On Feb. 6, four George Mason Biodefense students attended the American Society for Microbiology’s (ASM) Biothreats Research, Response, and Policy Meeting in Washington, D.C. The conference brings the country’s most notable scholars in biological threats to understand the risks posed by infectious diseases and what we can do to fight against them.
The Schar School’s close proximity to the nation’s capital offered these students the opportunity to understand the life changing relationship between science and politics. One student was not available for comment in this article, so three of the students are featured here.
Greg Mercer, a Biodefense graduate student and long-time writer for the Mason-sponsored Biodefense blog The Pandora Report, was one of those students, but he wasn’t sure of what to expect from the conference.
“The global health field has hardcore science and hardcore policy. I was interested to see which direction this conference would take.”
Stephen Taylor hoped for three things: learning about problems caused by diseases, the solutions to those problems, and meeting new people.
“I hoped to learn about new problems posed by emerging infectious diseases and what skill sets that are required to solve them. I was also looking forward to doing some networking and meeting other people who share my interests.”
Zach Goble was excited about the opportunity to attend an ASM conference and all of the information he had the opportunity to gain.
“I had never been to an ASM conference before so I didn’t have solid expectations. I was really looking forward to many of the topics that were presented and also learning about the new groups that were there.”
The conference – known to be one of the most prestigious biological threats conference in the country – focused on three key themes: research, response, and policy. Scientists, political scholars, and students all came to showcase and learn from the research and insight of the most prominent minds in the United States on the issue of biological threats and infectious diseases. You can see some of the topics discussed at the conference by visiting the ASM website’s Program Highlights.
The program was exciting, according to the George Mason students in attendance. Mercer and Goble recall that the conference engaged topics of specific interest to them, their degree, and their futures.
“I attended a panel that was very closely related to disease forecasting, my graduate thesis topic,” Mercer said. “I was able to hear some of the cutting-edge research in that field, which was really helpful.”
“I didn’t really have a part I didn’t like,” Goble said. “I enjoyed the niche topics that were presented in both panel discussions and poster sessions, from emergency operations to the FDA. All of these specific topics were extremely interesting to hear about and to know they are being researched.”
In the future, these students recommend anyone interested in this field should attend this conference.
“The health security field requires policymakers and scientists to be on the same page, and I think conferences like this one encourage that interaction,” Mercer said. “I would certainly recommend it to anybody interested in the field, whether from the policy side or the science side.”
“There were a lot of ways to get in touch with those in the field at this conference,” Goble said. “My advice is just pick your favorite events to attend and go to them because you will find little nuggets of information throughout.”
At Mason, whether you want to be a scientist, a senator, or a surgeon, there are opportunities for you to become involved in the most important conversations in our country and our world. The ASM Biothreats conference is one of those places to jump in, and right in the political center of the United States, just minutes away from George Mason University.
To read more about the conference and what these students learned, visit The Pandora Report.