At the just ended ASTMH in New Orleans, not only did we get the chance to share our work on Dengue (where we utilise our understanding from basic sciences in how the immune system responds to pathogens to answer important research question that would inform the creation of a road map for pandemic preparedness in resource limited settings)and plans to expand our ideas to include other WHO priority pathogens but met with collaborators and colleagues from the DNDi, BNITM, Imperial College, London,Task Force for Global Health in Atlanta , members of the ALERRT and ISARIC consortium, IS Global in Barcelona just to mention a few. I spent a significant portion of my time in side meetings that focused on how far we have come and opportunities to exploit moving forward. For some, it was a great opportunity for them to meet the face behind the email address and to offer reassurance of our collaboration and shared interest. For others, it was finalizing numbers in person for work that needed to continue urgently. I was on full throttle trying to make things work and aligning all the moving parts together. Thriving in research in the trenches is hard and not for everyone. That notwithstanding, moments like these are a great reminder that we are doing well and we are needed.
Having a great team at the Global Health and Infectious Diseases Group (GHID-KCCR) and most especially great leadership in John Amuasi helps.