Wound care experts take annual conference to the U.S.

To encourage international collaboration, particularly from researchers in North America, the 4th International Skin and Infection Conference, led by the University and in association with the Journal of Wound Care, was held in Las Vegas.

EXPERTS from the University of Huddersfield took to the international stage to speak about their award-winning research when they hosted the 4th International Skin and Infection Conference in Las Vegas.

The one-day conference hosted by the University’s Institute of Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention (ISIaIP) was held at the Las Vegas’s Rio Hotel in association with the Journal of Wound Care.

The international conference was a component of a large four-day convention, entitled Wild on Wounds (WOW), organised by the American-based Wound Care Education Institute which is highly-popular in America and is designed for healthcare professionals and clinicians interested in skin and wound management. 

The 4th International Skin and Infection Conference officially opened on the morning of day three, after an insightful opening address from speaker Professor Kevin Woo, who is recognised across Canada as being a national expert in wound care.  

His keynote speech entitled Trends and gaps in wound care: revolution or confusion? was followed by the University’s Dr Leanne Atkin, who is a Huddersfield lecturer/practitioner as well as a vascular nurse consultant with the Mid-Yorkshire NHS Trust.  Dr Atkin spoke about her award-winning work and research in leg ulcer management.

Professor Karen Ousey, Director of the University’s ISIaIP, discussed the role of virtual reality in wound care and tissue viability research and the University’s Head of Pharmacy, Professor Barbara Conway, delivered a talk entitled Prevention of infection.

The conference incorporated four sponsored sessions into the day from companies working within the American healthcare industry and concluded with a talk, Improving pressure ulcer knowledge: What you don’t know CAN hurt you, delivered by wound care specialist Catherine T. Milne, Nurse Board Member at the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care.

Professor Ousey said the University’s conference was hugely successful and not only beneficial for the delegates but also for the Huddersfield researchers: “Taking the event to the United States provided an opportunity to network and discuss future Anglo-American research projects and the potential for joint-funded opportunities and publications,” commented Dr Ousey.

“We made contact with wound care nurses and specialists from across the Atlantic we were able to identify areas in clinical practice that require solutions.  The University of Huddersfield name was at the centre of many of the discussions taking place about future projects and collaborations,” she added.

The 5th International Conference on Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention is set to continue with the global outlook and will take place in Canada on 26th and 27th April 2019 at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops.

• To find out more or to register for next year’s conference, visit the conference webpage.