Scientific Content
2018 Annual Meeting
Call for Abstracts
Submission deadline: April 4, 2018
Abstract notices will be sent in early September.
Call for Symposia
Submission deadline: February 21, 2018
Symposium notices will be sent in late May.
Pre-Meeting Courses 2018
Clinical Pre-Meeting Course
Saturday, October 27 and Sunday, October 28, 2018
Tropical Dermatology
Course Co-chairs: Naomi Aronson, MD and Scott Norton, MD, MPH, MSc
Global Health Pre-Meeting Course
Sunday, October 28, 2018
The Global Health Impact of Urbanization and Megacities - Trends, Risk Management and Research Needs
Course Co-chairs: Daouda Ndiaye, PhD, PharmD, FASTMH, Julie Pavlin, MD, PhD, MPH and Christopher Perdue, MD, MPH
This course will explore the changing worldwide landscape and global health risks with the exponential increase in urban population growth. More than half of the world’s population live in urban areas, and roughly one in three urban inhabitants now live in slums or other type of informal settlements. By 2050, the world’s urban population will nearly double to 6.3 billion. As urban growth continues, the impact on natural resources and public health risks will grow, compounded by climate change. Air pollution, lack of sanitation and clean water (or any water) will detrimentally impact urban populations. In addition, economic fragility and poor access to healthcare, lack of infrastructure and vulnerability to floods, earthquakes, droughts and other human-made and natural disasters increase health risks. Half of the global population lives in areas with Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are adapted to the urban landscape and is the vector for yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses. Beyond vector-borne diseases, the lack of barriers between animals, vectors, the environment and water supply increases the risk of other diseases such as leptospirosis, Ebola and plague. We urgently need to be prepared for new microbial transmission pathways in the urban environment that affect human health. This course will bring together experts to discuss how to manage risks that the world will face as cities continue to grow and will attempt to answer the following questions:
- What are the drivers for urbanization that lead to increased risk of human exposure – and what are potentially successful mitigation methods?
- What is the current state of affairs in urban planning to mitigate health risks?
- How can the urban environment improve access to safe water and reduce exposure to air pollution?
- How can health assessments and health equity be improved in slums?
- How can accurate and timely data be captured that will describe urban disease transmission that will allow targeted interventions?
- What increases the risk of transmission of infectious diseases within, into and out of urban centers via animals and vectors, and what are the research gaps and successes for decreasing transmission?
- What global initiatives offer guidance and approaches to shape health-promoting urban settings to decrease infectious disease transmission?
Medical Entomology Pre-Meeting Course
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Vector-Borne Disease Risk and Prevention for the Clinician
Course Co-chairs: Philip Armstrong, ScD, Christopher Barker, PhD and Laura Harrington, PhD
Blood-sucking insects and ticks transmit some of the most devastating, yet in many cases preventable, human diseases including malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Zika, Lyme disease, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. In this course, we will review the basic biology of major arthropod vectors; discuss the geographic and behavioral risks posed by vector-borne diseases; and present preventive options, including personal protection and environmental control methods. The course is designed to help medical professionals advise their patients about the risks and prevention measures against biting insects and ticks.
Parasitology Pre-Meeting Course
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Big Data and Genomics - A Practical Workshop on Sequence Analysis in Parasitology
Course Co-chairs: Mike Ferdig, PhD, Jessica Kissinger, PhD, Jacquin Niles, MD, PhD, Omar Harb, PhD and Julian Rayner, PhD
As the cost of genome sequencing has dropped, its applications to parasitology and tropical medicine have rapidly expanded. Identifying emerging pathogens and tracking their spread, understanding the origins and impact of drug resistance, investigating parasite population structures and how they are affected by disease elimination campaigns, carrying out fundamental studies of parasite cellular biology, tracing the evolution of the immune response to parasites – these are all fields where genomics and associated big data disciplines are becoming increasingly important. However, while the generating sequence data has become increasingly easy, the tools needed to analyze and interpret these data can appear intimidating and change rapidly, making it difficult to gain experience.
This practical, hands-on workshop will introduce participants to publicly available sequence analysis tools. Using parasite genome and/or RNAseq data obtained from actual field or laboratory experiments, participants will learn analytical methods and workflows used to extract meaningful biological, evolutionary and/or epidemiological insights. Through live exercises led by experts in the field, participants will learn how to retrieve data from sequence repositories, run them through preconfigured or customized workflows, and visualize and explore the data using web-based tools. These exercises will be augmented with short, didactic presentations on the theory and application of sequencing tools to parasitology research. Overall, the workshop will be interactive, interdisciplinary and provide participants with relevant tools and expertise to apply in their own research. Given the strong emphasis on hands-on learning, and the need to access web-based tools, participants will need to bring their own laptops if at all possible, as we cannot guarantee availability of computers for all participants.
2017 Annual Meeting
On-Demand Webcasts for Purchase
Click here to purchase an on-demand webcast from the 2017 Annual Meeting. You will be taken to a list of all recorded sessions available.
Online Program Planner - Find a Speaker, Presentation or Topic
The Online Program Planner allows you to view the entire program, including plenary, scientific and poster sessions, symposia and abstracts. Or search for a specific speaker or presentation and create your own itinerary for the Annual Meeting.
(Click here to view a recording of the ASTMH webinar on tips for submitting abstracts.)
2016 Annual Meeting
On-Demand Webcasts of Select Sessions
Click here to purchase an on-demand webcast from the 2016 Annual Meeting. You will be taken to a list of all recorded sessions available.