Preventive Medicine calls for papers / meetings & conferences

Call for Papers: Under Control?--Alcohol and Drug Regulation, Past and Present

Papers and panel proposals are invited for an international conference on the history of alcohol and drug regulation to be held in Bristol, UK 21-23rd June 2013.

The conference will explore all aspects of drug, tobacco and alcohol regulation. Work covering all periods and places, including recent history, will be considered.

Proposals

Panel proposals (3 x 20-minute papers) or individual papers (20 minutes) are invited. We will also consider proposals for fringe sessions using non-conventional formats e.g. screenings, debates etc.

Subjects may include (but are not limited to):

- Global drugs trade and the war on drugs

- Policymaking and the political process

- Regulation of drugs in art, film and literature

- Temperance and its influences

- Crime and policing

- Tobacco control

- Alcohol control, pricing and licensing

- Regulation of advertising, marketing and other media

- Religion and alcohol or drugs

- Dependency and treatment

- Drugs and alcohol in politics and social movements

- Use and control of drugs in premodern cultures

- Alcohol and drugs in popular culture

Proposal formats:

- Panel sessions: brief abstracts (c. 200 words) of each paper plus a brief statement (c. 200 words) outlining the panel theme and a brief biography of participants.

- Single papers: brief abstract (c. 200 words) and brief biography

- Fringe events: Outline of proposed event (up to 500 words) including proposed content, technical requirements and rationale.

Deadline

The deadline for proposals is 30th September 2012

Please send all submissions to undercontrol2013@gmail.com

Travel and accommodation

We hope to make bursaries available to graduate students and early-career academics. Further details will be provided on acceptance of submissions.

Publications

Selected papers from Under Control? will be published in a collected edition and we have an expression of interest from an international publisher.

Support

Under Control? is sponsored by the Alcohol and Drugs History Society, the Society for the Social History of Medicine, Bath Spa University, Bowling Green State University and Brock University.

Call for Abstracts: International Society for Disease Surveillance Annual Conference

The ISDS Annual Conference is the premier event dedicated to the advancement of the science and practice of biosurveillance. This year’s theme, Expanding Collaborations to Chart a New Course in Public Health Surveillance, will highlight the importance of working together across agencies, sectors, and disciplines to improve surveillance methods and population health outcomes. The conference will be held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina in San Diego, CA, December 4-5, 2012, with Pre-Conference Workshops on December 3rd.

The ISDS Conference draws professionals from a broad range of disciplines— epidemiology and computer science to mathematical modeling and health policy—to learn and contribute the latest achievements, methodologies, best practices, conceptual frameworks, and technical innovations in the rapidly evolving field of biosurveillance. This year's conference will provide fertile ground for cultivating new ideas and partnerships with roundtable discussions, panels and other opportunities to collaborate.

The scope of this conference includes all of the components, policies, methods, practices, infrastructure, research and evaluation related to timely surveillance of communicable diseases, chronic diseases and injuries. This includes notifiable conditions, adverse events and emerging/novel threats; biological, chemical, and radiological health threats; plant, animal, and food surveillance; and environmental monitoring.

Questions regarding the Call for Abstracts may be sent to Tera Reynolds, ISDS Program Manager.

Submission deadline: September 6, 2012 (11:59pm Eastern Daylight Time)

Authors notified of acceptance: October 3, 2012

Pre-Conference Workshops: December 3, 2012

Annual Conference: December 4-5, 2012

Submission Types

Note: All abstracts for the ISDS Conference will be submitted using ScholarOne. There is a limit of 4810 characters for the text of your submission. The character count includes spaces. The character count WILL include title, authors, institutions, tables, and images, but WILL NOT include presenting author brief biographical summaries (bios) or the abstract summary that will be used in the conference program.

