Conference: 1st Global Amphibian and Reptile Disease Conference

George Washington University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The first Global Amphibian and Reptile Disease Conference (GARD, 2022) will break down discipline-based silos and bring together a diverse array of investigators focused on studying diseases of amphibians and reptiles. This conference will serve as a forum for uniting communities of investigators to discuss, compare, and contrast various aspects of amphibian and reptile diseases. To this end, this meeting will include, but will not be limited to virologists, mycologists, parasitologists, veterinarians, immunologists, ecologists, and pathologists. Dealing with the impacts of infectious diseases plaguing amphibians and reptiles requires a more comprehensive understanding of the replication, transmission, and epidemiology of these pathogens, the molecular bases underlying pathogenicity, and the roles of host immune systems during such infections. Concurrently, greater insight into these diseases and their resulting outcomes require in-depth knowledge of pathogen ecology, specifically addressing issues of host range, host-pathogen interactions, and the myriad environmental factors, such as climate, altitude, ultraviolet exposure, agrochemicals, and anthropomorphic changes, that impact host susceptibility and resistance. As such, the 2022 GARD meeting will provide an opportunity for scientists studying the many different facets of herpetological diseases to combine their respective areas of expertise and thus raise the level of global awareness and understanding of infectious disease impacting amphibians and reptiles. The overarching goal unifying the participants of the first Global Amphibian and Reptile Disease Conference is to diminish the loss of amphibian and reptile diversity by advancing our understanding of the principal agents contributing to diseases of these animals and developing mitigation strategies to control them. To accomplish that goal, this conference will improve scientific communication among investigators whose diverse interests often find them attending different meetings. The 2022 GARD meeting will also engage junior researchers through comprehensive workshops and presentations that prominently feature research from students, postdoctoral fellows, and research associates. Through outreach programs offered by the universities whose faculty are in attendance, we will facilitate participation by students from under-represented minorities, thereby integrating them into our scientific communities. Moreover, the hands-on training that students, postdoctoral fellows, and principal investigators will acquire through workshops and field trips offered at GARD 2022, will enhance their respective research endeavors, advance their studies of amphibian and reptile diseases, and strengthen STEM research in general. GARD attendance and participation will be gender-balanced and will include racial and ethnic diversity. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.