ATOD Section Chair's Column

September 2009

By Ann Mahony

As the Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Section puts the finishing touches on its program for the Philadelphia meeting between Nov.7-11, 2009, there is cause for celebration. The Section’s Business Meeting will be held on Saturday, Nov. 7, starting at 1 p.m., and on Sunday, Nov. 8, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. in the Marriott hotel.  Please come!  As Section members, this is your opportunity to participate and influence the Section’s priorities, annual program development and events.  Thanks to the time and commitment of the ATOD leadership team and the other sections’ members including the 50 abstract reviewers that the annual program is put in place, that APHA responds to legislative proposals on Capitol Hill, and that students are mentored to enter the alcohol, tobacco and other drug area of specialty in public health.  On this theme, the second annual ATOD Student Poster Showcase will take place on Monday, Nov. 9, from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Philadelphia Convention Center’s Hall A/B (sessions 3072 and 3073).  The Section’s goal in sponsoring the Student Showcase is to provide the Section with the opportunity to mentor students’ work, provide opportunity for students to meet with the leaders in the ATOD field and to provide a small stipend to students underwritten by the Section’s fundraising efforts.  The students will be formally recognized at the Section’s awards event on Tuesday evening from 6:30-8 p.m. along with other awardees including the Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Tom Babor.  Dr. Babor pioneered work in screening and brief intervention, which has resulted in the movement of identifying alcohol and drug problems before dependence in the primary care setting.  

The ATOD Section will continue to distinguish itself by printing an ATOD Section Program Guide highlighting the Section’s program agenda and events.  The Guide will be made available at both the ATOD Section booth #134 and the SHIN booth.  Information is also available online: http://apha.confex.com/apha/137am/webprogram/ATOD.html.

As the conversation on health reform remains alive, the move toward the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of tobacco is closer.  The opportunity for public comment remains open until Sept. 29, 2009 at the agency’s Web site:  http://fda.gov/tobacco.  Nominations to the FDA Committee’s on Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee are also being sought: http://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/TobaccoProductsScientificAdvisoryCommittee/default.htm. This request for nominations for the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee was announced in the Federal Register issued on Wednesday, August 26, 2009, Docket FDA-2009-N-0394 and is available at:  http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-20487.pdf.

I look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia.