Diana Bensyl, 2009 Program Chair
ACE Annual Meeting
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An exciting meeting is planned for the 27th Annual Meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Washington DC-Silver Spring in Silver Spring, Maryland, September 12-15, 2009. The meeting theme, “Novel Methods at the Intersection of Epidemiology and Policy-Making” will focus on discussing insightful ways epidemiologic research is influencing public policy nationally and internationally and how these approaches have potential to inform public policy decision. The meeting will also include how innovative approaches to epidemiology may provide more powerful tools to impact policy.
The prelude to the meeting begins with the Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) workshop on Saturday, September 12 (see separate article). There are four additional continuing educational workshops offered on Sunday, September 13. These include “Epidemiology and Risk Assessment,” with a focus on the use of epidemiology in the risk assessment process and how limitations and uncertainties are addressed; “Meta-Analysis;” a free NIH workshop on “Grant Review;” and a free workshop for Students: “Straight from the Horses’ Mouths: Mentors, Mentees, and Recruiters Tell All about Careers for Epidemiologists in Government, Industry, Academia, and Consulting.” Non-students can attend this last workshop for only $50!
George Washington University, our host, has planned a host reception on Sunday evening. The event is sponsored by the School of Public Health and Health Services. This reception provides a chance to meet and greet other ACE Members and Associate Members, and to learn more about GWU. Alan Greenberg, Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, will give a few comments to start the event. At the end of the evening, all interested Associate Members will meet for a chance to get to know each other.
The official Opening and Welcome will be Monday morning and led by Josef Reum, Interim Dean, Associate Dean for Administration and Finance at GWU, and Diana Bensyl, the ACE 2009 Program Chair. The Opening Forum, which follows next, begins with an inspiring presentation and call to action from James Marks from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This presentation is followed by David Michaels from GWU who will introduce us to his recent book, Doubt is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health. Joel Schwartz from Harvard University and Larry Altman from the New York Times will round out the second half of the opening session.
For the ACE roundtable luncheons, we have taken advantage of having our meeting in the nation’s capitol and included a roundtable on “The Role of Epidemiology in Legislative Activity.” Alternatively, attendees may choose to participate at other roundtables including one on “International Health Policy - the Pan American Health Organization Experience,” and another on “Theory Meets Practice - Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRNs) and Opportunities for Epidemiologists.” Epidemiology Department Chairs will have their own luncheon meeting that includes a seminar on “Navigating Administrative Troubled Waters – Strategies for managing departments in difficult financial times.”
The afternoon session will begin with a presentation by Joseph Rodricks, Environ Corporation and Thomas Burke, Johns Hopkins University, on “Epidemiology and Decisions Regarding Public Health Risks of Environmental Origin--Where Are We Headed and What Are the Impediments?” This will be followed by an expert panel moderated by Mark Schiffman and Deborah Winn from NIH to discuss how epidemiology has influenced policy surrounding the Human Papiloma Virus vaccine.
Monday evening will conclude with the ACE Poster Session and the Epidemiology Chairs Reception in the Lincoln Ballroom. Weather permitting, food, drinks and seating will be set up on a secluded patio off the Lincoln Ballroom. Come see the posters and enjoy the reception!
For those making it to the breakfast roundtables on Tuesday, September 15, ACE will set up tables for informal discussions on a range of topics such as novel sampling methods, defining “minority”, collaborating with HMO-based researchers, job interview skills, and the Clinical and Translational Science Award Program.
Roundtables will be followed by the ACE Presidential Address given by Roberta Ness, Dean, M. David Low Chair in Public Health, The University of Texas School of Public Health, and the student prize paper presentation. The first plenary will focus on recent issues regarding policy and epidemiology surrounding the Veteran’s Administration. David Goldsmith will begin this session with a talk on the “common” use of epidemiology evidence in causation assessment. This will be followed by Michael Stoto, Georgetown University, who will present: “Did military service cause my illness? New approaches to assessing causality for veterans’ compensation policy.” Finally, Lynn Goldman will discuss the determinations of disability for Gulf War veterans.
The final educational session will be the “Translation of Epidemiology to Policy: Report from the ACE Workshop,” led by Jon Samet.
The meeting will end Tuesday afternoon, with the Awards Banquet. Awards will be given including the 2009 Lilienfeld Award, the Rothman Epidemiology Prize, the Epidemiology Student Prize, and the Annals of Epidemiology Prize Paper. In addition, ACE will give special recognition to Dr. James Harlan Steele for his life time achievement in epidemiology.
The ACE meeting includes a wide range of topics of interest to epidemiologists and is open to anyone interested in epidemiology. We hope to see you at the 2009 ACE Annual Meeting!