Making Methods and Practice Matter for Women, Children and Families

Pre-Conference Trainings: December 7–8, 2009
Conference: December 9–11, 2009
Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay
Tampa, Florida
 

About the Conference

Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology (MCH EPI) conference organizers invite you to join MCH professionals in sharing experiences, enhancing knowledge, and generating new ideas for improved MCH data use and informed policymaking.

Student, fellow and summer intern submissions are encouraged during this special call for abstracts. This conference can help students learn more about MCH Epidemiology practice at federal, state, local and tribal levels.

This year’s featured keynote speaker:

David Barker, MD, PhD, FRCP, FRS
Pioneer of the Fetal Origins Hypothesis
Physician and Professor - University of Southampton, UK (Clinical Epidemiology)
Professor - Oregon Health and Science University (Department of Medicine)

Dr. Barker is Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University and Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Southampton, UK. Twenty years ago he showed for the first time that people who had low birth weight are at greater risk of developing coronary heart disease and diabetes. This is now widely accepted. It has led to a new understanding that chronic adult diseases are "programmed" by malnutrition in the womb. Dr. Barker's work is relevant around the world. In the Western world many babies are malnourished because their mothers eat diets that are unbalanced and monotonous, or because their mothers are either overweight or excessively thin. In the Third World many babies are malnourished because their mothers were chronically undernourished when they were young. Dr. Barker has lectured and written extensively on nutrition in the womb and its life-long consequences. He has received a number of international awards including the Danone Nutrition Award and the Prince Mahidol Prize.

Plenary Sessions and Speakers

1. The Life Course Perspective: Moving from Theory to Action
   1. Neal Halfon, MD, MPH - Professor, Pediatrics, University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Director of the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, Director of the Child and Family Health Program at UCLA School of Public Health.
   2. Allen Wilcox, MD, PhD - Senior Investigator, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park.
   3. Mario Drummonds, MS, LCSW - Executive Director/CEO of the Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership, Inc.
       
2. Emerging Environmental Issues in Perinatal and Child Health: Questions, Quandaries and Quagmires
   1. Pauline Mendola, PhD - Infant, Child and Women’s Health Statistics Branch, National Center for Health Statistics.
   2. George Rhoads, MD, MPH - Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
   3. Kevin M. Sherin, MD, MPH - Director of Orange County Health Department and President of the American Association of Public Health Physicians.
       
3. Beginning with the End in Mind: Healthy Families Start with Family Planning (A life course perspective)
   1. Ward Cates, MD, MPH - Director, Family Health International.
   2. Lawrence Finer, PhD - Director of Domestic Research, Guttmacher Institute.
   3. Deborah Kaplan, R-PA, MPH - Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Conference Schedule
Wednesday, December 9, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Thursday, December 10, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Friday, December 11, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.

2009 MCH EPI Pre-Conference Data Skills Trainings*

Who Should Attend
Health professionals working with maternal and child health data, programs, or policies, particularly at the national, state, tribal, and local levels, including:

• Epidemiologists 
• Program specialists 
• Evaluators 
• Data analysts 
• Clinicians 
• Community advocates 
• Policymakers 
• Researchers 
• Students

Awards
National MCH EPI Awards* for more details on how to nominate and the awards criteria. Deadline for nominations is Monday, June 1, 2009. Awards will be presented during the conference awards luncheon.

Conference Awards (Best Abstract and Best Poster - 1st and 2nd place) will be presented during the conference for outstanding work.

Travel Scholarships
Limited travel scholarships will be available for those participating this year. Priority will be given to those who are speakers, those who have an accepted abstract, those conducting MCH EPI work, and students.

Travel scholarship applications must be submitted by Friday, July 31, 2009; applications will not be considered after this date. Submission does not guarantee automatic receipt of a travel scholarship. Final decisions will be made by September 11, 2009.

Page last reviewed: 10/23/09
Page last modified: 10/23/09
Content source: Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion