Classical and emerging infectious diseases, viral pandemics, and drug-resistant pathogens remain challenges to human health. However, contemporary advances in genetics and genomic technologies provide new approaches to understanding and combating these diseases. The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) and the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) partnered with Nature Publishing Group (NPG) to organize an international conference to discuss how the genomes, unique biologies, and interactions of both host and pathogen are being revealed using novel genomic technologies, and how this information can and will translate into disease management and therapies. This conference engaged basic and clinical scientists, including human geneticists, genome scientists, computational biologists, and experts in pathogenic microbial agents to chart the effects of genomics on questions in global infectious disease management.

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From the Editors, Nature Reviews Genetics, April 2009