CDC Fiscal Year 2015 Report on Conference Spending

In compliance with OMB Memorandum M-12-12pdf iconexternal icon (“Promoting Efficient Spending to Support Agency Operations”), this report includes all CDC-hosted conferences held in FY 2015 where the net expenses associated with the conference exceeded $100,000. The conference descriptions include:

• The date of the conference
• The location of the conference
• A brief explanation how the conference advanced the mission of the agency
• The total conference expenses incurred by the agency for the conference and
• The total number of individuals whose travel expenses or other conference expenses were paid by the agency

Center for Global Health

2015 Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) 45 Training

Dates: January 5-23, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: CDC Tom Harkin Global Communications Center, Atlanta, GA

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: The STOP Transmission of Polio (STOP) program is a joint WHO, UNICEF, and CDC initiative to eradicate polio and provide field support for polio eradication, measles control, and routine immunizations. The STOP pre-deployment training provided volunteers from the United States and other countries with an in-depth understanding of immunization programs, surveillance, and polio eradication activities. STOP participants are deployed primarily to strengthen acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance, support national immunization days, and conduct polio case investigation and follow-up.
Total Estimated Cost: $879,981
Total Attendees: 90
Total Feds on Travel: 0
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 55

Division of Global Health and Protection Field Epidemiology Training Program Branch Retreat

Dates: April 12-24, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: Taskforce Group Building, Atlanta, GA

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: The overall Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) Branch Retreat and Resident Advisor Orientation goals were to:

• Understand the FETP vision and mission and discuss how this is expressed in our work
• Review the transition to the Division of Global Health Protection and the relationship between FETP and Global Health Security (GHS)
• Strengthen internal collaboration and GHS
• Share technical and research updates
• Forge strong alliances among geographically dispersed staff (what works, how to improve communications)
• Support staff motivation, inclusion, orientation, retention
• Develop recommendations to improve divisional management processes (what works, what needs strengthening) and
• Understand roles and responsibilities of the Resident Advisor and relationship to CDC Headquarters

Total Estimated Cost: $142,866
Total Attendees: 82
Total Feds on Travel: 19
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 2

2015 Division of Global HIV/AIDS Meeting

Dates: June 1-5, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: This meeting built the expertise of lead technical and management personnel (including not only U.S. direct hires, but also locally employed staff) to further CDC’s mission of working with partners throughout the nation and the world to monitor threats; detect and investigate health problems; conduct research to address prevention; develop and advocate sound public health policies; implement prevention strategies; promote healthy behaviors; foster safe and healthful environments; and provide leadership and training. Ensuring alignment with the five key agendas of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), this meeting focused on DGHA strategies for achieving the three guiding pillars of accountability, transparency, and impact. It facilitated communication between the leadership of CDC HQ and more than 40 CDC Division of Global HIV/AIDS offices overseas and afforded a rare occurrence where these personnel were all in the same time zone, all heard the same information and policy updates, and were away from the myriad distractions of their daily office environment.
Total Estimated Cost: $994,779
Total Attendees: 586
Total Feds on Travel: 184
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 0

2015 Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) 46 Training

Dates: June 8-25, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: CDC Tom Harkin Global Communications Center, Atlanta, GA

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: The STOP Transmission of Polio (STOP) program is a joint WHO, UNICEF, and CDC initiative to eradicate polio and provide field support for polio eradication, measles control, and routine immunizations. The STOP pre-deployment training provided volunteers from the United States and other countries with an in-depth understanding of immunization programs, surveillance, and polio eradication activities. STOP participants are deployed primarily to strengthen acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance, support national immunization days, and conduct polio case investigation and follow-up.
Total Estimated Cost: $767,436
Total Attendees: 165
Total Feds on Travel: 0
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 86

Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services

64th Annual Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference

Dates: April 20-23, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: Crowne Plaza Ravinia, Atlanta, GA

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: The primary mission for the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (CSELS) is to provide scientific service, expertise, skills, and tools in support of CDC’s national efforts to promote health; prevent disease, injury and disability; and prepare for emerging health threats. The Division of Scientific Education and Professional Development (DSEPD) has a strategic priority to prepare the public health workforce for 21st-century public health challenges. The Epidemiology Workforce Branch (EWB) is that entity responsible for implementing a major part of that strategic goal by annually training a class of approximately 80 Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officers who will provide service to CDC and state and local health agencies as part of their two-year training program. The EIS Officer training program consists of a number of Core Activities of Learning (CALs) that officers must complete in the course of their two years so that they may successfully graduate from the program. The EIS Conference was a public forum to showcase the research that the officers have done, give them an opportunity to complete one of the CALs, and make a presentation of their work before a large audience of the scientific and public health communities.
Total Estimated Cost: $461,959
Total Attendees: 2,300
Total Feds on Travel: 2,221
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 79

