Scientific Content

Call for Late-Breaker Abstracts (closed)
Late-Breaker Abstract notices will be sent approximately three weeks prior to the Annual Meeting.

Call for Abstracts
-- Abstract notices were sent on August 31. Check your spam folder if the abstract notice was not delivered to your InBox. Contact [email protected] with questions.

Oral Abstract Presentations
-- Pre-recorded oral abstract presentations are due October 8.
-- Abstract schedule assignments will be sent in early October.
-- Click here for instructions to pre-record an abstract presentation.

Symposium Sessions
-- Symposium schedule assignments will be sent in early October.
-- Pre-recorded symposium presentations are due October 8.
-- Click here for instructions to pre-record a symposium presentation.

Poster Abstract Presentations
-- Poster presentation schedule information will be sent in early October.
-- We are finalizing details about the format for the Poster Sessions and poster presentation instructions with details about the digital poster submission process will be sent in early October.
-- During the Annual Meeting, attendees will view the posters through an ePoster platform. During the Poster Sessions on Monday, November 16 and Tuesday, November 17 and Wednesday, November 18, attendees will have the opportunity for a real-time chat with poster presenters through a chat function on the ePoster platform. Poster presenters are encouraged to participate in their assigned Poster Session in order to address questions submitted through the chat function. Session assignments will be sent to presenters in late September.

2020 Pre-Meeting Courses - Virtual

Clinical Pre-Meeting Course:
Where Flatworms Roam: Controversies and Updates in Management of Neurocysticercosis and Echinococcus
Course Co-chairs: Christina Coyle, MD and Michael Libman, MD

This one-day session will go beyond the basics of the diagnosis, imaging and management of both cestodes and larval cestodes. Expert speakers will present updates and explore controversies in diagnosis and management, unusual manifestations and imaging challenges. Imaging presentations will focus on understanding the differential diagnosis of suspicious lesions. Uncommon cestode infections also will be discussed, including alveolar hydatidosis, sparganosis and coenurosis. Sessions will be highly interactive with opportunities for active audience participation and discussion with the experts. 

Global Health Pre-Meeting Course:
Modeling for Disease Outbreaks – Practical Approaches to Understanding, Implementing and Using Models
Course Co-chairs: Kathryn Anderson, MD, PhD, MSPH and Julie Pavlin, MD, PhD, MPH, FASTMH

The COVID-19 outbreak has demonstrated to the world again how rapidly a disease can move through populations, spread exponentially in numbers and locations, and impact transportation, economies and other important and significant aspects of life. The ability to plan and implement an effective response depends on predicting as accurately as possible who, where, how many and when cases will occur, with limited information. With this knowledge, responders can allocate resources to maximum benefit and enact the best preventive, containment and mitigation measures. This prediction requires accurate data, an understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics, the context in which the disease is transmitted, and mathematical modeling. Modeling is an essential tool in the study of infectious disease epidemiology, which allows informed policymaking, nowcasting and forecasting of epidemics, and real-time risk assessments. This pre-meeting course will provide instruction to first-time or introductory modelers in: 1) key concepts of infectious disease modeling; 2) understanding the strengths and limitations of modeling in order to critically review modeling results; 3) providing a list of resources, including modelers and open source modeling programs; and 4) a practical session to provide hands-on experience implementing, running and using models (bring your computers!).

Medical Entomology Pre-Meeting Course:
Vector-Borne Disease Risk and Prevention for the Clinician
Course Co-chairs: 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 review 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: The Science and Business of Vaccines Against Tropical Parasitic Diseases in the COVID19 Era
Couse Co-chairs: John Adams, PhD, FASTMH and Stephen Hoffman, MD, DTMH, FASTMH

There is no vaccine for a human parasitic infection that has marketing authorization (licensure) anywhere in the world. However, we are on the verge of licensed vaccines for malaria, and are making enormous progress for diseases caused by other protozoans like leishmaniasis and helminths like hookworm. A distinguished international faculty from the biotechnology industry, the government, and academia will communicate their experience and insights regarding how to approach successful development of vaccines against parasites, including identification of the immunological mechanisms of protection and the antigenic targets of protective humoral and cellular immune responses, the construction of vaccine delivery systems (recombinant proteins, recombinant viruses, nucleotide (eg. mRNA), and whole wild type and genetically altered parasites) and achieving regulatory approval for conducting phase 1-3 clinical trials and translating from the laboratory to the clinic to assess safety and vaccine efficacy in the era of COVID-19.

2019 Annual Meeting

Download the 2019 Meeting App

Available from the App Store and Google Play Download the 2019 ASTMH App from the App Store or Google Play. This screen (photo, left) will appear after the app is downloaded. Click on the ASTMH Events button on the bottom right (circled in photos). This will take you to the ASTMH Annual Meeting Apps. Click on 2019 ASTMH Annual Meeting.

On-Demand Webcasts for Purchase
Click here to purchase an on-demand webcast from the 2019 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.