CISTM7 a Huge Success

Louis Loutan Becomes President of ISTM
Phyllis Kozarsky is President-Elect

Innsbruck, Austria.

The 7th Biennial Conference of the International Society of Travel Medicine held in late May in Innsbruck, Austria was a spectacular, perfectly-orchestrated, finely-tuned success, under the very able direction of Frank von Sonnenberg, (Munich, Germany), the program chairman. The meeting attracted about 1500 delegates from 71 countries, and 500 or so “others” - invited guests, spouses, pharmaceutical representatives, local dignitaries, press people, et al. Festivities began with a memorable opening ceremony that included a stringed quintet playing selections from Mozart and Strauss, and two stirring speeches, one about the problems of tourism at high altitude destinations in host countries, the other about travel being a prescription for hope for the world. This was immediately followed by an outdoor “Welcome-Get-Together” with plenty of local food and drink, and music and dancing, held under starry skies in the “Kaiserliche Hofburg,” a large palace courtyard dating back hundreds of years.

But the main object of the attendees was to immerse themselves in travel medicine - and there was plenty of travel medicine to immerse themselves in. From sunup to sundown, it was a marathon program that included lectures, symposia, destination-of-the-day and electronic interactive workshops, debates-of-the-day, free communications, meet-the professor sessions, working luncheons, satellite programs….. in all, about 200 different speaker presentations, 200 posters and 28 exhibits, social events, and all the other accouterments that are now standard fare at such gatherings. All smoothly and harmoniously synchronized, with numerous programs running simultaneously, thanks to good organization, a knowledgeable scientific program committee, and a well-functioning modern conference facility. Full auditoriums were the rule of the day, everyday. “Time-off,” of which there was precious little, could be spent in the adjacent large, restored medieval town with lots of restaurants and shops and no traffic. With the full cooperation of the weather, attendees spent evenings sitting at one of the dozens of outdoor restaurants, enjoying the schnitzels and the goulashes, the local wines, and, of course, the palatschinkens, Sacher torten, and other Austrian desserts and pastries, and discussing, what else?, travel medicine.

At the well-attended closing ceremony, Charlie Ericsson, (Houston, USA) became past president when he handed the presidency over to Louis Loutan, (Geneva, Switzerland). Phyllis Kozarsky, (Atlanta, U.S.A.) became president-elect. She will assume the office of President at CISTM8 in New York in May, 2003.

Louis Loutan, MD, MPH, President, International Society of Travel Medicine

Louis is the 5th President of ISTM, and, as his predecessors, has had a long and distinguished career in travel medicine and related fields. He has a diploma in tropical medicine from the Swiss Tropical Institute (1974), a diploma and doctorate in internal medicine from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva (1975 and 1984), and a master of public health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA (1987). He served two years in the Department of Community Health at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, and is an assistant professor there. He also heads an ongoing training program in family medicine in Sarajevo, Bosnia (1998-2000).

Louis has been the head of the travel medicine clinic in Geneva since 1989 where he has done research in the immunogenicity of hepatitis A vaccines and various vaccine combinations, and he has organized training programs in travel medicine. His experience in tropical medicine and international health includes 5 years in the Republic of Niger where he conducted clinical work, epidemiological surveys in nutrition and tropical medicine, and organized programs in community health for nomadic populations. He is currently conducting research projects on Leishmaniasis in Eastern Nepal.

Louis is the former president of the Swiss Society of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, a past board member of ISTM and the Federation of European Societies for Tropical Medicine and International Health, and was the chair of the organizing committee of the 5CISTM in Geneva in 1997.

One of his special interests is migration medicine. Since 1991, he heads a unit that offers various services for migrant and refugee populations in Geneva, including medical screening, prevention programs, clinical care, care for survivors of violence, and interpreter services.

Phyllis Kozarsky, MD. President-Elect

Phyllis, our president-elect and the first woman to be elected to lead ISTM, grew up in the New York City area, but moved South to Atlanta, Georgia 17 years ago to “take a short break from the crazy NYC life,”, and ended up staying there. She has a son, Aaron, with whom she enjoys traveling, outdoor sports, being with friends, and reading. Tucker, their golden retriever, just enjoys being with them!

Professionally, Phyllis is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and a faculty member in International Health in the School of Public Health. She has been in the Division of Infectious Diseases for 16 years, spending her time in patient care, teaching, and clinical research. In 1988 she opened Emory’s travel clinic, and since has served as medical director, supervising pretravel care and providing care for a growing number of post-travel patients, immigrants, and refugees. Over the last year, she has spent more time in her activities at the Centers for Disease Control in the Division of Quarantine, serving as a medical expert consultant in traveler’s health. Recently she was appointed chief of travel health. In addition, she serves as consultant to several major corporations including the Coca-Cola Company, CNN Turner Broadcasting, Delta Airlines, as well as to several missionary and volunteer organizations.

Phyllis has been instrumental in advancing the field of travel medicine both professionally and from a public awareness standpoint. She was co-organizer of the travel medicine conference in Atlanta in 1991, and one of the founding members of the ISTM. Since that time, she has dedicated much time to the growth and development of ISTM, serving as counselor, secretary/treasurer, and chairing and co-chairing committees. She has been a special advisor to the last two ISTM Presidents. Currently, she is a principal investigator on ISTM’s GeoSentinel Network of travel clinics that work to capture information on trends in travel-related infectious diseases. In addition, as Chair of the Professional Education Committee, she has helped the ISTM develop a Body of Knowledge for travel medicine, which can be used for the design of course curricula worldwide.

Phyllis believes that the next decade will be one of potential logarithmic growth for the Society, both in terms of membership, as well as in other areas, and that ISTM should continue to take opportunities to share its wealth of knowledge about travel health with providers as well as with the public. She believes that the Society will need a strategy to increase membership and to encourage active participation from physicians and nurses alike, particularly from those in underrepresented countries. She believes that the Society’s committees will require greater support to explore creative avenues for reaching their goals. And finally, one of the Society’s most important challenges will be to open communications with various other societies with similar interests.