Several hundred healthcare providers from Wisconsin and the surrounding region gathered in the Wisconsin Dells on December 8-9, 2017 to hear the latest developments in infectious disease at the annual Dennis G. Maki Infectious Disease Update. Fifteen faculty members of the Division of Infectious Disease and several other faculty and practitioners from the University of Wisconsin gave a total of 18 presentations.

This increasingly popular update series covered the spectrum of infectious disease advances and challenges from anti-infectives to Zika virus. The conference is dedicated to Dennis G. Maki, MD (pictured at upper right), emeritus professor and Ovid O. Meyer Professor, in recognition of his achievements and contributions as a physician, scholar, and educator in the field.

Dr. Maki led off the conference discussing the impact of global warming on the threat of tick-borne infection in exquisite detail, and ended the conference addressing the latest strategies in dealing with Clostridium difficile management and prevention.

Andrew Urban, MD (pictured second from top at right), professor (CHS), Infectious Disease, served as conference host. Thought-provoking presentation topics included advances in vaccine development (James Conway, MD, Department of Pediatrics), antimicrobial agent development (David Andes, MD (pictured third from top at right)), laboratory diagnostic advances (Derrick Chen, MD), sexually transmitted diseases (Rose Staden, NP and Craig Roberts, PA-C, MS), and an entertaining session of Infectious Disease Jeopardy (led by Joseph McBride, MD, pictured at lower right).

“The Maki Update is a wonderful opportunity to interface with practitioners from across Wisconsin on timely infectious disease issues. It is really a valuable interaction for presenters and attendees that doesn’t happen in very many other states,” said Dr. Andes, professor and head of the division.

Photo caption: Dr. Dennis Maki kicks off the 2017 Infectious Disease continuing medical education conference named in his honor.

Resources:

• The 2017 Dennis G. Maki Infectious Disease Update, December 8-9, 2017 (PDF)