The Hydra Helminth Conferences

Helminth parasitology has proven to be one of the fast-moving and inter-disciplinary research areas across a spectrum of scientific activities from genomics, immunology and tropical medicine. With rapidly increasing sequence information, new drug development for therapy, and intricate host-parasite molecular interactions, research on these organisms and the diseases they cause is becoming ever more exciting and relevant to global health. A key element in the success of helminth research has been the collaborative and interactive community of investigators working in this field.

This Conference, previously titled the Molecular and Cellular Biology of Helminth Parasites, was relaunched in 2019 under a broader banner Parasitic Helminths: New Perspectives in Biology and Infection. The 13 previous conferences have been an integral part of the rapid development of this whole field, starting in Edinburgh in 1997 and 1999, and convening on the island of Hydra, Greece since 2002. Increasing demand across the range of participants led to the conference being held annually since 2014, with the exception of the pandemic years 2020 and 2021.

All major areas of helminth research are included, in 12 wide-ranging sessions. An important aspect of this meeting, is the interface between parasite biologists and investigators from worm model systems such as C. elegans, which is proving highly effective at bringing new blood and fresh perspectives into the topic. We also promote interactions with endemic country researchers and promote new investigators entering the field. The Conferences offer a special atmosphere of concentrated science, interactive discussions and generous opportunities for informal follow-ups.

Hydra Town	Delegates outside the Bratsera Hotel

A key feature of the Hydra venue is the Bratsera Hotel which will host the scientific sessions, and its quiet, traffic-free town with ample facilities for informal interactions between delegates. A wide range of accommodation is available within 5-10 minutes walk of the conference venue, including pensions for those on a tight budget. Attendance is limited to 100 people, consistent with a discussion-orientated meeting in which every participant presents either a plenary talk or in a small poster session, and thus early registration is encouraged. As with previous conferences, we have invited a small number of selected speakers to give keynote talks across the range of themes.

Invited Speakers for 2023

Maria Yazdanbakhsh, Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands (Keynote Speaker)

Michalis Barkoulas, Imperial College London, UK 

Lida Derevnina, University of Cambridge, UK

Maria Duque Correa, Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, UK

Moses Egesa, Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda

De’Broski Herbert, University of Pennsylania, Philadelphia, USA

Vicky Hunt, University of Bath, UK

Amy Pedersen, University of Edinburgh, UK

Tania Rozario, University of Georgia, USA

Bursaries for 2023

We  awarded, as in previous years, travel bursaries for early-career researchers from Africa, Asia and Latin America to support participation at the meeting; the bursaries will cover registration fees, and a significant sum towards airfare and accomodation costs. Awardees were selected on the basis of Abstracts submitted to the conference, and a letter of application outlining the reasons for attending the meeting. Applicants for 2023 should register through this website and send their application letter to Hydra@ed.ac.uk, once registrations commence early next year

Organising Committee

Download our 2023 Flyer to Display in Your Institution !

Registration

Registration for the 2023 meeting will open on 10 February 2023 and close on 31 March 2023.

Any registration enquiries please contact hydra@ed.ac.uk.

If you would like to be added to the hydra mailing list please contact hydra@ed.ac.uk.  

Previous attendees are automatically notified by email of registration dates and details.

Programme Summary

The Programme will combine Invited Speakers and presentations (oral and posters) selected from submitted Abstracts, broadly following the format of previous conferences, such as the 2022 meeting which can be viewed here.