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

31^st Biennial Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Conference – 2015

Dates: June 22-26, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: Atlanta Marriott Century Center, Atlanta, GA

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Conference served as a forum for convening BRFSS Staff, BRFSS grantees, CDC programs, other federal staff, state employees, academicians, and other users of BRFSS to discuss issues that are pertinent to each of these BRFSS Stakeholders. The BRFSS conference continues to serve as a fundamental part of CDC’s obligation to provide assistance to state grantees. During the meeting, program provided all states with uniform information about program methods and received input on the development of new methods from all states. Additionally, BRFSS grantees from several state health departments were able to demonstrate how their state data from BRFSS and BRFSS-like surveys were used to meet local data needs. CDC programs also had the opportunity to highlight how they have utilized and benefitted from the use of aggregated state data to provide a nationwide view of disease burdens.
Total Estimated Cost: $116,499
Total Attendees: 300
Total Feds on Travel: 51
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 0

National Center for Health Statistics

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Annual Refresher Training

Dates: January 3-5, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: Miami Marriott Dadeland, Miami, FL

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected data on the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The NHANES Annual Refresher Training provided field staff with the required knowledge and skills to uphold the level of data integrity, data quality, and respect for survey participants that the National Center for Health Statistics requires. Quality assurance and quality control are two of the most important aspects of this survey, since the integrity of the conclusions drawn by researchers is in large part determined by the quality of the data collected. Findings from this survey have been used to determine the prevalence of major diseases and risk factors for diseases.
Total Estimated Cost: $194,496
Total Attendees: 139
Total Feds on Travel: 14
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 125

2015 National Conference on Health Statistics

Dates: August 24-26, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Bethesda, MD

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is congressionally mandated to collect, analyze, and disseminate public health data. The conference served as a forum for the exchange of information between NCHS and its data users, thereby providing NCHS a mechanism for reaching out to its constituency. In addition, a major function of NCHS is to continue to provide technical assistance to users of the data as methodological changes in data collection occur.
Total Estimated Cost: $361,825
Total Attendees: 949
Total Feds on Travel: 264
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 17

Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support

Orientation Training for Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) 2014 Class

Dates: November 17-21, 2014

Venue, City, State, or Country: CDC Tom Harkin Global Communications Center, Atlanta, GA

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: OSTLTS’ mission is to advance U.S. public health agency and system performance, capacity, agility, and resilience. The overall purpose of the 2014 Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) Orientation training was to provide associates a forum to share information about their field assignments and program requirements, and build knowledge and skills essential to achieving success in the workplace. The training fulfilled HHS and CDC University’s PHAP trainee competencies to increase their skills and abilities to accomplish the mission of OSTLTS and to assist State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial (STLT) health departments increase their capacity for public health delivery. The training provided trainees starting their two-year fellowships with the required knowledge and skills to better equip them in completing their duties on behalf of their STLT health departments and increase their ability to seek employment in the field of public health. The PHAP trainees contributed to the mission by expanding the capacity and performance of partner STLT health departments during their fellowship.
Total Estimated Cost: $241,507
Total Attendees: 159
Total Feds on Travel: 139
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 0

Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) 2013 Graduating Class – Final Spring Training

Dates: April 27-May 1, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: CDC Tom Harkin Global Communications Center, Atlanta, GA

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: OSTLTS’ mission is to advance U.S. public health agency and system performance, capacity, agility, and resilience. Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) trainees worked at State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial (STLT) health departments throughout the United States and its territories. The training provided trainees completing their two-year fellowship with the required knowledge and skills to better equip them in completing their duties on behalf of their STLT health departments and increase their ability to seek employment in the field of public health. The PHAP trainees contributed to the mission by expanding the capacity and performance of partner STLT health departments during their fellowship.
Total Estimated Cost: $199,619
Total Attendees: 133
Total Feds on Travel: 113
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 0

2015 Joint PHAP/PHPS Summer Seminar

Dates: June 1-5, 2015

Venue, City, State, or Country: CDC Tom Harkin Global Communications Center, Atlanta, GA

How the Conference Advanced the Mission of the Agency: OSTLTS’ mission is to advance U.S. public health agency and system performance, capacity, agility, and resilience. Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) and Public Health Prevention Service (PHPS) trainees worked at State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial (STLT) health departments throughout the United States and its territories. The training provided trainees completing their two- and three-year fellowships with the required knowledge and skills to better equip them in completing their duties on behalf of their STLT health departments, and increase their ability to seek employment in the field of public health.
Total Estimated Cost: $265,933
Total Attendees: 169
Total Feds on Travel: 149
Total Non-Feds on Travel: 0