Meet our Team
Your Local Host Organisation
The Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. (the Society) was founded in 1964 to bring together all those in Australia and in many other countries interested in parasites and parasitic diseases of humans and animals.
The Society is active in all aspects of the science of parasitology and in education and lobbying for parasitological issues. The Society fosters the establishment and proper curation of collections of Australian parasites, facilitates discussion, promotes investigation and advances the knowledge of parasitology. Today, the Society presents prizes for university students studying parasitology, and an extensive range of travel awards and bursaries are given to students and overseas visiting lecturers. Premier amongst the Society’s offerings is the Bancroft-Mackerras Medal for Excellence in the science of parasitology.
This medal commemorates the Bancroft-Mackerras dynasty, which began the study of parasites in Australia in the 1860’s. The Society is a vibrant and active scientific society that makes a significant contribution to the scientific and educational community of Australia.The Society was proud to host ICOPA in Melbourne (2010) and Brisbane (1986). The ICOPA 2010 congress was a resounding success and attracted over 1,700 Federation members from 194 member countries. The largest delegations attended from Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. The congress has never been held in Sydney, and we look forward to building on our previous success to host ICOPA XVI in Sydney, Australia’s global city and innovation hub that is home to world-class parasitology research.
Bid Organising Committee
Bid Leaders
Committee Members
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Dr Adele Lehane
A/Prof Michelle Power
Dr Cameron Raw
Senior Lecturer,
Division
of Biomedical Science and Biochemistry,
Australian National University
Associate Professor,
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University
Veterinarian & PhD Candidate,
Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences,
University of Melbourne
Scientific Committee
The Local and International organising committees will be established in due course should Sydney’s bid be successful.
We are committed to establishing an organising committee that is intentionally diverse - in expertise, gender, culture, ethnicity, geographic origin, career stage and viewpoint. We believe diversity is fundamental to a creative, functional and successful organising committee, which will in turn fulfil everything we hope to achieve with ICOPA 2026 in Sydney.
We will use the organising committee as a platform to create opportunities for early career researchers wishing to gain experience in conference organisation, thereby advancing their career. A number of positions on both the local and international committee will be reserved for early career researchers who self-nominate. Selection will be via a competitive process which applies the diversity principles outlined above. These committee members will be mentored by experienced members of the committee, ensuring these early career researchers are not only positively contributing to a successful ICOPA, but also gaining valuable experience in the process.