Janine Seetahal, from the University of the West Indies, as a post grad student, attended the RITA 2016 conference. She is doing a PhD on Molecular Genetics at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI. The title is "Viruses in bat populations of Trinidad and Tobago: the role of main land-island bat movement in viral dissemination". She is conducting population genetics studies to analyse the extent of population subdivision between Desmodus rotundus bat populations from Trinidad and nearby regions of South America. She is also doing viral discovery and rabies virus antibody seroprevalence in the bat populations.

The RITA is an annual international conference first held 27 years ago in Atlanta, GA, USA, in which researchers, academics, students, public health officials, veterinarians, directors of rabies control programs, and other health professionals have the opportunity to meet, discuss and present the latest research on rabies. Throughout the years the conference has grown in both reputation and representation. Scientific presentations and round table discussion with researchers from various countries within the Americas and other continents was facilitated, making it possible to update the knowledge of participants on this disease with focus on central themes such as etiology, pathogenesis, epidemiology, control, and prevention.

The RITA provided the environment for efficient collaboration towards the development of more effective prevention and control measures by sharing experiences with other countries and regions, and discussing challenges presented by this public health problem with collective trouble-shooting towards solutions. The conference also provided an excellent opportunity to portray the work of CaribVET in the field of rabies and highlight the situation on rabies in the Caribbean region which is often misrepresented and downplayed in the literature. CaribVET was also informally invited to be an observer at the annual meeting of the North American Rabies Management Program.