Vectors, Pathogens and Diseases: Current Trends and Emerging Challenges

Organizer(s): Maureen Coetzee, Josiane Etang, Stephen Torr and Scott L. O'Neill

Part of the Keystone Symposia Global Health Series, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Summary of Meeting:

The elimination or eradication of several vector-borne diseases – including malaria, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and trypanosomiasis – is high on the research agenda of the World Health Organization. Sustainable vector control is currently the only mass prevention strategy. However, success is hampered by many challenges posed by both the vectors and the pathogens. These challenges include insecticide resistance in mosquitoes and drug resistance in parasites, with little on the immediate horizon to alleviate these problems. Insecticide and drug resistance are two parallel phenomena in vectors and parasites. While combination drugs have been developed to overcome parasite resistance to monotherapies, only four classes of insecticides are available for vector control. The unexpected emergence of arboviruses, such as Zika in Brazil and southeast Asia, yellow fever in southern Africa, and Dengue and Chikungunya, pose their own unique challenges. This conference will address the difficulties in “going the final mile” to achieve elimination, in terms of surveillance, capacity and funding. Key goals of the conference are to: 1) Review the latest scientific knowledge on vectors and pathogens that are responsible for emerging or re-emerging diseases; 2) Address innovative methods for the control or elimination of vector-borne diseases; and 3) Enhance awareness of the landscape of vector-borne diseases and related new scientific knowledge aiming at improving the health of vulnerable human populations. It also seeks to break down the “insect silos” in which the vector-borne disease research community too commonly operates, providing a forum for researchers to interact, create networks and partnerships, exchange ideas, and think creatively across disciplines.

Global Health Travel Award Deadline: April 11 2017

Scholarship Deadline: May 11 2017

Discounted Abstract Deadline: May 11 2017

Abstract Deadline: June 13 2017

Discounted Registration Deadline: July 11 2017

Keystone Symposia thanks our Sponsor(s) for generously supporting this meeting:

We gratefully acknowledge additional support for this conference from:

We gratefully acknowledge the generous grant for this conference provided by:

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Grant No. 1R13AI134089-01
Funding for this conference was made possible (in part) by 1R13AI134089-01 from the National Institutes of Health. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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