2017 Special Sessions – Society for Epidemiologic Research

In addition to the traditional Symposia and Concurrent Contributed Sessions (CCS), the 2017 Conference will offer several different Sessions to attend throughout the week.

Early Stage Investigator (ESI) Session

Should I apply for a K award or R award as an early stage investigator?

Session Chair: Lisa Bodnar

The objective of this early stage investigator session is to present issues that academics should consider when choosing between applying for a K award or an R award from NIH.
Dr Gwen Collman
NIH/NIEHS
– Provide a background on the success rates of K vs. R at NIH.
Dr Victoria Holt
Chair of the department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington
– Speak on the pros and cons of K vs. R from an academic chair’s position.
Dr Katherine Keyes
Associate professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University
– Provide her perspective as a previous early stage investigator who received a K award.
Dr Daniel Westreich
Associate professor of Epidemiology at University of North Carolina
– Provide his perspective as a previous early stage investigator who received a K99/R00 award.
These short presentations will be followed by questions from the audience.

History Sessions

A History of Epidemiology

Session Chair: Alfredo Morabia

Speakers will summarize the results of a National Academy of Medicine funded, first systematic investigation of the history of epidemiology. After briefly reviewing the lack of population thinking and group comparisons before 1600, we will discuss 5 phases: 1) Foundation & Emergence: during the 17th and 18th c, in relation to plague, smallpox inoculation, and scurvy. 2) Installation (19th c): in the UK around the investigation of the etiology, treatment or prevention of infectious diseases. 3) Academia (early 20th c): first Departments and schools, and implementation of the main designs (cohort studies, case-control studies, and randomized controlled trials). 4) Recognition (1945-1973): as a major science of public health because of identifying causes of cancer and CVD, and a growing role in clinical research. 5) Integration (since 1976): of epidemiology and biostatistics in Universities and Health Care settings.
Session Chair:
Alfredo Morabia
Presenters:
Alfredo Morabia, Columbia University
“Intro & Epidemiology before the 17th Century”
Kristin Heitman, Historian, Independent Scholar
“Foundation and Emergence, 17th and 18th Century)
Anne Hardy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
“Installation and Academia, 19th and pre 1945 20th Century”
Henry Blackburn, University of Minnesota
“Recognition, 1945-1973”
Alfredo Morabia, Columbia University
“Integration, 1974 – Today”

Reminiscences of former SER presidents - and of a couple of other old-timers

Session Chair: Noel Weiss and Lynn Lyon

SER/AJE 50th Anniversary Special Issue – Reflections from Commentary Writers

Session Chairs: Bernard Harlow and Moyses Szklo

Panelists:
Allison Aiello, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Invited Commentary: Evolution of Social Networks, Health, and the Role of Epidemiology
Clarice Weinberg, NIH
Invited Commentary: Self-Control Is a Virtue
Henry Blackburn, University of Minnesota
Invited Commentary: 30-Year Perspective on the Seven Countries Study
Ken Rothman, RTI
Invited Commentary: When Case-Control Studies Came of Age
Sherman James
Invited Commentary: Cassel’s Contribution of the Social Environment—A Modern Classic
Tyler VanderWeele, Harvard University
Invited Commentary: The Continuing Need for the Sufficient Cause Model Today
Yvette Cozier, Boston University
Invited Commentary: The Enduring Role of “Place” on Health—A Historic Perspective
Aaron Folsom, University of Minnesota
Invited Commentary: Heterogeneity of Cardiovascular Diseases Among Populations—Recognition and Seminal Explanations

Lunchtime Sessions

SPC Career Panel

Session Chair: David Fink

Early-career panelists from academia, government, private sector, and the international workforce will share experiences and advice from their career trajectories. Panelists will briefly introduce themselves, and then the session will be opened for audience questions.
Session Chair:
David Fink
Panelists:
Nicolle Gatto, Pfizer
Brandon Marshall, Brown University
Sunni Mumford, NICHD

Who wants to be an Epidemiologist?