Oral

All abstracts submitted for oral presentation are automatically considered for poster presentation as well. Include the following components when submitting an abstract for oral presentation:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Methods

· Results

· Conclusions

· Acknowledgements

· References

· Names and affiliations of authors

· Brief bio of lead author/intended presenter (450 characters/75 words)

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of submission to be used in conference program

Poster

Include the following components when submitting an abstract for poster presentation:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Methods

· Results

· Conclusions

· Acknowledgements

· References

· Names and affiliations of authors

· Brief bio of lead author/intended presenter (450 characters/75 words)

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of submission (for potential inclusion in conference program)

Panel *New for 2012*

Panel topics should be a specific aspect of design, theory, application, or experience pertaining to the science or practice of biosurveillance. Suggested panels should be comprised of no more than four participants and a moderator. A typical panel session will consist of four 15 minute presentations, each followed by 5 minutes of questions, with 10 minutes for closing discussion (presentation lengths will be subject to change based on final agenda). When submitting an abstract for a panel, include the following components:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Panel description

· How the moderator intends to engage the audience in discussions on the panel topic

· Names of panel presenters, moderator and affiliations

· Brief bios for each panel presenter and moderator (450 characters/75 words each) for abstract reviewers to assess appropriateness to serve on the panel for the described topic

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of panel to be used in conference program

Roundtable *New for 2012*

Roundtables can have up to three facilitators to briefly introduce the topic of interest and facilitate active discussion among attendees. Roundtables must be discussion-oriented rather than didactic, lecture-driven sessions. Roundtable discussions will be 60-90 minutes (depending on final agenda). When submitting an abstract for a roundtable, include the following components:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Roundtable description

· How the facilitator intends to engage the audience in the roundtable discussion, including sample questions

· Names of facilitators and affiliations

· Brief bios for each facilitator (450 characters/75 words each) for abstract reviewers to assess appropriateness to lead a discussion on the described topic

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of roundtable to be used in conference program

System Showcase Demonstrations *New for 2012*

System showcase demonstrations will be presented during the evening poster session on the first day of the conference. A typical demonstration will illustrate one or more aspects of an innovative population/public health surveillance system that is in use or under development. Demonstrations of open source and/or free products are strongly encouraged. System showcase demonstrations are not intended to be marketing or sales presentations and such submissions will be rejected; those interested in supporting the ISDS conference with an exhibit booth should contact Tera Reynolds at ISDS for more information. When submitting an abstract for a system showcase demonstration, include the following components:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Description, highlighting benefits to public/population health surveillance and how this demonstration will be a unique addition to the ISDS conference

· Conclusions, including lessons learned and design principles from this demonstration that attendees can take away, even if not using or intending to use the system demonstrated

· Names of demonstrators and affiliations

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of showcase to be used in conference program

Track Descriptions

I. Analytical Methods

a. Analytical Methods: Applied

b. Analytical Methods: Research & Development

This theme is focused on important and novel advances in the field of surveillance methodologies and analytical approaches. Abstracts in the Applied sub-track should describe methods or processes routinely used in a production-type environment. Abstracts in the Research and Development sub-track should describe methods and processes still under development or tested within a research or pilot setting. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

· Analytic evaluation of surveillance components

· Decision support

· Estimating morbidity and impact

· Evaluation of algorithms and systems through epidemic simulation

· Geospatial analysis

· Innovative use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology

· Integrating evidence from multiple sources

· Integration of mathematical modeling and statistical analyses

· New algorithms and evaluation of existing algorithms for cluster and event detection

· Pattern recognition algorithms

· Predictive disease modeling/predictive analytics

· Spatial cluster detection

· Statistical methods and tools for analyzing and interpreting data

· Time series analysis

II. Informatics

a. Informatics: Applied

b. Informatics: Research & Development

Abstracts in the Applied sub-track should describe methods or processes routinely used in a production-type environment. Abstracts in the Research and Development sub-track should describe methods and processes still under development or tested within a research or pilot setting. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

· Advances in methods for classifying data

· Approaches to building interoperable surveillance systems and components

· Borderless data exchange models (e.g. federated information sharing approaches)

· Cloud computing for public health surveillance

· Data integration – acquiring, moving, storing, processing, coding, normalizing, and preparing data for analysis between systems

· Data quality

· Data visualization methods

· Electronic health records and public health surveillance

· Health information exchange

· How clinical information systems can support public health surveillance efforts

· How public health information systems can support clinical efforts

· Informatics lessons learned

· Information and knowledge exchange

· Innovations in public health informatics

· Mobile technologies for public health

· Natural language processing

· Standards and Interoperability Framework (Public Health Reporting Initiative)

· Standards used in public health surveillance

· System architectures for limited connectivity environments and disaster surveillance

· System architectures for surveillance in low-resource environments

· System architectures to leverage HIE for public health surveillance

· System descriptions of real-world solutions to challenging integration problems

· Workforce requirements and training

· Use of social media for biosurveillance

III. Policy (at local, state, federal, international levels)

This theme is focused on sharing successes, challenges or approaches leveraged in the use or development of policy which affects biosurveillance operations and activities. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

· Creating successful surveillance partnerships

· Data sharing policies

· Federal policy agendas

· Funding strategies for surveillance

· How public health surveillance data have been used to inform policy

· International Health Regulations

· Legal/ethical/security/privacy issues in surveillance

· Meaningful Use responses by public health departments

· Policies around social media/leveraging social networks for risk communication, etc.

· Research collaborations to expand evidence-based health policy

· Workforce

IV. Public/Population health surveillance

a. Public/Population Health Surveillance: Practice

b. Public/Population Health Surveillance: Research

c. Public/Population Health Surveillance: Evaluation

This theme is focused on improving the daily processes of timely public/population health surveillance, including detection, signal validation, event characterization, investigation, and response. Abstracts in the Practice sub-track should describe practices routinely used in a production environment and/or deployed in field by public health departments or other agencies. Abstracts in the Research sub-track should describe research related to surveillance, health systems, etc. Abstracts in the Evaluation sub-track should describe evaluations of public/population health surveillance systems, workflows, protocols, etc. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

· Adverse drug events and pharmacovigilance

· Case studies

· Chronic disease surveillance

· Collaboration success stories

· Contact tracing and network analysis

· Disaster/event surveillance

· Disparities surveillance

· Evaluation of surveillance systems

· Infectious disease surveillance

· Influenza-like illness surveillance

· Injury surveillance

· Innovations in biosurveillance

· Integrating surveillance across multiple data sources

· Integrating surveillance systems, e.g. syndromic and reportable diseases

· Linking response with frontline health workers

· Meaningful Use and how it’s changing/not changing surveillance practice

· Measuring vaccine efficacy, coverage, etc.

· Messaging/risk communication (what to say to the public, politicians and media about syndromic systems alerts)

· Mobile technologies for public health

· Novel approaches to communicable diseases surveillance and reporting (e.g., notifiable conditions, MRSA, nosocomial infections)

· OneHealth

· Outbreak detection, characterization and outbreak management

· School and university surveillance

· Situational awareness

· Social media and surveillance

· Surveillance across borders

· Surveillance for refugees and recent immigrants

· Surveillance in resource-limited settings

· Surveillance using ambulatory care data

· Surveillance using inpatient data

· Vaccine-preventable disease surveillance

2013 Call for Presentation Proposals: DiversityRx 2013 Conference--the Eighth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations

Achieving Equity in an Era of Innovation and Health System Transformation

March 11-14, 2013, Oakland, California

New partnerships between health care organizations and communities, research into improved ways to deliver care, and changes in health care policy are opening up opportunities to achieve equity and the highest quality health care for culturally diverse populations. In this time of transition, practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and advocates for health equity can focus attention on implementation, participation and improving health outcomes for individuals and communities. The 2013 conference will offer participants the opportunity to hear from experts and front-line leaders about how diverse populations are affected by:

state and national reform efforts
changes to the Medicaid program
innovative technology for information management and outreach
social determinants of health
other practice and financing developments.

As always, the conference will continue to feature both established and innovative cultural and linguistic competence and disparity reduction programs and policies from across the country and abroad.

Presentation proposals are due by Friday, June 1, 2012.

We invite you to submit presentation proposals for this nationally acclaimed conference, which attracts over 600 participants every two years. Health care professionals, community representatives, advocates, policymakers, researchers and others from the U.S. and around the world can submit brief proposals on good practices and innovative approaches related to the following thematic categories:

language access
culturally competent care/disparity reduction
cultural competence/disparity reduction education and training
organizational cultural competence
policy
research

Prior to submitting a presentation proposal, we encourage you to view the 2010 program.

With over 200 presentations featured at the conference, a host of topics will be addressed. A detailed list of potential presentation topics can be found here.

Proposals are being accepted for a variety of presentation formats:

Main Conference Sessions
Main Conference Oral Presentations (concurrent workshops and peer-to-peer sessions)
Poster presentations
Film Festival presentations
Preconference Sessions (Preconference will take place on Monday, March 11, 2013)
Preconference Intensive training sessions
Special Sessions (may be held as a concurrent session during the main conference or may be held as breakfast sessions or evening sessions. Please indicate scheduling preference in the Comments to Organizers section of your submission.)

Presentation proposals are due by Friday June 1, 2012.

Concurrent Session Call for Programs: School and College Organization for Prevention Educators (SCOPE) 2012 Annual Conference

SCOPE is soliciting program proposals for its 2nd Annual Conference, to be held October 18-20, 2012 at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, FL.

• The Call for Programs closes on June 1, 2012.
• Notifications of acceptance/rejection will go out electronically by June 15, 2012.

Selections will be based on the following criteria:

o Relevance to the topics of: advocacy, alcohol abuse, bullying, bystander intervention, diversity, drug abuse, eating disorders, harassment, hazing, mental health, peer education, primary prevention, relationship/domestic/intimate partner violence, research, sexual assault, sexuality, sexual health, social norms, stalking, suicide, tobacco
o Completeness, detail and professionalism of the proposal
o Willingness of presenters to facilitate roundtable discussions in addition to their concurrent session(s)
o Evidence‐based, promising and innovative model programs/practices are welcome
o Engaging format, presenters and/or concepts

• You are encouraged to submit multiple proposals
• Co‐presented sessions are encouraged
• All presenters must register for the conference. You need not be a SCOPE member to attend, nor present.
• If accepted, presentation materials will be due on September 4, 2012.

All emails should be directed to Michelle Issadore, executive director via email to execdir@wearescope.org. To reach the SCOPE office by phone, call 610.993.0227.

Call for Conference Workshop Proposals: 2012 National Refugee and Immigrant Conference: Issues and Innovations

Thursday, October 18, 2012-Friday, October 19, 2012 Chicago, Illinois

Soliciting Proposals from Professionals in
Pre-K-12 Education ~ Adult Education ~ Health Care ~ Marriage and Parenting Education
Family Support Services ~ Job Development ~ Refugee and Immigrant Services ~ Cultural Orientation
Capacity-Building ~ Community Organizations ~ Advocacy ~ Social Media

The aim of this national conference is to identify issues, emphasize best practices, and highlight innovations by providing those who work with refugees and immigrants an opportunity to learn from and to network with one another.

Families of refugees and immigrants in the U.S. must do their best to manage transitions into new communities. Many of these families encounter financial hardship, difficulty in gaining employment, cultural adjustments, health and mental issues, intergenerational conflicts, and the stresses of unfamiliar school experiences.

Services for preschool and K-12 refugee and immigrant youth and their families may be compromised by differing perceptions and misunderstandings (by both the families and those who provide services) concerning the cultural adjustment process; health, health care, and nutrition; public education enrollment and assessment, academic roles and expectations, the provision of bilingual education services and special education services, when appropriate; and American education law requirements.

To address these and other refugee and immigrant issues, individuals and nonprofit organizations need access to resources on successful practices and processes as well as solutions for challenges in refugee and immigrant integration.

Efforts to help youth and families will have a better chance of succeeding if they are based on shared understandings and collaborative partnerships among families, schools, health and mental health providers. In particular, as delineated in federal Title III of No Child Left Behind legislation, linking educators and families together can provide positive academic experiences and successful integration of refugee and immigrant children into our society.

Organizations also need to build their capacity to assist families by gaining resources through grant writing, and assisting adults to become self-sufficient in this economy through employment services and innovative practices such as microenterprise.

Please respond to the Call for Workshop Sessions with proposals for sessions that address these and related issues. Applications for respective sessions of interest to both new staff and experienced practitioners are sought. Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of clarity, relevance of content, replicability for other situations and programs, and interest to the conference audience. Please respond by May 31, 2012.

2012 Refugee and Immigrant Conference Committee

The Center/Adult Learning Resource Center
Chicago Public Schools
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights
Heartland Health Outreach
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Illinois Department of Human Services
Illinois Department of Public Health
Illinois State Board of Education
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago

Call for Workshop Proposals, continued 2012 Refugee and Immigrant Conference: Issues and Innovations

Presentation Ideas
If showcasing a program, discuss or show how the program could be replicated.

Education:
Preschool and K-12 Educational Issues for Refugee and Immigrant Students: developing dialogues among teachers of refugee students on best practices for integrating these students and their families into the American educational system including bilingual education program services and special education programs, where appropriate; providing early intervention for preschool students; newcomer services for primary, middle school, and high school students; educating teenage students with interrupted formal educations; encouraging career exploration and linkages to post-secondary educational opportunities
Adult Education Topics: adult literacy, family literacy, community integration, financial literacy
Family Life Education: strengthening refugee and immigrant families and facilitating productive cultural adjustment

Health Care:
Health Issues: health disparity, general concerns, healthcare reform, health promotion, health and nutrition education, women and children’s health, and accessing services for the disabled; ethical issues in refugee health care; strategies/models for increasing cultural competency among health care providers/pharmacists
Mental Health Issues: trauma-informed care, stress/depression/anxiety, family health, ethical issues in refugee mental health care, suicide risks; gang-related violence; and outreach and education efforts in refugee and immigrant communities with consideration of limited English among some populations

Family Support Services:
Multiple-risk Families: understanding and helping the most vulnerable: children with multiple risks from behavioral, emotional and health-related problems; effects of dislocation, including stress, suicide, gang violence and family disruptions

Employment: job development, job training, job placement; micro enterprise development

Capacity Building: grant writing, community collaboration, social media, advocacy, integration of service provision

Refugee Populations: emergent issues

Integrated Services:
Integrating Services and Networking among educators, counselors, and healthcare professionals to strengthen and improve responses to refugee and immigrant needs
Strategic Partnerships between families and service providers, emphasizing involvement, awareness and understanding

Issues of Citizenship & Immigration and Policy/Legislation/Updates: citizenship education, knowing your rights, immigration reform

Cultural Orientation: marriage/divorce practices, understanding school system/workplace, health practices, nuances of communication, relationships between the broader American community and immigrant and refugee populations

Types of Proposals Requested: Three Options

1. Workshop Session Proposal
Workshop sessions are a combination of presentations/audience interactions which include original problem statements and/or solutions. Presenters should include handout(s) for participants. Presentation length is 75 minutes.

2. Poster Session Proposal
Poster sessions are a way to communicate information from one professional to another through photos, illustrations, and items created by programs. Posters will be displayed in a conference breakout room. An eight-foot table will be provided. Along with a clearly designed display board, submitters should include handout(s) for viewers.

3. Video Theater Proposal
Video and digital media theater provides an opportunity to present VHS, DVD or other video media relevant to refugee and immigrant issues. The video should be the focus of the presentation, but include, at a minimum, opening remarks, closing comments, and handout(s). Only an LCD projector will be available in the video and digital media session room. Presenters must provide their own computers.

Call for Papers: 2nd HEC Paris Workshop on Regulation--Regulating Lifestyle Risks in Europe: The Case of Alcohol, Tobacco and Unhealthy Diets

September 27-28 Paris, France

In September 2011, the UN General Assembly declared that the global burden and threat of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) constituted one of the major challenges for development in the twenty-first century: in 2008, 36 of the 57 million deaths globally (63%) were attributed to NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. By recognizing NCDs as largely preventable, it urged the international community to take action at global, regional and national levels to prevent and control their surge. To this end it recommended the adoption of a 'regulatory mix' of multi-sectoral, cost-effective, population-wide interventions in order to reduce the impact of the common NCD risk factors, namely tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity. Yet how to respond to the growing incidence of NCDs is a major source of complexities in risk analysis and regulatory decision-making: the conditions in which people live, poverty, uneven distribution of wealth, lack of education, rapid urbanization and population ageing, as well as the economic, social, gender, political, behavioral and environmental determinants of health are all contributory factors to the prevalence of NCDs. At the same time, the legitimacy, the effectiveness as well as the design of any regulatory intervention aimed at promoting healthier lifestyle remain highly contested.

