Scientific Content
2019 Annual Meeting
Call for Abstracts
Submission Deadline: April 10, 2019
Abstract notices will be sent in early September.
Call for Symposia
Submission Deadline: February 27, 2019
Symposium notices will be sent in June.
Pre-Meeting Courses
Arbovirology Pre-Meeting Course
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
7 am - 3:15 pm
Arboviromics: How ‘omics’ Technologies are Advancing Arbovirus Research and Control
Co-chairs: Felix Hol, PhD and Louis Lambrechts, PhD, HDR
An improved understanding of arbovirus biology and transmission dynamics is essential to the development of disease prevention strategies. A comprehensive view of arbovirus life cycles requires integration of multiple time and length scales, which was often technically limited until recently. In the last decade, advances in ‘omics’ technologies such as high-throughput sequencing and mass spectrometry are providing unprecedented opportunities to advance arbovirus research through increased resolution of observations at multiple temporal and spatial scales. This pre-meeting course will provide an overview of omics techniques applied to arbovirus research and illustrate how the knowledge generated can inform arbovirus prevention and control. Below are some of the topics that will be covered during the course.
Intracellular arbovirus-host interactions
High-throughput techniques, including transcriptomics, proteomics and lipidomics, offer unique opportunities to understand how viruses hijack the host cell machinery and resources to replicate. This can be done through changes in gene expression or through direct physical contact with host machinery.
Arbovirus within-host evolution
Because of their high mutation rate, arboviruses typically exist within their host as a heterogeneous population of related genetic variants, which is considered critical for their fitness and adaptive potential. The advent of high-throughput sequencing has allowed the study of arbovirus genetic diversity and evolution at the within-host level with unprecedented resolution.
Arbovirus surveillance and genomic epidemiology
Tracking the spread of arbovirus outbreaks can assist in their control. Owing to the declining cost and increasing portability of high-throughput sequencing technology, combined with advances in virus phylogenetics, arbovirus outbreaks can be monitored in real-time from initial detection and characterization to transmission chain tracking and outbreak mapping.
Clinical Pre-Meeting Course
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
7 am - 4:15 pm
Tropical Diseases Encountered in Non-Travel Clinics
Co-chairs: Christina Coyle, MD and Michael Libman, MD
This full day course will cover a broad range of tropical diseases which are commonly encountered in the primary care setting. The course is designed for clinicians who are already familiar with clinical tropical and travel medicine. We will focus on problems in tropical and travel medicine that are commonly seen by a primary care provider caring for either migrants, ill travelers, or travelers at risk for infectious exposures. The overall objective will be to help practitioners update their knowledge base in these areas, and improve their comfort level in managing these types of problems. There will be relatively little discussion of topics which are typically managed by specialty referral centers. The speakers will emphasize new or controversial aspects of diagnosis and management. The target audience includes any clinician who wants to develop a deeper understanding of tropical and travel medicine.
Global Health Pre-Meeting Course
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
7 am - 3:30 pm (tentative)
Field Applications for Stopping Infectious Disease Threats at International Points of Entry
Co-chairs: Clive Brown, MBBS, MPH, MSc and Miguel Reina-Ortiz, MD, PhD
The Ebola outbreak, which originated in Guinea in December 2013 and spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other countries, was due in part to a failure to adequately implement aspects of the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR), which urges state parties (i.e., signatory states/countries of the IHR) to promptly detect and respond to infectious disease threats at international points of entry (PoE). Public health emergency preparedness at international ground crossings, airports and seaports requires a well-coordinated effort among public and private service providers and operators, public health officials, law enforcement and border control units, and local healthcare facilities. The pace and connectedness of international air travel and transportation today represents an unprecedented global public health risk. Workforce development, multisectoral planning and exercise activities for communicable disease preparedness at international airports, based on the IHR and guidelines from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), have been a priority for Public Health authorities in many countries as a component of the Global Health Security Agenda. This workshop will provide attendees an opportunity to understand the challenges faced by national authorities and international response organizations by providing a theoretical framework for implementation of the IHR at international PoE, as well as by providing practical experience through facilitated discussions and exercises. Participants can expect to be able to begin developing global health-related competencies that are essential to respond to public health events that impact travel across international borders.
At the end of the activity, participants will be able to:
- Understand the tenets of the International Health Regulations (2005) - 3rd edition, 2016;
- Describe how IHR and other relevant health regulations and agreements (e.g., Global Health Security Agenda) relate to the daily work of health professionals posted at PoE;
- Identify the capacities that must be in place at PoE in order to prevent, detect and respond to infectious diseases;
- Analyze the decision-making process on implementing health measures that are commensurate with the risk, avoiding unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade;
- Discuss measures and tools that may be used at PoE to meet the objectives of the IHR;
- Consider the lessons learned and discuss the strengths and limitations of tools used at points of entry; and
- Develop and demonstrate a mastery of skills-based competency by participating in a tabletop exercise.
Parasitology Pre-Meeting Course
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
7 am - 4:15 pm
Imaging Parasites from Single Molecules to Entire Organsims
Co-chairs: Jake Baum, PhD, Jeffrey Dvorin, MD, PhD and Eva Frickel, PhD
Parasitic infections in humans are caused by a diverse range of eukaryotic pathogens including both single-celled and multi-cellular organisms. Microscopy has provided an enormous wealth of information about the pathogenesis of these infections, the life cycle of the causative parasites, and the molecular mechanisms that underpin their growth and replication. In this course, we will discuss cutting edge techniques to visualize parasites – from the single molecule to the whole organism. Recent advances to the classic techniques of light and electron microscopy, together with computer-based algorithms to understand these data, have pushed the frontiers of imagining parasites. In this course, we will discuss these techniques and how they can be applied to divergent parasitic organisms to gain new levels of understanding about their basic cell biology and molecular pathogenesis. We will cover advances in 2D and 3D imaging techniques, advances in single molecule structural studies, and use of artificial intelligence as well as high throughput imaging to elucidate parasite biology.
2018 Annual Meeting
On-Demand Webcasts for Purchase
Click here to purchase an on-demand webcast from the 2018 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.
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.