International Society of Travel Medicine
E-mail: ISTM@ISTM.org
Office hours: Monday - Friday, 9.00 - 17.00 EDT (UTC-04)

Research and Awards Committee

Committee Members

Chair: Luis Furuya Kanamori, Australia

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Co-Chair: Stefan Hagmann, United States of America

Stefan HagmannStefan Hagmann is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Health and a pediatric infectious diseases attending physician at the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York where he is the medical director of the Antibiotic Stewardship Program, and the site director for the Northwell Geosentinel® and Global TravEpinet (GTEN) surveillance sites. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

Dr. Hagmann earned his MD from the University of Hamburg, Germany and his MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. After clinical training in Germany and the United States he settled in New York City. His original clinical focus has been on pediatric HIV care, and chronic viral hepatitis. Working with a very mobile immigrant population in the Bronx, he co-founded and directed a travel clinic that also became a site for the GeoSentinel® and GTEN surveillance networks at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Medical Center until 2016.

His current work with GTEN involves community outreach, and the development of an improved access to travel health care in urban underserved immigrant communities. As a pediatrician and the current chair of the ISTM Pediatric Interest Group, he is dedicated to improve the child traveler-related educational portfolio for travel health practitioners, and to help grow the evidence base for pediatric travel medicine recommendations.

Jose Flores, Mexico

Bio Coming.

Katherine Gibney, Australia

Katherine GibneyDr Katherine Gibney is an Australian infectious diseases physician, public health physician and medical epidemiologist with an interest in infectious diseases of public health importance. She completed her medical degree at the University of Melbourne (MBBS with honours 2001) and trained as an infectious diseases specialist in Victoria and the Northern Territory (FRACP 2010). During a 2-year applied epidemiology fellowship at the US CDC, the Epidemic Intelligence Service, she was stationed at the Arboviral Diseases Branch in Fort Collins, Colorado (EIS 2009). She then returned to Australia and completed a PhD in infectious diseases epidemiology at Monash University (PhD 2016), as well as training as a public health physician (FAFPHM 2015). She currently holds an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship, based at the Doherty Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and continues to work in clinical infectious diseases and public health medicine.

Susan Hills, United States of America

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Eyal Leshem, Israel

Eyal LeshamEyal Leshem, MD, is an attending physician in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the National Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer in Israel, a guest researcher at the viral gastroenteritis team, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta and a consultant to the world Health Organization (WHO). Dr. Leshem is a lecturer in internal medicine at the Sackler School of Medicine in Tel Aviv University. He has lead and co-authored over seventy articles and book chapters.

Dr. Leshem received his medical doctor degree from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in infectious diseases at the Sheba Medical Center. His interest in tropical and travel medicine lead to him to work six months at the CIWEC clinic in Katmandu, Nepal. In 2014, he graduated from his training as an epidemic intelligence service officer at the CDC. During his training he investigated multiple outbreaks including acute gastroenteritis, enterovirus D68, fungal meningitis and MERS CoV. Upon graduating from EIS, Dr. Leshem worked as a medical epidemiologist in the viral gastroenteritis team. His work focused on diarrheal diseases surveillance and rotavirus vaccine impact. Dr. Leshem continues to participate in viral gastroenteritis surveillance and evaluation projects in Haiti, Burkina Faso, Togo, Tajikistan and Israel.

Sarah McGuinness, Australia

Sarah McGuinnessDr. Sarah McGuinness is a specialist in infectious diseases (FRACP). Her clinical interests include travel and tropical medicine. She leads a hospital-based travel medicine clinic at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne that provides care for patients with complex medical needs including solid organ and bone marrow transplant recipients and patients living with HIV. In addition to her medical qualifications, Sarah holds a Certificate in Travel Health (ISTM) and a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

When not in the clinic, Sarah keeps herself busy with research and teaching at Monash University. Her research interests include travel medicine, public health and infectious disease epidemiology, and she is currently enrolled in a PhD under the supervision of Professor Karin Leder.

Francesca Norman, Spain

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Kyle Petersen, United States of America

Kyle PetersenDr. Kyle Petersen, an Infectious Disease specialist, is a proud veteran of 24 years of service in the US Navy. Dr. Petersen received his Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and his medical degree from Des Moines University-College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Petersen is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the Infectious Disease Society of America and is certified in Travel health by the International Society of Travel Medicine.

Dr. Petersen did Internal Medicine internship at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, VA, followed by training at the Naval Undersea Medicine Institute. His first tour of duty was in Undersea & Emergency Medicine at Naval Hospital Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico where he was the physician for Naval Special Warfare Unit 4, Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal Mobile Unit 2 and Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 Detachment Caribbean. He provided 24-hour emergency treatment for military and civilian divers in the island’s only hyperbaric treatment facility and also deployed with Seal Delivery Vehicle Team 2 becoming a certified submarine medical officer.

Dr. Petersen completed Internal Medicine Residency followed by Infectious Diseases Fellowship at the Naval Medical Center, San Diego, CA. His research efforts included studying HIV medication adherence and travellers' diarrhea in Thailand. He was assigned to National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, MD where his duties included infection control chairman, head of travel medicine and pharmacy and therapeutics committee member. During the war he cared for complex polytrauma patients suffering from infections with antibiotic resistant pathogens like Acinetobacter baumanii and deployed on the hospital ship COMFORT during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

An experienced biomedical researcher, Dr. Petersen was a principal investigator in the Department of Undersea Medicine at Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring MD, where he also founded and managed the Department of Defense’s wound infection program. Dr. Petersen was then both Executive and Commanding Officer of U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Lima, Peru a 300 employee lab for tropical medicine research and epidemiology. He is an Associate Professor of medicine at Uniformed Services University.

Dr. Petersen is author of numerous articles in the area of infectious diseases. He has multiple military decorations including the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal with gold star, several teaching awards, and has previously been featured in the LA Times, Forbes Magazine, the Washington Post, and was named one of the 32 top travel medicine providers by Condé Nast Traveler.

Harunor Rashid, Australia

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Larry Selkow, United States of America

Larry SelkowLarry Selkow (RPh, BS Pharm) obtained his pharmaceutical degree from Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy in Brooklyn, New York. He is a registered pharmacist in the state of California and Nevada and holds certifications as a Travel Immunization Pharmacist and Immunization Pharmacist Under Collaborative Protocol. He is experienced in Medication Therapy Management and has served as a Peer Reviewer for the California Pharmacist Journal and has been an Abstract Reviewer for the American Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting since 2015. In addition to ISTM, he is professionally affiliated with the American Pharmacists Association, American Society for Pharmacy Law, the California Pharmacists Association and the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID). His community volunteerism includes Disaster Healthcare Volunteers of California: Providing emergency healthcare assistance in the event of disaster. Distinctions include President of the Palm Springs – Coachella Valley Pharmacists Association and the California Pharmacists Association Community Pharmacy Special Interest Group Chair-Elect.

Dawd Siraj, United States of America

Dawd SiragProfessor Dawd S. Siraj, (MD, MPH&TM, FIDSA, CTropMed) received his medical degree from Jimma University Ethiopia and did his Internal Medicine training from St. Barnabas Hospital NY. He received his certificate in Infectious Diseases and Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. Following his training, he joined East Carolina University as Director of the International Travel Clinic and Infectious Diseases Consultant. He was program director for Infectious Diseases fellowship training. In 2016, he moved to the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Currently, he is a Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Consultant, Director of the International Travel Clinic, Associate Program Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training and Director of the Internal Medicine Global Health Pathway. He has extensive experience in HIV/AIDS care in resource limited settings. He regularly travels to Ethiopia with medical students and residents to lead a tropical medicine elective.

Dawd serves in a number of committees including the Global Health committee of Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and In-training exam writing committee of IDSA. He has published extensively and contributed to book chapters. He has served as a reviewer for several journals. For his contribution to HIV training and service he received certificate of appreciation from the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Currently he is the recipient of the Centennial Scholarship award at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Haibo Wang, China

Haibo WangDr. Haibo Wang is currently the Deputy Director, at the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Disease Detection (SKLEIDD Zhuhai), Zhuhai International Travel Healthcare Center. He received his Bachelors of Science from Wuhan University in Wuhan, Hubei, China. He also holds a PhD (Wuhan University) and PostDoc (Hongkong University.)

Mary Wilson, United States of America

Mary E. WilsonMary E. Wilson, M.D. Clinical Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco; Adjunct Professor, Global Health and Population, Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Her academic interests include antibiotic resistance, emergence of microbial threats, travel medicine, and vaccines. She is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the International Society of Travel Medicine. She served on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Academic Advisory Committee for the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, and on five committees for the U.S. National Academies, where she was Vice-Chair of the Forum on Microbial Threats through 2019. She is the author of A World Guide to Infections: Diseases, Distribution, Diagnosis (Oxford University Press); senior editor, with Richard Levins and Andrew Spielman, of Disease in Evolution: Global Changes and Emergence of Infectious Diseases (NY Academy of Sciences); author of Antibiotics: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2019); and a medical editor for CDC’s Health Information for International Travel (Yellow Book). She is a member of the Advisory Board, Fogarty International Center at U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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Charter

  • Define and prioritize research themes for Board approval.
  • Solicit and review applications to award annual research grants.
  • Solicit and review applications to award biennial CISTM travel grants to special groups, e.g., low middle income (LMIC) country researchers, and young investigators.
  • Track and report on the outcomes of both the research and travel grants.
  • Collaborate with the ISTM Foundation in fundraising activities to increase ISTM research funds.

Main Achievements

ISTM is pleased to offer Travel Medicine Research Grants to ISTM Members each year. Grants are awarded through a peer-review process implemented by the ISTM Research and Awards Committee. The awards are designed to stimulate travel medicine research by supporting comprehensive research projects or, for larger projects, providing support for pilot studies to enable researchers to collect data/test hypotheses so that they can then apply to other agencies for more substantive research grants.

In September of 2011, ISTM Board of Directors renamed the "Travel Awards" to the "Susan L. Stokes Travel Awards" in honor of Susan's selfless years of volunteer service. She was instrumental in the conception and early years of ISTM, working ceaselessly to ensure that the Society would be strong and operationally sound. Those wishing to read more about Susan can do so by reading the July 2011 Issue of NewsShare.Typical awards will be in the range of USD 5,000 to USD 10,000 although a single grant up to USD 40,000 will be considered for exceptional proposals. Detailed information on proposal criteria, as well as application forms, can be provided by the ISTM Secretariat.

ISTM would like to extend a special thanks to the GeoSentinel Foundation for funding the 2022 Research Award recipients.

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2022-2023 Research Award Winners

  1. The Protective Efficacy of Atovaquone/Proguanil Malaria Chemoprophylaxis Discontinued Ad-Hoc Post-Exposure in a Controlled Human Malaria Infection Model - A Double-Blinded Randomised Controlled Trial– Martin Grobusch, the Netherlands, Principal Investigator.
  2.  The Procholrperazine versus Placebo for the Prophylaxis of Acute Mountain Sickness New Investigator – Elan Small, United States of America, Principal Investigator.
  3. Yellow Fever human infection model – Anna Roukens, the Netherlands, Principal Investigator.
  4. Inflammatory and immunological responses in asymptomatic Sub-Saharan African migrants with imported Plasmodium falciparum infection– Begona Monge Maillo, Spain, Principal Investigator.
  5. Burden of schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis in Sub-Sahara African participants in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study – Cornelia Staehelin, Switzerland, Principal Investigator.
  6. Intestinal Parasite Infections and Related Risk Factors in Expatriate and Local Primary School Children in Bali, Indonesia – Richard Christian Suteja, Indonesia, Principal Investigator.

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2021-2022 Research Award Winners

  1. Impact of Oral Iron Supplementation on Right Ventricular Function and Exercise Performance at Moderate to High Altitude – A Pilot Study– Lindsay Forbes, United States of America, Principal Investigator.
  2.  The TRAvel VAccine Aids for Decision-making (TRAVAID) Project – Sarah McGuinness, Australia, Principal Investigator.
  3. Development of a recombinant protein immunoassay for cysticercosis screening in the US – Eva Clark, United States, Principal Investigator.
  4. Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine Risk-Benefit Analysis Tool – Deborah Mills, Australia, Principal Investigator.
  5. The role of anti-parasitic treatment for returning travelers with persistent abdominal symptoms and negative molecular stool tests – Asaf Biber, Israel, Principal Investigator.

