Karie Banks

Hello SER Students and Postdocs! Spring has officially sprung, and SER has lots of amazing programming to look forward to in the upcoming months. Join us April 21 from 12-1 PM EDT for the Student and Postdoc Committee’s journal club, where we will discuss the article “Identifying cardiovascular severe maternal morbidity in epidemiologic studies” with the author Isabelle Malhamé. On May 12 from 12-1 PM EDT Martha Werler and Wendy Nembhard will hold a discussion on #MeToo. The purpose of this webinar is to recognize sexual harassment in our field, consider the consequences, and identify corrective ways forward. This session will be interactive, presenting data and anonymous stories collected via survey from SER members. In addition to the upcoming seminars, as SER members you have access to a wealth of fantastic archived online content. For example, the Education Committee hosted an event entitled “Adapting to the pandemic job market,” where presenters brought their experiences in academia, government, and industry to virtual interviewee strategies for higher education positions as well as non-academic tracks (the recording can be found here). Or if you’re interested in listening to SER experts discuss a timely public health topic being, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee hosted […]

It falls on me to be the bearer of bad news, although it lessens the sting to know that this comes as no real surprise to anyone.   Travel, hospitality, and the many dimensions of daily life – from childcare to university reimbursements – have not yet returned to such a state that we can depend on them in June.  Those of us who closed our eyes and anticipated the warm Pacific breeze on our faces must wait until summer of 2026 for that sensation (our San Diego hotel contract is not canceled, but merely postponed by 5 years).  Many thanks to the nearly 1100 of you who responded to our recent survey, effectively supporting this reluctant decision in something of a landslide.   Nearly 60% of respondents indicated that they would only attend a virtual meeting, and another 20% offered that they would attend regardless, but preferred the virtual format under the circumstances.  A hybrid meeting is substantially more expensive, and with only a small number of people indicating that they would come in person, it seems impossible to justify the large additional cost that is ultimately subsidized by a majority who will not benefit from it. Faced with this reality, […]

February 4, 2021: Albert Camus wrote in 1954 that it takes the depths of winter for us to discover the invincible summer within us.  Here we are in the midst of a literal and metaphorical winter, and summer beckons.  The days are getting longer, the COVID case counts are falling (for now) and the vaccine cavalry is coming over the hill.  SER meeting abstracts, symposium proposals and award nominations have streamed in, more “late-breaking” abstracts are on the way, and the June 2021 meeting is taking shape.  The question of how much of the meeting will be physical or virtual is still an open one, as noted in a previous message.  We are monitoring the situation, but must make a firm commitment in March, and will communicate this to the membership by April 1.  We can already guarantee that virtual participation at the meeting will be available, and this implies the same advantages enjoyed in the December 2020 meeting, such as access to recordings and therefore the opportunity to view conflicting events.  Of course it also implies the downsides of remote attendance, but we have your feedback from the last meeting and will work with the vendor to use these comments […]

Warmest greetings, SER students and postdocs! It’s a new year, and we’re manifesting positivity in 2021 in the form of high impact journal acceptances, models that converge, single-digit percentile grant scores, and COVID vaccines for all. Basically, epi self-care. I’d like to thank all who participated in our virtual annual meeting this December, which had the highest registration in recorded SER history! While we were missing the community of our in-person annual meeting, we managed to come together virtually during these unprecedented times to share our important scientific work. I also want to thank everyone who participated in the Student and Postdoc Committee (SPC) annual survey. We are working hard to use the feedback provided to ensure that future programming is tailored to best suit the needs of our members. Because of the postponement of the 2020 meeting, it already seems like SER 2021 is rapidly approaching. The meeting will be held June 22-25 in San Diego, California. At this point, it seems likely that we will be holding either another virtual conference or a hybrid-style meeting, depending on public health guidance in the coming months. If you haven’t already, please consider submitting an abstract. This year, the late breaking […]