The Scientific Meeting of the International Leptospirosis Society will be held on
November 27 – December 01, 2017 at the Palmerston North Convention Centre in New
Zealand. The site of the 2017 meeting was selected because of the pioneering work on
leptospirosis at Massey University. The Scientific Meetings of the International Leptospirosis
Society (ILS) have been the only international conferences devoted exclusively to the field of
leptospirosis research. One of the strengths of the ILS Scientific Meeting is the wide range of
scientific, diagnostic, and clinical expertise and interests of the attendees, all linked by a central
interest in leptospirosis. A strong effort was made to develop an innovative program for the 2017
ILS Scientific Meeting including the One Health theme, which is especially relevant for this
Meeting given the inextricable links between human and veterinary health for a zoonosis such
as leptospirosis. A first for the 2017 conference is the offering of three workshops of three days
each on epidemiology, microbiology, and genomics, representing a major training opportunity
for attendees. As in past conferences, we will include speakers chosen from submitted
abstracts in each of the conference's sessions.
Each of the previous International Leptospirosis Society Scientific Meetings has been
highly successful, receiving high praise by attendees, forging new collaborations, providing a
forum for presenting state-of-the-art research on these bacteria, and helping to set new
research directions. As in previous conferences, we expect attendance at the 2017 conference
to include faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and industrial scientists. A broad
spectrum of scientists representing different research interests, geographic locations, and
seniority will be invited to attend. For 2017, special efforts will be made to ensure strong
attendance of young investigators (graduate students, post-docs, and junior faculty), women,
and underrepresented minorities. The oral and poster presentations are organized to provide
many opportunities for discussion, the exchange of ideas, and development of collaborations.
Funding from the National Institutes of Health is requested to partially offset the travel and
registration expenses of the participating graduate students, fellows, and junior faculty members
from resource poor countries.