About the Conference

This school-conference provides the selected participants an international forum to exchange on frontier research and discuss challenges in health, including infectious diseases, food safety, drug delivery, agricultural and food sciences and policy, where fluid dynamics is at the core. The event is a hybrid between a conference and school, with in-depth lectures for training on topics at the frontier of the field, combined with flash-talks and poster sessions for selected participants, and interdisciplinary group work taking place throughout the meeting. More details on motivation, goals, and format below.

The Challenge

Given increased population mobility, the rise of antibiotic resistance, and the expected increase in inequalities and pressures on and from the environment this century, the world will experience increased susceptibility to infectious diseases and food shortages. Addressing these challenges will require novel, ground-breaking interdisciplinary approaches rooted in rigorous fundamental science. Traditionally separated scientific communities need to work together to tackle these existential challenges to public health.

The Goal

The Fluids and Health Conference and its first iteration of 2019 themed the "Fluid Dynamics of Disease Transmission" aims to bring together experts from diverse scientific, health and public policy communities for the exchange of ideas and to catalyze novel directions in combating infectious diseases. Experts in the mathematical, physical and health domains will give in-depth invited lectures.

One week will include lectures in human health from clinical medicine, public health to infection control. The other week will include lectures in ecology and food safety as they pertain to infection control and management in agriculture and food safety. The two weeks will include lectures in fluid dynamics and mathematical modeling pertaining to the challenges of disease transmission, dispersal and persistence of contaminants in human health and food safety.

The long-term objective of this conference is to develop a community of researchers focused on the development of new fundamental insights necessary to achieve rigorous science-based for innovative technology development and recommendations for public health and food safety.

Themes

- Frontiers of research and emerging challenges in infection control pertaining to respiratory, nosocomial (hospital acquired), and waterborne diseases.

- Frontiers of research and emerging challenges in food-safety and agricultural, from field to fork.

- Frontiers of research in fluid dynamics and multi-scale modeling from nonlinear dynamics and fluid fragmentation in Newtonian flows; complex and biological flows; multiphase turbulent flow transport and mixing; experimental methods for the study of fluid-organism interactions at various scales; and innovation in experimental approaches for direct measurements pertaining to the emerging challenges.

Format and activities

The 10-day conference will enable extended interactions and mixing of experts and attendees from diverse backgrounds and disciplines in a unique environment. Such encounters are expected to foster deep and new synergies and the growth of a new field and community at the interface of fluid dynamics, infectious diseases (one week) and food safety and agriculture (other week).

Every day will feature two to three in-depth lectures with planned subsequent discussion sessions to enable open interactions and exchanges. Some lectures will focus on the fundamentals while others will be dedicated to the application domains and grand challenges in health, defined broadly.

Thematic discussions and brainstorming sessions will foster clear connections and opportunities to collaborate among the participants. Participants will have the opportunity to present posters and submit papers on the themes covered in the conference. Additional activities fostering hands-on learning, exchanges, and impact will also take place.