Note: This page summarizes the rationale behind a GiveWell grant to the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. ASTMH staff reviewed this page prior to publication.
In a nutshell
In July 2025, GiveWell recommended a $60,000 grant to the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). This grant will fund travel awards for approximately ten researchers to attend the annual meeting of ASTMH in November 2025, who we expect may otherwise be unable to attend.
GiveWell recommended this grant via our policy for small discretionary grantmaking. As a small discretionary grant, this funding opportunity did not receive the same review as larger grants we recommend. Instead, we more minimally evaluated the case for the grant and any potential risks or downsides.
Published: October 2025
1. The organization and the grant
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) is an international scientific organization dedicated to reducing the burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health.1 Their annual meeting, next occurring in Toronto in November 2025, is attended by professionals from various sectors, including academic researchers, government and public health officials, healthcare providers, and professionals from non-profit organizations and the private sector.2 We believe the ASTMH annual meeting is among the most important conferences in the field of malaria research.
This grant will provide funding for approximately ten researchers to attend the annual meeting of the ASTMH in November 2025.3 We expect that those researchers may otherwise be unable to attend.4
2. The case for the grant
We are recommending this grant because:
- GiveWell benefits from the malaria research produced by attendees of the ASTMH annual meeting. We think the researchers who would not otherwise be able to attend will bring value to the ASTMH meeting5 and benefit from attending it, which may improve or hasten malaria research related to interventions we fund.
- We expect that those who receive travel awards to attend the ASTMH meeting are more likely to come from underrepresented backgrounds with less available funding. This may allow increased involvement for attendees from low-income countries, including countries where the malaria interventions we support are implemented. Connecting with these attendees aligns with our efforts to ensure our research is more influenced by local contexts.
- We believe that it is good for GiveWell to engage positively with the malaria research ecosystem, and that this may encourage researchers to approach us with funding opportunities or ideas for investigation.
3. Risks and reservations
We do not believe that this grant has a risk of substantial downsides or harms. Because this is a small discretionary grant, we minimally investigated this grant before recommending it. Our main uncertainties include:
- We did not investigate the precise details of how ASTMH will weigh different criteria in selecting the recipients of the travel support grants.6
- We did not look deeply into the overall funding landscape for travel support to this meeting, although ASTMH told us that they would expect to be able to fund approximately 50 attendees' travel awards absent GiveWell's support.7
4. Plans for follow up
We will follow up with ASTMH after the annual meeting to learn more about the researchers who were ultimately funded to attend.
5. Our process
We were made aware of this funding opportunity by Jamie Bay Nishi, the CEO of ASTMH. GiveWell recommended this grant via our policy for small discretionary grantmaking. As a small discretionary grant, this funding opportunity did not receive the same review as larger grants we recommend. Instead, we more minimally evaluated the case for the grant and any potential risks or downsides.
Sources
- 1
ASTMH, "About ASTMH"
- 2
"The scientific program is designed for researchers, professors, government and public health officials, military personnel, travel clinic physicians, practicing physicians in tropical medicine, students, and all healthcare providers working in the fields of tropical medicine, hygiene, and global health. The meeting draws thousands of tropical medicine and global health professionals representing academia, foundations, government, not-for-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, the military, and private practice." ASTMH, Annual Meeting.
- 3
“We have received over 500 travel grant applications this year and are typically only able to award 50-60 per year. GiveWell’s support will give 10 more scientists the opportunity to present their work this year.” Jamie Bay Nishi, ASTMH, comments on a draft of this grant page, September 2025 (unpublished)
- 4
"The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) offers Travel Awards to qualified students, early-career investigators and scientists actively working in the tropical medicine field to attend the Society’s Annual Meeting. These awards facilitate participation for those who might not otherwise be able to attend." ASTMH, 2025 Annual Meeting Travel Award Guidelines, p. 2
- 5
ASTMH has received over 500 applications for travel awards and has previously secured funding for ~50. Therefore we expect this funding would allow candidates at approximately the 90th percentile on ASTMH's travel award metrics to attend the conference.
“We have received over 500 travel grant applications this year and are typically only able to award 50-60 per year. GiveWell’s support will give 10 more scientists the opportunity to present their work this year.” Jamie Bay Nishi, ASTMH, comments on a draft of this grant page, September 2025 (unpublished)
- 6
ASTMH told us the following: “We have a 20+ person travel grants committee that review and score applicants based on factors including the strength of their abstract topic, qualitative assessment of the reason they wish to attend, and engaging a diverse cohort by geography, academic discipline, health focus area, etc." Jamie Bay Nishi, ASTMH, email to GiveWell, July 18 2025 (unpublished)
- 7
“We have received over 500 travel grant applications this year and are typically only able to award 50-60 per year. GiveWell’s support will give 10 more scientists the opportunity to present their work this year.” Jamie Bay Nishi, ASTMH, comments on a draft of this grant page, September 2025 (unpublished)