For students, residents and fellows, IDWeek can be equal parts inspiring and overwhelming. With thousands of abstracts, many concurrent sessions and opportunities around every corner, finding the right path through the meeting can be a challenge.
At IDWeek 2026, the NextGen ID Lounge and IDBugCrawl program will help early-career attendees do exactly that, while building community and exploring future career possibilities.
The lounge, in the BugHub (Salon ABC) at the convention center, serves as a valuable gathering place for trainees navigating a large national meeting, according to David DiTullio, MD, PhD, a third-year ID fellow at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Having a place to go where you know that there’s a space for you and people that are in your same phase of training, I think that makes it a lot more digestible for me,” said Dr. DiTullio, who is also the chair of the Professional Development Work Group of IDSA’s Fellows Community of Practice.
In addition to serving as a space for medical students, residents and fellows to meet, grab coffee and network, the lounge is home to the IDBugCrawl program, which helps early-career attendees explore the many directions an infectious diseases career can take.
“We’re looking to do some more engagement activities, like a scavenger hunt, so that we get people not just attending IDWeek and the NextGen ID Lounge activities, but really experiencing them,” said Nathalie Gabriel, senior director of event operations and attendee experience for IDSA.
Panel Discussions, Networking, Headshots and More
New this year, ViiV Healthcare is partnering to support several activities. Participants can expect ViiV representatives at selected panels and during the popular “31 Flavors of ID” event, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2-3:30 p.m. ET. During the event, attendees can explore different career paths, interact with leaders from a variety of ID specialties and receive career development tips, all while getting their ice cream fix.
Among a variety of talks and activities, the NextGen ID Lounge schedule includes clinical and nonclinical career panels tailored to fellows and other trainees. The sessions were created to provide practical guidance from professionals at different career stages, Dr. DiTullio said.
The clinical career panel, Thursday, Oct. 22, 10-11 a.m. ET, will feature physicians from academia, private practice, community health settings and early-career professionals who have recently completed a job search. “There’s just so many ways you could go, so many paths you could take,” Dr. DiTullio said. “Hearing from people that have just done that in a setting where it’s easy to ask questions, and to meet them afterwards, is something that we thought would be helpful.”
A second panel, Saturday, Oct. 24, 10-11 a.m. ET, will spotlight career opportunities outside traditional clinical practice, including speakers from industry, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “There’s a lot of these really exciting places you can go where critical thinkers are needed and really contribute to improving our health in many different ways,” Dr. DiTullio said.
Other highlights include the Mystery Case Conference, networking events, mentor interactions and complimentary professional headshots. Attendees will also have an opportunity to meet with a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases program officer to talk about grant funding in one-on-one meetings. (These meetings are for ID fellows only. Space is limited; advance sign-up is required.)
A sense of belonging is central to the program’s success. Amid a busy conference schedule, “if you know that you’ve got this place that allows you a little bit of downtime, and you get to be with your people, at least for a little bit,” Gabriel said, “I think it can make a better experience.”
Check out the full NextGen ID Lounge schedule of activities and events. The lounge is located in the BugHub (Salon ABC) in the convention center.
NextGen ID Lounge Hours:
Wednesday, Oct. 21:
7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, Oct. 22:
7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Oct. 23:
7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, Oct. 24:
7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET