Abstracts from IWAP IV 
 

Who are we?
PoPaN is an international network of parasitologists, wildlife biologists and epidemiologists, health professionals and others who are interested in parasitological issues in polar regions.

PoPaN’s goals
PoPaN highlights important issues in parasitology in Arctic and Antarctic regions, fosters research initiatives and other relevant ideas and collaborative ventures. International meetings provide fora for information exchange and discussion, and enable sharing of techniques and results relevant to parasitology in polar environments.

Meetings
The most recent meeting was held in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway in June 2010, International Workshop on Arctic Parasitology (IWAP). Previous IWAP meetings have been held in Saskatchewan, Canada (2000), Rovaniemi, Finland (2003), and Calgary, Canada (2006). PoPaN meetings are organised by different research groups with polar parasitology interests. The next POPAN meeting is scheduled for 2012, venue (proposed Fairbanks, Alaska) to be confirmed.

PoPaN contact details and information
PoPaN is currently chaired by Dr Susan Kutz, University of Calgary, Canada, assisted by regional delegates.

Regional Delegates
Canada                                Emily Jenkins, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Denmark/Greenland            Christian Kapel, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Norway                                Rebecca Davidson, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, Norway. Finland                                 Sauli Laaksonen, Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira, Finland.
Antarctica                           Susana Pedraza-Díaz, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.  

The delegate positions in U.S.A., Sweden and Russia are currently open. If interested in representing one of these countries in PoPaN please contact Susan Kutz at the University of Calgary.