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2020-2021 Research Award Winners

  1. Chagas Disease in Metro Atlanta and Rural Georgia: A Hidden Affliction Among Latin American Immigrants?, Divya Bhamidipati, United States of America, Principal Investigator
  2. Are Neglected Zoonotic Arthropod-Borne Viruses on the Move?, Francesca Frentiu, Australia, Principal Investigator
  3. JEVID - Japanese Encephalitis Vaccination via IntraDermal route, Luis Furuva-Kanamori, Australia, Principal Investigator
  4. Time independent alterations in human serum protein expression depending on different attitude levels to analyse hypbaric hypoxia signalling pathways, Jochen Hinkelbein, Germany, Principal Investigator
  5. Genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 at Arbaeen mass gatheing in Iraq, Rashid Harunor, Australia, Principal Investigator
The ISTM devoted special funding for research in resource-limited countries and emerging markets in addition to the annual research grant program already in place. We are happy to announce this year's recipient of the Low-Middle Income Country Award.
  1. COVID-19 Antibody Seroconversion Post Vaccination Among Hotel Staff in Bali: Effort to Revive Bali Tourism Post Pandemic, Sri Masyeni Dewa Ayu Putri, Indonesia, Principal Investigator

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2019-2020 Research Award Winners

  1. Vaccinations in Immunocomprimised Patients, Rabies Antibody Response after exposure prophylaxis - The VIPRAR study, Hannah Garcia Garrido, The Netherlands, Principal Investigator
  2. Atovaquone Injectable Malaria-Medication (AIM) for Chemoprophylaxis, Patricia Schlagenhauf, Switzerland, Principal Investigator

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2018-2019 Research Award Winners

  1. Measuring neutralizing antibodies against yellow fever virus ten years after standard (0.5 mL) yellow fever vaccination in elderly population (> 60 years at time of vaccination)., Anna Roukens, The Netherlands, Principal Investigator.
  2. Prospective evaluation of neurocognitive outcome in travellers and migrants presenting with malaria to GeoSentinel® Sites, Kevin Kain, Canada, Principal Investigator.
  3. Concomitant administration of yellow fever vaccine with measles, mumps, rubella vaccine in healthy adults – a multi-center prospective observational study, Silja Bühler, Germany, Principal Investigator.

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2017-2018 Research Award Winners

  1. The SEVTRAV Study-Severe, undiagnosed infections in returning travelers- A GeoSentinel® Collaboration, Eskild Petersen, Denmark/Oman, Principal Investigator.
  2. Determining optimal, equitable and cost-effective strategies to prevent cases of travel-related infections in VFRs and other travellers at risk, Rachel Savage, Canada, Principal Investigator.
  3. Imported Doxycycline Responding Illness (IDRI), Daniel Camprubi Ferrer, Spain, Principal Investigator.
  4. Optimized travel clinic referrals through online international flight booking pathways, Ben Coghlan, Australia, Principal Investigator.
  5. Harnessing the blood transcriptome to study the effects of multiple vaccinations in travelers, Mirella Salvatore, United States of America, Principal Investigator.

This year the ISTM devoted special funding for research in resource-limited countries and emerging markets for the first time. This funding is in addition to the annual research grant program already in place. We are happy to announce this year's recipient of this funding.

  1. The Incidence and Cost of Travel Related Dengue Case Among International Travellers During Visit to Bali, Indonesia, Wayan Citra Wulan Sucipta Putri, Indonesia, Principal Investigator.
  2. Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Traveler's Diarrhoea among International Travelers to Kenya from Western and Asian countries, Daniel Munyambu Mutonga, Kenya, Principal Investigator.

For the first time this year, ISTM has offered the possibility for ISTM Interest and Professional Groups to apply for Research funding. This year, we are happy to announce the ISTM Pharmacist Professional Group has received this funding for their proposal.

  1. Review of mobile applications for travel medicine for practitioners and patients, Sheila Seed, United States of America, Principal Investigator on behalf of the ISTM Pharmacist Professional Group.

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2016-2017 Research Award Winners

  1. Measuring neutralizing antibodies against yellow fever virus ten years after intradermal yellow fever vaccination with 1/5th-fractional dose, Anna H.E. Roukens, The Netherlands, Principal Investigator.
  2. Elucidating metagenomic markers of prolonged diarrhoea in returned travellers, Katherine Gibney, Australia, Principal Investigator.
  3. The Association Between the Proportion of Pharmacists Authorized to Administer Injections and the Proportion of Patients Adherent to Multiple-Dose Travel Vaccine Regimens: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis of Administrative Data in Alberta, Canada, Sherilyn Houle, Canada, Principal Investigator.
  4. Do Multiplex Molecular Diagnostics improve outcomes for Travellers in a Resource-poor Setting with Travellers' Diarrhea and Respiratory Illness?, Prativa Pandey, Nepal, Principal Investigator.
  5. Real-time remote monitoring of malaria chemoprophylaxis adverse events through Smartphone application (Trip App), Natalia Rodriguez Valero, Spain. Principal Investigator.

This year the ISTM devoted special funding for research in resource-limited countries and emerging markets for the first time. This funding is in addition to the annual research grant program already in place. We are happy to announce this year's recipient of this funding.

  1. Pathogens Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing on Travellers' Diarrhea Cases in Bali, Indonesia, Arak Agung Sri Agung Aryastuti, Indonesia, Principal Investigator.

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2015-2016 Research Award Winners

  1. Inhaled Budesonide for Altitude Illness Prevention. Dr. Christopher Davis, United States of America, Principal Investigator.
  2. Persistence of neutralizing antibodies after immunization against Yellow Fever (YF) in HIV-infected patients. Dr. Charlotte Martin, Belgium, Principal Investigator.
  3. Differential Vaccination Requirements of newly arrived Eritrean asylum seekers - an informative sample analysis. Dr. Cornelia Staehelin, Switzerland, Principal Investigator.

This year the ISTM devoted special funding for research in resource-limited countries and emerging markets for the first time. This funding was in addition to the annual research grant program already in place. We are happy to announce the first recipient of this funding.
Association of Dengue Serotype-Genotype and Disease Severity in Foreign Travellers Admitted at Kasih Ibu Hospital, Bali, Indonesia. Dr. Dewa Ayu Sri Masyeni, Indonesia, Principal Investigator.

The ISTM also dedicated special funding for Zika Research. The 2016 Zika Research Award Winners are:
Persistence of Zika Virus in Semen After Acute Symptomatic Infection: a European clinical and laboratory observational prospective cohort study. Dr. Denis Malvy and Dr. Matthieu Mechain, France, Principal Investigators.

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2014-2015 Research Award Winners

The Research and Awards Committee wishes to announce the winning projects for the 2014-2015 Research Awards. Four proposals were able to be funded:

  1. Economics, knowledge, attitudes and practices of West African bushmeat in Minnesota and in VFR travellers. Dr. Jonathan D. Alpern, United States of America, Principal Investigator
  2. International pediatric travellers: risk perception, incidence of disease and adherence with recommendations at a tertiary care centre based travel clinic. Dr. Shaun K. Morris, Canada, Principal Investigator
  3. Development and validation of a novel molecular schistosomiasis viability assay for assessment of treatment success. Dr. Mirjam Schunk, Germany, Principal Investigator
  4. ELDEST-study: morbidity in elderly travellers during a short-term stay abroad, a prospective cohort study. Ms. Jessica Vlot, The Netherlands, Principal Investigator

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2013-2014 Research Award Winners

The winning projects for the 2013-2014 Research Awards. Three proposals were able to be funded:

  1. Single visit pre-exposure Rabies vaccination with a new intradermal jet injector: dose finding in healthy adults (R5). Dr. Emile F. F. Jonker, The Netherlands, Principal Investigator.
  2. Yellow fever vaccination under low dose methotrexate therapy - a pilot study. Dr. Sabine Schmid, Switzerland, Principal Investigator.
  3. Immunogenicity of co-administered yellow fever (YF) and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines in pediatric travellers aged 9-15 months from yellow fever non-endemic countries: A pilot study. Dr. Stefan Hagmann, United States of America, Principal Investigator.

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2012-2013 Research Award Winners

The winning projects for the 2012-2013 Research Awards. Four proposals were able to be funded:

  1. Determinants of infectious disease incidence and risk behaviours in Australian travellers visiting friends and relatives - a prospective cohort study. Dr. Bradley Forssman, Australia, Principal Investigator
  2. Flaviviruses, Alphaviruses and Phleboviruses as etiological agents of febrile syndrome in travellers. Mr. Joaquim Gascón, Spain, Principal Investigator
  3. Illness and injury to long-term aide workers to developing countries. Dr. Jenny Visser, New Zealand, Principal Investigator
  4. Acute lipid profile changes in malaria patients - a gateway towards novel antimalarial drug class identification? Dr. Rosanne Willemijn Wieten, Principal Investigator