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Conference Overview

Med-Vet-Net held its 3rd Annual Scientifc Meeting at the end of June, near Pisa.

Questions for the panel

The conference, organized in close co-operation with the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), Rome, was held in a secluded location in Tuscany; the freshness of the mountains conducive to work and contemplation. More than 200 participants, the majority from Med-Vet-Net Partner Institutes, found themselves, like the previous meeting in Malta, attending a conference which has really found its identity. Also among the delegates were a number of non-Europeans.

The meeting was opened by Valerie Baduel, Assistant Director of Afssa and President of the Med-Vet-Net Governing Board. She emphasized the importance of the multidisciplinary approach of the network to addressing problems of public health, as well as developing increasing connections with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), starting with the adoption of a common approach to answering calls for tenders. In addition, the President pledged to make sustainability of the network the priority of her mandate in the Governing Board.

The invited keynote speakers covered topics including the effects of climate change, avian influenza and development of vaccines. These presentations, some of the high points of the meeting, once more drew the attention of scientists in the network to the new challenges to be faced in the field of the zoonoses.

The meeting’s focus on the future of both zoonoses research and Med-Vet-Net was continued in a panel discussion session with experts from academia, a public health institute, an international advisory body and, as consultant to the animal health industry. The panel were tasked with answering the question: “What are the future challenges for zoonoses research and surveillance in Europe over the next 10 years?”. Ideas from these discussions will form the basis of developing strategies for the the long-term sustainability of Med-Vet-Net activities beyond the end of the European Comission funding in September 2009.
This congress was also an occasion for the various groups of Med-Vet-Net to convene and work together. The Workpackage Leaders gave progress reports of their work and on the preparation of the 4th Joint Programme of Activities (JPA), which will start in September 2007. In addition Workpackages and Special Interest Groups were actively working together to develop proposals in response to new EC requirements calls, particularly for Framework Programme 7.

During the closing session, Professor Diane Newell, Project Director, stated that Med-Vet-Net was now more than half way through its timeline (34/60 months), and that this 3rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Network had been an occasion to present the ongoing progress from the collaborations created by Med-Vet-Net. Many of the results presented were generated by the 22 scientific Workpackages of the Network. These scientific results are the outcomes of successful integration and we must now work hard to make it durable.

The congress was closed Dr Carmen Audera of ISCIII, Vice-Chair of the Governing Board, who thanked all the participants for this excellent conference.
On their way home, participants acknowledged having experienced a high point at this conference. And, having recognized the scientific element, I feel it necessary to add a feeling of membership to a community; that of Med-Vet-Net.

Next year, the meeting will be organized in Saint Malo, France, from 11 to 14 June 2008. The local organizing team is already working hard to make the next meeting as good as the one in Lucca.

André Jestin

Med-Vet-Net Co-ordinator’s Representative

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Page Contact: Jennie Drew - Last modified: 2007-08-01