Published 10/25/2023
The University of Missouri will again host the Great Plains Infectious Disease Meeting. Taking place Nov. 3-4 at the Bond Life Sciences Center, the 21st annual GPID Meeting will bring together investigators to share their research and build connections. Researchers from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and other surrounding states will gather for the conference to inform themselves about the latest in infectious disease research and encourage new, fruitful collaborations.
The first GPID Meeting was held at the University of Kansas in 2001. William Picking, PhD, and Wendy Picking, PhD, organized the first meeting at KU. Both Pickings are now on the faculty at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine. William Picking is a professor and chair of the CVM Department of Veterinary Pathobiology. Wendy Picking is also a professor of veterinary pathobiology and the interim director of the Laboratory for Infectious Disease Research.
More than 60 investigators attended the first meeting. Since that time, the meeting has convened every year, apart from a brief hiatus during the COVID pandemic in 2020. From 2010-2014, the meeting was held at Mizzou, hosted by Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology Deborah Anderson, PhD. The meeting then rotated between Mizzou and KU but has convened at Mizzou since 2019. While a location for the 2024 GDIP meeting has not been determined, William Picking said the University of Arkansas has expressed interest in hosting the event.
With the Pickings once again spearheading the gathering, the GDIP Meeting will begin with a Friday evening session that includes a keynote address, dinner, and a panel discussion of career options in science. The panel includes experts from industry, regulatory agencies, start-up companies and consultant groups who can provide information to undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral trainees on various career options available to well-trained scientists. Time is also set aside on Friday evening for networking between investigators and students. The panel will be led by Latham BioPharm Group.
The keynote speaker for this year’s meeting is Jorge Galán, DVM, PhD, Lucille P. Markey professor of microbial pathogenesis and professor of cell biology at the Yale School of Medicine.
Saturday’s sessions include overviews of the research regional scientists are conducting. Researchers from Mizzou, KU, KU Medical Center, Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Arkansas Medical School will be in attendance. A complete schedule of can be found here: https://research.missouri.edu/gpid-2023.
William Picking anticipates the meeting will attract more than 100 attendees this year and says its benefits are important to Mizzou. “The GPID Meeting offers the University of Missouri an opportunity to showcase its strong research on infectious diseases and its outstanding research facilities and core laboratories,” Picking said. “The Bond Life Sciences Center provides a great venue for faculty and student interactions, with space available for student posters, lunch and networking. The Monsanto Auditorium creates a comfortable and professional space for the scientific presentations.”
In addition to the GPID Meeting, Mizzou will also host the first MU Infectious Disease Symposium Nov. 3. “This is an opportunity for MU researchers to present their work on infectious diseases of plants, animals and humans,” Picking said. “It is our goal to make MUID Day an annual event that celebrates the outstanding research going on within the rapidly growing infectious disease research community at the University of Missouri.”
By Nick Childress