Dr. Remko Schats is a medical doctor from the Netherlands with a profound commitment to Global Health and Travel Medicine. Through his international missions as a former specialist in Tropical Medicine, he has demonstrated versatility and drive to make a difference to the world.

During one of his missions with Doctors Without Borders in a refugee camp in Chad, his work was documented by PBS and broadcasted globally, highlighting his dedication to serving the vulnerable in the world. Dr. Schats is part of several influential board positions in Global Health, further solidifying his leadership and expanding his network and career.

After completing missions in Africa and Asia, he earned a PhD in malaria vaccine research at Leiden University Medical Centre, achieving recognition as the first-prize winner at the 2013 American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) conference in Washington, D.C. He subsequently pursued and completed an executive MBA at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, marking the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey.

As an entrepreneur, in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Health and the Dutch National Coordination Centre for Travelers Advice (LCR), he is committed to digitizing the WHO International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP). To assure digital inter-operability of the ICVP on a global level, he is a member of the WHO ICVP global working group and an Industry Partner of openEHR International.

In parallel, he is launching the development of Enigma Global e-Health, an innovative e-health platform and electronic health record (EHR) system designed to provide travellers and individuals seamless access to their health records anytime, anywhere in the world.

Dr. Schats is a seasoned speaker at med-tech conferences and an influential leadership mentor. His impactful lectures and workshops inspire audiences to excel and achieve their goals.

For a detailed biography, visit: www.remkoschats.com/about

Dr. Andrea Farnham is an epidemiologist and senior researcher at the Global and Public Health Department of the Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Prevention Institute (EBPI) at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Her research focuses on using digital tools to study the complex interactions between health, mobility, and the environment. She is best known in travel medicine for her work leading the TOURIST studies, one of the first digital initiatives of its kind to track health in travelers using mobile technologies. In collaboration with computer scientists, she developed an mHealth application integrating real-time GPS data, weather information, and social media analytics to geotag health events and understand how environmental factors influence health during travel. Her work in this area has produced significant insights into traveler health behaviors and risks. Her expertise extends beyond travel medicine to include digital health strategies in global health settings, where she has led projects like the MIGRANT(h) and CliMaH projects, which use digital tools to understand the health impacts of mobility, migration, and climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Farnham’s work exemplifies her commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation, bridging fields such as public health, computer science, and environmental studies.

Gerard Flaherty, Professor of Travel Medicine and International Health, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland

 MD, PhD, BSc (Hons.), MB, BCh, BAO, FRCPI, MRCPI, Cert. Travel Med. (RCSI), Dip. SEM (GB & I), FFSEM (RCPI & RCSI), FAcadMEd, DTM RCPS (Glas), FFTM RCPS (Glas), FACTM, FFTM (ACTM), MFSEM (UK), MMedSc, Dip. HSc. (Clinical Teaching), MSc Int Trav Health (Sheffield), MECOSEP, MMEd (Dundee), Diop. sa Ghaeilge, Cert. Traffic Med, Cert. Ornith., Cert. Bird Behavior, FIFA Dip. Foot. Med., PG Cert Sc. Healthcare Simulation and Patient Safety, FISTM, AFAMEE, FRGS, FIPC, MRSTMH.

 Prof. Gerard Flaherty graduated from the National University of Ireland, Galway, in 2000 with a first-class honors degree and gold medals in each of the 8 final year subjects. As an undergraduate, Gerard gained an intercalated BSc degree in Anatomy and received numerous international academic distinctions, including the Duke Elder Prizer in Ophthalmology from the Royal College of Ophthalmology (UK), and the Annual Undergraduate Prize of the Faculty of Radiology (UK). He gained Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 2002 and Fellowship in 2011. He holds a Diploma in Travel Medicine from the RCPSG (Glasgow). He has completed 3 Master degrees, including a Masters in International and Travel Health (Sheffield) and Masters in Medical Education (Dundee). His two higher doctoral theses (MD, PhD) were based on his original research in travel medicine. He was elected to the role of President-elect of the International Society of Travel Medicine in May 2021 and President in May 2023. He previously served as ISTM Counselor (2015-19).

 He is a Fellow, examiner, former board member and education convener of the Faculty of Travel Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He was also the recipient of the Cameron Lockie Prize for Travel Medicine in the UK and the Donald MacLeod medal in Sports Medicine, which was presented to him by HRH The Princess Royal. He is Past President, Research Officer and current NECTM Lead of the Travel Medicine Society of Ireland. He was Chair of the Northern European Conference on Travel Medicine (NECTM) 2012 scientific committee, which the Travel Medicine Society of Ireland hosted in Dublin, and Vice-Chair of the NECTM 2014 scientific committee in Norway. He also served on the international scientific committee for the 2015 NECTM, 2016 RCISTM, 2018 NECTM, and 2022 NECTM conferences in London, South Africa, Stockholm, and Rotterdam, respectively. He was Co-Chair for the 2021 CISTM17 virtual conference, held virtually in May 2021.

 He was elected to the Executive Board of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) in 2015 and has held several leadership positions, including membership of the Examinations Committee, the Older Traveler Interest Group Council, and Chair of the Publications Oversight Committee (2019-21) and Nominating Committee (2021-23). He is the current NECTM representative on the ISTM Liaison Committee. He also chairs the CISTM19 Oversight Committee.

 He is also a member of the Asia Pacific Travel Health Society, and he has presented at the joint ACTM/APTHS webinar in August 2022. He holds an Adjunct Professorship in Travel Medicine and International Health with the International Medical University in Malaysia since 2014 and an Adjunct Professorship in Travel Medicine at Mahidol University, Thailand. Gerard’s research interests in travel medicine include risk assessment in the pre-travel consultation, travel health behavior, travelers with pre- existing medical conditions, high altitude medicine, mental health issues and travel, older travelers, technology and artificial intelligence in travel medicine, and education in travel health. He has 20 years of clinical experience in travel medicine. He has completed tropical medicine courses and expeditions in Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, Russia, Cuba, Peru, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Ghana, Morocco, and South Africa.

 Gerard’s previous academic position as Professor of Medical Education and Immediate Past Undergraduate Medical Program Director at NUI Galway and Head of International Students for the School of Medicine gave him responsibility for design, delivery, and assessment of the undergraduate medical curriculum, including the special study module program. He is also a Past Chair of the Curriculum Review Committee and has sat on numerous committees at school and university levels, including the university examination appeals committee. He serves as Academic Integrity Advisor for the School of Medicine, College representative on the University Discipline Committee and on the University, Society Coordinating Group. He received a President’s Award from NUI Galway for Teaching Excellence in 2008. He has been awarded a Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators (UK). He served on the executive committee of AMEE between 2017 and 2020. He has been awarded Associate Fellowship of AMEE. He was appointed to the role of Professor of Travel Medicine and International Health in 2021. He has over 250 publications and research presentations to date, including a textbook, and 8 textbook chapters. He has delivered invited lectures to various institutions and organizations in over 20 countries. He serves as Section Editor (non- communicable diseases) for the Journal of Travel Medicine. He is a regular reviewer for multiple travel medicine and medical education journals, including Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, and Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (TMID). He was a recent Guest Editor for a special travel medicine issue of the TMID journal.

 Gerard has worked with Croí, the West of Ireland Cardiac Foundation, for many years as a volunteer expedition physician on fundraising high-altitude treks to the Himalayas and Africa. He was instrumental in establishing the National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health, on whose Advisory Council he serves as Director of Academic Affairs and Fellowship. In addition to acting as Founder and Program Director (2013-2020) for the Masters in Preventive Cardiology program at NUI Galway, Gerard was responsible for the medical management and supervision of participants enrolled on the Croí MyAction preventive cardiology program. In his leisure time, Gerard travels, golfs, walks in forests, cares for bonsai trees, treks mountains, and bird-watches. He has been awarded Certificates in Ornithology and in Bird Behavior. He is fluent in English and Gaelic and speaks French and German with moderate proficiency.

Karen A. Goraleski is a Senior Advisor for ISTM. She previously served as its Interim Executive Director from July 2024 until June 2025.

Her career spans decades of leadership in mission-driven organizations, including 13 years as CEO of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health. She achieved the status of Fellow of ASTMH (FASTMH) in 2024.

During her tenure at ASTMH, she increased the Society’s influence, expanded membership, and led successful policy, advocacy, and communication efforts.

Goraleski has testified before Senate Appropriation Sub-Committees, moderated congressional briefings, and authored opinion pieces for major publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post. She has served on the Advisory Board of the NIH’s Fogarty International Center, the Steering Committee of the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), and the boards of the Global Health Council and the Campaign for Public Health.

Before ASTMH, she was Vice President of Public Health Partnerships at Research!America, where she enhanced public health advocacy and established a global health research advocacy program. She is an experienced communicator, known for translating complex issues for policymakers, the media, and the public.

Goraleski holds a Master of Social Work from the Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts from St. Xavier University in Chicago.

Annelies Wilder-Smith is Team Lead for Vaccine Development at the World Health Organization. She is also Honorary Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Past President of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM), and Editor-in-Chief of ISTM`s Journal of Travel Medicine.

 Annelies specializes in emerging viral diseases such as COVID-19, Zika, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, influenza, and SARS. In 2003, she was at the forefront of the SARS epidemic in Singapore. She is coordinating two working groups at WHO to formulate policy recommendations for the use of COVID-19 vaccines and dengue vaccines.

 With a career spanning almost three decades, she has led and co-led various clinical trials, published more than 380 scientific papers, edited and co-edited textbooks and travel medicine books, served on various editorial boards and scientific committees, including as Editorial Consultant to The Lancet. Her awards include the Myrone Levine Vaccinology Prize, the Honor Group Award for exemplary leadership and coordination in determining and communicating global yellow fever risk presented at the CDC Award Ceremony, the Mercator Professorship award by the German Research Foundation and the Ashdown Oration Award by the Australian College of Travel Medicine. She was the Principal Investigator of an EU funded international consortium called “ZikaPLAN” (https://zikaplan.tghn.org/), and also completed another 4 year research project on dengue, also funded by the European Commission.

Davidson Hamer, MD is a Professor of Global Health and Medicine at the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine, the co-lead of the climate change and emerging infectious diseases research core at the BU Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, and an attending physician in infectious diseases and Director of the Travel Clinic at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Hamer is a board-certified infectious disease specialist and medical epidemiologist with particular interests in maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition (MNCH&N) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), emerging arboviral diseases, tropical medicine, travel medicine, infection control, and antimicrobial resistance.

Dr. Hamer has been involved in travel medicine for thirty years and from 2014 to 2021, Dr. Hamer served as the principal investigator and, since September 2021, as the Surveillance Lead, of GeoSentinel, a global surveillance network of 70 sites in 30 countries that uses returning travelers, immigrants, and refugees as sentinels of disease emergence and transmission patterns throughout the world. At Boston Medical Center, he is the PI for several studies of enhanced screening, diagnosis, and management of migrants with Chagas disease and he is part of two national US Chagas disease consortia.

Dr. Hamer is currently the Scientific Program Chair for the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Section Editor for the Journal of Travel Medicine (sentinel surveillance in travelers) and the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (global health and Chagas disease). He also serves as the Secretary-Treasurer for the GeoSentinel Foundation. He has nearly 500 publications that cover a range of topics within the fields of global health (MNCH&N), travel medicine, COVID-19, and the epidemiology of disease in returning travelers.

Professor Tomas Jelinek is the medical director of the Berlin Centre for Travel & Tropical Medicine (www.bcrt.de) and the scientific director of the Centre for Travel Medicine in Düsseldorf (www.crm.de), both in Germany.

He holds a lectureship at the Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Cologne. He has been appointed Consulting Expert to WHO on travel medicine in 2009 and as member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2015.

Tomas Jelinek studied medicine and philosophy at the University of Frankfurt am Main and graduated in 1993. He continued his medical training at the Department of Infectious Diseases & Tropical Medicine of the University of Munich and was board certified for internal medicine in 2000, for tropical medicine in 2001, and for infectious diseases in 2003. He holds diplomas in travel medicine, mountain medicine and expedition medicine. He founded TropNetEurope, the European Network on the Surveillance of Imported Infectious Diseases in 1998 and co-ordinated the network until 2010.

His professional international experience includes work in Brazil, PR China, UK, India, Kenya, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Malawi, Portugal, South Africa, Uganda, and the USA.

His published work includes 159 original papers, 74 reviews, and 72 books or book chapters.

Dr. Dipti Patel is a consultant in occupational medicine and travel medicine. She is Director of the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC), and the Chief Medical Officer at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). She is also an Honorary Lecturer in Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care within the School of Health Sciences at Manchester University.

 She is a member of the UK Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention, the Travel Subcommittee of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, and the WHO International Travel and Health Guideline Development Group.

Sophie Schneitler is a trained infectious disease specialist and clinical microbiologist, having completed her education at the universities of Düsseldorf, Leipzig, and Saarland in Germany. With a particular focus on travel and tropical medicine, she has dedicated her career to understanding and addressing the health challenges faced by travellers and populations in tropical regions. Sophie Schneitler is a senior physician at the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene at the University Hospital of Saarland. She leads the outpatient clinic for travel and tropical medicine, where she provides expert care and guidance to patients regarding travel-related health issues.

Throughout her professional journey, Sophie has gained extensive work experience across South America, Africa, and Asia. This international exposure has enriched her understanding of diverse health systems and the unique infectious diseases prevalent in different geographical areas. Her hands-on experience in these regions has not only enhanced her clinical skills but has also deepened her commitment to improving travel health and tropical medicine.

Sophie is actively engaged in both scientific research and clinical practice within the field of travel health. She combines her expertise in clinical microbiology with the practical aspects of travel medicine, allowing her to address the complexities of infectious diseases that travellers may encounter.

In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Sophie is passionate about advancing knowledge in her field through research. She collaborates with various institutions and organizations to conduct studies that aim to improve health outcomes for travellers and communities affected by tropical diseases. Her research interests include the epidemiology of infectious diseases, the effectiveness of preventive measures, and the development of guidelines for safe travel.

Prof Maeve Eogan is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland which has provided maternity, neonatal and gynecology care for 280 years! She is also National Clinical Lead for the Irish Sexual Assault Treatment Units (SATU) and is an associate professor in University College Dublin (UCD) and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI). Prof Eogan’s special interests are health promotion in pregnancy, inclusion health, optimizing access to responsive healthcare, prevention and management of pelvic floor issues after birth and provision of care for people who have experienced sexual violence. She has undertaken and number of research projects in these contexts and has published and presented widely.  The Irish SATU network comprises 6 sexual assault treatment units, providing clinical, forensic and supportive care (free of charge) for anyone of any gender aged 14 years and over who discloses sexual violence. Further information on the services and relevant clinical guidelines are available at hse.ie/

Dr Marta Sanz Gonzalez is an Infectious Diseases, Medical Microbiology and General Internal Medicine Consultant currently working at the Infectious Diseases Department and Tropical Medicine Unit at the University Hospital Ramon y Cajal in Madrid, Spain. She trained both in Spain and the UK where she completed an MSc in Tropical Medicine & International Health at the London School of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (LSTHM). She has a special interest in Neglected Tropical Diseases and neglected populations. She has collaborated with different NGOs including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), where she now serves as Board Member and Medical Committee Chair (MSF Spain-OCBA). 

Dr Oula Itani is an Infectious Diseases physician at the Medical Center of the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, where she started working after training in travel medicine and tropical diseases. Aside from her clinical work in the travel clinic for pre-travel counselling and post-travel management, she also participates in France’s largest rabies center, where roughly 1400 patients are seen yearly for post-exposure prophylaxis.  

Dr Conor Maguire

BA, MSc (MedSci), MB, BCh, BAO, MICGP, FRCGP,  FFTMRCPS(Glasg), DCH, DOBs, CTH.

Conor is a full time principal in a six doctor GP practice at the Glencairn Medical Centre, Leopardstown Valley, Dublin, Ireland. He has special interests in Travel Medicine and Infectious Diseases and postgraduate training in General Practice.

Conor is a medical graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, member of the Irish College of General Practitioners, Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners and Fellow of the Faculty of Travel Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He holds the CTH of the ISTM since 2008.

He is a trainer in General Practice with the ICGP and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He was appointed member of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee of Ireland, from 2016 to 2022, representing the interests of General Practice and advising the Irish government and health service during the COVID19 vaccination campaign in Ireland. More recently he worked with the Health Information and Quality Authority of Ireland as a member of the expert advisory group for a Health Technology Assessment of Varicella and Zoster vaccines.

He is a past President of the Travel Medicine Society of Ireland, and served on the steering committee of two NECTM conferences on Travel Medicine, in Stockholm 2018 and Dublin in 2012.

He was a member of Editorial Board of Journal of Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, from 2018 to 2022 and editor, of the Newsletter of the Travel Medicine Society of Ireland, from 2007 to 2016.

Conor has always promoted and campaigned for the inclusion of Travel Medicine as a core subject in undergraduate and postgraduate training in General Practice and is a regular invited speaker at conferences, courses and teaching engagements in General Practice and Travel Medicine with the Irish College of General Practitioners, NECTM, WONCA, the Irish Practice Nurses Association and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

In 2019 he was decorated Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by President Emmanuel Macron, President of France, for services to the French community in Ireland.