Host: Ian Shrier

Based on the game show Who wants to be a Millionaire, this session is great for trainees and applied epidemiologists looking to brush up on their methodology. Come for a lighthearted but educational epidemiology show-down with interactive participation between audience members, contestants, host, and judges. This session will take place during the lunch hour on Wednesday.
Host:
Ian Shrier, McGill University
Judges:
Katherine Keyes, Columbia University
Jay Kaufman, McGill University
Daniel Westreich, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Morning Sessions

Speed Mentoring

Host: Jaimie Gradus

Students and post-docs will have the opportunity to meet and network with senior and mid-career epidemiologists in small groups. Following a “speed dating” format, each mentor will be paired with 2-3 student/post-doc attendees at a time, and students will rotate around the room during the session. This will be an opportunity to network with potential mentors and discuss career and professional development experiences and opportunities. This event will be capped at 30 attendees.
Mentors:
Matthew Fox, Boston University
Magdalena Cerda, UC Davis
Jaimie Gradus, VA National Center for PTSD
Michael Oakes, University of Minnesota
Maria Glymour, University of California, San Francisco
Cuilin Zhang, NICHD
Lauren Wise, Boston University
Nigel Paneth, Michigan State University
Lauren McCullough, Emory University
Pre-Registration is required. Click here to register.

Breakfast With the Experts

This early morning roundtable session will take place for one hour before Wednesday’s opening Plenary Sessions. Senior SER colleagues will lead discussion groups on topics based on their areas of expertise, a specific topic in epidemiology, or potential advice on career development and advancement. These sessions provide an excellent opportunity for you to meet the experts of our science.
Experts:
Alfredo Morabia, Columbia University
“Breakfast Roundtable with the Editor-in-Chief of AJPH”
Sandro Galea, Boston University
Diane Lauderdale, University of Chicago
Louise Brinton, NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics
“Opportunities for and Importance of Involvement with Primary Data Collection”
Ichiro Kawachi, Harvard University
Pre-Registration is required. Click here to register.

Professional Development Sessions

Statistics, Adjusted Statistics and Maladjusted Statistics

Excellence in Education Award Winner: Jay Kaufman

Statistical adjustment is a ubiquitous practice in epidemiology, and is meant to correct for improprieties or limitations in observed data, to remove the influence of nuisance variables or to turn observed correlations into causal inferences. These adjustments proceed by reporting not what was observed in the real world, but instead modeling what would have been observed in an imaginary world in which specific nuisances or improprieties are absent. These techniques are powerful and useful inferential tools, but their application can be hazardous or deleterious if consumers of the adjusted results mistake the imaginary world of models for the real world of data. Adjustments require decisions about which factors are of primary interest and which are imagined away, and yet many adjusted results are presented without any explanation or justification for these decisions. Adjustments can be harmful if poorly motivated, and are frequently misinterpreted in media reporting of scientific studies. Adjustment procedures have become so routinized that many scientists and readers lose the habit of relating the reported findings back to the real world in which we actually live.

The Costs of Scientific Publishing

Session Chair: Anne Marie Jukic

As researchers, it is essential that we publish our papers — but where and how is increasingly open to question. There is upheaval in academic publishing, with controversy over the accessibility of science, open access publishing, academic ownership, publisher profits and openly predatory journals. This session brings together experts with diverse perspectives on the costs of scientific publishing, who should pay those costs. There will be ample time for audience participation.
Moderators:
Anne Marie Jukic, Yale School of Public Health
Allen Wilcox, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Panelists:
Frances Chu, MSN, MLIS, RN
Acting Lead Liaison and Clinical & Content Librarian
University of Washington Health Sciences Library
Anna Hernandez-French
Associate Publisher
Science and Medical Journals at Oxford University Press
Moyses Szklo, MD, MPH, DrPH
Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine
The Johns Hopkins University
Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Epidemiology

Ask Anything

Session Chair: Diane Lauderdale