Scientific Program & Schedule

View the Program here.

CISTM18 Abstracts can be viewed online here.

CISTM18 Scientific Program Committee Chair Welcome Letter

It is my great pleasure to invite you to attend the 18th conference of the International Society of Travel Medicine! The last two years have been extremely challenging as the global COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted international travel and has resulted in many of our travel medicine practices being substantially curtailed and even temporarily suspended. We are pleased therefore that the world is re-opening and that international travel volumes are steadily increasing.

We are planning an exciting in-person meeting in Basel, Switzerland with the theme “Dawn of a New Era in Travel Medicine”. Basel is a wonderful city on the banks of the river Rhine River with a well-equipped, modern conference center, excellent museums, great restaurants, and close proximity to France and Germany. Given the widespread disruptions in global travel secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic, the unfolding tragedy in Ukraine with a resultant massive outflow of refugees to neighboring countries (many of which have active ISTM members), and the profound impact of climate change, the world is changing and we as travel medicine practitioners will need to be prepared to adapt to these changes. Our conference will address these and other topics of importance to the travel medicine community.

We have convened a highly experienced Scientific Program Committee, which has been hard at work developing a comprehensive and attractive program for you. Some of the program highlights include plenary and symposia on the impact of COVID-19 and climate change on travel, antimicrobial resistance, tick-borne diseases, migrant health, and the rising threat of artemisinin treatment failures for malaria-infected travelers. We will also have many excellent workshops including several introductory sessions for novel travel medicine providers as well as others on highly specialized topics such as migrant health, a focus on leishmaniasis, human trafficking, and dengue. In addition, Christoph Hatz and the stellar Local Organizing Committee are planning some exciting events for the meeting including special entertainment at the opening ceremony, an opportunity to explore Basel on the third day of the meeting, and a special dinner for all attendees.

We look forward to seeing you in Basel. Please mark your diaries for 21-25 May 2023!

David Hamer,
CISTM18 Scientific Program Committee Chair,
United States of America

Top of page

Plenary Sessions

Monday, 22 May 2023

Climate Change and Health - Our Future 

Health and Health Systems - Kristie Ebi, United States of America
Emerging Infectious Disesases - Jan Semenza, Sweden 
 

Tuesday, 23 May 2023

COVID-19 and International Travelers 

Non-pharmaceutical Preventive Measures - Ben Cowling, China
RVaccines and Treatment - Barbra Blair, United States of America 
 

Wednesday, 24 May 2023

Travel-Associated Mortality - A Dead End 

Causes of Death in Travelers - Stephen Hargarten, United States of America
Homicide, Road Accidents, and Drowning - Richard Franklin, Australia
 

Thursday, 25 May 2023

Antimicrobial Resistance - An Increasing Global Threat 

Gram Negative Infections in Travelers - Anu Kantele, Finland
Gram Positive Infections in Travelers - Philipp Zanger, Germany
 

Top of page

Alan Magill Memorial Lecture

Prevention and Treatment of Malaria in the Context of Drug Resistance 
Phil Rosenthal, United States of America

Top of page

Symposia

COVID-19 Spread through Travel and Impact on Migrants

Global Spread through Travel - Isaac Bogoch, Canada
Response of Cruise Industry - Michael Callahan, United States of America
Impact on Migrant Health - Francesco Castelli, Italy 

Travel Medicine - The African Perspective 

View from West Africa - Kenny Prince-Agbodjan, Senegal
View from Southern Africa - Simbarashe Makuni, Zimbabwe 
View from East Africa - Charles Tarimo, Tanzania 
View from North Africa - Walaa Shabana, Egypt

Clinical Spectrum of Leishmaniasis: A Global Overview

Eurasia - Mark Bailey, United Kingdom 
Middle East and Africa - Peter Melby, United States of America 
Latin America - Andrea Boggild, Canada 

Febrile Illness in South America

Malaria - Andre Siqueira, Brazil
Emerging Viral Infections - Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales, Colombia
Yellow Fever - Esper Georges Kallas, Brazil 

Human Trafficking

Recognizing Victims - Doro Winkler, Switzerland
Unaccompanied Children and Adolescents - Paul Wise, United States of America
Implications for Travel Medicine Providers - Ajwang Warria, Canada

Improving the Health of Migrants and Refugees

Infectious Disease Screening - Christina Greenaway, Canada
"Salud Entre Culturas" a model of health care provision in Madrid - Rogelio Lopez Velez, Spain
Vaccination Strategies in Recent Migrants and Refugees - Alexander Klosovsky, Switzerland  

Mass Gatherings in a Globalized World - COVID-19 and Beyond

Mass Pilgrimages (Kumbh Mela) - Santanu Chatterjee, India 
Hajj and Umrah - Ziad Memish, Saudi Arabia
Major Sporting Events - Jan Fehr, Switzerland

Malaria Update

Global Epidemiology - Guido Calleri, Italy
Travellers' Malaria Prevention - Anne McCarthy, Canada
Vaccines - Meta Roestenberg, The Netherlands

International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers IAMAT Sponsored Mental Health in Travelers 

Pre-Travel Assessment - Maureen MacConnell, United States of America
Management During Travel - Yeshashwork Kibour, Morocco

Bugs, Burns and Bites

Anti-Vector Measures - Sarah McGuinness, Australia
Sun Safety - Scott Norton, United States of America
Animal Bites - David Shlim, United States of America

Dengue - The Next Decade

Evolving Global Epidemiology - Ralph Huits, The Netherlands
Aedes Vectors, Climate Change, and Modern Control Methods - Kristy Murray, United States of America
Dengue Vaccines - Annelies WIlder-Smith, Switzerland

Innovative Vaccination Schemes 

Japanese Encephalitis - Susan Hills, United States of America
Tick-Borne Encephalitis - Urseula Kunze, Austria
Rabies  - Patrick Soentjens, Belgium
Yellow Fever - Leo Visser, The Netherlands

Hot, Cold and Deep 

 Heat Illness - Caroline Finch, Australia
 Cold Illness - Scott McIntosh, United States of America
 Diving - Jean-Eric Blatteau, France

Tick-Borne Infections - Don't Let it Get Under you Skin 

Tick-Borne Encephalitis - Rahel Ackerman, Switzerland
Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome - Takeshi Tanaka, Japan
Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever - Maria Paz Sanchez-Seco, Spain
Tick-Borne Rickettsia - Daniel Paris, Switzerland

Global Spread of Emerging Infectious Diseases

Top of page

Workshops

Medical emergencies During Travel
             Susan Anderson, United States of America 
             Mathieu Potin, Switzerland 

Tropical Diseases in South America: Case Discussions from the Gorgas Course
             Sapha Barkati, Canada 
             Carlos Seas, Peru 

Challenging Topics in Migrant Health
             North American Perspective - Nancy Jenks, United States of America  
             Mediterranean Perspective - Androula Pavli, Greece 

Nurses in Travel Health Practice
             Skills and Training - Sandra Grieve, United Kingdom  
             Competency Frameworks and Accreditation - Catherine Keil, Australia 

Military Travel - An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
             Opthalmological Emergencies - Jean-Marie Giraud, France  
             Dental Emergencies - Alexander Schramm, Germany 

Medical Kits for Expedition and Adventure Travel 
             Howard Backer, United States of America  
             Jenny Visser, New Zealand  

ABC Workshop: Travel Vaccines
             Lin Chen, United States of America 
             Jane Chiodini, United Kingdom  
 

Top of page

Debate

Prevention of Altitude Illness
MODERATOR:
    Budda Basnyat, Nepal
PANELISTS:
    Peter Baertsch, Germany
    Peter Hackett, United States of America

COVID-19 Border Closures and Quarantine Mandates 
MODERATOR:
    Mary-Louise Scully
PANELISTS:
    Karin Leder, Australia
    Albie DeFrey, South Africa

Top of page

Panel Discussion

Limited Malaria Risk Scenarios - Strategies and Recommendations
MODERATORS:
    Ed Ryan, United States of America
PANELISTS:
    Shigeyuki Kano, Japan
    Michael Libman, Canada
    Dipti Patel, United Kingdom
    Natalia Rodriguez, Spain 
    Deb Mills, Australia 
    Olivia Veit, Switzerland

Long-Term and Expatriate Travelers 
MODERATOR:
    Rebecca Acosta, United States of America
PANELISTS:
    Fabrice Althaus, Europe
    Kyle Petersen, United States of America 
    Jenny Sisson, Australia
    Madeline Wilks, United States of America