Report Identifies Challenges Of Translating Research Into Practice

A report from the University of Alberta’s Institute of Health Economics entitled Effective Dissemination of Findings From Research identifies challenges researchers face in disseminating findings including adapting the research cycle to fit real-world timelines... more...

Inability To Make Smart Choices Identified As Risk Factor For An Estimated Million Premature Deaths Per Year

Duke University researcher Ralph Keeney has made an attempt to attribute the cause of all deaths in an article in Operations Research and described in Newsweek (January 2, 2009). While his methods are open to question in tracing the cause of deaths, his estimate is attention grabbing. more...

Scientific American Documents Benefits of Exercise

People who exercise according to the latest Federal guidelines can expect to live three to seven years longer than couch potatoes. Among the heart benefits in the evidence reported by the magazine are a lower resting heart rate, lower blood pressure, and a more variable heart rate ---all of which contribute to a lower risk of disease. more...

Epidemiologist Elected President Of The American Cancer Society For The First Time

Elizabeth (Terry) Fontham, an epidemiologist currently serving as Dean of the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health and whose epidemiologic work has focused on tobacco and diet related cancers, was recently elected as President of the American Cancer Society(ACS).

Top Ten Epidemiology Interest Stories of 2008

As in past years, the editors of the Epidemiology Monitor have selected the top 10 epidemiology-related stories of 2008 of interest to the epidemiology community. The news items appeared in The Epidemiology Monitor newsletter or in EpiMonday, our online weekly update of news and commentary. more...

Outcomes Research Epidemiologist Makes Career Change From Public Health To Industry And Back Again To Public Health

Steve Teutsch, an outcomes research epidemiologist who worked for over 20 years at CDC and left to spend more than ten years working in the pharmaceutical industry at Merck, has now taken a new position as Chief Science Officer with the Los Angeles County Health Department. more...

CDC Takes Its Epidemiological Software Open Source

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released an open-source version of its software for epidemiological analysis.

CDC’s Epi Info originated as a DOS program in the 1980s, when epidemiologists sought a PC-based tool to analyze disease outbreaks. The open-source, pre-beta version, named Epi Info Community Edition, marks the beginning of a rewrite of the Epi Info tool suite in the C# programming language, according to CDC. The open source edition also aims to cultivate a wider community of developers. more...

Top Ten Epidemiology Quotes of 2008

Each week in our online Epi Monday update of news in the field, we include an editor’s quote of the week. It usually represents the most wise or humorous or otherwise striking statement we come across during the previous week. Here are the top ten best quotes in the opinion of the editors for 2008. more...

Union Of Concerned Scientists Issues Recommendations To Protect The Integrity of Science By Preventing Political Interference

The Union of Concerned Scientists has compiled what it calls an A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science from 2002 to the present time. In what it calls “an epidemic of political interference in federal science,” it documents over 80 instances of abuse of science, including a long list of abuses in public health (see list below). more...

Epidemiologist Loses Bid For Congress

Victoria Wulsin, MD, DrPH, an epidemiologist from Ohio, was defeated in the recent November elections by incumbent Jean Schmidt. Wulsin and her campaign were featured in the Epi Monitor in January 2008 Wulsin was defeated 148K to 118K votes or 45% to 37%.  We reprint below the message she sent to her supporters after her defeat. more...

The Year in Epidemiology 2009 Now Available From The Epi Monitor

The annual calendar of events in epidemiology has been prepared and released in the November 2008 issue of The Epidemiology Monitor. more...

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Recap of 2008 Headlines of EpiMonday January 2008 - June 2008

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Our 2008 calendar of events of interest to epidemiologists contains 162 listings, a decrease over the number of listings last year but still containing a wide variety of offerings both in the US and in other countries. If we have missed your upcoming event, please contact the newsletter offices and we will add your event to our online version of the calendar which is frequently updated throughout the year. Ongoing events and those to be scheduled later in 2008 are included at the end of the 2008 listing of already scheduled events.

The key epidemiology society or group meetings in 2008 are:

   • American Epidemiological Society, March, Pittsburgh

   • Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference, April, Atlanta

   • Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, April, Orlando

   • Society for Clinical Trials, May, St. Louis

   • Association For Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology, June, Denver

   • Council of State and Territorial Health Epidemiologists, June, Denver

   • Society for Epidemiologic Research, June, Chicago

   • Society for Pediatric & Perinatal Epidemiological Research, June, Chicago

   • International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology, August, Copenhagen

   • American College of Epidemiology, September, Tucson

   • International Genetic Epidemiology Society, September, St. Louis

   • American Public Health Association, October, San Diego

   • International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, October, Pasadena

Among the first time offerings or special events in 2008 are:

  • A South East Asian Conference of epidemiology, February, Dhaka 

  • A Short Course on climate and disease, April, Rutgers University

  • A Summer School program on cancer epidemiology, June, Lyon

  • A Public Health Congress, July, Washington D.C.

  • A Summer Institute on demography, economics, and the epidemiology of aging, July,

     Santa Monica

  • A World Congress of epidemiology, September, Porto Alegre

Best wishes for a happy and productive New Year,

Roger Bernier

Barbara Kress

Cynthia S. Wright

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