Call for Abstracts Now Open for the 10th TEPHINET Global Scientific Conference

Call for Abstracts

The Global FETP Enterprise: Applied Epidemiology in the 21st Century
10^th TEPHINET Global Scientific Conference
October 28-November 1, 2019
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

The TEPHINET Advisory Scientific Committee invites trainees and graduates of field-based training programs in applied epidemiology, veterinary, laboratory, and public health practice to submit abstracts (in English only) for consideration (see details below).

I. Sessions and Eligible Applicants

1. General Presentation Sessions (Oral and Poster)

Eligible applicants: Current trainees/fellows and recent graduates (i.e., those who graduated after January 1, 2017) from intermediate and advanced level field-based training programs in applied epidemiology, veterinary, laboratory, and public health practice.

2. Special FETP Frontline Presentation Session (Oral and Poster)

Eligible applicants: Current trainees/fellows and recent graduates (i.e., those who graduated after January 1, 2017) from Frontline or basic level field-based training programs in applied epidemiology, veterinary, laboratory, and public health practice.

3. Special Alumni Presentation Session (Oral)

Eligible applicants: For the first time, TEPHINET is accepting abstracts from alumni who graduated before January 1, 2017 from all levels (basic/Frontline, intermediate, and advanced) of field-based training programs in applied epidemiology, veterinary, laboratory, and public health practice. This special session complements the regular scientific program by highlighting the best work produced by alumni in the past two years. Alumni will be able to access the submission link in early May on TEPHIConnect, TEPHINET’s online networking platform for FETP alumni. Interested alumni should register for a user account on tephiconnect.org.

II. Eligibility of Topics

Abstracts should cover investigations or projects undertaken and completed during training and within the past two years (i.e., no earlier than December 2016). In particular, abstracts should emphasize how the results of the investigation or an analysis were used to direct public health actions and also describe or estimate the public health impact.

We are interested in abstracts describing outbreak investigations, implementation and evaluation of public health programs or surveillance activities, non-communicable diseases, and other areas in applied epidemiology or public health practice.

Abstracts should not represent work already published in peer-reviewed journals or previously accepted to an international conference (including TEPHINET global and regional conferences). Please refer to the attachments for guidance on abstract format, suggestions, and evaluation criteria.

III. Submission Procedures and Deadlines

1. For the General Presentation Sessions

Submission of abstracts: Individuals need to coordinate submissions with their program directors. Because of limited space for presentations and a desire to maintain high quality of submissions and broad regional representation, a maximum number of abstracts has been determined for any single program. To see the number of submissions allowed for your program or region, please see the table on pages 9-11 of the PDF version of the Call for Abstracts, available below in Section V. Attachments (Table 2. Number of Submissions allowed for Program or Region – Intermediate and Advanced).
Abstracts must be submitted by program directors or their respective delegates. The link to submit abstracts will be shared directly with programs by early May. The link will prompt program directors or their delegates to create an account and log into Ex Ordo, TEPHINET’s abstract management platform. For questions on this process, please contact Shanti Bazouma at sbazouma [at] tephinet [dot] org
NOTE: TEPHINET will NOT consider any abstract submitted by an individual who is not a program director or his/her delegate, nor will TEPHINET consider any abstracts submitted via email or outside of the Ex Ordo platform.
Deadline for final abstracts. The deadline for abstracts to be received via Ex Ordo is Tuesday, June 4, 2019 by 11:59 p.m. (23:59) EST. Please note that there will be NO extension to this deadline.
Evaluation. All abstracts submitted will be reviewed by three qualified independent scientific reviewers.
Acceptance. Applicants will be notified of acceptances by the second week of August.
Financial support. Financial support for travel is limited. If available, priority will be given to abstracts accepted for oral presentation. Programs are very much encouraged to identify a variety of methods to support travel early on, for those accepted.

2. For the Special FETP Frontline Presentation Session

Submission of abstracts: Individuals need to coordinate submissions with their program directors. Because of limited space for presentations and a desire to maintain high quality of submissions and broad regional representation, a maximum number of abstracts has been determined for any single program. To see the number of submissions allowed for your program or region, please see the table on pages 7-8 of the PDF version of the Call for Abstracts, available below in Section V. Attachments (Table 1. Number of Submissions allowed for Program or Region – Frontline).
Abstracts must be submitted by program directors or their respective delegates. The link to submit abstracts will be shared directly with programs by early May. The link will prompt program directors or their delegates to create an account and log into Ex Ordo, TEPHINET’s abstract management platform. For questions on this process, please contact Shanti Bazouma at sbazouma [at] tephinet [dot] org
NOTE: TEPHINET will NOT consider any abstract submitted by an individual who is not a program director or his/her delegate, nor will TEPHINET consider any abstracts submitted via email or outside of the Ex Ordo platform.
Deadline for final abstracts. The deadline for abstracts to be received via Ex Ordo is Tuesday, June 4, 2019 by 11:59 p.m. (23:59) EST. Please note that there will be NO extension to this deadline.
Evaluation. All abstracts submitted will be reviewed by three qualified independent scientific reviewers.
Acceptance. Applicants will be notified of acceptances by the second week of August.
Financial support. Financial support for travel is limited. If available, priority will be given to abstracts accepted for oral presentation. Programs are very much encouraged to identify a variety of methods to support travel early on, for those accepted.

