Event

GERI 2015

Genes, Ecosystems and Risk of Infection; vector- and rodent-borne diseases.

Organised by RIVM, Pirbright Institute, Avia-Gis, Finnish Forest Research Institute, CIRAD
Date

Tue 21 April 2015 until Thu 23 April 2015

Venue Heraklion, Greece

Vector- and rodent-borne diseases are sensitive to environmental changes such as globalisation of trade due to their routes of transmission. To address societal concerns regarding the increased risk of these diseases emerging in Europe, much effort has been recently dedicated to their study, including a decade of research through the EDEN and EDENext European research projects.

What are the most recent scientific advances in deciphering the biological, ecological and epidemiological processes of disease emergence and spread? Can we model these processes to develop early warning systems and assess emergence or control scenarios? What tools are available to control vector populations or reduce pathogen transmission? How can we assemble this knowledge to improve public health and animal production economics in Europe?

These are the main questions we want to address during the international conference 'Genes, Ecosystems and Risk of Infection' (GERI 2015).

This conference will be the opportunity to discuss the main advances obtained during the EDEN and EDENext projects on vector- and rodent-borne infections, which have been operating over the past 10 years in 29 countries from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, directly involving 67 partner institutions.

The conference will cover mosquitoes, ticks, sand flies, biting midges, rodents and the diseases they transmit. Priority will be given to cutting-edge results produced by young scientists. All results will be presented during plenary sessions. Whilst the focus is on the results produced by the EDEN and EDENext projects, contributions on similar topics obtained from other projects with similar scope are strongly encouraged. Particular attention will be given to posters with substantial cash prizes for the three best posters.