CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — APHA 2026 Annual Meeting and Expo
Asian & Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health
Meeting theme: "Together We Thrive: Health Across the Lifespan"
Submission Deadline: Tuesday, March 31, 2026
The Asian & Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health (APIC), in official relations with the American Public Health Association (APHA), invites abstracts for the 2026 APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition.
Grounded in APIC’s mission to advance the health and health equity of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States, associated jurisdictions, and the diaspora, this year’s Scientific Program invites work that reflects the 2026 APHA theme, “Together We Thrive: Health Across the Lifespan.” Abstract submissions authored by or in collaboration with API community-based partners are highly encouraged.
Although we will consider ALL submissions, the 2026 APIC Scientific Program will center innovative, actionable, and evidence-based or promising practices that illuminate how health is shaped, protected, and challenged across the life course (from early childhood to elderhood) within diverse API communities. Priority will be given to work that advances health equity, social connectedness, culturally grounded care, and structural change, with attention to racism, discrimination, care coordination for vulnerable populations, and the social and structural determinants of health. The following topics are intended to stimulate, rather than to limit, the scope of submissions:
Chronic Disease: Prevention and Management Across the Lifespan Disparities in Chronic Conditions
Addressing chronic conditions (ex. cardiometabolic conditions, obesity, asthma, cancer, dementia, bone health), with a focus on age-specific prevention strategies and culturally tailored care models.
Cultural Beliefs, Disability Stigma, and Social Acceptance
Explores cultural beliefs about illness, disability, help- seeking, and chronic conditions within API communities, including stigma, shame, and concerns about social acceptance.
Integrated Care Models Addressing Physical and Mental Health
Highlights culturally tailored, community-based, and family-centered care models that integrate chronic disease management with prevention and mental health support to enhance holistic wellbeing.
From Migration to Belonging: Navigating Immigration, Acculturation, and Policy Impacts of Immigration Policy on Health
Examines how policies related to immigration (including health coverage based on immigration status) affect the physical and mental health outcomes of API immigrant children, adolescents, adults, and elders.
Health Impacts of Migration, Resettlement, and Acculturation Stress
Analysis of the chronic physical and mental health conditions resulting from migration, displacement, and the unique challenges of acculturation stress among API immigrant communities.
Intergenerational and Family Level Health Dynamics
Examination of how immigration experiences differentially shape health outcomes within API families, including parent-child role reversals, language brokering, caregiving burden, and shifts in cultural identity.
Elder Care and Aging in Immigrant Communities
Exploration of aging-related health needs among API immigrant elders, including chronic disease management, cognitive health, social isolation, language access, and culturally concordant care.
Generational Health: Bridging Traditional and Modern Knowledge to Advance Intergenerational Well-Being Integrating Traditional Healing with Contemporary Health Systems
Examines the role of traditional API healing practices and alternative medicine within modern public health and clinical care models.
Intergenerational Knowledge, Belief Transfer, and Health Decision-Making
Explores how health knowledge, beliefs, and practices are carried across generations, shaping prevention behaviors, treatment choices, and care-seeking.
Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health Innovation in API Communities
Explores how AI, digital health, social media, and emerging technologies can improve health outcomes.
Examines the digital divide, including technology literacy gaps and vulnerability to misinformation and digital deception.
Making Our Communities Visible: Data Equity for API Health Revealing Hidden Disparities
Challenges the model minority myth using disaggregated data to uncover significant differences in health outcomes across API subgroups shaping access to care and opportunity over time.
The Cost of Invisibility
Demonstrates how aggregated data leads to severe underfunding, misrepresentation, and exclusion from public health programs, limiting effective policy and resource allocation for marginalized API communities.
Community-Led Data for Justice
Showcases innovative community-based and grassroots data initiatives that elevate API priorities and inform responsive policy.
Rectifying Systemic Data Bias for Equitable Lifespan Health
Proposes strategies for implementing more inclusive, equitable, and culturally informed data practices that accurately represent our diverse populations.
Mental Health: Roots, Resilience, and Healing Racialized Harm and Intergenerational Impact
Explores how intergenerational and racial trauma affect mental health through racial violence, xenophobia, and social isolation, with attention to historical trauma and migration-related stress.
Internalized Bias, Cultural Doubt, and Identity-Based Stress
Explores how internalized racism, cultural doubt, prejudice, implicit bias, and identity-based stress affect mental health and well-being.
Stigma Reduction, Healing, and Community Resilience:
Highlights culturally relevant strategies to reduce mental health stigma, address internalized shame, and strengthen resilience at the individual, family, and community levels.
Barriers to Help-Seeking and Care Access
Examines cultural stigma, insurance coverage, language barriers, immigration-related fears, and other systemic obstacles that shape help-seeking behaviors and access to culturally informed care and how unmet needs may contribute to harmful coping patterns.
Poster Session 1
Poster Session 2
Poster Session 3
Social Determinants of Health: Building Thriving Communities Environmental Justice for API
Explores how geographic, environmental, and occupational exposures disproportionately burden API communities, affecting health, safety, and daily quality of life.