Professor Dr Patrick Soentjens is an infectious diseases specialist with clinical expertise in the field of HIV, sexual transmitted diseases, tropical diseases, outbreaks and severe multiresistant infections.

 The past nineteen years his team carried out investigator-driven clinical vaccine trials on alternative and shorter intradermal vaccine schedules with microdosisses of existing rabies vaccines. He conducted three large pivotal studies (between 2011-2017) which greatly contributed to a revision of the WHO recommendations on rabies vaccination in 2018. He’s constructing a research portfolio investigating novel ways to vaccinate travellers and soldiers with new and shorter intradermal regimens of new and existing vaccines.

 As Medical Director at the Policlinic at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, he is responsible for the strategy, the vision and the management of the medical services at ITM. A open access travel medicine website and app www.wanda.be was implemented under his leadership in November 2019.

As Medical Colonel at the Centre for Infectious Diseases at the Military Hospital in Brussels he is launching different research projects in infectious diseases and travel medicine. 

 The aim of this workshop is to familiarise you with how best to deal with various clinical cases involving rabies risk in real-life settings. Prepare to be surprised!

Professor Leo Visser studied medicine at the University of Leuven in Belgium. He specialized in Infectious Diseases at the Leiden University Medical Center, where he obtained his PhD (1997). He was appointed as Professor in Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine in 2014. For many years, Professor Visser is involved in clinical care, research, teaching and training in internal medicine and infectious diseases, with the emphasis on vaccinology, vaccine-preventable and tropical infectious diseases, travel medicine and global health. Professor Visser holds a position as Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and LUMC travel clinic at the LUMC. The travel clinic is member of the Leiden Vaccine Group and is a centre of expertise for travel medicine and vaccination research in The Netherlands.

Professor Visser holds several positions at national and international committees and scientific organizations. Currently, Professor Visser is a member of the European Expert Committee for Travel Medicine. In the past he was, amongst others, member of the steering committee of the European Network on the Surveillance of Imported Infectious Diseases (www.tropnet.eu), chair of the National Coordination Centre for Travellers' Health Advice (LCR), and former President of the International Society of Travel Medicine. His current research activities involve the safety and immunogenicity of alternative vaccination routes and vaccine responses in the more vulnerable individual with chronic diseases, advanced age, or immunosuppressed in particular those following solid organ transplantation or receiving immunobiologicals.

Dr. Shlim is the author of over fifty-five original research papers and has written over twenty chapters in textbooks on travel medicine. He is an editor of the CDC’s Health Information for International Travel, and a co-author of the chapter on rabies in that book. He is a past president of the International Society of Travel Medicine, and the current chairman of The Medicine and Compassion Projectâ.

He pioneered travel medicine research on travelers’ diarrhea, typhoid fever, hepatitis, altitude illness, trekking deaths, and rabies. He also helped discover the diarrhea causing protozoal pathogen Cyclospora.

 Dr. Shlim is the co-author, with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, of Medicine and Compassion, a book that offers advice from a Tibetan Buddhist lama on methods of training in compassion for health care professionals. His new memoir, A Gentle Rain of Compassion, was published in September 2022.

Robert Steffen, Professor Emeritus at the University of Zurich was the Head of the Division of Communicable Diseases in the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute and Director of a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Traveller's Health. He also is Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.

In the 1970’s he started systematic research in morbidity and mortality of illnesses and accidents related to international travel. On the basis of such epidemiological evidence, he concluded on preventive strategies for individual travellers and on measures to be taken out of public health interest. Meanwhile he has (co-)authored over 400 publications, among them many relating to vaccination. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Travel Medicine, of the International Journal of Public Health and Section Editor for Clinical Infectious Diseases. In the 27 years of his tenure at the Zurich University Center for Travel Medicine he supervised over 1 million vaccinations as in that travel clinic there were almost 20,000 consultations per year. Since his retirement from Zurich University his research focus is on adult immunization; he is an advisor of the Adult Immunization Board (AIB).

Robert Steffen presided the Swiss Federal Commission for Influenza; he was Vice-President both of the Federal Commission on Vaccination and of the Swiss Bioterrorism Committee. The WHO often has invited him to advisory boards, such as during the revision of the International Health Regulations (IHR) and on other topics, such as malaria, vaccine preventable diseases, chemical and biological warfare, disinsection of conveyances, or epidemiological preparedness at airports. Repeatedly he served as Chair of the IHR Ebola Emergency Committee until 2020.