On Sunday, November 04, 2007 I boarded on a plane for Philadelphia with members of Dr. Roger Miesfeld's lab for the annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene conference.

After a hair-raising east coast-style taxi ride, we made it to the Marriott, where the conference was held and where we would be staying. After registering for the meeting, we walked for what seemed like several miles in the ice-cold Philly "tundra," searching for a local pub for dinner - quite a difference from our warm Arizona desert winter. Finally, we arrived at Westy's Tavern, a little dive bar where 60 Minutes was on the big screen television instead of your typical sports game. Most of our crew ordered Philly cheese steaks, but I decided not to risk it!

My poster was the culmination of my work over the past three years. As I stood nervously in my new pants suit, I was hoping I would be able to answer any questions I might be asked. Several people stopped at my poster, and a few had questions. Everyone who stopped to talk actually thought I was a PhD student, which I thought was funny!

My project involved determining the mechanism by which translation of early trypsin, a serine endoprotease, is activated in the midgut of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes after feeding. Early trypsin is involved in blood meal digestion, which is necessary for reproduction. This species of mosquito can transmit dengue and yellow fever, and interruption of blood meal digestion could provide a strategy for vector population control.

After reading the posters describing research being done in other labs and listening to numerous talks, I realized that the strategy employed in my project, disrupting blood meal digestion, was merely one of what seemed like millions of possible ways to combat vector-borne diseases! One group was studying which type of water-holding containers were preferred breeding grounds of mosquitoes. Another was investigating the mechanism by which disease is transmitted from the vector to the host. Other groups studied vaccine candidates for various diseases. The sheer force of research efforts being funneled into combating various tropical diseases blew me away.

Each day there were several talks on many different research interests. I attended most of the mosquito biochemistry and molecular biology talks, but when there was not one available, I checked out sessions on a variety of topics. One session detailed various programs run by the CDC, WHO, and other organizations to deal with disease outbreaks and how to inform the public, such as an email alert for which I registered at www.promedmail.org. One of my favorite talks was about climate changes and how they affect the spread of tropical diseases.

Overall, going to the ASTMH conference was definitely one of the best college experiences I've had. Although, a few of the posters detailing food-borne diseases have temporarily ruined my appetite for certain things!

Michelle Brandon, UBRPer in Dr. Roger Miesfeld's lab, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics