A guide to visiting Norwich for delegates of the 21st ISOPOL

Members of the local organising committee and the Centre for Microbial Interactions are pleased to provide some key information to ISOPOL delegates with this guide to visiting our fine city.

Key dates

• Abstract Submission: 8 April to 28 June 2024
• LATE BREAKER ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 15^th July to Friday 26^th July (poster presentations only)
• ISOPOL Registration: 10 April to 4 September 2024

The Quadram Institute in Norwich, UK is pleased to announce that in September 2024 we will host the 21st International Symposium on Problems of Listeria and Listeriosis (ISOPOL).

This meeting will bring together the global Listeria research community and other food and health stakeholders to discuss new discoveries and opportunities to understand and control Listeria. Sessions will be convened to discuss advances in food safety, gut health, the biology of listeriosis and ecology of Listeria, and other topics developed by our expert Scientific Committee.

Norwich, the City of Stories, is a magnificent medieval city that is a short distance from London (two hours by train) and Amsterdam (one hour by air). Participants of ISOPOL will surely be charmed by this historic city set amongst the beautiful landscapes of Norfolk and the surrounding coastal regions.

The symposium will be held at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. The symposium will convene for full days over the 11  and 12 September, after opening on the afternoon of the 10 September  and then closing in the afternoon on the 13 September .

Please feel free to contact the co-Chair of the 21st ISOPOL, Dr Matthew Gilmour or complete this quick survey to register your interest in receiving further information as the programming develops.

Venue

The hub of the symposium will be the New Science Building at the University of East Anglia. The ISOPOL registration desk and all coffee breaks, lunches, posters and exhibitors will be set up here. Plenary and breakout sessions will occur at the neighbouring Julian Study Centre and the Thomas Paine Lecture Theatre.

Abstract submission

Both the regular and late-breaker abstract submission windows have now closed. If you have any questions, please contact the Chair of the 21st ISOPOL, Dr Matthew Gilmour.

ISOPOL Registration

Register Now on Whova

Delegate registration fees for the 21st ISOPOL are £400 (approx. $500 USD). For those that need assistance, please see the bursary details below for early career researchers.

What do you get in your registration?

• Admission to all ISOPOL scientific sessions (please note, this is an in-person meeting)
• Attendance at the ISOPOL Welcome Reception on the evening of Tuesday 10th September at the renowned Norwich Cathedral (with a welcome drink and locally-produced artisan bakes from Bread Source)
• Attendance to the ISOPOL Evening Meal on Wednesday 11th September at the historic Assembly House (with a welcome drink and an assortment of award-winning Chef’s selections)
• Meals: coffee/tea breaks throughout the symposium, lunch on the 11th -13th September, and evening offerings (as above). Note, as is typical in the UK, it is best to arrange breakfast with your accommodation.
• Transportation between scientific sessions and ISOPOL networking / social events in the Norwich City Centre
• A customised map of Norwich to aid in your independent exploration of our fine city! We anticipate having organised walks and runs in Norwich on the morning of 10th September and/or afternoon of 13th September (weather dependent).
• The ISOPOL event app with the scientific and social programme

Bursary for Early Career Researchers

The UK Food Safety Research Network (FSRN) is a sponsor of the 21st ISOPOL and will support the symposium registration costs (anticipated to be £400; approx. $500 USD) for up to 10 early career researchers. The FSRN is hosted at the Quadram Institute and is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and also by the UK’s Food Standards Agency.

Applications for the bursary are now closed with 21 successful applicants who will participate at ISOPOL

ISOPOL themes

• Pathogenesis of Listeria
• Risk assessment and food safety of Listeria
• Listeria biology
• Listeria surveillance in animals, environments, and humans
• Listeria genomics and evolution
• Listeria and microbiota
• Epidemiology and clinical aspects of listeriosis
• Novel controls of Listeria

Preliminary programme

On behalf of the ISOPOL Scientific Committee, we are pleased to share the Preliminary Programme (PDF Download 1.86MB) for the upcoming the symposium that will be held in Norwich, UK.

We have developed a programme that provides significant opportunity for scientific presentation as well as networking and discussion amongst delegates. There was a fantastic response of abstract submissions for both oral and poster presentations during our regular late-breaker submission windows, and we are delighted to say that we received over 160 abstracts!

