In October this year I was fortunate to be able to attend the International Congress for Tropical Diseases and Malaria in Bangkok, Thailand with help from the Malaria Centre Early Career Researcher Fund. 

This was my first conference I had attended since 2019, I was very excited to present my work as well as hear about work from global leaders in the field. There was a wide array of talks over the 5-day conference, from malaria to snake bites. 

I really enjoyed both attending vector talks relevant to my PhD and other wider ranging talks outside my research area and thinking how the methodologies and techniques could be translated to my work. Additionally, it was very interesting to see a differing view of research priorities, for example there was a lot of emphasis on Plasmodium knowlesi and the impact it is having on malaria cases in Malaysia.  

Having a poster and presenting my work to those at the conference was a great way to meet like-minded scientists from across the world with similar interests and examine how connections and collaborations may be built in the future, I found this extremely beneficial to expand my network. 

Attending this conference reiterated the importance of these in person events, I came away from the experience inspired and motivated, I am very grateful I had the opportunity to attend.