SERdigital – Society for Epidemiologic Research

Webinar featuring a dynamic plenary between two leading epidemiologists and live oral presentations selected from submitted abstracts. Participants are encouraged to participate individually or organize a viewing party at their institution.

Fall SERdigital - "Translating Epidemiologic Research to Effective Action: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic."

Wednesday, November 11, 2020, from 12:00pm – 1:30pm EST

We are experiencing a global health crisis unlike anything we’ve ever known in our lifetimes. Public health professionals have had to rapidly draw inferences regarding the spread, treatment, and prevention of COVID-19 to make swift course-of-actions affecting millions of people. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the COVID-19 research (at least initially) failed to effectively translate into practice. The invited panelists will discuss initial missteps in how information was gathered, interpreted, and disseminated, leading to misinformation and massive tolls for marginalized and vulnerable populations. The panelists will also touch upon ignored health inequities and effects on mental wellbeing which will likely impact the world for years to come. The panelists will close by speaking more broadly to the way this unprecedented event has irreversibly changed the way we live, think, and practice epidemiology.

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Sharrelle Barber
Assistant Research Professor
Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Urban Health Collaborative
Drexel University
Dornsife School of Public Health

Justin Lessler
Associate Professor
Department of Epidemiology
Infectious Disease
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Amira Aker, University of Toronto

Claire Rowcliffe, Emory University

I graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2018 with a B.S in Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology. During my undergraduate studies, I became interested in public health due to my desire to be involved in health care as well as scientific research. I am a second year MPH Epidemiology student enrolled in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University as well as a member of the Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology certificate program. My main interests involve genomics, epigenetics, neurological disorders, reproductive health, and environmental health. I am grateful for the opportunity to present my abstract at SER digital as this will be my first conference presentation.

Tiffany Fitzpatrick, Yale University

Tiffany Fitzpatrick, PhD MPH, is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health. She will be presenting work completed during her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her current research focuses on the epidemiology of pediatric respiratory viruses, particularly respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), with an emphasis on health equity and public health policy.