The HIV/AIDS Section of the American Public Health Association invites Abstracts and Full Session Proposals presenting the results of scientific research, program evaluations, policy analysis, and lessons learned from community-based interventions related to HIV/AIDS for the APHA 2017 Annual Meeting & Expo.

Abstracts may be submitted for oral, poster, or roundtable sessions. Submission of an abstract to the HIV/AIDS section is an expression of the presenting author’s intention to attend the Annual Meeting and presenting the work should it be accepted. The following general topics are areas of interest for the 2017 program; other HIV/AIDS-related topics will also be considered:

• Global Issues in HIV/AIDS
  
• HIV Care Continuum
  
• HIV Care and Treatment
  
• HIV Epidemiology and Surveillance
  
• HIV Policy Development and Analysis
  
• HIV Prevention in Bisexual Persons
  
• HIV Prevention in Injection Drug Users
  
• HIV Prevention in Men Who Have Sex With Men
  
• HIV Prevention in Older Adults
  
• HIV Prevention in Sex Workers
  
• HIV Prevention in Transgender Persons
  
• HIV Prevention in Women
  
• HIV Prevention in Youth
  
• HIV Stigma and Discrimination
  
• HIV Testing and Counseling
  
• HIV and Mental Health
  
• HIV and Substance Use
  
• Living with HIV and AIDS
  
• Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
  
• Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
  

Submission and Review: All Abstracts must be submitted electronically using the APHA Meeting website by the date published on the APHA website for the HIV/AIDS section. Late, faxed, and emailed submissions cannot be accepted. APHA will send email notices of acceptance to abstract authors on June 1, 2017.

All Abstracts are subject to masked peer review by at least three reviewers. Please remove any references to a specific institution in the body of the abstract to permit masked review and ensure fairness. By submitting an abstract proposal, the author(s) agree that, if accepted, the paper will be presented as scheduled.

Structured Abstract Format: Abstracts should be submitted in a structured format. Please use one of the following two formats:

• Background: Study objectives, hypothesis, or a description of the problem;
• Methods: Study design, including a description of participants, procedures, measures, and appropriate statistical analyses; dates of data collection;
• Results: Specific results in summary form; and
• Conclusions: Description of the main outcome of the study.

An alternative format, suited for abstracts about policy, programs, interventions, and other types of research evaluations, may be used:

• Issues: A short summary of the issue(s) addressed;
• Description: Description of the project, experience, service, or advocacy program;
• Lessons Learned: A brief description of the results of the project; and
• Recommendations: A brief statement of next steps.

All abstracts must comply with Continuing Education Credit requirements to be considered.

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 outcome ("to understand" or "to learn" are not measurable outcomes and compound outcomes 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: (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.) Please note that I am the Principle Investigator of this study is NOT an acceptable qualification statement.

4) All continuing education learning content must be of sound scientific 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 Mighty Fine at mighty.fine@apha.org if you have any questions concerning continuing education. For program questions, contact the program planner(s) listed below.

Review Criteria: Standardized criteria will be used to evaluate all abstract submissions. These criteria include: (1) adherence to specified format as indicated under structured abstract format, (2) innovation and relevance, (3) rigor and appropriateness of methods and approaches, (4) contribution to science and/or practice, and (5) results/lessons learned. Note that incomplete abstracts will not be judged.

Final Program: The final program will be based on peer-reviewer evaluations of the abstract proposals with consideration for available time and space, the program theme, diversity of topics, and any speakers invited by the HIV/AIDS Section leadership to participate in the 2016 program.

Only listed authors who are both APHA members and registered for the Annual Meeting may present accepted work. Neither APHA nor the HIV/AIDS Section provides any financial support for author attendance at the Annual Meeting.

Student Presentations: Presentations by students are encouraged. Although completed research studies are preferred, students may submit work-in-progress for consideration.

Instructions for Full Session Proposals: Submissions of Proposals For Full Sessions (90 minutes in length) may be submitted. In addition to the electronic online submission of an individual abstract for EACH of the 3-4 papers to be included in a Session, a one-page overview of the proposed Session MUST be submitted directly to the planners via electronic mail to Dr. Anthony Santella at Anthony.Santella@hofstra.edu and Dr. Monique Brown at brownm3@usf.edu.

Overall session title;

• Name of the lead facilitator and the contact person for the Session;
• Brief overview of the rationale for the Session; and
• List (in presentation order) of the individual abstracts to be organized into this Session, complete with titles, presenters' name, and time allocated for each presentation and any discussion periods.

Please note that each individual abstract to be included in a Session must be submitted through the APHA electronic abstract submission process. In the "Comments to Organizers" box for each abstract submission, the authors should indicate that the abstract is to be considered as part of the Proposed Session (indicated by Session title).

All abstracts are reviewed on their individual merit, and the acceptance of a panel submission is not a guarantee that all abstracts submitted for that session will be accepted or that they will all be scheduled together. Unless instructed otherwise, the HIV/AIDS Section Program Committee will consider the individual abstracts from any rejected Full Session for possible presentation in Abstract sessions. Therefore, an abstract submitted as part of a Full Session should not also be submitted as an individual contributed abstract to any other section, interest group or caucus.

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Program Planner Contact Information:

Anthony J. Santella, DrPH, MPH, MCHES
MPH Program
Hofstra University
Hofstra Dome 126
Hempstead, NY 11549
Phone: 516-463-5932
anthony.santella@hofstra.edu

and
Monique Brown, PhD, MPH
brownm3@usf.edu