In this time of political and economic uncertainty, I suspect that many of you, like me, have been trying to stay attuned, monitoring the forces that may impede the ability of our profession to meaningfully advance the public’s health. These forces include the growing challenges to funding for both public health generally and epidemiologic work specifically, as well as to our field’s ability to maintain, let alone grow, core capacity for public health work. A conversation I had last year with a former professor, a distinguished epidemiologist, highlights one of these challenges. He explained his dismay about a growing trend away from fully funded, “hard money” epidemiologist positions at universities and public health agencies to “soft money,” grant-driven positions. This trend, in his view, has inevitably led to greater proportions of epidemiologists becoming dependent on external funding for their work. This work then often becomes focused more on answering the questions of external funders than on answering the questions raised locally in terms of practical public health or in terms of the body of work within scientific disciplines themselves.

One might ask: What key public issues are ignored when funding, rather than public health needs in our communities, directs our work?   What important public health interventions are not translated to practice because of the lack of funders’ interest in addressing some specific public health needs?

As chair of one of APHA’s largest and oldest sections, let me challenge you, as members of the Epidemiology Section, to continue watching public health over the next months and years and to consider how this Section might be more effective in advancing our profession and defining its relevance. I welcome your comments as letters to the editor or personal comments to our Section leadership.

As one way to continue the conversation, the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the Congress of Epidemiology Societies is hosting an invited session at this year’s Annual Meeting in San Diego about the “Future of Epidemiology” on Monday, Oct. 27. We have invited some leading epidemiologists. Please plan on attending that session. More information will be available as the meeting draws closer. I look forward to the coming Annual Meeting in San Diego — one of the first U.S. west coast meetings in several years!

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Current Epi. Section Activities

This spring newsletter is the newsletter that bridges the gap between our Annual Meetings, so it will highlight some of our Section activities and news so far this year and tell you more about what is coming up for the annual meeting Oct. 26-29 in San Diego.  

Update on Abstracts Submitted to the Section

Our Section has had an extraordinary response of submitted abstracts to our call for abstracts for the Annual Meeting. Thank you to all abstract reviewers who reviewed the work of peers and students. As of this writing, the Section program committee, led by Dr. Aaron Mendelsohn, has nearly completed its work, organizing our Section’s Annual Meeting sessions, which cover a wide variety of topics. APHA program organizers have recently sent e-mails to notify authors regarding the status of their submitted abstracts. Also, the committee has organized a great array of invited sessions on important public health topics, including several specifically focused on issues related to the theme of the annual meeting, “Public Health Without Borders.” Information about the Epidemiology Section program will be posted within the next few months on APHA’s Web site.

APHA Epidemiology Section Leadership Elections Glitch

In late May, APHA elections notices were e-mailed to all sections’ members asking members to use unique logins to vote for their choices for new leadership openings for next year (Section Councilor and six Section Governing Councilor positions were open). You may have noticed that about a week or more after the first e-mail, APHA sent another e-mail asking members to vote or re-vote, and the voting deadline was extended to the first week of July since not all candidates who had been nominated were listed on the original Web site.

If you have already voted, thank you. If there is still time to vote by the time you receive this newsletter, please do so. Click this link for more information. It is very important that our Section leadership reflect the support of the majority of our membership! In the coming years, Section elections will occur from May to June. Thank you to all of those who stepped up to run for leadership this year. Those of you interested in finding out more about future leadership opportunities, please contact me or any of the other leaders.

Update on Epi. Section Awards and Award Ceremony Scheduling

The three awards groups (Career, Public Health Practice, and Student Awards) of the Section Awards Committee, led overall by Dr. Claudia A Kozinetz, have also been working, and so far we are excited with both nominees and award winners now being selected. The Public Health Practice Awards group, led by Dr. Kristopher P. Fennie, is extending the call for nominations of these awards until July 20 and requests your help identifying both organizations and early career (less than 10 years) individuals who have used epidemiology to make measurable public health impacts.  Please see below the call for nominations for APHA Epidemiology Section Public Health Practice Awards.

This year we are planning on highlighting those winning these distinguished awards in two separate sessions. On Monday, Oct. 27, from 2:30 – 4 p.m., we will have the Career Awards Ceremony, featuring the Wade Hampton Frost Lecture and shorter lectures from other winners. On Tuesday, Oct. 28, from 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m., we will have a combined Student Awards Ceremony and Career Session.  We are hoping that students and our professional colleagues will continue discussions from both sessions by networking and celebrating with Section leadership at the Section Social Tuesday evening (more details coming)!

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Looking Ahead

Student Involvement

I want to start with a special plug for students who are interested in getting involved with our Section. In this issue, Section student leaders introduce themselves and tell you how you can get more involved as student members. Please read more below and contact these student leaders!

Upcoming Epi. Section Meetings

For those of you coming to San Diego, please plan on attending one or more Epidemiology Section meetings on Saturday night, Oct. 25; Sunday night, Oct. 26; or bright and early Tuesday morning before the first 8:30 a.m. session. Details about specific times and locations will be available on APHA’s Web site, in our fall newsletter, and at the Section’s Booth in the exhibit area at the conference.

A Change in Scheduling of Awards Ceremonies

I have mentioned this change above already, but want to underline it. Look for two ceremonies this year: (1) Monday, Oct. 27, from 2:30 – 4 p.m.: the Career Awards Ceremony, featuring the Wade Hampton Frost Lecture and shorter lectures from other winners, and (2) Tuesday, Oct. 28, from 10:30 a.m. –12 p.m.: a combined Student Awards Ceremony and Career Session.  So professional colleagues and students, let’s celebrate at both ceremonies — and continue the celebrating and networking at the Tuesday evening Section Social.

Invitation to Contribute to our Newsletter

We are looking for your ideas and contributions for our quarterly newsletter.  If you have an important announcement or would like to briefly highlight some important epidemiologic findings, please contact Mr. Oscar Alleyne.  The next deadline for newsletter items is Sept. 15.

Invitation to Join our Section

If you are not a member of the Section and wish to be, don’t forget, APHA now allows multiple section memberships.  We welcome any colleagues from other sections to also join the Epidemiology Section!

I remain excited about the participation of Section members and leaders, including students, and professional partners from other sections and epidemiology societies, in advancing the mission of our Section.  Looking forward to a great year for the APHA Epidemiology Section!  

Yours truly,

Dr. Jim Gaudino