3. For the Special Alumni Presentation Session

Submission of abstracts: An individual cannot submit more than one abstract.
The link to submit abstracts will be shared in early May on the TEPHIConnect website, www.tephiconnect.org. Interested alumni should register for a user account on TEPHIConnect in order to access the link. The link will prompt you to create an account and log into Ex Ordo, TEPHINET’s abstract management platform. For questions on this process, please contact Shanti Bazouma at sbazouma [at] tephinet [dot] org
Deadline for final abstracts. The deadline for abstracts to be received via Ex Ordo is Tuesday, June 4, 2019 by 11:59 p.m. (23:59) EST. Please note that there will be NO extension to this deadline.
Evaluation. All abstracts submitted will be reviewed by three qualified independent scientific reviewers.
Acceptance. Only 6 abstracts will be selected for this special session. Applicants will be notified of acceptances by the second week of August.
Financial support. TEPHINET’s TEPHIConnect program will cover the registration fees of selected oral presenters (for this session) who are registered members of TEPHIConnect (www.tephiconnect.org). Only registered members of TEPHIConnect are eligible for financial support.

IV. Travel Grant Opportunities

1. TEPHIConnect Travel Grant for FETP Alumni

Selected oral presenters for the Special Alumni Presentation Session who are registered members of TEPHIConnect (www.tephiconnect.org), TEPHINET’s online networking platform for FETP alumni, will have their conference registration fees covered by TEPHINET. TEPHINET will notify grantees in August 2019.

2. TEPHINET Travel Grant on Environmental Epidemiology for Planetary Health (Awarded in Memory of James Mendlein)

For the first time, TEPHINET is honored to offer a travel grant to the author of a study on environmental epidemiology and planetary health to help cover the cost of the author’s attendance at the 10^th TEPHINET Global Scientific Conference.

Planetary health is the health of the human civilization and the natural systems on which it depends. Epidemiological studies and monitoring of health determinants are essential to assess and tackle the impact of human societies on our ecosystems and environment. The complexity of the problem, with water, land, air and climate potentially affected, warrants an interdisciplinary approach, guided by the framework of epidemiology and public health interventions of TEPHINET.

Grant Amount and Coverage

The grant, in the amount of $3,000, will be awarded to one author to aid in covering travel costs (airfare, lodging, visa fees, transportation, meals and incidentals) to Atlanta, Georgia, USA to attend the conference from October 28-November 1, 2019.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible for this grant, the author must have submitted an abstract to the conference that meets the following criteria. The abstract must have been accepted for oral presentation. The grant will be offered first to the presenting author of the highest-scoring abstract that meets these criteria, as determined by our abstract reviewers and TEPHINET’s Scientific Committee. If that author cannot attend or accept the grant, it will be offered to the presenting author of the second highest-scoring abstract, and so on.

Abstract Criteria:

The abstract must describe a study by fellows or recent graduates (who graduated no earlier than January 2017) from Field Epidemiology Training Programs which is:

Based on interdisciplinary collaborations (i.e., epidemiology, environmental science, microbiology, social science, anthropology, entomology, ethics, veterinary medicine or other relevant fields) in the field of environmental health/epidemiology, and
Based on the analysis of social and environmental determinants of communicable diseases and noncommunicable diseases, the human health impact assessment of environmental risks (i.e., air pollution), or preparedness measures against climate-related health effects or natural disasters.

It must demonstrate public health relevance and clear recommendations for interventions.

Notification of Award

TEPHINET will notify the grant awardee via email in August 2019.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact Dr. Angela Hilmers, TEPHINET Senior Associate Director for Science, at ahilmers [at] tephinet [dot] org.

About James Mendlein, MPH, PhD, (CAPT, USPHS)

James Mendlein joined CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) in 1985, where he served in the Division of Injury Epidemiology and Control. He would later work in the Office of Surveillance and Analysis, and in the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity (1994-1999), where he helped state departments of health develop nutrition surveillance, epidemiology and prevention activities.

Since 1999, he served in the Division of International Health and the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP). Jim was instrumental in the development of the China FETP, teaching and mentoring Chinese residents’ investigations, presentations and publications. He also supported Egypt, Jordan, and Brazil with curriculum development, teaching and mentoring, extending his influence to epidemiologists in many countries.

Following retirement after 22 years in the US Public Health Service, he completed several consultations with TEPHINET in support of FETPs, contributing to the accreditation project, which promotes evaluation and continuous quality improvement of FETPs around the world.

Jim’s values and ethics combined with his scientific background made him aware of the urgency of protecting our environment, concerned for the health of current and future generations.