VTEC 2026 RFP

At the 11th VTEC meeting in Banff, Canada in 2023, we will decide on a site for the  next VTEC meeting, to be held in 2026! We encourage interested groups to  submit proposals. The International Verocytotoxin Escherichia coli (VTEC)  Symposium Steering Committee (IVSSC) usually announces the next venue at the  closing session.

The IVSSC will select proposals for consideration. Proposers will present their  plan orally at private meetings with the IVSSC during the VTEC meeting this May. In the past, the result of this process has been wildly successful, with informative, collegial, and culturally expansive meetings.

The first meeting was held in Toronto in 1987 by Prof Mohamed Karmali. At  this meeting in Toronto the name “the International Symposium on Shiga  toxin (Verocytotoxin) producing Escherichia coli infections, abbreviated VTEC meeting was launched. This 1st VTEC meeting was followed by the other  successful, stimulating and inspiring meetings located all over the world  organized by truly dedicated teams of VTEC scientists: Bergamo, Italy (1994),  Baltimore, USA (1997), Kyoto, Japan (2000), Edinburgh, United Kingdom (2003),  Melbourne, Australia (2006), Buenos Aires, Argentina (2009), Amsterdam, the  Netherlands (2012), Boston, USA (2015) and Florence, Italy in 2018. The  pandemic did not beat the VTEC community because the team of VTEC 2021,  Banff, Canada held two successful online meetings, one in 2021 and the second  in 2022, and will raised its heights in Banff, Canada in May at the upcoming VTEC  2023.

In considering whether a group is able to continue the fruitful scientific and  interactive tradition that has characterized VTEC meetings in the past, it might be  helpful to review the meeting objectives, as formulated at the 2nd VTEC  Meeting, in 1994 in Bergamo, Italy:

• To host a multidisciplinary international scientific forum on state-of-the-art developments in all aspects of Shiga toxin (Verocytotoxin) producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections.
• To promote education in STEC infections, stimulate the exchange of knowledge, and foster collaborative research efforts among microbiologists, molecular biologists, biochemists, clinicians, public health  experts, veterinarians, food industry officials, and others with an interest  in this area.
• To preserve the essential tradition of earlier VTEC meetings of achieving a synthesis between science, medicine, art, culture, and humanity.

The IVSSC will be looking for each of the following in selecting a site and hosting  group:

• A local host to deal with meeting organizational issues, and evidence of administrative infrastructure. For example, the organizers of VTEC 2015 had the support of Rock Solid Meetings, for VTEC 2012 conference it was  Congress Consultants, for VTEC 2009 it was the Asociación Argentina de  Microbiología with additional logistical support from Ana Juan Congresos,  and the Australian Society of Microbiology had this role for VTEC 2006. 
• Rotational representation (new sites will be favored, though not mandatory).
• A suitable congress hall / meeting site that can accommodate a range of participant numbers, from 200 to potentially as many as 600 attendees. In addition to a single large room for plenary sessions, the venue should  have rooms for 2 or 3 simultaneous “break-out” sessions as well as  sufficient poster display space. Options to host hybrid meetings (i.e., both  in person and virtual) should be taken into consideration.
• Favorable budget considerations to promote wide international participation, including participation by students and scientists from developing countries. This objective might be achieved through such  mechanisms as travel sponsorship, availability of economical  

accommodations, reduced registration fees for specified groups, etc. • Accessibility to travelers (close to an international airport, served by major  carriers directly from all continents) 

• Local/regional appreciation of STEC illness
• A core of investigators is present at or near the site, or in the region • Local financial and in-kind support, including evidence of committed local sponsorship.
• Draft budget
• Assessment of risks of sub-optimal success, e. g., an insufficient number of delegates or speakers, inadequate local financial support
• Social program. A goal of the meeting is to facilitate close social and intellectual interactions among participants. An attractive social program helps in achieving these interactions by keeping people “cloistered.” 

The IVSCC will systematically review the proposals by the extent to which they  satisfy the objectives and principles of the meeting and choose one. Preparers  should take these itemized considerations into account.

The proposal process consists of two parts:

• A written proposal addressing the above guidelines, submitted as a pdf file by e-mail by March 15, 2023 to Nicole.vandekar@radboudumc.nl . • An oral presentation to the IVSSC during the VTEC 2023 meeting in May, 2023, Banff, Canada.

The major purpose of the written proposal is to allow the IVSSC committee to select applicants for the oral presentation. The written proposal does not need to have all details finalized. Additional details and materials can be provided during the oral presentation.  

On behalf of the members of IVSCC, we are really looking forward to your  proposals / bid to host VTEC 2026! 

My kind regards,  

Nicole van de Kar  

Prof. Dr Nicole van de Kar, MD, PhD, Chair, IVSSC 

Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Amalia Children’s Hospital Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands 

PS: Please don’t hesitate to contact Nicole van de Kar  

(nicole.vandekar@radboudumc.nl ) if you would like additional details or wish to  discuss your potential proposal. Any of the other members of the IVSCC would  also be glad to advise. Many have organized and hosted International VTEC  meetings themselves: 

Todd Callaway, USA. todd.callaway@uga.edu 

Gad Frankel, United Kingdom. g.frankel@ic.ac.uk 

Patricia Griffin, USA. pmg1@cdc.gov 

Elizabeth Hartland, Australia. elizabeth.hartland@hudson.org.au

Haruo Watanabe, Japan. haruwata@nih.go.jp 

Jim Kaper, USA. jkaper@som.umaryland.edu 

Mohamed Karmali, Canada, honorary member  

Stefano Morabito, Italy. stefano.morabito@iss.it 

Herbert Schmidt, Germany. herbert.schmidt@uni-hohenheim.de Fleming Scheutz, Denmark FSC@ssi.dk 

Phil Tarr, USA. tarr@wustl.edu