The European Union has recently recognized the growing impact of NCDs on the EU's economy and the well-being of its citizens and has consequently started to develop policies intended to tackle the four main factors to which they are linked. Nevertheless, if common themes emerge between the different EU policies intended to promote healthier lifestyles, no attempt has yet been made to systematize them.

We therefore propose to hold a two-day workshop with selected speakers and discussants to identify horizontal, common themes and determine whether the lessons learned in relation to each area of EU intervention may be transposed to the others. More generally, this workshop will offer an opportunity for researchers (PhD students, post-docs, researchers and established academics), policy makers and other stakeholders to reflect on the role which the European Union should play in promoting healthier lifestyles, in light of the moral, philosophical, legal and political challenges associated with the regulation of individual choices. Special attention will be paid to the role that the relevant industries may realistically be called to play in tackling the rising tide of NCDs.

The questions the workshop will focus on include (but are not limited to):

- the role of the EU in promoting healthier lifestyle and how powers should be shared between the EU and its Member States in public health matters;

- the role of consumer information, taxation, reformulation and marketing restrictions with regard to tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food in promoting healthier lifestyles and their impact on the EU internal market;

- the international role the EU can/should play and its relationship with the World Health Organization and other international organizations, as a result of the conclusion of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the 2004 WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and the 2007 WHO Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Use of Alcohol;

- identification of the drivers behind the emergence of an EU lifestyle policy: is there an economic case for regulating lifestyle health risk determinants?

- the role of the EU impact assessment system in the preparation of legislative proposals and rule-making;

- the role played by the principles of transparency, consultation, and proportionality in ensuring that the legitimate interests of key stakeholders are sufficiently taken into account;

- the role of various stakeholders in supporting healthier lifestyles, including the role of the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and the EU Alcohol and Health Forum;

- the assessment of different policy initiatives to determine the most appropriate forms of intervention (statutory regulation, self-regulation, co-regulation, nudges) in relevant policy areas;

- the challenge of integrating the findings of behavioral research into lifestyle policy-making, in particular the potential role and legitimacy of nudge-inspired measures in changing individual behavior and establishing social norms;

- the extent to which tobacco control may represent a blueprint for the regulation of lifestyle risks in the EU; - what the specific characteristics of EU regulation are that make problems easier or harder to solve than at national level;

- the extent to which the particular vulnerability of children requires a targeted regulatory intervention;

- the role the right to health and other fundamental rights should play in the debate;

- the impact of lifestyle regulation policies on the IP system, such as trademarks, and technological innovation, such as e-cigarettes, food reformulation and food supplements;

- the extent to which it is beneficial and justified to talk about an emerging EU lifestyle policy;

- the constraints imposed by the WTO Agreements to the emergence of a EU lifestyle regulation policy.

Organisers

- Alberto Alemanno, Associate Professor of Law at HEC Paris and Editor of the European Journal of Risk Regulation
- Amandine Garde, Senior Lecturer in Law and Director of the Durham European Law Institute, Durham University

Event

The event will consist of a two-day workshop to be held at HEC Paris Campus on 27 and 28 September 2012. The workshop is supported by the Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law & Risk Regulation as well as by the HEC Paris Foundation.

Outcomes

It is anticipated that the papers presented at the workshop will form the basis of an edited collection.

Submissions

Please submit an abstract of between 300 and 500 words, including a title, to :

- Alberto Alemanno, alemanno@hec.fr and

- Amandine Garde, amandine.garde@durham.ac.uk by Tuesday 22nd May 2012.

Call for Abstracts: Dynamics of Preparedness Conference

October 22-24, 2012 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The University of Pittsburgh MIDAS National Center of Excellence, in cooperation with the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice and the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard School of Public Health, invite researchers, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows to the Dynamics of Preparedness Conference in Pittsburgh, October 22–24, 2012.

Purpose: The past decade has seen unprecedented investments in research on preparedness from many sectors of government and the private sector. Numerous reports have appeared, evaluating the preparedness status of states and communities. Dynamics of Preparedness will convene researchers from diverse disciplines to present, critique, and consider the future of research on emergency preparedness in public health systems.

