Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, welcomed participants during the conference opening ceremony.
"As I reflect on the conference theme, 'This is what we train for: field epidemiologists as first responders to the pandemic', I recall how invaluable the [FETP] training I undertook provided me the fundamental technical building blocks for the work I'm doing now," said Dr. Tam.
"While my boots are no longer on the ground, field epidemiology training taught me how to work in high stress and complex environments that involve many players, how to present data and analysis in a way that speaks to decision makers, and it taught me how to think on my feet."
Oral and Poster Abstracts
We invite you to view the conference Book of Abstracts to read the abstracts presented during this conference.
The abstracts are also available in our Field Epidemiology Abstract Database (FEAD) along with other abstracts presented at TEPHINET conferences since December 2016.
Session Recordings
Over the next few weeks, select session recordings from the conference will become available on TEPHINET’s YouTube playlist for the conference. These will have captions available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Subscribe to the playlist to be notified as these videos are added.
Interactive Learning Sessions (ILS)
- Delivering Engaging, Inclusive, and Accessible Virtual Sessions (Christine Gardhouse and Louis Wong, Public Health Agency of Canada)
- Introducing the New Standards for TEPHINET Accreditation of Intermediate FETPs (Lorie Burnett, Ashley Hill, Biagio Pedalino [TEPHINET]; Reina Turcios-Ruiz [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]; David Rodriguez [Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic])
- Field Investigations for COVID-19 in Areas Affected by Reticence (Claire Standley, Jordan Schermerhorn, and MacKenzie Moore, Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security)
- Scientific Writing Workshop/Calibrated Peer Review: Practice Exercises for Scientific Writing (Robert Fontaine, Paola Rullan, Jacob Clemente, Ariana Detmar, and Amylee Anyoha, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Evaluating the Impact of Field Epidemiology Training (Tambri Housen, University of Newcastle; Stephanie Wheeler, Rachel Mather, James Flint)
- Constructing a Narrative Case Study: An Example Based on COVID-19 (Claire Standley, Jordan Schermerhorn, and MacKenzie Moore, Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security)
- Implementing Event-based Surveillance for Early Detection of Respiratory Diseases (Will Clara, Adam Crawley, and Hannah Lofgren, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Keynote Sessions
- Asking the Right Questions to Move Your Field Recommendations to Policy Implementation (Avi Hakim, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Indigenous Communities Response to COVID-19 (Shannon Waters, Island Health, British Columbia)
- COVID-19 Vaccine Access and Distribution: The Role of the Epidemiologist (Dagna Constenla and Naor Bar-Zeev, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)
- Mental Health and Wellbeing While Practicing Field Epidemiology (David Addiss, Focus Area for Compassion and Ethics, The Task Force for Global Health; Jolie Wills, Hummingly)
Acknowledgements
TEPHINET would like to thank the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program (FEP) for serving as the official co-host of this event. We would also like to acknowledge the members of the Conference Planning Committee and the TEPHINET Advisory Scientific Committee for their hard work in planning this event:
Conference Planning Committee
- Elena Atkinson, TEPHINET
- Anja Bilandzic, Public Health Agency of Canada
- Amber Ellithorpe, TEPHINET
- Maritza Gonzalez, National Institute of Health, Colombia
- Angela Hilmers, TEPHINET
- Kathleen Laberge, Public Health Agency of Canada
- Amber Lauff, TEPHINET
- Damaris Heredia Melo, National Institute of Health, Colombia
- Eric Pevzner, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Carl Reddy, TEPHINET
- Tina Rezvani, TEPHINET
- Shelly Rodrigo, Caribbean Public Health Agency
- David Rodriguez, Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic
- Francois-William Tremblay, Public Health Agency of Canada
TEPHINET Advisory Scientific Committee (Americas Region Members)
- Anja Bilandzic, Public Health Agency of Canada (regional representative)
- Eleni Galanis, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Canada (regional representative)
- Angela Hilmers, TEPHINET
- Kathleen Laberge, Public Health Agency of Canada (regional representative)
- Eric Pevzner, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Shelly Rodrigo, Caribbean Public Health Agency
- David Rodriguez, Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic
- Reina Turcios-Ruiz, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ad hoc member)
- Seymour Williams, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ad hoc member)
In addition, we would like to thank all those who served as volunteer abstract reviewers, session moderators, ILS facilitators, and speakers for their vital contributions to this conference.
12th TEPHINET Regional Scientific Conference of the Americas
The next TEPHINET Regional Scientific Conference of the Americas is tentatively planned for Panama in 2023.