This blog post was originally published on Making Malaria History. 

Anyone working in global health will say the same thing: the people impacted by our work is the reason we do what we do. Underlying medical vocabulary, data spreadsheets, and peer-reviewed journals are millions of stories, people whose lives were saved and improved thanks to creative and dedicated minds.

Indeed, researchers and program implementers should be quick to celebrate these successes. But there is another equally important set of stories that is often overlooked: the stories of the researchers themselves.

This year at the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting, we’re flipping the microscope to hear from the meeting participants, the dedicated professionals behind the scenes: Why did you decide to go into your respective fields? What gets you out of bed and into the lab/field every morning? What promising innovation are you most excited about? What do you like to do for fun?

Don’t be shy. Participation is easy:

1. Take a photo of yourself holding a sign that says “#IAmTropMed.” You can take one in advance, or take advantage of the photo booth next to the registration area at the conference.

2. Share the photo on your organizational or personal Twitter or Facebook profile using the hashtag #IAmTropMed during the week of the ASTMH Annual Meeting.

3. Include a caption that highlights the reason you are involved in this work. Example: Because malaria elimination is the only long-term goal.

4. In your post, you can also link to more information: a blog or webpage about your work, journal articles, or details on a session or symposium you are hosting at the ASTMH Annual Meeting.

will be tweeting and participating in next week’s ASTMH meeting. Stay tuned for tweets and stories! We encourage you to share your own using #IAmTropMed too!