Dynamics describes the complex interactivity among numerous governmental, private, and voluntary components of public health systems. Systems must adapt to emergencies and disasters —both as individuals, agencies, and organizations and as system components affecting the populations served—in ways that often produce unexpected, secondary impacts. Preparedness includes prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery relevant to infectious disease outbreaks as well as other emergencies and disasters.

Goals:

Compile research on public health systems that support preparedness, specifically highlighting innovative methods and novel approaches.
Critique the rigor and quality of output from this research arena, noting the findings and insights with implications for public policy and practical application.
Catalogue the issues and problems where the evidence base for preparedness policy and practice remains weak as an agenda for future research and seek solution-focused innovations.

Dynamics of Preparedness will feature sessions in:

Data: resources for, as well as barriers and constraints upon, quantitative and qualitative research

Innovations: methodological challenges and novel multi-disciplinary approaches

Outcomes: demonstrations, observational studies, and comparisons focused on the outcomes of response to public health emergencies

Modeling: use of computational, conceptual, and mathematical modeling to explore legal frameworks, resource deployment, and operational efficiency and effectiveness under resource-constrained conditions

Progress of Research: presentation of studies on the critical themes of system sustainability, communications, workforce capabilities, and criteria and metrics and on the cross-cutting issues of legal infrastructure and special-needs populations

Translation: utility and application of research results for policy making and practice

Call for Abstracts: Research perspectives at this conference will include: law and policy—including statutory authorities, organizational structures, and governance characteristics; economic resources—including finances, workforce, physical assets, equipment, and facilities; and operational effectiveness—as measured by performance processes and outcomes, quality improvement and quality assurance, and operational plans and protocols. The Conference will welcome innovative computational researchers who have entered the field of public health systems using methods from systems engineering, mathematical simulation, computational modeling, natural-language processing, Bayesian statistics, and other fields.

Deadline for submission: Friday, June 1, 2012

Selection and Notification: Selected abstract authors will be notified beginning June 30, 2012.

Call for Abstracts: 5th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights

September 19-22, 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

The Scientific Committee of the 5th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights is pleased to invite Abstracts (oral presentations and posters) exploring the overall theme of the conference – “Sexual Health and Rights in Africa – Where Are We?” and through the following sub-themes:

- Adolescent and Youth Sexuality
- Women’s and Girls Sexuality
- Disabilities and Sexual Rights
- Sexual Rights and Sex Work
- HIV/AIDS and Sexuality
- Sexuality, Culture and Religion
- Sexual and Reproductive Rights (Legal, Policy and Programme Issues- financing, equity, access, implementation, enforcement and redress)
- Sexual Orientation, Sexual/Gender Identity and Sexual and Reproductive Rights
- Capacity building and Knowledge Management

Abstract Format
1. 15-minute oral presentations (10 minutes presentation + 5 minutes for questions).

2. 5 minute oral poster presentations (3 minutes for presentation + 2 minutes for questions).

Authors may choose among the following abstract formats:

- Standard format (Introduction and objectives, Method(s), Results and Conclusion).

- Qualitative Research Studies (Introduction, Method(s), Findings and discussion, Recommendations and References)

- Experiential & Practice Samples (Introduction, Action. Outcome, Discussion, Recommendations and References).

- Historical Survey (Introduction, Approach, Findings and discussions and References).

Abstracts Submission & Evaluation Criteria
- Abstracts should be submitted for poster and podium presentations.

- All abstracts must be submitted online at www.africasexuality.org/abstract/openconf.php

- Abstracts can be submitted in English, French or Portuguese.

- Abstracts will be printed as submitted. It is the author’s responsibility to submit the abstract in the correct order with no spelling or grammar errors.

- Abstracts that are not received in the proper format will not be considered for review by the Scientific Committee.

- The Abstract should include a summary of not more than 200 words and an extended abstract of 2-3 pages (Arial font 11, spacing 1.5).

- The abstract should provide as much relevant information as possible and should follow the one of the 4 formats highlighted above.

- The title should be in capital letters.

