who received awards and recognitions at our annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in December 2005. We want you to keep us fully informed on other awards and recognitions that our members receive throughout the year. Obituaries of deceased members of the society will be included whenever they are made available to us. Again, please keep us informed.

Looking Back, Looking Forward will examine selected public health activities or events related to ASTMH that occurred 25, 40 or 50 years ago, and which have some relevance for present day public health and our society. In this issue, we take note of the 25-year advance in the campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease.

Evidence of the overall change in our society was obvious when I compared the programs of the 20th annual meeting, held 35 years ago in Boston, with last year’s 55th annual meeting in Washington, D.C. In Boston, there were three symposia, seven scientific sessions, and 76 individual scientific presentations given over three days. In Washington, there were 1,100 scientific presentations, 57 scientific sessions, 86 symposia and 43 satellite meetings. Get ready for Atlanta!

While we will bring you annual meeting updates, information on grant and fellowship opportunities, and other society news, you will also continue to be alerted to ASTMH events via e-mail, and through the fine work of the officers, the council, and ASTMH Web site editor Jack Woodall.

It is with great pleasure that we present you with the News.

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