Hello everyone. Spring is here and May takes us to one year before CISTM20 in beautiful Thailand.
There is so much preparation going on, the excitement is already building. Don’t miss your chance to take part!
The scientific planning committee, led by Colleen Lau (Australia) and Lin Chen (US), is working hard with their team to review all the proposals submitted for symposia, workshops and debates. Thank you all for your dedication to making our 20th CISTM a remarkable scientific meeting. Results of the evaluation of the proposals should be sent out later this month. Now is the time to start thinking about your abstract submissions. Keep an eye on the CISTM webpage for deadlines and activities.
As you read in the newsletter, we have just launched the first podcast for 2026 “Founding Travel Medicine: The ISTM’s Formative Years”. This one focuses on the early years of ISTM from some of our many founders, Robert Steffen, Phyllis Kozarsky, Bert DuPont and Nancy Piper Jenks. Aisha Khatib and I hosted, and we were oh so humbled by the vision, remarkable work and dedication of so many. And, what continues to impress and inspire me is that so many of them remain leaders in our society today! Thank you all for your remarkable contributions.
Many of you participated in the Membership Committee Focus Groups, providing great insight into what is good and what can be improved in the society. Missy and her team remain dedicated to optimizing our membership experience, and we are so grateful.
As we head toward this anniversary CISTM and celebrate our geographic expansion with a truly international venue, I know that many of you will be reminiscing about the fun and learning you had during previous meetings. If this nostalgia leads you to review some of your photos from those meetings, we are looking for memories from previous CISTMs to showcase during CISTM20, so please send them along to ISTM. We really look forward to sharing that rekindled joy.
For me, CISTM is definitely about the science and expanding my expertise. However, it is so much more than that. It is a chance to meet with dear colleagues, many of whom you only see every two years, and yet they are such close friends. We are afforded the privilege of spending so much time together during and around the days of the conference.
For those of you who have not yet visited Thailand, you are in for such a treat, as are those who are returning. There are so many reasons why Bangkok (BKK) was chosen after prolonged deliberation to determine the hosting city for this historical CISTM20.
- We are long past the time to expand our meetings outside of North America and Europe. Of note, we were supposed to have an in-person meeting in Asia (CISTM17) under Lin Chen’s presidency, but that was cancelled and pivoted to a very successful virtual meeting due to COVID.
- Bangkok and Thailand are a travel hub and one of the most popular destinations for travelers worldwide. This gives you an opportunity to see what your travelers see, and to be better able to expand your excellent travel medicine knowledge with first-hand experience.
- Bangkok is a gateway to so much of the world – so use it as a stepping stone for further exploration!
So, make your way to the land of smiles, and be ready to be amazed and to enjoy the wonderful people, the history and the oh so amazing food; all along with such a memorable CISTM20! Looking forward to seeing you all in BKK.
Anne McCarthy
ISTM President
Canada