The 2017 meeting of ISHPSSB was held at the Institute of Biosciences of the University of São Paulo (USP), in São Paulo.
Founded in 1934, it is one of the most important higher education institutions in Brazil and South America generally. The Institute of Biosciences is a leading center of biological research in the country, and is located in the middle of a forest preserve within the USP campus.
The 2017 meeting in conjunction with the ABFHiB took place July 16 to 21 in São Paulo, on the splendidly green Biosciences campus of main campus of the University of São Paulo (USP). PDFs of the program booklet and the book of abstracts are available, as are (for now) the event website.
Below is a pre-Meeting presentation by the local co-organising chairs and programme committee.
A welcome to Brazil
We are deeply involved with the development of the ISHPSSB 2017 website. Now we have a functional site, to which we will progressively add all the relevant information. Please visit it and start checking what we are preparing for next year. We particularly recommend that you check the “General information” and “Plan your trip” sections. In the latter, you will find important information about the Visa requirements, in case you need it to visit Brazil.
Meanwhile, we have been working to seek partnerships with prestigious Brazilian scientific institutions to support the meeting, and we have already made agreements with the Butantan Institute and the Brazilian Society of Genetics (SBG).
Created in 1901, the Butantan Institute is the main Brazilian producer of immunobiological products for public health purposes and is responsible for the majority of vaccines and sera produced in the country through its Technological Development and Production Division. The Cultural Development Center of the Institute sustains the Special Laboratory for the History of Science (LEHC), giving continuing education courses on the history of sanitary practices and publishing the journal Cadernos de História da Ciência (Notebooks on History of Science), available only in Portuguese. Besides that, the Institute develops studies and basic research in 17 different fields of Biology and Biomedicine directly or indirectly related to public health.
The Butantan Institute is located within the campus of the University of São Paulo. Together with the LEHC team, we are planning cooperation and some activities for the ISHPSSB attendants, such as guided visits to the scientific zoological collections and to its four Museums—Biological, Historical, of Microbiology and the Emilio Ribas Public Health Museum. To learn more about the Butantan Institute, please visit its website (http://www.butantan.gov.br/).
The Brazilian Society of Genetics (SBG) was founded in 1 955 at Campinas, São Paulo, in a session chaired by the geneticist Frederico Gustavo Brieger. Besides its annual meetings, the society publishes the journal Genetics and Molecular Biology and Genética na Escola (Genetics in the School). The latter journal aims to disseminate educational experiences in the field of genetics, to provide reflections on genetic concepts, to discuss developments in technology related to the quality of life of the population, as well as to provide materials for classroom work, including the use of historical and philosophical approaches to the fields of Genetics, Molecular Biology and related areas.
SBG will support the ISHPSSB 2017 Meeting, assisting with advertising of the congress and promoting exchanges with its affiliates working with historical and/or philosophical references (as distinguished from theoretical or empirical genetic research itself). To learn more about SBG, please visit the website (http://www.sbg.org.br/ only in Portuguese).
The city of São Paulo, in the southeast of Brazil, is an important cultural, economic, and financial hub, and one of the main centers for the development of new trends and entertainment in Brazil. São Paulo offers a huge variety of restaurants, entertainment venues, and museums, and many free cultural events. This city enjoys a high-altitude tropical climate. In July, wintertime in the South Hemisphere, temperatures tend to range between 11°–23°C (52°–73°F). It is accessible via the International Airport of São Paulo in Guarulhos (airport code GRU).
The ISHPSSB meeting will be held jointly with the 2017 Brazilian History and Philosophy of Biology Meeting (EFHB). Those attending ISHPSSB 2017 will also be able to participate in another major international conference in Brazil: The 25th International Congress of History of Science and Technology (ICHST), promoted by the Division of History of Science and Technology of the International Union for History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS), in Rio de Janeiro on July 23–29. Note that the ICHST call for submissions of symposium proposals is already open (September 1, 2015 – April 30, 2016).
Charbel El-Hani, Jessica Bolker, Maria Elice de Brzezinski Prestes and Roberto de Andrade Martins
Co-chairs of Program and Local Arrangements Committees