Title: ATOD Chair’s Column

Author:

Section/SPIG: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs

Issue Date:

---

May 15, 2004

Once again, ATOD had the highest number of abstracts submitted for scientific sessions for the APHA Annual Meeting. We are excited about this year's program, and invite you to join us in Washington, D.C., Nov. 6-10, 2004 for high-quality, informative, and innovative sessions.
I would like to thank all those who helped plan this year’s program, and the large number of people who reviewed abstracts.

The ATOD leadership is working to raise visibility for ATOD issues and has initiated meetings with various government agencies to create ongoing dialogue about collaboration and mutual priorities. We also want to increase our advocacy efforts, and have made a concerted effort to make sure that advocacy is included in the mix of scientific sessions.

Our next newsletter will include tips on how to write effective abstracts, particularly for community-based and advocacy-oriented sessions (that are sometimes more difficult to capture in the abstract format). We are also working to further simplify abstract submission and review for next year.

We invite your active participation in the Section. We have an outstanding field of candidates for Section leadership positions, so please remember to cast your vote. Please also take the opportunity to nominate your colleagues for our ATOD leadership awards, and let us know about your policy and advocacy priorities. I can be reached at <dianac@parca.org>.

I look forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting in November!

Diana Conti