Please join us for the 735th meeting of the Helminthological Society of Washington at our Annual Spring Meeting on April 24 and 25, 2026 at the Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge, VA. We will also celebrate our Anniversary Award recipient, Dr. Anna J. Phillips, who was unable to accept her award at the Fall meeting.
The meeting will begin on Friday, April 24 at 5:00 PM with a poster session, followed by Dr. Phillips’ Anniversary Award Lecture at 6:00 PM. Posters and an informal reception will follow the talk. The Friday evening event will conclude by approximately 8:00 PM.
We will have a single session for research talks on Saturday April 25 beginning at 9:00 AM and ending by 5:00 PM depending on the number of abstracts. Presentations should be 12 minutes with 3 minutes for questions. We will also be offering an option for presenting posters. If you would like to submit an abstract to present a research talk or a poster, please follow the directions below. If at any time you have difficulty, please contact Amy Fowler (afowler6@gmu.edu).
Registration is $50 for regular members and $25 for students and includes a reception with light refreshments Friday evening, and breakfast, lunch, coffee and snacks during breaks on Saturday. The deadline for regular registration and to apply for student travel grants (more below) is April 20 at 11:59 PM. To attend and participate in the meeting, you are required to be a member of the society (Join HelmSoc here).
Early Registration closes on Friday, April 20, 2026 at 11:59pm EDT
The meeting will feature talks from students and faculty and student awards (cash!)! We hope you'll join us on this beautiful waterfront campus for parasite fun and fellowship!
Options for nearby hotels include:
Closest Hotel: Hampton Inn Potomac Mills/Woodbridge
Other recommended options:
Residence Inn Potomac Mills Woodbridge
Springhill Suites Potomac Mills Woodbridge
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Woodbridge
Important Links
Register here.
Submit an abstract here.
For instructions about abstraction submission, click here.
Student Travel Grants to HelmSoc & the American Society of Parasitologists
(ASP) Meetings
HelmSoc offers Student Travel Awards. Any student member of HelmSoc can apply for a Travel Grant of up to $100 to present a talk or poster at the HelmSoc Spring Meeting. The Society will award up to 10 grants each spring. The amount awarded will depend on the distance traveled, but will minimally cover the cost of registration. Alternately, the student may choose to receive a grant to defray the registration costs for the annual American Society of Parasitology (ASP) meeting if attended in the same year. In this case, the student must present a talk at both the Spring HelmSoc meeting and the 2026 ASP meeting. Travel expenses to the HelmSoc meeting or ASP registration will be reimbursed upon submission of receipts after the meeting ends. Students and mentors must be members of HelmSoc, and proof of student status is required. A current HelmSoc member may sponsor students whose mentors are not members.
Also, please note that the presenter of the best oral presentation at the HelmSoc Spring Meeting will be eligible for additional travel support from the American Society of Parasitologists to help defray the costs of attending the 2026 ASP meeting. Our meeting happens after ASP's abstract submission deadline, but we have permission to submit late abstracts for students who presented at HelmSoc's Spring Meeting. If you are using the HelmSoc student travel grant to defray the cost of registration to ASP and want to submit a late abstract, please do so immediately after registering for the HelmSoc's Spring Meeting by emailing the ASP Scientific Program Officers (their contact info is jensen@ku.edu). Also, please be prepared to let us know at the meeting whether or not you will attend the ASP meeting if you win the student presentation award. The ASP student grant committee needs to know by the end of April if they are holding funding for a HelmSoc award winner or not. Note, to receive ASP funding you need to a) be a member of ASP (i.e., have paid your dues), b) present at the ASP meeting, and c) commit to staying at the meeting through to the end (i.e., be present at the Business Meeting).
More information is available here, and applications are available here.