3rd Debrecen Online Conference on Infectious Diseases in a One Health context
The One Health approach has established itself as an important tool for the prevention, investigation, surveillance and containment of infectious diseases. Human and veterinary pathogens can spread across multiple hosts and the environment, creating complex and often poorly understood transmission networks or driving evolutionary events that lead to the emergence or re-emergence of novel or neglected infectious diseases. These include foodborne, waterborne and vector-borne diseases, as well as the hidden epidemic of antimicrobial resistance – all of which pose a major challenge to healthcare, the economy and society and require urgent attention. The first two conferences DOCIDOH brought together physicians, veterinarians, environmentalists, epidemiologists, molecular biologists, ecologists and various other experts to discuss issues related to One Health.
As a follow-up to the first and second DOCIDOH and to promote discussion and knowledge exchange, the One Health Institute of the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management and the Centre for Metagenomics of the University of Debrecen announces the 3rd Debrecen Online Conference on Infectious Diseases in a One Health context (DOCIDOH), which will take place from 11 to 13 May 2026.
The conference aims at attracting researchers in the topics:
- AI applications in One Health, Bioinformatics tools and data integration for One Health research
- Triple crisis: climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity
- Antimicrobial resistance from a One Health perspective, alternatives to antimicrobials (e.g., phage therapy, vaccines, other approaches)
- Emerging and re-emerging infections and vectors
- Environmental medicine
- Food safety and foodborne diseases
- Metagenomics in One Health and environmental DNA
- Surveillance approaches in One Health
- Social Aspects of One Health: social factors, challenges, and innovations of implementing One Health strategies across human, animal, and environmental health
- Behavioural and cultural insights in disease prevention
Format and provisional timeline
- Conference period: 11-13 May 2026.
- Registration: free of charge. Opening of registration: 15 February 2026
- Abstract submission for presentations: electronic submission via the conference website. The abstracts are expected to be no longer than 1500 characters. Deadline: 15 March 2026.
- The Scientific Committee will evaluate each abstract and accept or decline the submission. Feedback on the submissions will be provided until 15 April 2026.
- Presentation formats: oral talks (10 minutes presentation + 5 minutes Q&A) and semi-plenary sessions
- Final timetable, confirmed dates and detailed submission instructions will be posted on the website.
- The conference will use the Webex platform to organise the sessions. You will be able to log in using the standalone Webex client or from your browser without installing any additional software.
If you have any questions, you can contact the organizers at the e-mail address docidohinfo@etk.unideb.hu.
One Health: Institutionalised Scientific Field or Well-Intentioned Buzzword?
Has One Health matured into an institutionalised scientific field — perhaps even a paradigm shift in how we conceptualise health across human, animal, and environmental systems — or does it still operate primarily as a flexible policy slogan or interdisciplinary buzzword? As part of DOCIDOH 2026, we invite researchers and practitioners to reflect on this question by participating in a short (8–10 minute) anonymous survey on the institutionalisation of the One Health concept.
The aggregated results will be presented and openly discussed during a dedicated breakout session, fostering a meaningful dialogue on the state-of-the-art and future trajectory of One Health. We are also planning to publish the findings for the wider academic community. Your perspective will help shape this conversation — find the questionnaire HERE.