Lisbon, Portugal was the host town for ISEMPH 2022, the first in person conference for the Society since 2019. I spent 8 days there, firstly for a pre-conference workshop on 'Philosophical and Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Medicine', hosted by Paul Griffiths. Some key issues discussed were on the role of evolutionary medicine in society and to medicine more widely; ethical issues; difficulties of attributing disorder and the relationship between norms and naturalism in directing medicine. Thanks to Paul and the other organisers for accepting my application; a host of excellent thinkers attended.
After that, ISEMPH 2022 kicked off, with a range of excellent presentations and posters. Some personal highlights were keynotes from Gunther Janssen on pharmaceutical incentive structures and Jessica Metcalf on COVID evolution. I also presented on 'Evobiopsychosocial medicine', and received some kind and excellent feedback.
ISEMPH 2022 was one of the first tests of my skills as ISEMPH communications officer, and I hope it went well, both in advertising the conference to a wide range of people on Twitter and sharing some content from the ongoing occasion. I'm also going to be collaborating with EMPH, the society journal, on advertising new publications more effectively. Thanks again to the council for bringing me on.
Apart from that, there was everything you would hope for from an in person conference: stimulating discussion, lovely food and drink, beautiful scenery, and the wonder of human bonding which misses depth when kept from behind a screen. Especially thanks to Randy Nesse, who has been a wonderful supporter of my career, and who I finally got to spend time with in person.
