Abbreviation | ACTM |
---|---|
Formation | 1991 |
Purpose | Tropical Medicine |
Headquarters | Brisbane |
Location |
|
Region served | Australia and New Zealand |
Official language | English |
President | Professor Colleen Lau |
Key people | Professor Rick Speare AM Professor Peter A Leggat, AM |
Affiliations | International Federation for Tropical Medicine |
Website | https://www.tropmed.org |
The Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, more commonly known by its acronym ACTM is an Australasian medical association founded by 10 interested clinicians, scientists and researchers at the Anton Breinl Centre in Townsville, Australia on 29 May 1991. [1] The ACTM is a preeminent professional organisation in tropical medicine in the Australasian region and claims to have more than 800 fellows and members worldwide. The ACTM is committed to the development of tropical medicine and is working with professionals to help manage the global burden of tropical disease and injury through networking, research and development. The ACTM Secretriat is based at AMA House, Brisbane. The current president of ACTM is Prof Colleen Lau - MBBS (UWA), MPHTM (JCU), PhD (UQ), FRACGP, FACTM from the University of Queensland School of Public Health.
The ACTM was founded by 10 interested clinicians, scientists and researchers at the Anton Breinl Centre in Townsville, Australia on 29 May 1991. Professor Peter A. Leggat, the College's Inaugural Honorary Secretary (1991–96), and Professor Rick Speare, the College's Inaugural President (1991–96), are generally acknowledged as the founder and co-founder of the College, respectively.
Since that time, many distinguished clinicians, scientists and researchers in the field of tropical medicine coming from more than 30 countries have become Fellows, Members, Associates or Affiliates of the College. It has become the preeminent professional organisation in tropical medicine in the Australasian region. Formerly, The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTM&H) was the only professional organisation representing the professional interests of those working in tropical medicine in Australasia. The RSTM&H still has approximately 100 members in Australasia and the ACTM and the RSTM&H have co-hosted joint activities in recent years, including a joint Scientific Meeting in 1997 and the RSTM&H Centennial Lecture series commemorating the Centenary of the RSTM&H in 2007 and the Centenary of Tropical Medicine in Australia in 2010. The ACTM is affiliated with the International Federation for Tropical Medicine (IFTM) [2] and now represents member organisations of the IFTM in Australia.
The Aims of the College are to encourage continuing education and the exchange of knowledge in tropical medicine; collaborate with other organisations in conducting activities of mutual concern, interest and direction in tropical medicine; promote research in tropical medicine; strive for professionalism and competence among its members and those specialising in and entering into the field of tropical medicine; and to maintain a historical collection of items relevant to the development of tropical medicine in Australasia. [3]
Today the ACTM is a multi-disciplinary College, which incorporates a Faculty of Travel Medicine (FTM), [4] a Joint Faculty of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine with the Faculty of Travel Medicine, and Standing Committees on Medical Parasitology and Zoonotic Diseases, Publications, Toxinology and Disaster Health, as well as dealing with tropical medicine.
The ACTM Journal of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease is an international, scientific, peer reviewed medical journal published monthly by the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine (ACTM) and its Joint Faculties of Travel Medicine and Expedition and Wilderness Medicine. [5]
Applications for membership of the ACTM and the FTM (and its Joint Faculty) are evaluated on the basis of the applicant's academic and professional qualifications, experience and contributions to tropical medicine or a related field, usually by way of publications, but other contributions are also considered.
Fellows, Members and Associates of the ACTM are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FACTM, MACTM and AACTM, respectively. Honorary Fellows and Members of the College are entitled to use the postnominal letters Hon. FACTM and Hon. MACTM, respectively. Fellows, Associate Fellows and Members of the FTM are entitled to use the postnominal letters FFTM ACTM, AFFTM ACTM and MFTM ACTM, respectively. Honorary Fellows and Members of the FTM are entitled to use the postnominal letters Hon. FFTM ACTM and Hon. MFTM ACTM, respectively.
New members may receive their College testamurs at a Convocation of the College. The first Convocation was held in 1994 and Convocation XX was held in 2008. College awards and honours are also presented at these Convocations, usually held during a Scientific Meeting of the College.
