Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Report on CDC-Hosted Scientific Meetings

About the Report

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is recognized as the nation’s premier health protection agency. CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same.

Effective outreach to our partners, grantees, and the general public is central to our mission. Our success is also contingent on our ability to collaborate with tens of thousands of healthcare and human services providers, scientific researchers, clinicians, advocates, and other key non-government partners across the country and internationally. Our support and attendance at scientific meetings and other related meetings is critical for our researchers to leverage and advance the biomedical, scientific, and public health mission of CDC.

This report is submitted as required by the 21st Century Cures Actexternal icon, dated December 13, 2016, which requires federal agencies to report publicly on all scientific meetings[1] where the expenses exceed $30,000.

Description of the Report

In compliance with the 21st Century Cures Act, this report includes:

• Information about scientific meeting expenses for FY 2019, as well as general information about scientific meeting activities throughout the year
• A description of all CDC-hosted scientific meetings for FY 2019 where expenses associated with the scientific meeting exceeded $30,000, including:
  • The date of the scientific meeting
  • The location of the scientific meeting
  • A brief explanation on how the scientific meeting advanced the mission of the agency
  • A description of exceptional circumstances for scientific meetings where expenses exceeded $150,000
  • The total expenses incurred by the agency for the scientific meeting
  • The total number of individuals whose travel expenses or other scientific meeting expenses were paid by the agency

FY 2019 Summary

CDC continues to take positive steps in support of the agency’s initiatives to gain efficiencies in the use of appropriated funds for scientific meetings and conferences (as found in HHS’s policy on promoting efficient spendingexternal icon). At the forefront of these efforts is CDC’s work to implement improvements to event management practices through the release of updated training materials and resources.

The following summarizes information about CDC hosted scientific meetings in FY 2019 where costs exceeded $30,000 [2]:

• Total number of scientific meetings: 10
• Total cost of the scientific meetings: $1,639,894
• Total number of attendees: 2,869
• Average cost per attendee: $572
• Percent of conferences held locally near CDC headquarters in Atlanta, GA: 80%
• Percent of attendees traveling at CDC expense: 30%

[1] HHS defines a scientific meeting as “a meeting that is attended by scientific or medical personnel, or other professionals, of the Department of Health and Human Services, to advance the knowledge of science through the presentation and discussions of the results of scientific research and potential directions for further scientific research.”

[2] Total estimated costs are based on readily identifiable and known costs for contractor support, venue, and audio-visual related expenses, as well as registration fees, travel, and other miscellaneous costs.