CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — 141st APHA Annual Meeting

Theme: Think Global, Act Local: Best Practices Around the World

Environment

Submission Deadline: Friday, February 8, 2013

Deadlines

Full “Invited” Session Proposals
Due: January 21, 2013
Successful Full Session Proposal Applicants Notified: February 4, 2013
Presenter’s abstracts for Accepted Full Sessions Proposals Due: April 22, 2013

Individual Abstracts (Hard Deadlines set by APHA)
Due: February 8, 2013
Accept, Reject, or Waitlisted Assignments: on or about June 3, 2013

Student Achievement Poster Award Abstracts
Due: February 8, 2013
Accepted Student Achievement Poster Award Abstracts Notified: April 1, 2013
Student Achievement Poster Award Revised Abstracts Due: May 20, 2013
(For additional information, see description below.)

Presenter and Presentation Requirements
Presenters
All persons making a presentation at the Annual Meeting & Exposition must pay a registration fee in order to participate in the program. All persons presenting an abstract must be an individual member of APHA during the time of the meeting. APHA does not pay an honoraria or expenses to any presenter.

Presentations
Presentations may NOT be submitted to multiple Sections, SPIGs, Caucuses or Forums and may be presented only one time during the Annual Meeting & Expo. The presentation may NOT be presented or published prior to the APHA Annual Meeting.

Descriptions of Session Formats
Oral Session:  90 minute session with 3-5 presentations, each 15–25 minutes in length.

Poster Session:  Sets of 10 posters organized and presented together within a 60 minute session

Roundtable Session:  90 minute session with a set of “round tables” where each table has a different speaker. Participants rotate from table to table to participate in different discussions. NOTE:  Audiovisual equipment (e.g., computer, LCD projector, etc.) is not available during roundtable sessions.

Panel Discussion:  90 minute session comprised of 4-5 panelists discussing a specific topic or set of closely related topics.

Descriptions of Session Types
Research Presentations
Abstracts describing scientific research projects should focus on new knowledge of environmental public health issues. The abstract and presentation should include the purpose of the study, a hypothesis or study question, detailed methods and results, and specific conclusions.

Policy or Program Presentations
Policy or program abstracts should describe the application of knowledge to real-world problems or policies. Many times these types of abstracts are referred to as public health in practice. The abstract and presentation should include a problem statement and conclusions describing resolution of the problem. Strong preference will be given to abstracts that include systematic assessment of the policy or program, with detailed description of methods and findings.

Topics of Interest
The Environment Section encourages you to submit Abstracts and Full Session proposals describing research studies, innovative policies, or programs and practices including interventions that address global environmental public health problem by instigating a solution at the local level. While abstracts reflecting any innovative work highlighting environmental public health science and policy will be reviewed, the Section will place emphasis on abstracts related to the following topics:

• Built environment and healthy communities
  (e.g., indoor air quality, healthy homes, relationships between health and urban infrastructure, urbanization, sewer/water infrastructure, creating indicators of sustainability)
• Chemicals and public health
  (e.g., persistent bioaccumulative toxins, endocrine disruptors, chemical risk assessment, chemical policy reform, chemicals in people, epigenetics, National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures, “green” chemistry & green products – including “green-washing”)
• Children's environmental health
  (e.g., fetal origins of chronic diseases, environmental risks at home and at school or daycare, environmental health risks with disproportionate impacts on children, disparate impacts of exposure, epigenetic change and contribution to obesity, interaction between environmental and maternal/child health)
• Clean air and water
  (e.g., pharmaceuticals in drinking water, waterborne disease, tertiary water purification systems, microbial risk assessment, air and water pollution [both ambient and indoors], vulnerabilities in exposure, individual pollutants and epigenetic markers)
• Climate change
  (e.g., climate change prediction, policy change, adaptation/preparedness to climate change to protect/improve health, disparate impacts of climate change especially on vulnerable communities and people, including the older and younger generations)
• Environmental justice and health disparities
  (e.g., influence of social, economic, or cultural factors on environmental health risks; exposure, impact, or policy inequities; access to environmental resources, programs that have demonstrated success in improving environmental public health literacy in minority communities)
• Food and the environment
  (e.g., environmental impacts of and threats to the current food system and the food system that will serve future generations, sustainable food production and water, food and farm policy and economics, food justice, food contamination in production and distribution, food environments/environmental impacts on food choices, interventions and policies targeting the aforementioned topics, food systems local to global, water safety and security, safe drinking and recreational water)
• Global environmental health
  (e.g., international environmental health, transboundary pollution and waste, impacts of global economy)
• Nature and human health
  (e.g., natural events as sentinel predictors of human health, emerging infectious disease and environment, sustainable use of land, resources or energy, interactions between ecosystems and human health, natural disasters, dying oceans, exposures in subsistence fishing communities, impacts of storms on water safety and security)
• Science to support decision-making and policies
  (e.g., biomonitoring, environmental health tracking, health impact assessment, energy use, cumulative risk assessment, risk communication)
• Student achievement poster award track
  (submit abstract on any of the topics above for consideration for the Environment Section’s Student Achievement Poster Award)
• Support for local environmental health
  (e.g., infrastructure, disparities in infrastructure, fostering leadership, workforce development, use of lay community health workers for environmental education)
• Transportation
  (e.g., issues resulting from the autocentric design of our cities/urban sprawl,   mobility/access, offshore oil drilling impacts, environmental justice via goods movement, food and environment via food miles traveled, transportation sector contributions to climate-global health, local environmental health due to Safe Routes-to-Schools)

Full “Invited” Session Proposals
Deadline: January 21, 2013
Proposals for Full Sessions are welcome. Full Sessions are comprised of invited speakers who will address different aspects of the same topic of high interest. A variety of formats are acceptable including oral sessions, roundtables, and panel discussions. To submit a proposal, you must:

• Request the Full “Invited” Session Proposal Form from the Program Planners at: apha.environment@yahoo.com;
• Read the directions and complete the form; and
• Return the completed form to the Program Planners at: apha.environment@yahoo.com BEFORE 11:59 PM (PST), January 21, 2013.

All Full Session Proposals will be peer-reviewed and ranked for quality, topic applicability, adherence to Full Session Proposal Form requirements, and relation to overall Section priorities. Please review the Evaluation Criteria (below). The Program Planning committee will make extra efforts to fill Sessions that relate to the APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition theme. 

Applicants will be notified of the status of their proposal by February 4, 2013. If a Full Session Proposal is accepted, submitter(s) will then be directed to enter the individual abstracts comprising the Full Session online during the APHA window for “invited” abstract submissions, April 22, 2013.

If the Full Session Proposal is not accepted, the Environment Section encourages submission of the individual abstracts by February 8, 2013.

Individual Abstract Contributions
Deadline February 8, 2013 (uploaded by 11:59 PM PST) 
Individual abstracts are welcome. Program Planners will combine accepted individual abstracts into 90 minute sessions (4-5 individual abstracts of 10-20 minute oral presentations) or sets of poster presentations. Please state your preferred format: oral presentation or poster presentation or either option.

All abstracts will be peer-reviewed and ranked for quality, topic applicability, adherence to abstract requirements, and relation to overall Section priorities. Please review the Evaluation Criteria (below). Every effort will be made to accommodate the author’s presentation preference for accepted abstracts (e.g., oral presentation or poster). However, the Environment Section may not be able to accommodate all presentation preferences. To submit your abstract, you must:

• Submit online via APHA’s Website
• Complete all specified steps and click “SUBMIT ABSTRACT”
• Ensure the abstract is 300 words or less
• Submit by 11:59 PM (PST), February 8, 2013

Student Achievement Poster Award Track
Deadline February 8, 2013 (uploaded by 11:59 PM PST) 
Students of programs in environmental health, public health, and other related fields are encouraged to submit abstracts pertaining to their academic research. Interested students should submit their abstract online via APHA’s Website; abstracts should be submitted into the Environment Section’s “Student Achievement Poster Award Track.”  Please note that abstracts submitted into other topic related tracks will not be considered for the award.

Students must submit an abstract including a well thought out study purpose and detailed methods (300 words or less). Submitted abstracts will be reviewed for relevance to environmental public health and the student’s clarity in describing the work that will be or has been done. While it is understood results may not be available by the February 8, 2013 abstract submission deadline, it is expected that final student posters (and revised abstracts due late, if accepted) will include details about the study purpose, methods, results and specific conclusions.

