Symposium Rationale

Complex public health problems such as emerging infectious diseases, occupational health risks faced by agriculture workers, and ongoing concerns with food safety require multidisciplinary and inter-institutional approaches to protect the security, resiliency, and sustainability of the global food supply.

Our international Symposium Planning Committee of 22 diverse experts is designing a program to engage leaders in agricultural industry, public health, veterinary health, food safety, and environmental health institutions. The Symposium will be unique in that food productions experts will be centrally featured with the goal of identifying common ground from which new interdisciplinary research partnerships might arise and lead to better food resilience. We will feature lectures from the beef, dairy, egg & poultry, pork, aquaculture, fresh produce, and processed food industries. Other research topics will include emerging infectious diseases (viral, bacterial, and other), and the environmental, social, and public communication factors that impact Food Security.  We will particularly highlight successful One Health mitigation approaches to Food Security problems. We will also feature a poster competition with monetary awards.

Symposium Objectives

• To promote a transdisciplinary, 'One Health' research approach focusing on food security in tackling complex problems that plague food production, human (worker and consumer) health, animal health, and environmental health.

• To share research knowledge regarding complex problems affecting food security and testing potential solutions concerning these complex problems

• To build community and new collaborations between diverse professionals and their numerous institutions that work in the area of food safety, recognizing that food security cannot be addressed by a single organizational entity.

• To recognize and promote excellence among junior professionals working in research areas amenable to One Health approaches.
  

Agenda and Speakers

In addition to our extremely accomplished planning committee members, we are busy lining up world-class speakers who will present research-oriented data on our Symposium theme of Food Security and Resilience. The very dynamic draft agenda can be viewed via this link.

Hotel Reservations

The symposium will take place at The Moody Gardens Hotel and Conference Center (Moody Gardens). Moody Gardens is offering Symposium registrants a group rate of $169 (before taxes) standard room (one King bed or two doubles. March 31 is the cutoff for the special conference rate). The Hotel provides complimentary wireless internet access throughout the property, including the guest rooms Complimentary self-parking is available for all guests or valet parking is available for $22.00 for overnight, $10.00 for garage self-parking and $6.50 for day parking. Group rates are available two (2) days before and after the meeting dates, based upon availability.

Moody Gardens provides more than 22,000 square feet of flexible meeting space with complimentary Wi-Fi and the requisite audio visual equipment which will provide the necessary resources for a successful meeting. The host hotel is close to additional hotels and vacation rentals for additional pricing options for meeting participants. While the host hotel does not provide in house child-care facilities, there are a number of daycare facilities within a short (less than 5-mile) radius available to the conference participants.

Register for Hotel Rooms here.

Moody Gardens is an ideal venue due to its onsite educational attractions such as the Rainforest Pyramid®, Discovery Pyramid® with NASA-inspired and traveling science exhibits, and Aquarium Pyramid® – all of which are aligned with the global One Health initiative in addition to promoting inclusive and collaborative learning, fostering STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) exploration and discovery to empower learners of all ages to reach their full potential. The costs for enjoying these Moody Gardens attractions are available here. Please note that these attractions are not included in Symposium registration costs.

Travel to and within Galveston

Galveston is accessible via two airports (William H. Hobby Airport within 40 miles and George Bush Intercontinental Airport within 70 miles) with both supporting domestic and international travelers. Transportation from these airports to Galveston and within Galveston is best secured by commercial taxi or commercial ride services such as Uber and Lyft.  However, as such transportation is rather expensive, Symposium attendees may instead want to rent a vehicle.  A rented vehicle will also support their visits to Galveston sites outside of Moody Gardens.  For instance, Symposium visitors may want to plan a short trip to enjoy the beach or to visit Galveston’s downtown area, many restaurants, or other tourist sites:

https://www.galveston.com/trip-planning/areas/downtown/

https://www.galveston.com/

www.fly2houston.com/

Travel Awards for the best One Health Abstracts Abstract Submission Deadline: March 8, 2024

Considering abstracts submitted by students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty, a subset of the planning committee will review and rank abstracts for the best examples of One Health research. Criteria for One Health research excellence will include:

1. Does the research involve at least two of these three elements: human health, animal health, or environmental health?
2. Are the research results likely to advance food security and resilience?

To offset meetings costs we will offer $250 travel awards to the presenting author for each of the top ten abstracts. 

Abstracts will be screened by March 18, 2024 and travel awards announced by March 22, 2024.

Guidelines for Drafting a Research Abstract

Confirmed Speakers/Participants