CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — APHA 2026 Annual Meeting and Expo
Latino Caucus
Meeting theme: "Together We Thrive: Health Across the Lifespan"
Submission Deadline: Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Since 1973,The Latino Caucus for Public Health's (LCPH) mission has been to represent and advocate for the health interests of the Hispanic/Latino* community while providing leadership opportunities for students and young professionals to engage in research, policy, and advocacy. Since its establishment, LCPH members have successfully enacted high-impact public health efforts.
This year, we invite the abstract submissions that cover innovative approaches, research, and strategies that focus on enhancing Latino health outcomes, identifying health disparities and approaches to address them, promoting collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and community members, and building a more equitable and inclusive public health system. The following topics are among the priority for LCPH’s 2026 program:
Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and Administrative Systems Automated systems, algorithms, and digital infrastructure are increasingly used in health care delivery and public benefits administration, with significant implications for health equity. LCPH seeks abstracts evaluating how artificial intelligence, automation, and administrative data systems affect care access, eligibility, quality of care, and health outcomes for Latino populations. Submissions may include analyses of algorithmic bias, data errors, benefit loss, and community-led efforts to audit, govern, or reform digital systems.
Cancer Prevention among Latino Populations Cancer is a leading cause of death among Latino populations making prevention efforts particularly important for this population. However, Latinos are underrepresented in current prevention related research. Identifying social risk factors and strategies to address them at all levels of prevention is critically important, especially as Latinos make up nearly 1 in 5 of all Americans.
Immigration as a Social Determinant of Health We invite abstracts that examine immigration as a social determinant of health and its spillover effects on Latinos, their families, and their communities. Submissions may address how immigration policies, enforcement practices, legal status, and sociopolitical climates shape physical and mental health, access to care, and well-being across the life course, including impacts on U.S.-born Latinos. We welcome empirical, theoretical, and policy-relevant research that advances understanding of immigration-related health inequities and informs public health action.
LCPH Student Session We invite abstracts led by undergraduate, graduate, or professional students that address any area of Latino public health research, practice, or policy.
Latino Child and Adolescent Health Approximately 1 in 4 children in the United States are Latino, making their health and well-being critically important for the nation’s health. We invite abstracts that focus on the health and well-being of Latino children and adolescents from a public health perspective. Submissions may address physical and mental health, school-based health, family and community contexts, immigration-related stressors, access to care, and the social and structural conditions shaping development across childhood and adolescence. We welcome empirical research, policy analyses, and community-engaged work that advances equity and improves health outcomes for Latino youth.
Latino Health Disparities We invite abstracts that examine Latino health disparities through public health research, practice, and policy perspectives, with attention to structural, social, and cultural determinants of health. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, topics such as access to care, mental health, chronic disease, immigration-related stressors, community-based interventions, and health equity across the life course. We welcome empirical studies, policy analyses, and community-engaged scholarship that advance understanding and solutions to improve Latino health and well-being.
Latino/a/e LGBTQ+ Health People and communities at the intersection of Latino and LGBTQ+ identities experience unique risk and protective factors that influence health across multiple outcomes including HIV, mental health, violence, sexual health, healthcare access, chronic disease, cancer, and others. Moreover, interventions should consider the cultural needs of Latino LGBTQ+ populations to be effective. We are seeking submissions that address health at the intersection of Latino and LGBTQ+ identities including observational or intervention research.
Occupational Health and Heat Exposure Latino workers are disproportionately employed in industries with high exposure to extreme heat and other occupational hazards. LCPH invites abstracts describing epidemiologic research, surveillance data, program evaluations, or community-based studies focused on heat-related illness, injury, and labor conditions. Submissions examining policy implementation, regulatory enforcement, employer compliance, or worker-led interventions to protect health are encouraged.
Positive and Protective Factors That Promote Health among Latinos Latino health is often examined through a disparities or deficit framework; however, Latinidad also encompasses substantial assets and strengths. We invite abstracts that examine positive and protective factors at multiple levels of the social ecology, including religiosity, cultural resources, social support, positive affect, protective policies, neighborhood resources, resilience, and community assets. Submissions may also address interventions designed to strengthen or leverage existing protective factors.
ATTENTION PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENTS: The Latino Caucus promotes the advancement of students in public health. We strongly encourage students to submit their abstracts and to indicate their student status in the appropriate checkbox to be considered for the Outstanding Student Abstract, which we will recognize and present with a cash prize at the Latino Caucus Business Meeting.
ABSTRACT REVIEWS AND DECISIONS: Presentations using quantitative and/or qualitative methods are welcome. Abstracts are judged on clarity of presentation, importance/originality, understanding and presentation of implications of findings, quality and description of subject matter, quality and completeness of supporting data/philosophy, clarity and interest of presentation, methodology, and contribution to the field of Latino health.
While we aim to place accepted abstracts into author’s desired sections, we may ultimately move abstracts into different topic areas depending on overall content and organization of sessions.The highest rated abstracts, based on blinded peer review, are selected and placed in sessions according to the overall program plan for that year. Abstracts with lower scores are either waitlisted or rejected. Waitlisted abstracts are accommodated if there are openings due to withdrawals (most commonly from poster sessions). Final decisions about waitlisted abstracts are made by early August.
We recommended that abstracts include the following sections — Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Abstracts should be 250 words or less.
BEFORE YOU SUBMIT, PLEASE REMEMBER TO ALSO PROVIDE: (1) An abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names; (2) Abstract must have at least one MEASURABLE objective (DO NOT USE "understand" or "to learn" as objectives as they are not measurable. Examples of acceptable measurable action words include: 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 Biographical Qualification Statement. Be specific about how your experience and/or education qualify you to speak on your proposed topic.
PLEASE NOTE: All presenters must be individual members of APHA in order to present; You do not be a member at the time of submission but if accepted the presenter must be an APHA member; All presenters must register for the meeting; Abstracts cannot be presented or published in any journal prior to the APHA Annual Meeting.
CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT: 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. Contact Mighty Fine at mighty.fine@apha.org if you have any questions concerning continuing education credit. Please contact the program planner for all other questions.
****We acknowledge that Latino and Hispanic communities are large and diverse. Within our communities, we often identify differently-- by specific countries of origins, heritage groups, or with umbrella terms like Hispanic or Latino. The term Hispanic generally refers to people from or with heritage from Spanish-speaking countries, while Latino refers to people from or with heritage from Latin America (South and Central America and the Caribbean, including non-Spanish speakers). We also recognize the use of terms such as Latine, Latinx, and Latin@ to support inclusive language practices. However, for the purposes of this call, we use the term Latino as an umbrella term. We do so with the utmost respect, while recognizing and honoring the varied ways individuals identify.