Up to ten abstracts (and 1-2 alternates) will be selected for poster presentation during the Environment Section’s Student Achievement Poster Award Session, which is typically on Monday morning. During the poster session, students and their posters will be judged for presentation style, knowledge of the subject matter, and project quality. Up to three finalists will be honored at the Environment Section’s Social Hour.

Eligibility requirements:

1. Work must have been completed by the student as part of an environmental health, public health, or other health related degree program.
2. A student must be enrolled for enough credit hours during fall semester 2013 to be considered in good standing as at least a part-time student, or have graduated from their program between May-August 2013. If the abstract is accepted for presentation, proof of student status will be requested.
3. The student must be the first and presenting author on their contributed abstract.
4. To be eligible for an award the student must present the work at the APHA meeting and attend the Environment Section Social Hour.
5. Students that have received an award in previous years are not eligible to resubmit unless they are working on a different degree, e.g., doctoral degree at present but master’s before.
6. At the time of presentation, the student should be an Environment Section Member.

Student Travel Awards
A limited number of student travel awards may be available, subject to funding provided by agencies and/or private foundations. It is not necessary to submit an abstract to be eligible for a travel award; however, extra consideration will be given to students who submit an abstract that is accepted into the Student Achievement Poster Award Session and/or another topical session (oral or poster) and are (or become during fall 2013) actively involved in the APHA Environment Section. For information about travel awards, contact Derek Shendell, UMDNJ-SPH (derek.g.shendell.96@alum.dartmouth.org) or Tara McAlexander, EPA (taramcalexander@gmail.com). 

Evaluation Criteria
Both Individual Abstracts and "Full" Session Proposals will be evaluated by the same criteria. The criteria are broad to allow for the evaluation of science, policy, and public health practice proposals. They are: 1) Importance to environmental health; 2) Originality of work; 3) Defined objectives/purpose; 4) Sound methodology/philosophy; 5) Reasonable conclusions; and 6) Overall reviewer enthusiasm.    

In addition to this set of evaluation criteria, Program Planners will pay special interest to abstracts that cover the 2013 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo theme, “Think Global, Act Local: Best Practices Around the World.”

Crafting Learning Objectives
Please note that learning objectives are required for each submitted abstract. Applicants are encouraged to list at least one MEASURABLE objective (see below). Learning objectives should be written from the vantage point of the participant; what applicable knowledge will the participant learn from the presentation. Guidance and information about appropriate learning objectives can be found at: http://apha.confex.com/apha/learningobjectives.htm.

Continuing Education Credit
APHA values the ability to provide continuing education credit to physicians, nurses, health educators, and those certified in public health at its annual meeting. Please complete all required information when submitting an abstract so members can claim credit for attending your session. These credits are necessary for members to keep their licenses and credentials. For a session to be eligible for Continuing Education Credit, each presenter, panelist, discussant, and/or faculty must provide:

1) An abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names.

2) At least one MEASURABLE SINGLE objective (“to understand” or “to learn” are not measurable objectives and compound objectives are not acceptable). Use ONLY the following Measurable Action Verbs:

Explain, Demonstrate, Analyze, Formulate, Discuss, Compare, Differentiate, Describe, Name, Assess, Evaluate, Identify, Design, Define or List.

3) A signed Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form with a relevant qualification statement.

Example of Acceptable Biographical Qualification Statement: (e.g. I have been the principal or co-principal of multiple federally funded grants focusing on the epidemiology of drug abuse, HIV prevention and co-occurring mental and drug use disorders. Among my scientific interests has been the development of strategies for preventing HIV and STDs in out-of-treatment drug users.)

4) All continuing education learning content must be of sound science or professional practice and serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills and professional competence of the health professional. Learning content should be evidence-based if available. A list of over 30 areas will be provided online for you to choose from. You will be asked to choose at least one or up to 6 areas that your presentation will address.

Thank you for your assistance in making your session credit worthy. Contact Annette Ferebee at annette.ferebee@apha.org if you have any questions concerning continuing education. For program questions, contact the program planner listed below.

Program Planner Contact Information
Surili Sutaria, MS
Association of Public Health Laboratoires
8515 Georgia Ave., Suite 700
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone : 240-485-2784
surili.sutaria@aphl.org

Please use this email, apha.environment@yahoo.com, to request the Full Session Proposal Form or to ask questions. Inquiries to the Program Planners' work email may get lost.