Conference: An integrated approach to understanding diseases of the past: the role of environmental conditions, animal behavior, and human activity in pathogen transmission

The goal of this workshop is to establish a baseline integrative understanding of pathogen spillover events among past human groups that consider the environmental and climatological conditions in which they occurred. To achieve this goal the workshop breaks down traditional academic and professional silos by including participants with varied disciplinary expertise (e.g., bioarcheology, paleopathology, genomics, veterinary sciences, medical geography, disease ecology, public health, and human health and environment modelling). By transcending disciplinary boundaries, the workshop provides a platform for scientific collaboration that improves the understanding of human health challenges in the past. Discussion at the workshop focuses on key issues associated with current limitations in our understanding of pathogen spillovers in the past, including: (1) methodological integration, (2) interdisciplinarity (with examples of successful collaborations), and (3) disease ecology in historic epidemics. Prior to the workshop, and based on their answers to a questionnaire, participants are assigned to a discussion group. Each group has a designated leader and focuses on one of the following topics: (1) Inter-species pathogen transmission and spillover risk (past and present); (2) Environmental health; (3) El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO); (4) Modeling landscapes & disease; and (5) Diseases that emerged as a result of animal domestication and urbanization. All groups are asked to indicate what new technologies should be integrated in the planned research and/or any other anticipated collaborative efforts. Participation in the discussion groups is ensured through hybrid (in person and virtual) environments. Once the workshop is completed, and to assess the workshop’s outcomes, each group answers five questions regarding the new: (1) research questions; (2) synergies; (3) proposals; (4) collaborative papers; and/or (5) scientific and transdisciplinary advances resulting from the workshop. Each group leader monitors the production of publications and outreach efforts. Additional post-workshop assessment incorporates participant’s individual evaluations of the materials, lectures, discussion and interaction opportunities, as well as informal interviews with the participants. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.