RSU International COVID-19 Conference Programme Published

The programme for the Riga Stradiņš University (RSU) International COVID-19 Conference Impact, Innovation, and Planning is published in advance of the conference that will take place on 28–29 April.

The conference will take a closer look at medical and public health as well as communication, legal, technological, and issues in relation to COVID-19. It will be the most comprehensive conference on the pandemic to date in Latvia.

RSU invites scientists, lecturers, medical practitioners, students, and representatives of industry, governmental, and non-governmental organisations to participate in the conference. The RSU International COVID-19 Conference will be held in a hybrid format – both online and in person at the RSU Great Hall on 16 Dzirciema iela, Riga.

Opening and the first day

On the first day of the conference, the sessions will run from 10:00 to 17:30.

The event will be opened by RSU Rector Professor Aigars Pētersons, Minister of Health Daniels Pavļuts, RSU Vice-Rector of Science Agrita Kiopa, and the Head of the World Health Organisation Country Office Latvia Uldis Mitenbergs.

The opening plenary session will follow.

• At the plenary session, Doctor of Public Health Viviane Bremer from the Robert Koch Institute in Germany will summarise the pandemic experience to date in her speech “COVID-19: How Far Have We Come and What Have We Learned?”

• The second plenary speaker is Wolfgang Gaissmaier, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Constance, whose research focuses on collective behaviour and decision-making. At the conference, he will address the issue of vaccination from a behavioural psychology perspective, “When Emotion Prevails over Evidence: Hesitancy to Vaccinate from a Psychological Perspective.”

The first day of the conference will continue with seven sessions held in in two separate halls led by leading infectologists, physicians, cardiologists, psychiatrists, and other specialists.

• In the first hall, the sessions will aim to summarise the SARS-CoV-2 research in Latvia to date, explore the role of genetic variations, and look into long COVID-19 and the long-term consequences of this virus in younger patients,

• There will be a review of the immunisation of pregnant women and children in collaboration with the Family Vaccination Centre of the Children's Clinical University Hospital.

• The innovation session will cover treatment perspectives, technologies for providing medical education during a pandemic, and data-driven decision-making. Among the speakers will be Professor Jānis Kloviņš, Associate Professor Zanda Daneberga, Professor Sir Terence Stephenson, Associate Professor Jana Pavāre, Professor Dace Rezeberga, Associate Professor Dace Zavadska, Professor David Goldblatt, Dr. George Kassianos, expert of the State Agency of Medicines Iveta Eglīte, Director of the RSU Medical Education Technology Centre Ieva Šlēziņa, and researcher and founder of the Digital Health Laboratory of the Computer Science Faculty of the University of Latvia (LU) Emil Syundyukov. Professor Ludmila Vīksna will conclude the first day with a conceptual perspective on the impact that SARS-CoV-2 had on infectology paradigms.

• Alongside this, the session in the second hall will tackle patient and medical rights, emergency care, intensive care and care organisation, liver damage, metabolic problems, respiratory changes, myocardial damage in COVID-19 patients, the impact of the virus on mental health in adults, children and adolescents, COVID-19 rehabilitation, vaccination for travellers, and the role of general practitioners during the pandemic.

• The presentations will be given by Asst. Prof. Karina Palkova, Director of the Emergency Medical Service Liene Cipule, anaesthesiologist and resuscitator Oļegs Šuba, Assoc. Prof. Eva Strīķe, Assoc. Prof. Maija Radziņa, Prof. Oskars Kalējs, Prof. Ligita Jančoriene, psychiatrist Jeļena Vrubļevska, physiotherapist Anete Pētersone, and Head of the Department of Family Medicine Vija Siliņa.

Second day. Interdisciplinary discussions

29 April, 10:00 to 17:00. The second day of the conference will be organised to act as a platform for interdisciplinary discussions.

The programme will be opened by a plenary session chaired by Valdis Ģībietis who is a resident physician in internal medicine. Prof. Ģirts Briģis will talk about the pandemic experience and future challenges, University of Latvia (LU) Professor Ivars Austers will give a social psychological insight, Prof. Jurģis Šķilters and neurologist Jānis Mednieks will provide insights into the perception of smell and space in COVID-19 patients, and Asst. Prof. Ieva Lībiete, Head of the RSU Anatomy Museum, will provide a historical insight into how pandemics end.

The second day of the conference will continue with discussions in the RSU Great Hall about pandemics and communication issues (Lecturer Vita Savicka, Professor Sergejs Kruks, Asst. Prof. Alnis Stakle, Assoc. Prof. Ilva Skulte), as well as aggression in society (Prof. Anda Rožukalne, researcher Vineta Kleinberga, Asst. Prof. Dite Liepa, Assoc. Prof. Klāvs Sedlenieks). At the end of the conference, a session chaired by Assoc. Prof. Andas Ķīvīte-Urtāne and Prof. Ģirts Briģs will address future challenges related to COVID-19. Keynote speakers at the session: Dr. Felix Rebitschek, Dr. Jussi Sane, Prof. Anita Villeruša, lecturer and researcher Daiga Behmane, Prof. Kārlis Ketners, and Assoc. Prof. Inese Gobiņa.

Scientific committee

The conference’s scientific committee has curated the contents of the event under the leadership of Prof. Aivars Lejnieks. The committee comprises Vice-Rector Professor Guntis Bahs, Assoc. Prof. Anda Ķīvīte-Urtāne, Prof. Ilze Konrāde, Assoc. Prof. Jana Pavāre, lecturer Kārlis Rācenis, Prof. Anda Rožukalne, Assoc. Prof. Klāvs Sedlenieks, Prof. Ludmila Vīksna, and Assoc. Prof. Dace Zavadska.

On both days of the event, the posters accepted by the scientific committee will be available on the conference's virtual platform.

Collaboration partners

The conference’s collaboration partners include a number of scientific institutes, clinics, laboratories, and companies: Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital, the Riga East Clinical University Hospital, the Children’s Clinical University Hospital, the Family Vaccination Centre, the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, the Medical technology platform DF LAB of the LU Faculty of Computer Science, the American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia, the start-up Longenesis, and others.

The official language of the conference is Latvian, but simultaneous interpretation into English and Latvian will be provided when necessary.

Participation in the conference is free of charge.

Registration