Notable Honorary Fellows of the College include Frank Fenner, Fred Hollows, and Struan Sutherland. Notable Honorary Members of the College include the Anton Breinl Centre, the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the World Safety Organization.
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation, an office, a military decoration, or honour, or is a member of a religious institute or fraternity. An individual may use several different sets of post-nominal letters, but in some contexts it may be customary to limit the number of sets to one or just a few. The order in which post-nominals are listed after a name is based on rules of precedence and what is appropriate for a given situation. Post-nominal letters are one of the main types of name suffix. In contrast, pre-nominal letters precede the name rather than following it, such as addressing a physician or professor as "Dr. Smith".
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine.
The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is a higher education institution with degree awarding powers and registered charity located in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Established in 1898, it was the first institution in the world dedicated to research and teaching in tropical medicine. The school has a research portfolio of over £220 million, assisted by funding from organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust and Department for International Development (DFID).
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) is the leading professional organisation for the promotion of the science and practice of the medical specialties of clinical radiology and radiation oncology in Australia and New Zealand. The college has members throughout the world. RANZCR provides the educational curricula for medical graduates training to enter the specialties.
Sir Roy Malcolm Anderson is a leading international authority on the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases. He is the author, with Robert May, of the most highly cited book in this field, entitled Infectious Diseases of Humans: Dynamics and Control. His early work was on the population ecology of infectious agents before focusing on the epidemiology and control of human infections. His published research includes studies of the major viral, bacterial and parasitic infections of humans, wildlife and livestock. This has included major studies on HIV, SARS, foot and mouth disease, bovine tuberculosis, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), influenza A, antibiotic resistant bacteria, the neglected tropical diseases and most recently COVID-19. Anderson is the author of over 650 peer-reviewed scientific articles with an h-index of 125.
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training and educating physicians and paediatricians across Australia and New Zealand.
The Anton Breinl Centre for Public Health and Tropical Medicine is a constituent discipline of the School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. It specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The Anton Breinl Centre is one of only eight internationally recognised centres of excellence in tropical medicine worldwide and one of two in the Asia-Pacific Region. The Anton Breinl Centre incorporates a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre (CC) for the Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis and Soil Transmitted Helminthiases. It also incorporates a World Safety Organization Collaborating Centre, which has several designations, including Disaster Health and Emergency Response, Injury Prevention and Occupational Health and Travel Safety and Health.
Sir Edward Byrne is a neuroscientist who served as Principal of King's College London from August 2014 until January 2021. He was previously Vice-Chancellor of Monash University.
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) is an Arlington, Virginia-based non-profit organization of scientists, clinicians, students and program professionals whose longstanding mission is to promote global health through the prevention and control of infectious and other diseases that disproportionately afflict the global poor. ASTMH members work in areas of research, health care and education that encompass laboratory science, international field studies, clinical care and country-wide programs of disease control. The current organization was formed in 1951 with the amalgamation of the American Society of Tropical Medicine, founded in 1903, and the National Malaria Society, founded in 1941.
The Faculty of Travel Medicine (FTM) of The Australasian College of Tropical Medicine (ACTM) is an Australasian medical association.: It was founded on 9 March 2000 by the ACTM College Council. Faculty Chairs have included Professor Peter A. Leggat(1999-2001), Dr Mathew Klein (2001-2010) and Dr Jenny Sisson (2010–Present).
The Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM) is an Australian tropical health and medical research institute based at James Cook University (JCU) in Townsville and Cairns, Queensland. Formerly known as the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine, AITHM was established at JCU in 2008.
Adetokunbo Oluwole Lucas was a Nigerian doctor who was considered a global leader in tropical diseases. Born in Lagos, he was educated in the United Kingdom and commenced his professional career in Nigeria. Lucas received the Prince Mahidol Award in 1999 for his support of strategic research on the tropical diseases. He served for ten years as the Director of Special Programmes for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases based at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He was Adjunct Professor of International Health Department of Global Health and Population of the Harvard School of Public Health. Lucas worked largely during his life time in his home nation of Nigeria and traveled frequently to the United Kingdom and to the Harvard School of Public Health in the United States.
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