To the WL Selection committee,
We apologize for the
delay in replying but we were attending the 15th meeting of
Applied Leishmaniasis Research which was held at Uberaba last week with over
600 participants. It gave us a chance for further discussions with
colleagues who will be involved in the WL5´s local organization.
First of all we would like to thank the committee for its
comments/suggestions and will obviously do our best to accommodate them.
They are extremely useful and will serve as basis for our local committee.
In this respect we have the
following observations:
1. We agree with the comments on travel costs, however, there is an
inevitable regionalization in respect to this which will favor individuals
living in the region. For instance the cost of South American students
attending a meeting in the Old World or Asia is prohibitive. Unfortunate as
this may be there is no solution and you would obviously expect a greater
number of Asian and possible African participants at a meeting in India and
a greater number of American participants in a meeting in the Americas.
2. There are direct flights to Recife from Europe and North America and
there are connections in either Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo that will not
necessitate overnighting in either town since international flights arrive
early in the day at both airports. A welcoming team composed of young
bilingual students will meet all participants at Recife airport and arrange
for their transfer to Porto de Galinhas.
4. It is our aim to involve young Brazilian leishmaniacs in the congress’s
organization and ask them for ideas.
3. We are very aware of the importance of the participation of students and
young professionals and with this in mind we are in the process of
contacting Brazilian and foreign funding organizations, such as Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO, etc., that may give support for their
expenses. So far we have guarantees of strong support from the National
Surveillance Secretary of Brazilian Ministry of Health and the Oswaldo Cruz
Foundation (FIOCRUZ). Last year Dr Jorge Alvar said that WHO would cover
costs of some participants from Africa and other poorer countries. There are
also state research funding organizations within Brazil that will be
contacted for support (FAPESP, FAPERJ, FAPEMIG, etc).
4. Up to now 3 WL meetings have been held in Europe and one in Asia so it is
perhaps opportune that one will now take place in the Americas, after all
the meeting is WorldLeish not OldWordlLeish. This brings with it the
inevitable advantages to American participants in terms of costs.
5. We are in the process of constituting an organizing committee with the
leaders in Leishmaniasis research in Brazil that will include individuals
from different regions of the country.
6. Pharmaceutical laboratories such as Sanofi-Aventis, which produces the
Glucantime, and others will be contacted, as well laboratories that produces
diagnostic tests for leishmaniasis and vaccines. Brazil´s present status is
that of a strong developing country, included in the BRIC countries roll.
7. The hotel at which we propose to hold the actual meeting can accommodate
2,000 guests. The place is superb for a meeting of Worldleish´s stature and
propitious for strong interactions between participants. In 2009 one of
Brazil´s biggest scientific societies, the Brazilian Society of
Microbiology, held its annual meeting in Porto de Galinhas. The number
attending that meeting is similar to the number that we anticipate will be
attending WL5 which is from 2,000 to 2,500
attendees.
8. There are small less expensive bed and breakfast lodgings that will be
blocked by the Congress up until a certain date before the meeting. These
and other more expensive hotels will all be listed on the WL5 site and
participants will be asked to choose from this list. Some booking guarantee
will probably be applicable and special prices will be negotiated.
Lastly as an overall strategy we hope to stimulate WL5´s participants from
being passive attendees to highly engaged learners and even collaborators
With the above in mind we are changing the name of the program committee to
the learning design committee
With warmest regards, on behalf of our learning design committee.
Jeffrey, Sinval and Carlos.