The 2016 meeting on the International Society of Evolution, Medicine & Public Health took place on June 22-25th in Durham, North Carolina. The meeting brought together scientists, teachers, clinicians, and students in the evolution and medicine community to share ideas and create new connections that will advance the field. This open meeting was designed to bridge the many different disciplines where relevant research takes place, including infectious disease, public health, genetics, anthropology, psychology, oncology, ecology, and veterinary medicine.

The meeting was sponsored by the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM), the Canine Health Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the Center for Evolution & Medicine at Arizona State University (CEM).

For travel award recipients, full program and abstract information, and more You may view a full meeting summary on the society website, here. 

Plenary Speakers

• Martin Blaser, New York University
• Andrea Graham, Princeton University
• Helen Ball, Durham University
• Joshua Schiffman, University of Utah
• Marion Koopmans, Erasmus University
• Carl Zimmer, New York Times

Commentary on sessions throughout the meeting were archived on EvMedReview edited by Jeremy Taylor. They are available below:

Remarks on Commentaries by Jeremy Taylor

1. ISEMPH 2016 plenary by Helen Ball re maternal-infant sleep ecology  Commentary by Andrew F. Read, Penn State

2. Evolutionary Medicine and Non-human Primates Commentary by Bruce Rothschild, Carnegie Museum, reporting.

3. Evolution of the immune system Commentary by Pryce Michener from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee

4. Session on Somatic Cell Selection, Mutation, and Evolution in Health and Disease Commentary by Neil Greenspan

5. Sleep Commentary by Brandon Hidaka

6. A Perspective on the Role of Somatic Cell Evolution in Human Health and Disease ” by Neil Greenspan Commentary by James McNary

7. How does our microbiome affect our health? Commentary by Michelle Blyth

8. Reproductive Ecology and Health Commentary by Emerald Snow

9. Our early life microbial metagenome guides developmental phenotypes-Plenary by Martin Blaser. Commentary by Joe Alcock

10. Clinical applications of evolutionary medicine principles Commentary by Mandy Azar

11. Paleopathology and Evolutionary Medicine Commentary by Bruce Rothschild

12. Plenary talk by Joshua Schiffman Commentary by Charles Nunn

13. Evolution of pathogens Commentary by Elizabeth Uhl

14. Frontiers in evolutionary medicine Commentary by Ashley Snyder

15. Andrea Graham and Soay sheep Commentary by Cynthia Beall

16. Behavior and vulnerability to disease Commentary by Cynthia Beall

17. Frontiers of evolutionary medicine Commentary by Nicole Burt

18. Metabolism and mismatch Commentary by Nicole Bender

19. Life History Session Commentary by Emerald Snow