Malaria, Chagas, maternal health, global health, are some of the topics in which researchers from ISGlobal and its strategic partner CISM participated throughout the 66th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). The event took place in Baltimore, USA, from November 5 to 9, and attracted around 4,400 professionals from different sectors who work in the field of tropical medicine, hygiene and global health.
One of the highlights of the event was the appointment of Regina Rabinovich, director of the Malaria Elimination Initiative at ISGlobal and ExxonMobil Scholar at Harvard University, as President of the ASTMH, a one-year position that represents a great honour for her and for ISGlobal.
During the five day event, ISGlobal and CISM researchers participated in several symposia and sessions on different topics, such as the second annual Alan Magill Symposium on Malaria Eradication, chaired by Rabinovich and in which Clara Menéndez, director of the Maternal, Child and Reproductive Health Initiative at ISGlobal, talked of the challenges of including pregnant women in malaria elimination strategies. In this session, CISM researcher Pedro Aide received from Rabinovich’s hands the first Alan Magill Fellowship, an award created last year to honour the late and greatly admired leader in global health.
Another major event was the kick-off meeting of the Ivermectin Roadmap, organized by the ISGlobal Malaria Elimination Initiative with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The aim of the taskforce, composed by 30 highly reputed experts (from academia, the business sector and policy making institutions) is to define a roadmap for the use of ivermectin as a complementary malaria vector control intervention in endemic areas. With regard to this topic, Carlos Chaccour presented results on the use of a slow-release ivermectin formulation in cattle for malaria elimination, while Francisco Saúte (CISM) shared experiences on the pilot project for malaria elimination in southern Mozambique. Carlota Dobaño, in turn, presented results on immune correlates of protection upon RTS,S vaccination.
There were other oral presentations by ISGlobal researchers, such as Melisa Gualdrón-López, who presented results on the search for exosome-associated biomarkers of P. vivax hipnozoites.
During the congress, the first comprehensive assessment of the global impact of Group B Streptococcus, a study in which ISGlobal researchers participated, was presented. One of the contributing authors, Quique Bassat, also co-presided the session on global health initiatives, strategies and tools.
These were also important days for the Chagas community. Silvia Moriana chaired a session organized by COR-NTD on scaling-up of healthcare, where Mª Jesús Pinazo presented results of the Chagas platform in Bolivia. Joaquim Gascon, director of the Chagas Initiative at ISGlobal, co-chaired the symposium on regional differences in clinical research and patient care and spoke at the session on barriers to access to treatment.
ISGlobal participation at ECTMIH
ISGlobal was also present at the 10th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health (ECTMIH) that took place in Antwerp, Belgium, on October 16-20. Nuria Casamitjana chaired the sessions on training in neglected tropical diseases and training of healthcare workers attending refugees and forced migrants; Azucena Bardají chaired the session on human papilloma virus and cervical cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa, Albert Picado the one on leishmaniosis, and Jose Muñoz the one on travellers’ and migrants’ health. In addition, a large number of ISGlobal researchers presented results of their work on topics such as Zika virus in pregnant women, inequities in reproductive and maternal health in Sub-Saharan Africa, Chagas disease, and leishmaniosis.