Within the programme there is a strong distribution of oral and poster presentations across the different ISOPOL scientific themes – such as on Listeria biology, risk assessment, food safety, pathogenesis, novel controls, and surveillance – so we are going to have a very well-rounded symposium.

This is the preliminary programme, and all timing is subject to possible change. A final programme will be distributed to all delegates in September.

Instructions to Poster Presenters

• We have arranged freestanding A0 posterboards
• Posterboards can accommodate an A0 poster (841mm wide x 1189mm height) in portrait and A1 posters (594mm x 841mm) in portrait or landscape.
• Posters will be attached with Velcro tape; a short strip will be included on each board.
• Presenters can set up from approx. 1pm on 10^th Sept and can take down their posters at the end of the day on 12^th Sept. Posterboards will be packed up on the morning of 13^th Sept, at this time any posters not collected on 12^th Sept will be removed from the boards and can be collected

Accommodation

Broadview Lodge at the University of East Anglia

ISOPOL had arranged for on-campus accommodation at the Broadview Lodge (at the University of East Anglia, approximately a 5-minute walk from the main ISOPOL scientific venues). Our large room block has been fully booked out as of end of July – please seek alternative accommodation and please see suggestions below about staying in the Norwich city centre.

St Giles House

For those wishing to stay in the Norwich city centre, St Giles House Hotel offers 24 unique rooms including suites, a decorative breakfast area, stylish bar, two lounge areas, a stunning outside terrace with a living wall and indulgent treatment rooms in a Spa.

Assembly House

Also in the city centre, we have a very limited number of reserved rooms at the historic Assembly House. To make a reservation please contact their office directly on (+44)1603 626402, noting you are an ISOPOL participant.

Other hotels in central Norwich

For other options in city centre, there are historic hotels such as the Maidshead and chain hotels such as the Premier Inn, the Holiday Inn at Carrow Road and the Travelodge Norwich Central. These hotels are independent from ISOPOL and we cannot speak to their availability for September 2024. For those making independent bookings, we do suggest you confirm that you are staying in central location (e.g., the Duke Street branch of the Premier Inn) as there are branches at the periphery of Norwich that may present a challenge to easily commute to the ISOPOL venues on campus.

Visa applications

If you need a letter of invitation for a visa application, we will be happy to supply this after we have received payment of registration. To find out if you need a visa to visit the UK, please visit the UK visa and immigration website.

Please note that all conference delegates are responsible for their own travel and visa arrangements; the meeting organisers do not take any responsibility for travel or the visas (if required).

Payment information

All registration fees must be paid in full before arrival at the conference. Any outstanding registration fees must be paid before admittance will be granted to the conference.

Scientific Planning Committee

S. B. Barbuddhe, National Meat Research Institute (India)
John H. Brumell, The Hospital for Sick Children
Trinad Chakraborty, German Center for Infection Research
Julian Cooper, Institute of Food Science & Technology (UK)
Pascale Cossart, Institut Pasteur
Atin Datta, US Food and Drug Administration
Catherine Donnelly, University of Vermont
Jeff Farber, University of Guelph
Nancy Freitag, University of Illinois Chicago
Matthew Gilmour, Quadram Institute (ISOPOL Chair)
Karin Goodburn, Chilled Food Association (UK)
Darren E. Higgins, Harvard Medical School
Keith Ireton, University of Otago (NZ)
Frieda Jorgensen, UK Health Security Agency
Rob Kingsley, Quadram Institute (UK)
Marc Lecuit, Institut Pasteur
Martin Loessner, ETH Zürich
Conor O’Byrne, University of Galway
Anais Painset, UK Health Security Agency
Dan Portnoy, University of California, Berkeley
Aleisha Reimer, Public Health Agency of Canada
Debra Smith, Institute of Food Science & Technology (UK)
Jose Vazquez-Boland, University of Edinburgh
Martin Wiedmann, Cornell University
Anthony Wilson, Food Standards Agency (UK)
Anat Herskovits, Tel Aviv University

Sponsors

Platinum sponsors

• Food Safety Research Network (funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council and the Food Standards Agency)

Silver sponsors

• American Frozen Food Institute

• Thermo Fisher Scientific 

Bronze Sponsors

• University of Illinois Chicago (College of Pharmacy)

• Centre for Microbial Interactions