Food Security and Community Resilience
Focuses on systemic barriers to accessing affordable, culturally appropriate, and nutritious foods in API neighborhoods.
The Health Impacts of Displacement
Explores how displacement, gentrification, and the erosion of ethnic enclaves impact the physical, mental, and social health of API families and neighborhoods.
Examines housing insecurity, overcrowding, and challenges to aging in place that affect stability and well-being within one’s home and community.
Equitable Access to Resources
Examines how inequitable access to healthcare, language-concordant services, safe and reliable transportation, green spaces, and social supports creates barriers to overall well-being and dignity.
Other Topics Maternal Health
Covers reproductive health, prenatal and postnatal care, and early childhood development.
Women’s Health
Explores reproductive and sexual health, menstruation and fertility, perimenopause and menopause, and aging-related health concerns.
Men’s Health
Focuses on physical and mental health concerns among men, including chronic disease, mental health and help-seeking behaviors, substance use, and aging-related health issues.
LGBTQ+ Health
Understanding the physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health needs of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Policies
Examines how policies influence health outcomes, access to care, and equity, insurance and social policy impacts on communities (ex. changes to Medicare/Medicaid, diminished funding for local health services, etc.).
Other API Public Health Topics
The session topics are preliminary and do not reflect the precise content of the final program. Presenters selected to give oral or poster presentations will be required to register for the APHA Annual Meeting and become an individual member of APHA and APIC. Therefore, individuals should submit an abstract only if they are committed to making the presentations themselves or have a substitute willing to register, attend the meeting, and deliver the presentation.
Abstract guidelines and requirements:
Format
Abstracts must be limited to 250 words or less.
Abstracts should be structured to include the following sections: Background/Significance, Objective/Purpose, Methods, Results, and Discussion/Conclusions.
Do not include references or citations in the text of the abstract.
Do not include trade or commercial brand names in the abstract.
Submission
Indicate if you wish to present the abstract as an ORAL or POSTER presentation. APHA has general guidelines for each format option. There are limited slots available for oral presentations, so please give the Program Committee as many options as possible.
Do not include your name or contact information in the text portion as this prohibits blind peer review.
Continuing Education Credits:
APHA values the ability to provide continuing education credit to physicians, nurses, health educators, veterinarians, 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:
An abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names.
At least one MEASURABLE SINGLE outcome (DO NOT USE “To understand” or “To learn” as objectives, they are not measurable). Examples of Acceptable Measurable Action Words: Explain, Demonstrate, Analyze, Formulate, Discuss, Compare, Differentiate, Describe, Name, Assess, Evaluate, Identify, Design, Define or List.
Contact Education@apha.org if you have any questions concerning continuing education. For program questions, contact the program planners listed below.
Blind peer review of abstracts by the Program Committee is based on the following selection criteria:
Importance. Abstracts should highlight importance and significance of the public health problem or issue.
Relevance. Abstracts should be relevant to Asian and/or Pacific Islander health.
Innovation. Abstract should highlight innovative and novel topics.
Abstracts should completely describe research/project/concept and provide supporting data where appropriate.
Clarity. Abstracts should be concise, clearly written, and convey the primary goals and/or ideas of the project/program.
Awards
APIC Student Abstract Award: To be considered eligible for the 2026 APIC Student Abstract Award, the primary author must be enrolled as a full-time or part-time student at the time of abstract submission. The student must also be the “Student Primary Author” on the abstract.
APIC Best Published Paper: To be considered eligible for the 2026 APIC/APHA Best Published Paper Award papers need to have been published between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026 (manuscripts accepted for publication between these dates are also eligible).
APIC Community Leader Award: To be considered eligible for the 2026 Community Leader Award individuals or organizations must have at least 5 years of experience in community health, advocacy, or leadership. Please note this award is also open to those outside of academic or public institutions, including non profit leaders, organizers, elders, or cultural leaders. Individuals may not currently be serving on the APIC Executive Board.
The above awards will be presented during APIC’s annual award ceremony at the 2026 APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Antonio, TX. The invitation to present and/or receive any of the above awards will be withdrawn should the awardee be unable to present at the Annual Meeting. To apply, please refer to the abstract submission guidelines athttps://apha.confex.com/apha/2026/cfp.cgi and directions for submission at https://apha.confex.com/apha/f/2026SubmitASessionProposal
Considerations
Submitting an abstract to APIC implies that you understand the terms of this call for abstracts. Failure to adhere to the above-mentioned instructions may result in your abstract not being considered and could impact future submissions. Furthermore, submitting the abstract implies that you (and/or your co-authors/colleagues) are willing to present at the Annual Meeting and Exposition.
How To Join APIC
Those interested in Asian & Pacific Islander health are invited to join APIC. Further details on the Caucus can be found at http://www.apicaucus.org. For more information about the 2026 APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition, please visithttps://www.apha.org/annualmeeting.
