This September, I attended and presented at the Infectious Disease Dynamics conference in Ambleside, UK. This conference had been highly recommended to me and it did not disappoint. It was on the smaller side with around 150 attendees, which encouraged fruitful discussions and facilitated more personal networking opportunities. I had the chance to meet many PIs and graduate students from European institutions that I have referenced in my own research work, establishing ties that I will continue to use throughout my career. The talks and workshops spanned a wide range of topics within the field of infectious disease dynamics, including more theoretical and methodological presentations as well as research projects focused on specific pathogens or interventions. I learned new details about topics I was already quite familiar with, and about novel topics and methods of interest. I think this exposure will help me going forward to think creatively about future projects, and it certainly inspired potential postdoc projects and interdisciplinary collaborations.
At the conference, I had the opportunity to present my most recent project, titled “The Fundamental Limit of Traveler Screening with Molecular Tests”. I received a lot of positive feedback and thought-provoking questions which have improved the project as a whole. It was exciting to present to such an interdisciplinary audience and hear different perspectives from scientists with backgrounds in ecology, wet-lab biology, computer science, policy and applied mathematics.
One of the main reasons I wanted to attend this conference was to see what type of research is going on more broadly within infectious disease dynamics, in order to assess what direction I want to go in after graduation. I’m grateful to have been able to attend this conference because it was a wonderful experience overall and has given me valuable insight when considering my career path!