- For multiple submissions, consistency in authors’ names should be maintained to avoid duplication in the Author index of the final Program.

- The presenting author’s name should be listed first and underlined.

- Authors must indicate the name of the funders (if any) of research being presented.

- Authors must disclose any potential conflict of interest for their research.

- PowerPoint presentations using a PC data projector will be the standard method of visual data presentation.

- Authors should indicate whether they prefer a podium or poster presentation.

- The final decision on the presentation format will be made by the Scientific Committee.

- Receipt of all abstracts will be acknowledged by e-mail.

- All accepted abstracts will be published in the Conference Proceedings, online and may be reproduced in relevant scientific journals.

- Submitted Abstracts will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

For further information and questions, contact conference@africasexuality.org

Submission Deadline: June 30, 2012

Conference Host
Namibia Planned Parenthood Association
P.O. Box 10936
Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: +264 61 230250
Fax: +264 61 230251
Email: conference@africasexuality.org
www.nappa.com.na

Call for Posters: 10th International Rotavirus Symposium

19 - 21 September 2012 Bangkok, Thailand

The 10th International Rotavirus Symposium will be held 19-21 September, 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. It will bring together interested stakeholders to provide an update on new data and relevant research that will inform public health agendas related to prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis.

Main Session Topics
Participants will discuss the latest results of trials of new rotavirus vaccines in developing country settings, issues in vaccine policy and introduction, and early post-marketing data on vaccine impact and safety. Scheduled sessions include:

* Update on rotavirus vaccines
* Early experiences with introduction of new rotavirus vaccines
* Epidemiology and burden of rotavirus disease
* The pipeline for rotavirus vaccines
* The next steps for rotavirus vaccines

Call for Posters
(Abstract deadline - 30 June, 2012)

The Scientific Organizing Committee is calling for posters relevant to rotavirus, rotavirus vaccines, and rotavirus vaccine introduction experience. A copy of each of the accepted poster abstracts will be included in the symposium program book, and some will be asked to present at the symposium. Please send abstracts to rotavirus@sabin.org

Please limit your abstract proposal to one page and include the following information:

* Contact Information (name, address, phone, & email)
* Author(s)
* Title
* Abstract: 250-400 word limit with 4 sections- Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions. If the poster is accepted, this abstract is the description that will be published (verbatim) in the symposium program book.

Call for Abstracts: Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology 2013 Congress (APSC 2013)

February 21-24, 2013 Pattaya, Thailand

Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 August 2012

The Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology 2013 Congress (APSC 2013) or the 19th Asia Pacific Congress of Cardiology is a major regional event that aims to facilitate a discussion about the best practices and latest advances in cardiology diseases across the Asia Pacific region. With its strong global presence, APSC 2013 will provide unique networking opportunitites for local and regional professionals working in the fields of cardiovascular diseases and related topics. APSC 2013 will feature an exciting scientific program comprised of both international and local perspectives on the most pertinent issues of the day. The congress will be held in Pattaya, Thailand, once a quiet fishing town that has developed into a major seaside destination. Located a mere two hours from the capital city of Bangkok, Pattaya will enchant you with its many attractions and activities, including the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo, Sanctuary of Truth and much more.

The Scientific Committee invites all interested individuals to submit abstracts to The Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology 2013 Congress (APSC 2013).

Accepted abstracts will be selected for either Oral or Poster presentations.

All accepted abstracts will be published in the event proceedings.

Abstract Topics

Abstracts can be submitted under the following categories:

1. Atherosclerosis / CAD
2. Hypertension
3. Lipid Disorders/Other risk factors
4. Diabetes/Obesity
5. Heart Failure/Vascular disease/Other Heart Disease
6. Rhythm Disorders / Sudden Death
7. Health economics/Epidemiology
8. Prevention/Psychosocial Factors / Quality of Life/Smoking

Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding The Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology 2013 Congress (APSC 2013), please do not hesitate to contact us;

Email: apscoffice2013@apsc2013.org

Tel: + 66 (0) 2 748-7881
Fax: + 66 (0) 2 748-7880

Kenes Asia (Thailand Office)
PICO Building, 10 Soi Lasalle 56
Sukhumwit, Bangna, Bangkok 10260
THAILAND