February 2025 - The Epidemiology Monitor

Epidemiology for Epidemiologists A monthly update covering people, events, research, and key developments Editor’s Note: It's that time of the year and this month you will find our guide to summer programs starting on page 16 so that you can begin your summer planning. You will note that this year we have many new options - especially in biostatistics and public health.

In addition you will find an article on the underlying cost of the current chaos in D.C. along with an article on evidence-informed approaches for chronic conditions. Finally you'll find a profile of public health professional, Brenda Eskenazi, whose career offers an interesting journey for the reader.

We continue to provide you with our popular monthly crossword feature, Notes on People, an overview of what we read from the public media, and a listing of upcoming epidemiology events.

Finally, don't miss the Job Bank offerings this month. We have some fantastic opportunities advertised both here and on our website.

Did you miss last month’s issue?

Read it here: https://tinyurl.com/mpeeks9h or here: https://tinyurl.com/mr2e25fb

In This Issue -2-

The Cost of Efficiency

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Crossword

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Evidence-Informed Approach for Chronic Conditions

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What We’re Reading

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Profiles in Public Health - Brenda Eskenazi

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Notes on People

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Epi Briefs: AES 2025 Conference Cancelled

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Near Term Event Calendar

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2025 Summer Programs in Epidemiology,

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Marketplace – Jobs & Events

Biostatistics and Public Health

February 2025

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Volume Forty Six •

Number Two

The Cost of Efficiency Let's not cut off our legs to lose weight Author: Katelyn Jetelina, PhD, MPH Thousands of people in the Health and Human Services (HHS) were terminated this week without merit, warning, or a vision of how to make the systems work better for Americans.

According to the efficiency tracker, DOGE has only reached 2.75% of its goal. These cuts are just the beginning.

Make the systems work better for Americans.

According to the efficiency tracker, DOGE has only reached 2.75% of its goal. These cuts are just the beginning.

All of this is happening in the name of efficiency. While balancing the budget is important, efficiency is more than that—it’s about strategically improving processes, strengthening infrastructure, and ensuring sustainability. If these things aren’t done, there is a cost. In public health, for example, reckless cuts may look good on a balance sheet today but could cost Americans far more in the long run—both in dollars and in lives.

The reality - and myth - of "excess" in public health Let’s be clear: Government programs, like any systems, can always be optimized. There are inefficiencies, redundancies, and areas for improvement. Government bureaucracy moves way too slowly at times. An honest internal audit isn’t unusual. It’s necessary as the world around it changes.

- Efficiency cont'd on page 3

Let’s not cut off our legs to lose weight.

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- Efficiency cont'd from page 2 At the tail end of the Covid-19 emergency, CDC launched an internal audit called Moving Forward. External experts assessed how the agency could improve, interviewing hundreds of stakeholders inside and outside CDC. Their conclusions? Focus on core capabilities, be more nimble and flexible, and be more responsive to Americans’ needs on the ground.

These recommendations were right on target. I was brought into CDC to help implement them—to push for faster, better, and more responsive public health action. (I was not exactly a quiet critic of CDC during the pandemic.) There is still so much that needs to be done. But, two weeks ago, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) immediately terminated my contract.

Public health is an investment A savings of millions now could lead to billions in future healthcare costs, lost productivity, and emergency response spending. For example, a bird flu pandemic could cost exponentially more than the savings from cutting staff in the bird flu response program.

We’ve seen the return on investment in public health over and over again. All efforts require staff and resources: 

Similarly, the Clinton-Gore administration formed a bipartisan task force to investigate how to make government more efficient. In September 1993, they released From Red Tape to Results: Creating a Government that Works Better & Costs Less, and its recommendations became law. It was intentional, evidence-based, and focused on both fiscal responsibility and meaningful outcomes.



 

What’s happening now is not that. This is a blunt-force budget cut with no clear strategy— gutting programs without considering their impact or even how services could be improved for the American people, often spinning public health into fear and chaos.

Opioid crisis response efforts: For every $1 invested in overdose prevention, $4 is saved in health care and criminal justice costs.

The Vaccines for Children Program prevents 42,000 deaths annually, saving $10.50 for every $1 invested—amounting to $2.2 trillion in taxpayer savings.

Community weight loss programs. Every $1 invested yields a return of $16.70.

Mental health interventions. Every $1 invested in collaborative care models (integrated mental health treatment within primary care settings) yields a return of $6.50 in health care savings and improved worker productivity.

- Efficiency cont'd on page 4

Do you want to read more content like this? This piece was reprinted from Substack.

YLE can be found here: https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/

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- Efficiency cont'd from page 3

Figure by YLE; Numbers come from a host of peer-reviewed articles and reports. (here, here, here and here)

Meanwhile, Medicare is the most expensive item in the HHS national budget. Cutting prevention programs today will only increase these costs tomorrow.

- Efficiency cont'd on page 5

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- Efficiency cont'd from page 4

What comes next?

The destruction isn’t over, but eventually, the dust will settle. When it does, we’ll need to rebuild—hopefully with a clear vision rooted in protecting health, a commitment to long-term investment, and a focus on efficiency that actually strengthens systems rather than dismantling them.

The government exists to serve people (not profits). While financial responsibility matters, the ultimate priority must always be what’s best for the public.

Bottom line Efficiency isn’t just about cutting budgets. Every public health dollar should work to its fullest potential for Americans. Prevention and early intervention are investments that yield returns of 2 to 60 times their cost by reducing healthcare spending, improving workforce productivity, and making communities safer.

Let’s not cut off our legs to lose weight.

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Toward an Evidence-Informed Approach for Chronic Conditions Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, and peerreviewed literature all differ in their definitions of chronic disease, which has implications for reporting and surveillance efforts. The definitions differ on integral points such as duration, functional limitations, and the need for ongoing medical care. A non-exhaustive list of conditions eligible for CMS chronic care management services includes hypertension, HIV, osteoporosis, and substance use disorders, among others.

Author: Madeline Roberts, PhD, MPH Chronic conditions increasingly occupy public discourse, and with good reason. 90% of the $4.5 trillion of annual US health spending is on chronic conditions. Approximately 60% of Americans have at least one chronic condition, and more than 40% have two or more. Eight of the top ten causes of death in the US are chronic conditions.

Interestingly, no standard definition exists for a chronic condition. The U.S. Department of Agency

Definition

Duration

Functional limitation

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

conditions that last a year or more and require ongoing medical attention and/or limit activities of daily living

≥ 1 year

yes

U.S. National Center for Health Statistics

a physical, mental, or emotional problem; conditions lasting more than three months are classified as chronic; selected conditions (e.g., arthritis, diabetes, cancer, and heart conditions) are considered chronic regardless of duration

not cured once acquired or lasts ≥ 3 months

no—level of functionality is noted, but not factored into classification as chronic condition

Need for Ongoing Medical Care yes

no

Sources: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3652713/ and https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_259.pdf

and education level, and higher uninsured rates.

The southeast US has the highest chronic disease prevalence in the country.

A prevalence study by zip code found that chronic disease burden is highest among populations with lower income, home value,

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- Chronic cont'd on page 7

- Chronic cont'd from page 6

Interesting recent evidence exists on specific age intervention points and modifiable risk factors for chronic conditions.

Molecular changes associated with aging appear to follow a nonlinear pattern, with disproportionately higher decline occurring around ages 44 and 60. 

Around age 40 to 44, the body becomes less efficient at metabolizing fat; the same appears true for alcohol and caffeine. Cardiovascular disease risk increases.



Around age 60, the body becomes less efficient at carbohydrate metabolization, and there is a decline in the immune system and kidney function. The risk for cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes markedly increases.

Identifying molecular dysregulation and decline at these specific age points is powerful for informing population health screenings and clinical preventive measures.

- Chronic cont'd on page 8

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Chronic cont'd from page 7 Environmental exposures impact disease patterns and premature mortality more than genetics in many cases, according to a recent UK study. Primary drivers of mortality and aging included smoking, hours of sleep, household income, home ownership, ethnicity, years of education, physical activity and wellness, and the additive effect of these factors together.

This emphasizes the utility of environmental interventions in mitigating premature mortality, as nearly all of these factors are modifiable.

Non-modifiable factors were height (shorter is somewhat protective) and ethnicity.

subpopulation. Life expectancy is less than 64years for Native Americans living in the western US. By contrast, Asian individuals in the US have a life expectancy of approximately 84 years. Substantial differences in income and education among the ten Americas were also identified. This study provides bleak, quantifiable evidence of the colossal differences in subsets of the US population and demonstrates the severity of the need for tailored population health interventions in areas such as nutrition, substance use, and hypertension.

Additionally, genetic risk contributed more than environmental factors in the development of dementia and breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. Conversely, environmental factors contributed more than genetics in the development of diseases of the heart, lungs, and liver.

Bottom line: Prevalence data, life expectancy, and epigenetic studies all indicate the need for demographically and geographically tailored interventions rather than a top-down, one-sizefits-all approach for chronic conditions. State and territorial public health departments got hammered during the pandemic and are struggling to regroup, but their work remains indispensable, maybe even more so for chronic conditions. Health workers who are fluent in the unique needs and risk factors of their communities are essential to alleviating the burden of chronic conditions. ■

The recent “Ten Americas” study defined ten different Americas based on race, ethnicity, location, metropolitan status, income, and Black–White residential segregation. It showed dramatic differences in U.S. life expectancies by

Join EpiMonitor on our Facebook page at: https://bit.ly/2U29gUA or on Twitter at: @theEpimonitor or on Instagram at: @epimonitor -8-

Profiles in Public Health Brenda Eskenazi: An Environmental Epidemiologist's Journey from Woodstock to America's Salad Bowl What it means why it matters Author: Sheilaand Kaplan, Writer, UC Berkeley SPH Note: The EpiMonitor would like to thank the University of California - Berkeley for granting us permission to reprint this article from their series on outstanding emeritus faculty members.

Back in August 1969, Brenda Eskenazi hiked 15 miles in the pouring rain to reach the Woodstock Festival—but she never heard the music.

Eskenazi was so far back from the stage that she missed Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and the rest of the performers at that famous (and infamous) gathering in upstate New York. She did, however, see a young man on a very bad acid trip.

Watching him dive off the top of a car onto the cement, hallucinating water, the future scientist wondered: What on earth had happened to his brain to make him do that?

“That got me really, really interested in how chemicals affect the human brain,” she said in a recent interview.

The incident at the ‘60s most famous rock concert led Eskenazi to become a neuropsychologist and environmental epidemiologist, specializing on the impact of environmental exposures on children’s health.

She joined the faculty of UC Berkeley School of Public Health in 1984 as an assistant professor in maternal and child health and epidemiology and became a professor in 1995. She was named Distinguished Jennifer and Brian

Brenda Eskenazi Maxwell Professor of Maternal and Child Health in 2008.

A globe-hopping career Eskenazi’s research has taken her all over the world, producing groundbreaking studies on the health hazards of exposure to pesticides, dioxins, metals, tobacco smoke, air pollution, and other toxic substances.

She has analyzed the aftermath of a chemical plant explosion near Seveso, Italy; studied what happened to workers exposed to benzene in China; and looked at in-utero DDT exposure in South Africa.

Eskenazi has also conducted research on the effects of social adversity and nutritional factors on male and female reproduction and on child development from the fetal stage to - Eskenazi cont'd on page 10

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-Eskenazi cont'd from page 9 adolescence.

A Massive Impact

She is best known for building the Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), a world-renowned science hub whose affiliated researchers have published hundreds of papers on environmental exposures and their impacts on pregnant women and children.

Eskenazi became an emerita professor in 2019, but remains director of CERCH, which oversees the longest-running longitudinal birth cohort study of pesticides and other environmental exposures among children in any farmworker community in the world.

It’s hard to overstate Eskenazi’s contributions to environmental science. She has had an important impact on the regulation of chemicals at the state and federal level; on warnings about the risk of cancer, reproductive harm and birth defects now required under California’s Proposition 65; and on documents informing the Stockholm Convention, the historic international treaty to protect the public from persistent organic pollutants (toxic chemicals that resist degradation and can accumulate in living organisms).

CERCH’s Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas, known as CHAMACOS, first enrolled pregnant women in 1999. Twenty-five years later, CHAMACOS is still a source of trailblazing research. Beyond their own investigations, the specimens and data that Eskenazi and her team have collected—initially from hundreds of pregnant women, and then from their children—serve as a lending library for researchers from around the globe.

“Brenda’s work has led the field of environmental epidemiology in designing and conducting longitudinal studies of key populations, from the Seveso Women’s Health Study to the CHAMACOS cohort, among many others,” said Linda Birnbaum, the former director of the National Institute for Environmental Science. “In addition, she’s a pleasure to collaborate with.”

When Eskenazi started her work, the fact that lead was a potent neurotoxin was beyond dispute. But the notion that pesticides and some other chemicals could also damage the developing brain was not as widely accepted.

Eskenazi’s investigators have produced some of the first evidence that the children who were exposed to pesticides in the womb had lower IQs than other children and other neurodevelopmental problems. Their work showed that other chemical exposures were associated with lower birth weights, poor cognitive functioning, and additional health issues.

Dr. Gwen Collman, director of the NIEHS office of scientific coordination, planning and evaluation, said, “Brenda is a brilliant researcher who has been very, very dedicated to expanding our knowledge base when it comes to the health effects of exposures to environmental chemicals. Her work has been very novel, very challenging. She’s not afraid to take on the tough stuff. She brings a very deliberate and rigorous approach.”

Eskenazi’s research has earned her many awards, most recently the 2023 Child Health Advocate Award from the Children’s Environmental Health Network. In 2014, she - Eskenazi cont'd on page 11

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-Eskenazi cont'd from page 10 was inducted into the Collegium Ramazzini, a prestigious academy of the top 150 people in the world in occupational and environmental health. Her other honors include the John R. Goldsmith Award for Lifetime Achievement, from the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology.

Kim Harley, the faculty director of UC Berkeley’s Wallace Center for Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, who first worked with Eskenazi on CHAMACOS in 2004 as a graduate student, praised her mentor’s innovation.

“If you look now, there are so many cohort studies and research looking at prenatal exposures and how they affect brain development,” Harley said. “But when she wrote that first grant back in 1998, there was hardly anybody doing it.

“The National Institutes of Health now has a toolbox of neurodevelopmental tests for this purpose, but none of this existed when Brenda started. She was one of the first to do this, and her PhD in neuropsychology put her in the perfect place to do it.”

From Queens to Yale Eskenazi didn’t plan it that way.

Growing up in Queens, a borough of New York City, Eskenazi wanted to become either a surgeon or a medical illustrator. But while attending Queens College in the 1960s, her biology professor told Eskenazi that women didn’t belong in medicine. Lacking role models of female doctors, Eskenazi, at first, believed it.

Luckily, Queens College, a branch of the City University of New York, was the site of the entire university’s neuropsychology

department, and Ezkenasi was welcome there.

“That was fascinating to me,” she said. “I happened to be in a good place for me, and it turned out by chance.”

Eskenazi was accepted to the CUNY doctoral program in neuropsychology, and then spent a pivotal year studying at the University of Leeds in England.

Her plan was to conduct electrical and chemical stimulation of animal brains, and study the effects. She worked on a range of animals, learning neurochemistry, neurophysiology and neuroanatomy. But soon, the head of her laboratory told her she had to stop operating because she didn’t have a license.

“You needed a license to operate on animals in England,” Eskenazi said. “And I didn’t have one.

And it took a year to get a license. So I said, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ And he said, ‘Well, I guess you’re going to have to do human research.”’

She designed a study of cognitive issues in women using high-estrogen birth control pills.

“I wrote a questionnaire like an epidemiologist would, and that’s where the pieces came together. I entered into the field of epidemiology but without real training at that time.”

Eskenazi returned to the U.S., and received her PhD from CUNY Graduate Center in 1979, while also working at the Columbia University Psychiatric Institute. That led to an epidemiology and environmental health sciences postdoc at Yale University. By - Eskenazi cont'd on page 12

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-Eskenazi cont'd from page 11 1983, she was an assistant professor in Environmental Health Sciences at Yale School of Medicine, studying the neurotoxic as well as reproductive effects of many chemicals ranging from alcohol, nicotine and caffeine, to environmental chemicals. She moved to UC Berkeley School of Public Health in 1984.

“We didn’t know very much information about children’s exposures and their effects, especially to pesticides, and how that affected child development,”’ Eskenazi said.

Eskenazi and her research team applied to establish one of these Children’s Centers to study the effect of short-acting pesticides on children.

The first class she taught at Berkeley was on reproductive hazards of industrial chemicals.

And one of her first landmark studies was an investigation into the 1976 chemical factory explosion near Seveso, Italy, which exposed residents to high levels of 2,3,7,8tetracholorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD or dioxin), a human carcinogen and potent endocrine disruptor. She has followed the women exposed to dioxin from that disaster for more than two decades.

“I said, ‘Look, we live in the largest agricultural state in the nation. We work at a land grant university. Our work needs to be on agriculture and it needs to be on pesticides,” Eskenazi said.

After forming partnerships with local health care providers, and community leaders— Eskenazi launched a birth cohort study, tracking mothers and children from primarily Mexican farmworker families who may have been exposed to pesticides used in the fields.

Tracking toxins in California’s salad bowl An ongoing theme of her research has been the negative consequences of environmental agents on child health.

Much of Eskenazi’s most important research has come from CHAMACOS, the joint project she founded with Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas, Natividad Medical Center and other community groups in the Salinas Valley. This rich agricultural land is often called “the world’s salad bowl.” Dole is there, as is Naturipe Farms, Fresh Express, and since 1999, Brenda Eskenazi.

In 1996, the Food Quality and Protection Act was passed by Congress and this Act called for the protection of the health of fetuses and children from the effects of pesticides–that children were not “little adults.” In 1998, the Environmental Protection Agency and NIEHS put out a request to establish Centers for Children’s Environmental Health.

Her team recruited 600 women in the first half of their pregnancy. Half of these women had lived in the US less than five years, but at the time if you were pregnant you could receive MediCal, whether you were documented or not.

They interviewed the women, collected maternal blood cord blood, and urine samples from them. They followed and examined their children soon after birth and at 6 months and every one to two years after. They did home walkthroughs and neighborhood assessments.

They later added 305 additional children, who were followed from age 9.

As the children grew, researchers collected data on their neurodevelopment, including autism spectrum behavior; obesity, respiratory symptoms, onset of puberty and other health outcomes.

- Eskenazi cont'd on page 13

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-Eskenazi cont'd from page 12 “Since I was a psychologist, I also made sure I got a lot of stuff on their social well-being and psychological well being as well as their full medical history,” Eskenazi said. Right after the 2016 Presidential election, we even collected information on their concerns about immigration policy. Another frequent subject has been gene-environment interaction, and more recently, the effects of exposure to environmental chemicals and social stressors on the epigenome of the developing child.

Colleagues at UCSF and UC Berkeley have been following the health of the mothers, too.

They have been following many of the families for 25 years, ending up with more than 400,000 biological samples, fueling more than 200 studies on the impacts of pesticides and other chemicals on health as well as a myriad of other exposures; while at the same time, educating farmworker families and finding ways to reduce exposures.

In addition, the CHAMACOS has provided valuable information on the ubiquitous chemicals found in furniture, plastics, and cosmetics, and their effects on many aspects of health.

“When we started CHAMACOS, people were saying ‘Wow, this is a big undertaking, and it was really going to depend on the cooperation of the community,” said Kim Harley, who started as a student and later became study coordinator in 2004.

“From the very beginning, Brenda was really committed that the core of the study would be community-based participatory research. The staff was all bicultural, and bilingual, from the Salinas community.”

and spending the time necessary to develop and keep trust.

“The passion and connection that she has to the people in the Salinas Valley is so unique, impressive and inspiring,” Collman said. “She’s created an enormous treasure trove of information that we can mine, to look at many, many hypotheses. To this day, the CHAMACOS team is just knocking it out of the park.”

And to Collman, there was another tremendous benefit to CHAMACOS: It was a training ground for scores of Eskenazi’s former students, many of whom, like Kim Harley, and Asa Bradman, now at UC Merced, went on to become prominent environmental health researchers.

“She is so careful, not just teaching them how to do the research, but making sure every single paper is perfect,” Collman said. “I’ve gotten to know many of her trainees, and they are a wonderful group of scientists. Having Brenda as a mentor for even one year has been transformative for so many of them. She’s been an amazing leader.”

Harley said, “Working with Brenda totally defined my career. She was my mentor and continues to be my mentor. She’s been amazing. She helped me and encouraged me and enabled me to develop my own research portfolio and move into a faculty position at Berkeley, where I was able to start my own research program.”

Eskenazi believes that the mentorship role is one of the most, if not the most, important contribution a professor can make to science.

- Eskenazi cont'd on page 14

Gwen Collman, of NIEHS, praised Eskenazi for becoming part of the farmworker community,

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-Eskenazi cont'd from page 13 “I see my students and mentees as branches of a tree,” she said. “I train them and they train others—that is my biggest legacy.”

Eskenazi and Doudna, the Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences, produced a study laying out the need for fast action to protect the agricultural workers. Their report, published in JAMA Open Network, motivated the state government to prioritize farmworkers for COVID vaccinations.

COVID-19 and a collaboration with Jennifer Doudna At least it seemed that way, until the COVID-19 pandemic. As the disease emerged, Eskenazi recognized that the situations that farmworkers lived in—crowded conditions, difficulty getting medical care—made them especially vulnerable to the disease.

The result was an innovative van service that circulated around the Valley, inoculating farm workers against COVID and testing them and their families for the disease.

Quickly, she teamed up with her longtime CHAMACOS partners—Salinas Valley health clinics, agricultural companies and farmworker advocates—along with UC Berkeley Professor Jennifer Doudna, a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.

“Our coalition became a model for other counties in California and around the country,” she said. “Because of our work, farmworkers were prioritized for vaccination in many states.”

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Advertising opportunities exist in this digital publication, on our website and Facebook page, and in our Epi-Gram emails.

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Epi Briefs: February 2025 2025 AES Conference Cancelled Author: Staff The American Epidemiological Association has announced the cancellation of their 2025 annual conference that was scheduled for March 13-14 at Emory University in Atlanta. AES stated that the decision was made to take a pause while the new administration in D.C. took time to define its plan for "managing the federal policy and public communications processes" because of the impact these changes may have on conference attendance and travel.

They stated that abstract submissions and registrations have been unusually low with most coming from individuals affiliated with universities or others who are retired and thus

less impacted by the changes in Washington.

The consensus was that, under these circumstances, the event wouldn't be an authentic AES meeting if they had chosen to move forward as planned.

In lieu of holding the conference, AES has elected to hold a virtual panel discussion that was already scheduled to occur during the conference. The program "Practicing Consequential Epidemiology and Public Health in Challenging Times" will be held on March 13th starting at 5:15pm. The program will be followed by a brief AES update. There will be no charge for attending this event and members will receive, via email, the information necessary to participate. ■

Your Ad Should Be Here Do you have a job, course, conference, book or other resource of interest to the epidemiology community? Advertise with The Epidemiology Monitor and reach 35,000 epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and public health professionals monthly.

Advertising opportunities exist in this digital publication, on our website and Facebook page, and in our Epi-Gram emails.

For more information please contact: Michele Gibson / michele@epimonitor.net

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2025 Summer Programs in Epidemiology & Biostatistics Note: Several programs are returning from hiatus this year. We have also included an extended listing of biostatistics programs this year.

episummer@columbia Columbia University – New York City Name

episummer@columbia

Sponsors

Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Location

Online and New York, NY

Program year

14th (over 500 participants each year)

Types and dates of Courses

All in June

Dates

June 1-30, 2025

Number of Courses

36

Language

English

Number of faculty

24 Most are from Columbia

Target audience

Public health faculty and practitioners, clinician researchers, students (doctoral, master’s and undergraduate), research staff and industry

Cost

$250-$1,800 per course - 10% discount prior to April 1st / limited scholarships available Scholarship application deadline is March 15, 2025

Deadline for registration

Full course list: http://tinyurl.com/ya7cxeux

Limit on participants

No limits for most of the courses - classes have 10-50 participants with an average of 20.

Course directors

Thelma Mielenz

Contact information

Gerald Govia, cuepisummer@columbia.edu https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/research/episummercolumbia

Comments

Columbia University's Department of Epidemiology has a summer institute every June called episummer@columbia that enables anyone anywhere in the world to engage in the world-class coursework and high-quality instruction offered at Columbia University. It provides opportunities to gain foundational knowledge and applied skills for advancing population health

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Comments con’t

research. episummer@columbia’s intensive short courses are offered in synchronous or asynchronous online learning formats. Registrants for episummer@columbia courses need access to high-speed internet.

Specific information about online access is provided to registrants before the course begins. episummer@columbia: synchronous learning Our synchronous courses vary in length from 4 hours to 20 hours delivered in an online live, in-person or hybrid format. These courses are offered only on a specific date and time allowing registrants the ability to interact live with their episummer@columbia course instructor and other registrants. episummer@columbia: asynchronous learning Each asynchronous course, varying in length from 5 hours to 40 hours, contains lectures and course material presented online with materials released by the instructor accordingly. The flexible format will include video or audio recordings of lecture material, file sharing and topical discussion fora, self-assessment exercises, real-time electronic office hours and access to instructors for feedback during the course.

Newer courses: Intensive R for Epidemiologists Infectious Disease Modeling: A Brief Introduction Introduction to Causal Inference with Longitudinal Data Epidemiology of Police Violence Rethinking Criminal Justice as Public Health

Join EpiMonitor on our Facebook page at: https://bit.ly/2U29gUA or on Twitter at: @theEpimonitor

or on Instagram at: @epimonitor

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University of Michigan Summer Session in Epidemiology Ann Arbor, MI Name

The University of Michigan Summer Session in Epidemiology

Sponsors

UM School of Public Health

Location

Ann Arbor, MI

Program year

As of 2025 the program has been offered for 60 years.

Types and dates of Courses

Number of Courses

2025 courses are offered exclusively online (21) One week morning or afternoon classes (1) One week full day class (2) Three week morning or afternoon classes 25

Language

English

Number of faculty

26

Target audience

Designed for public health and healthcare professionals, researchers, and others eager to build a foundation in epidemiologic science, SSE welcomes participants from diverse backgrounds. While experience in public health, epidemiology, or biostatistics is helpful, it is not required.

One week course, non-credit = $650.00. Cost does vary depending on choice of graduate credit or non-credit status and number of courses.

More information: https://tinyurl.com/4prcetva June 1st online application and registration

Cost

Deadline for registration Limit on participants

No limits, space permitting

Course directors

Eduardo Villamor, MD, MPH, DrPH

Contact information

Jessica Olsen, Program Administrator, neko@umich.edu

Comments

Mackenzie Smith, Program Coordinator, macksmi@umich.edu https://sph.umich.edu/umsse/ The summer program at the University of Michigan is the longest-running summer program in the USA. Faculty are sought from UM, nationally and internationally, identifying experts in respective fields.

The UM SSE offers a Certification of Academic Competencies in Epidemiology that can be completed in two years or more.

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McGill Summer Institute In Global Health Montreal, Quebec, Canada Name

McGill Summer Institutes in Global Health

Sponsors

McGill University

Location

Montreal, Canada and Virtual

Program year

10th

Types and dates of Courses

May 20 – June 13, 2025 (unless otherwise noted)

Number of Courses Language

The 2025 McGill Summer Institutes in Global Health is offering 16 courses.

Course length varies 2-5 days.

English

Number of faculty

29 course directors & up to 200 guest faculty

Target audience

Varies by course, but generally health care professionals, researchers, and students.

Cost

Varies by delivery method. Discounted pricing for students, and participants from low- and middle-income countries. More info: https://tinyurl.com/7x9zwuye March 1, 2025: Registration deadline for those attendees wishing to travel to Montreal to participate in-person and who will be applying for a visa to travel to Canada.

May 2, 2025: Registration pricing increases by 10%.

Registration closes when the course is full, or seven days before the course is scheduled to begin.

Varies by course—see website

Deadline for registration

Limit on participants Program director

Dr. Madhukar Pai, Inaugural Chair, Department of Global and Public Health

Contact Information

https://www.mcgill.ca/summerinstitute-globalhealth/

Comments:

summerinstitute.med@mcgill.ca New courses for 2025:

(514) 398-4118

A. One Health Approaches to Infectious Disease Control (Online, May 26-29) B. Implementation Science for NCD Prevention and Management (Online, May 26-30) C. In-Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) Product Development Bootcamp Making the Move from Academic and Entrepreneur to Product Development (Online, June 9-12)

-19-

Johns Hopkins 43rd Graduate Summer Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Name Sponsors

Johns Hopkins 43rd Graduate Summer Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Location

Baltimore, Online, Hybrid

Program year

43

Types and dates of Courses

June 9-27, 2025

Number of Courses

41

Language

English

Number of faculty

44

Target audience

Individuals who have a bachelor's degree or the equivalent may register for the Summer Institute. Our program provides an opportunity for graduate study to degree candidates as well as individuals taking courses for professional development. Institute participants include health care professionals, those who are considering a career in public health, primary health care practitioners, physicians in training (including preventive medicine residents and medical students) as well as students.

Cost

Academic credit tuition $1374 per credit ; Non- credit/professional development, $687 per course credit

Deadline for registration

June 10, 2024 or before the start of a course

Limit on participants

None

Course directors

Moyses Szklo, MD, MPH, DrPH

Contact information

Ayesha Khan, akhan6@jhu.edu, 410-955-7158 http://www.jhsph.edu/summerepi

Comments

The Summer Institute has been in existence since 1983, and has trained thousands of students from the U.S. and around the world. Institute participants include students, clinicians, public health practitioners, physicians in training and those considering a career in public health.

All epi biostat summer institute courses will be offered online. Asynchronous on-line courses combine pre-recorded content and live interactive sessions.

Virtual online courses will be taught on-line via Zoom, on the dates and times the course is scheduled. Hybrid courses have both a synchronous online section (and an in-person section .

-20-

2025 Public Health Institute University of Minnesota Name

2025 Public Health Institute

Sponsors

University of Minnesota

Location

Twin Cities / Minneapolis, MN plus some virtual courses

Types and dates of Courses

May 19 - June 6, 2025

Number of Courses

22

Language

English

Number of faculty

33

Target audience

Graduate students in public health, medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, dentistry, public affairs, law, social work, pharmacy, public policy, global health, agricultural, food, and environmental sciences.

Cost

Practicing professionals in public health and other health and human service organizations; city, county, state, and federal government agencies; private-sector businesses and industry $1,181 per credit incl institute fee of $25 per credit

Course directors Contact information

phi@umn.edu https://www.sph.umn.edu/academics/institutes/public-health-institute/

Comments

The Summer Public Health Institute offers courses for students and practicing professionals in public health and related fields. Participants can build or expand their professional expertise, learn best practices, broaden career options, network with other professionals, or explore a new area of interest.

The Public Health Institute features in-person courses that will be taking place on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities West Bank campus. Select courses will be available online. Students taking online courses are expected to participate during the scheduled dates and times as online courses are synchronous.

-21-

BioStatEpi Treviso, Italy Name

Summer School on Modern Methods in Biostatistics & Epidemiology

Sponsors

BioStatEpi

Location

Brandolini Colomban Castle, Treviso, Italy

Types and dates of Courses

June 2-14, 2025

Number of Courses

22

Language

English

Number of faculty

24

Target audience

Researchers, physicians, clinicians and public health professionals from public and private institutions who are looking for systematic training in the principles of epidemiology and biostatistics, or epidemiology applied to health care planning and evaluation.

Cost

Varies

Registration

Final deadline - May 24, 2025

Course directors

Frederico Perlino & Edoardo Ratti

Contact information

info@bioepiedu.org https://www.bioepiedu.org/

Comments

Immerse yourself in an enriching and memorable learning experience at the stunning Brandolini Colomban castle, where our comprehensive courses in biostatistics and epidemiology will enrich your knowledge of data science and elevate your research skills to new levels.

Join EpiMonitor on our Facebook page at: https://bit.ly/2U29gUA or on Twitter at: @theEpimonitor

or on Instagram at: @epimonitor

-22-

Florida's Summer Institute in Biostatistics and Data Science Program Name

Florida's Summer Institute in Biostatistics & Data Science Program (SIBDS)

Sponsors

Florida Atlantic University

Location

Boca Raton, FL

Types and dates of Courses

May 19 - June 27, 2025

Deadline

Application deadline - March 14, 2025

Language

English

Target audience

Undergraduate students or those recent graduates not currently in graduate programs.

Course directors

Dr. Katherine Freeman and Dr. Lun Ching-Chang

Contact information

kfreemancostin@health.fau.edu or changl@fau.edu https://tinyurl.com/nwdmmwra

Comments Calling all undergraduate students or those recent graduates not currently in graduate programs, it’s time to discover how working with data can change your life through Florida’s Summer Institute in Biostatistics and Data Science Program (SIBDS), funded by the National Institutes of Health.

This opportunity is the key to understanding how data, driven by participants’ responses, can help draw conclusions on everything from why COVID-19 impacts certain populations more than others, to why clinical trials are important and a whole lot more.

Join EpiMonitor on our Facebook page at: https://bit.ly/2U29gUA or on Twitter at: @theEpimonitor

or on Instagram at: @epimonitor

-23-

Aarhus University Pharmacoepidemiology Summer School Name

Pharmacoepidemiology Summer School

Sponsors

Aarhus University

Location

Grenaa, Denmark

Program year

9th

Types and dates of Courses

June 16-20, 2025

Number of Courses

The summer school course is offered as one unit and it is only possible to register for the entire program.

1

Language

English

Number of faculty

Aarhus faculty and international faculty

Target audience

Aimed at PhD students, postdocs, clinicians, and other professionals seeking to advance their skills and knowledge

Cost

The course fee includes full tuition, five-night hotel stay, breakfast and lunch, fruit + coffee/tea, a complimentary course dinner, and a social program.

Registration is taken on a first-come, first-serve basis. The summer school offers an early-bird price. You may cancel your registration within 14 days of receiving your order confirmation. After the 14 days, the course fee is non-refundable unless the summer school is cancelled. Please note that your registration is not final until we have received your payment.

30

Deadline for registration

Limit on participants Course directors Contact information

Helle Vester Communications Officer

Comments

Phone: +45 8716 8223 Email: summerschool@clin.au.dk Website: https://tinyurl.com/mvjst3ch Basic training in epidemiology and biostatistics is assumed.

-24-

11th Annual Summer Institute in Statistics for Clinical & Epidemiological Research (SISCER) Name Sponsors

Annual Summer Institute in Statistics for Clinical & Epidemiological Research (SISCER) University of Washington

Location

Virtual

Program year

11th

Types and dates of Courses

July 7 – August 2

Language

The Summer Institute in Statistics for Clinical & Epidemiological Research (SISCER) offers introductory and advanced short courses in methods for clinical research and epidemiology. Participants will find learning opportunities for clinical trials, causal inference, biomarker research, and analyzing observational data and complex surveys.

English

Target audience

One of the goals of SISCER is to strengthen the statistical proficiency and career development of scholars from all backgrounds, especially those from groups historically underrepresented in STEM such as racial and ethnic minority groups, low income, first generation college students, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQ groups.

Cost

$125-$800 per module / Early bird discounts available

Course directors

Kathleen Kerr

Contact Information

siscer@uw.edu Website: https://tinyurl.com/5xwkmwdy

Comments

The Summer Institute in Statistics for Clinical & Epidemiological Research (SISCER) offers introductory and advanced short courses in methods for clinical research and epidemiology. Participants will find learning opportunities for clinical trials, observational data, biomarker research, complex surveys, and Bayesian biostatistics. Kathleen Kerr is the Director of SISCER. One of the goals of SISCER is to strengthen the statistical proficiency and career development of scholars from all backgrounds, especially those from groups historically underrepresented in STEM such as racial and ethnic minority groups, low income, first generation college students, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ groups.

-25-

17th Summer Institute in Statistics & Modeling in Infectious Disease (SISMID) 2025 Name

Annual Summer Institute in Statistics & Modeling in Infectious Disease 2025

Sponsors

Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University

Location

Atlanta, GA

Program year

2025

Types and dates of Courses

Online: July 7-11, 2025 In person: July 14-30, 2025

Number of Courses

Modern methods of statistical analysis and mathematical modeling 21 total (between in-person and online)

Language

English

Number of faculty

34

Target audience

Students, faculty, staff, government, industry individuals working in the field

Cost

$595-$895 per module

Registration

Early bird pricing end May 30, 2025 Scholarship applications are open now Registration closes June 30, 2025

Course directors

Dr. Ben Lopman and Dr. Natalie Dean

Contact Information

Website: https://tinyurl.com/3vp8fysh sismid@emory.edu

Comments

The Summer Institute in Statistics and Modeling in Infectious Diseases (SISMID) has moved to Atlanta.

Dr. Betz Halloran co-founded SISMID in 2009 and was the previous director of the Summer Institute in Statistics and Modeling in Infectious Diseases (SISMID). SISMID introduces infectious disease researchers to modern methods of statistical analysis and mathematical modeling and introduces statisticians and mathematical modelers to the statistical and dynamic problems posed by modern infectious disease data.

-26-

Summer Session for Public Health Studies 2025 Harvard University Name

Summer Session for Public Health Studies 2025

Sponsors

Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health

Location

Boston, MA

Program year

2025

Types and dates of Courses

Summer Session I: July 7 - July 25, 2025 Summer Session II: July 28 - August 15, 2025 A sample course listing is available on the website.

Language

English

Target audience

The Summer Session is intended for health professionals in training or those who are considering a mid-career change into public health and feel the need to strengthen their skills. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree to be eligible to apply. Applicants are public health professionals, primary care practitioners, physicians engaged in the evaluation of health care delivery and management and physicians in training.

Cost

Varies but no financial assistance is available for the 2025 summer program

Registration

March 25, 2025 for new degree applicants

Course directors

Stephanie Lemoine

Contact Information

Website: https://tinyurl.com/2s4xbh4d

Comments

A sample course listing and financial information are available on the website in the "additional information" section.

slemoine@shph.harvard.edu / (617) 432-0090

Join EpiMonitor on our Facebook page at: https://bit.ly/2U29gUA or on Twitter at: @theEpimonitor

or on Instagram at: @epimonitor

-27-

ESCMID Summer School Dublin, Ireland Name

ESCMID Summer School

Sponsors

ESCMID

Location

Dublin, Ireland (on the campus of University College Dublin)

Program year

23rd

Types and dates of Courses

June 29 – July 5, 2025

Number of Courses

Preliminary program: https://tinyurl.com/yerp47jj

Language

English

Target audience

Summer School is open for ESMID members and non-members currently enrolled in or holding a postgraduate degree in fields such as Infectious Diseases, Clinical Microbiology, or related disciplines.

Cost

1,300 € - 1,600 €

Course directors

Maeve Doyle & Cathal O’Broin

Contact information

Email: courses@escmid.org

Comments

Featuring an experienced faculty board with a range of Clinical Microbiology (CM) and Infectious Diseases (ID) lectures, attendees will benefit from the workshop setting by having the opportunity to apply their knowledge in practical exercises. A special section in the agenda is dedicated to student presentations, offering the opportunity to share personal experiences and enhance presentation skills through feedback from recognised experts. Do not miss this memorable and enriching experience with ESCMID.

Website: https://tinyurl.com/28k68wde

Join EpiMonitor on our Facebook page at: https://bit.ly/2U29gUA or on Twitter at: @theEpimonitor

or on Instagram at: @epimonitor

-28-

Advanced Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine Tel Aviv University Name

Advanced Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine 2025

Sponsors

Tel Aviv University

Location

Tel Aviv, Israel

Types and dates of Courses

TBD (as of February 2025)

Language

English

Target audience

The program is open to graduate and qualified undergraduate students (MPH and MSc in Epidemiology students, MD and PhD candidates, and others with special interest in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine), and also to medical professionals interested in developing advanced skills in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. Generally, a minimum GPA of 80 on a scale of 100, 3.0 on a scale of 4.0, or equivalent applies.

Cost

$1,800 partial scholarships are available

Registration

Registration for 2025 will open soon

Course directors

Gabi Bar, International Program Coordinator

Contact information

Email: gabibar@tauex.tau.ac.il Phone: +972 (0)3 640-8021 Website: https://tinyurl.com/4ekfra2m

Comments

Our Advanced Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine program is for those of you looking to ramp up your knowledge in health, science, and health management through courses led by some of the leading experts in the world.

You’ll enjoy a variety of intensive epidemiology and preventive medicine courses, never more relevant in these pandemic-hit times. Each course typically runs for 26 academic hours, culminating in a 2-hour final exam, and is worth 2 academic credits (unless indicated otherwise), or can be taken as a non-credit course.

-29-

11th Summer Institute in Statistics for Big Data (SISBID) 2025 Name

Annual Summer Institute in Statistics for Big Data 2025

Sponsors

University of Washington & GA Tech

Location

Atlanta, GA

Program year

2025

Types and dates of Courses

Online Only: August 12-23

Number of Courses

4

Language

English

Target audience

Summer Institutes courses are open to everyone. Requirements and prerequisites are outlined in the module descriptions so participants can gauge the knowledge base needed for the course.

Cost

$395-$595 per module

Registration

Early bird pricing end July 15, 2025

Course directors

Ali Shojaie

Contact Information

Website: https://tinyurl.com/4dwr6vxa sisbid@uw.edu

Comments

One of the goals of SISBID is to strengthen the statistical and data science proficiency of scholars from all backgrounds, especially those from groups historically underrepresented in STEM such as racial and ethnic minority groups, low income, first generation college students, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQ groups.

Join EpiMonitor on our Facebook page at: https://bit.ly/2U29gUA or on Twitter at: @theEpimonitor

or on Instagram at: @epimonitor

-30-

Summer Course in Epidemiology European Educational Programme in Epidemiology Name

Summer Course in Epidemiology

Sponsors

European Educational Programme in Epidemiology (EEPE)

Location

Florence, Italy

Program year

37th

Types and dates of Courses

June 16 – July 4, 2025 Additional specialized week beginning July 7th

Number of Courses

The course offers in the first two weeks five general modules on epidemiological study design and statistical analysis of epidemiological data. In the third week several special modules cover topics of current relevance for health and advanced methodological issues.

Language

English

Number of faculty

The courses are taught in English by lecturers mostly from European universities and research institutes and are held in residential form in the “Studium” centre on the hills close to Florence.

Target audience Cost

1,400 € - 3,500 € inclusive (non-residential and single occupancy options available at different prices)

Deadline for registration

Places are allocated on a first come, first serve basis

Limit on participants

See above

Course directors

Lorenzo Richiardi and Neil Pearce

Contact information

Mrs. Maria del Mar Ferrer

Comments

https://www.eepe.org/ Participants have appreciated the opportunity of combining an intensive learning experience with the unique attraction for cultural and artistic enjoyment offered by Florence and Tuscany. We are proud to report a comment written by a participant in the evaluation form at the end of the course “Nowhere else such a high quality presentation of the key topics in modern epidemiology in such a short time”.

-31-

Summer Institute in Biostatistics & Data Science (SIBS) Boston University Name

Summer Institute in Biostatistics & Data Science (SIBS)

Sponsors

Boston University under a grant from the NHLBI

Location

Boston, MA

Types and dates of Courses

June 9 – July 11, 2025 in residence at BU and then attendees will work remotely on their projects through mid-August 2025.

Number of Courses

Topics covered in the SIBS Program:       

Biostatistics Analysis Data Science Epidemiology Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials Statistical Genetics Infectious Disease Modeling Programming in SAS and R

Language

English

Number of faculty

9

Target audience

Current undergraduate students and recent graduates majoring in mathematics, science or other quantitatively oriented areas of study are eligible. Applicants must be American citizens or permanent residents of the United States.

There is no tuition, travel, room or board cost associated with the program.

A stipend may be provided.

Cost Deadline for registration

Places are allocated on a rolling basis with priority given to those who apply prior to March 14, 2025

Contact information

sibs@bu.edu

Comments

https://tinyurl.com/yc2hcfwv Students will gain hands-on experience working with actual data collected in internationally recognized studies that have been funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute including: ► The Framingham Heart Study ► The Jackson Heart Study

-32-

Advanced Statistics Summer Workshop Indiana University Name

Advanced Statistics Summer Workshop

Sponsors

Indiana University

Location

Program is delivered via Zoom

Program year

37th

Types and dates of Courses

June 2-13, 2025

Number of Courses

21

Language

English

Number of faculty

12

Target audience

The workshop is tailored for physicians, scientists and researchers actively engaged in biomedical research and taught by biostatistics and data science faculty who bring real-world experience. biosinfo@iu.edu

Contact information Comments

https://tinyurl.com/443z3mpw At the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:    





Understand and apply advanced study designs across all phases of clinical trials and observational studies.

Gain proficiency in advanced statistical models, particularly those used for categorical, longitudinal and survival outcomes.

Gain understanding of reliability and validity assessment methods, and study designs to evaluate such results.

Understand key statistical concepts related to causal inference and mediation analyses, and apply these methods effectively in analyzing research data.

Acquire knowledge of advanced statistical learning methods for handling high-dimensional data utilized in micro-array, sequencing and neuroimaging data analyses.

Develop critical statistical thinking through case studies from realworld medical research data.

-33-

UTMB Summer Institute in Biostatistics & Data Science Name

UTMB Summer Institute in Biostatistics & Data Science

Sponsors

UTMB under a grant from the NHLBI

Location

Galveston, TX

Types and dates of Courses

June 7 – July 26, 2025

Number of Courses

The structure of the program is through case based instruction of real biomedical research, computer laboratory training, research projects, and clinical and translational research enrichment activities.

Language

English

Number of faculty

13

Target audience

Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents.

Cost

There are no fees or tuition costs associated with participation in the SIBDS. Transportation, meal allowance and lodging are provided by the SIBDS.

Deadline for registration

Contact information Comments

Lodging will be provided on campus at Galveston College. Scholars will have full access to UTMB computing systems, library, and other academic facilities.

Applications are due March 15, 2025 and will be reviewed on an on-going basis. Applications completed before March 15, 2025 will be reviewed earlier. If there are still open slots after the March 15, 2025 deadline, we will continue to accept applications.

Heidi Spratt hespratt@utmb.edu https://tinyurl.com/4n8wa2cm Coursework will focus on big data, translational research, and statistical models used in the analysis of biomedical studies. The program will further serve as a fundamental building block for students to understand the importance of biostatistics and its synergistic place in the biomedical sciences. Information on opportunities such as scholarships, training grant programs and assistantships in Biostatistics and Public Health will be presented to scholars. Scholars will be encouraged to apply to continue their graduate studies in biostatistics, statistics and/or data sciences and contribute toward the remedial of the current nationwide shortage of biostatisticians.

-34-

Additional Summer Programs In addition to the programs listed in this issue, there are a number of others who have either closed their registration early or have not yet published any program information for 2025. These programs are listed below and we encourage you to check them out either for this year or next.

Big Data Summer Institute University of Michigan

https://tinyurl.com/84pu8myt

Stanford Population Health Summer Research Program Stanford University https://tinyurl.com/yc35sbw3 Epi on the Island University of Prince Edward Island

https://tinyurl.com/4haz42bs

International Summer School of Epidemiology at Ulm University Ulm University https://tinyurl.com/jubdfaf7 Erasmus Summer Program Erasmus MC

https://tinyurl.com/mtpbw2kn

Your Ad Should Be Here Do you have a job, course, conference, book or other resource of interest to the epidemiology community? Advertise with The Epidemiology Monitor and reach 35,000 epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and public health professionals monthly.

Advertising opportunities exist in this digital publication, on our website and Facebook page, and in our Epi-Gram emails.

For more information please contact: Michele Gibson / michele@epimonitor.net

-35-

Epi Crossword Puzzle – February 2025 Summer Programs and Other Signs of Summer For an interactive online version go to: https://tinyurl.com/4ryh9vkv

-36-

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Successful completion Made of pork, beef or chicken Essential modern student tool Bands, flags and floats are in this 40,000 sf Learn the material Take me out to the ________ My colors ride the wind In HI you can find this in black Ants share this with you Lampyridae Bilingual? This is your summer program June 20, 2025 Look to the sky Dozers & teachers do this Fireworks on a stick Charm City The ____ of summer You can find tomatoes, pies & bulls here July Celebration In person and virtual Funding option Chevy Chase's summer Common Summer attire As high as an elephant's eye Insulated box Sun Protection Factor The ___ days of summer Donna ______ Monarchs & Peacocks Movie about terrifying sea dweller Nights of Fire are located here Cars do this & people visit it Group of swimmers UNC ______, Trains & Automobiles Continuing Education Unit Don't eat these in months without an "r" I have thick skin and seeds Largest shark in the world

-37-

They scan you Baseball movie in a cornfield Buy me some peanuts and ___________ This hand tied rope supports you Dunkin was born here Frozen Hawaiian cold treat Skin cancer hates this Colored inflatable Located at Brandolini Colomban castle Latin summer Hangs from metal, wood or branches Yogi and _____ This city and school share a name Signup Wet, slippery & long Politicians do this & you wear them Found at Fenway Park Group Caused by excessive heat Airports require this Chocolate, graham cracker & marshmallows Home to the best of the best Pitch this You need chalk to play this It rolls in the summer Caused by sweating Borders require this They visit every 17 summers Capitol of Tuscany Bird treat that faces the sun Childhood summer favorite Oldest US epi summer program Pick these

What We're Reading This Month Editor's Note: All of us are confronted with more material than we can possibly hope to digest each month.

However, that doesn't mean that we should miss some of the articles that appear in the public media on topics of interest to the epi community. The EpiMonitor curates a monthly list of some of the best articles we've encountered in the past month. See something you think others would like to read? Please send us a link at info@epimonitor.net and we'll include it in the next month.

Impact of US Government Changes ♦ White House funding cuts challenge the model that underlies U.S. scientific dominance (WAPO via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/4eracwy8 ♦ NIH announces new funding policy that rattles medical researchers (NPR via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/yzxp267s ♦ Scientists, researchers work to archive federal health data purged by Trump administration (The Hill via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/4kwj6a7u ♦ The Damage to Federal Medical Research Is Already Done (Wired via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/5bv44dk5 ♦ CDC cuts expected to devastate Epidemic Intelligence Service (STAT via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/4ewj535a ♦ Trump Administration Lays Off CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service Workers, Threatening Science And Public Health (Forbes via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/45zces6m ♦ Scientists React to RFK, Jr.'s Confirmation as HHS Secretary (Scientific American via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/mr2b3d9w ♦ Graduate student admissions paused and cut back as universities react to Trump orders on research (STAT) https://tinyurl.com/4f3jsnjm

-38-

- Reading cont'd on page 39

[Type a quote from the document or the summary of an interesting point. You can position the text box anywhere in What Use We're Reading Month - con't from 38 box.] the document. the Text Box Tools tabThis to change the formatting of the pull page quote text

Public Health Topics ♦ New H5N1 bird flu variant found in Nevada dairy worker as new data shows changes in virus (LA Times via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/26u5jszv ♦ U.S. bird flu hospitalizations rise to 4 after Ohio discloses case (CBS News via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/22j7axp4 ♦ Measles outbreak in undervaccinated Texas area doubles—again (ARS Technica via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/ybdtntpr ♦ The Texas Measles Outbreak Is A Warning. Wait Until More Anti-Vax Plans Kick In (Forbes via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/49rtyaad ♦ Texas measles outbreak includes 4 who said they got vaccine (Texas Tribune via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/4metccrn ♦ Is recycled plastic in utensils and toys really a big health concern? (New Scientist via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/bp8dny98 ♦ California sees an 'alarming' rise in advanced prostate cancer, UCSF study finds (San Francisco Chronicle via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/44xmtxe6 ♦ The Largest Tuberculosis Outbreak in U.S. History Is Happening Right Now in Kansas (Esquire via Apple News) https://tinyurl.com/bdercnpf

Join EpiMonitor on our Facebook page at: https://bit.ly/2U29gUA or on Twitter at: @theEpimonitor

or on Instagram at: @epimonitor -39-

Notes on People Do you have news about yourself, a colleague, or a student?

Please help The Epidemiology Monitor keep the community informed by sending relevant news to us at this address for inclusion in our next issue. people@epimonitor.net

Appointed: Erica Pan, of Oakland, has been appointed Director and State Public Health Officer at the California Department of Public Health. Pan has been Deputy Director at the Center for Infectious Diseases and State Epidemiologist at the California Department of Public Health since 2020 and has been a Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of California, San Francisco since 2015.

Appointed: Ji-Hyun Lee, a professor in the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions’ Department of Biostatistics and associate director for Cancer Quantitative Sciences at the UF Health Cancer Center, has become the 120th president of the American Statistical Association on January 1st. She is the first Korean American statistician, the first woman statistician from Florida, and the first cancer center applied biostatistician in the history of the ASA presidency.

Named: UNC Biostatistics Professor Hongtu Zhu, PhD has been named a 2025 IEEE Fellow. Each year, less than 1% of its voting members are selected for the prestigious fellowship. Zhu has been recognized for his contributions to data integration in medical imaging and genetics, and applying learning in ridesharing.

Awarded: University of Wisconsin graduate student Qilin Hong, mentored by Associate Professor Zhengzheng Tang, has won the 2025 Early Career Award from the Section on Statistics in Epidemiology of the American Statistical Association. Qilin received the award for his paper, “A marginal regression model for longitudinal compositional counts with application to microbiome data.”

-40-

Notes on People, con’t from page 40 Do you have news about yourself, a colleague, or a student?

Please help The Epidemiology Monitor keep the community informed by sending relevant news to us at this address for inclusion in our next issue. people@epimonitor.net

Awarded: VUMC assistant professor Bryan Blette, was awarded the 2024 Art Wheeler Studio Award. Named after the late Arthur P. Wheeler, a renowned pulmonologist and leader in critical care medicine, the award recognizes an individual "who has demonstrated a passion for improving study quality through significant contributions to the VICTR [Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research] Studio Program."

Passed: Ernest Drucker, a pioneering public-health researcher who approached drug addiction with compassion, invigorated needle-exchange programs to stem the AIDS epidemic and diagnosed the destructive impact of what he called a “plague” of mass incarceration, died on Jan. 26 at his home in Manhattan. He was 84.

For more than three decades, Dr. Drucker, primed with epidemiological evidence, waged cutting-edge campaigns to improve the lot of prison inmates; the homeless; patients with tuberculosis; workers exposed to asbestos; and HIV-infected drug users and their families who had been ravaged by the repercussions of AIDS. https://tinyurl.com/buxfydep

Passed: S. Leonard Syme, who pushed the study of the psychosocial determinants of disease from the fringes to a central tenet of the field of public health, passed away of silent aspiration pneumonia on January 26, 2025, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He was 92, having been born on July 4, 1932.

“Len was a true giant, the father of social epidemiology, and one of the most beloved teachers and mentors Berkeley Public Health has ever had,” said Michael C. Lu, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. “Few individuals have transformed public health as profoundly as Len. He pioneered the study of social determinants of health, which has fundamentally transformed medicine and public health and continues to shape research, practice, and public policy today in our nation and around the world.” https://tinyurl.com/5fpnsc55

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Near Term Epidemiology Event Calendar Every December The Epidemiology Monitor dedicates that issue to a calendar of events for the upcoming year. However that often means we don't have full information for events later in the upcoming year. Thus an online copy exists on our website that is updated regularly.

To view the full year please go to: http://www.epimonitor.net/Events The events that we are aware of for the next month follow below.

March 2025 March 3-7 Type: Short Course Title: Implementation Science Sponsor: Erasmus MC

Web:

March 3-7 Type: Short Course Title: Intensive Course in Applied Epidemiology Sponsor: University of Aberdeen

Web:

http://tinyurl.com/wkhee8uy

Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands http://bit.ly/33XqJSJ

Location: Aberdeen, Scotland

March 3-7 Type: Short Course Web: http://tinyurl.com/2fkh6ejx Title: Introduction to Linear and Logistic Regression Models Sponsor: University of Bristol Location: Virtual March 3-7 Type: Short Course Web: https://bit.ly/3v2gRXS Title: An Introduction to the Analysis of the Next-generation Sequencing Data Sponsor: Erasmus MC Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands March 3-12 Type: Short Course Title: Public Health Across the Life Course Sponsor: Erasmus MC

Web:

March 4-13 Type: Short Course Title: Item Response Theory Sponsor: EpidM

Web:

March 6-9 Type: Conference Title: Epi Lifestyle Scientific Sessions - 2025 Sponsor: American Heart Association

Web:

http://tinyurl.com/yh8ce5ha

Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands https://tinyurl.com/mryhh3w7

Location: Virtual https://tinyurl.com/2p9fmtep

Location: Chicago, IL

March 9-12 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/4r4rred5 Title: Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) Sponsor: International Antivirus Society-US / CROI Location: San Francisco, CA March 10-12 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/34x5tnn5 Title: Teaching Prevention 2025 Sponsor: Association for Prevention Teaching & Research Location: Cleveland, OH

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March 2025, cont March 10-12 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/2t7fpw6n Title: Genomic Imprinting – from Biology to Disease Sponsor: Wellcome Connecting Science Location: Hinxton, England & Virtual March 10-14 Type: Short Course Title: Advanced Clinical Trials Sponsor: Erasmus MC

Web:

https://bit.ly/320OvlT

Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands

March 11-13 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/5aa4h8ad Title: New Techniques and Technologies for Statistics (NTTS) Sponsor: Eurostat Location: Brussels, Belgium March 12-14 Type: Conference Title: Epigenomics of Common Diseases Sponsor: Wellcome Connecting Science

Web:

https://tinyurl.com/264anz46

Location: Hinxton, England

March 13-14 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/57z9dr6j Title: 98th Annual Meeting - American Epidemiological Society Sponsor: AES Location: Atlanta, GA Mar 17 – Apr 2 Type: Short Course Title: Repeated Measurements Sponsor: Erasmus MC

Web:

Mar 17 – Apr 2 Type: Short Course Title: Psychiatric Epidemiology Sponsor: Erasmus MC

Web:

http://tinyurl.com/4kzuxcys

Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands & Virtual http://tinyurl.com/4kzuxcys

Location: Virtual

March 19-21 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/mseuj593 Title: 2025 ASPPH Annual Meeting for Academic Public Health Sponsor: Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health Location: Arlington, VA March 20-21 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/342wpz83 Title: The Future of Preventive Medicine and Public Health Sponsor: Peers Alley Conferences Location: London, England March 20-21 Type: Short Course Title: Introduction to Bayesian Statistics Sponsor: EpidM

Web:

https://tinyurl.com/5b4t8b8b

Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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March 2025, cont March 24-28 Type: Short Course Web: http://tinyurl.com/3z8s2w4e Title: Understanding Trusted Research Environments Sponsor: University of Bristol Location: Virtual March 24-28 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/22jyzn2y Title: SCPHA Annual Conference Sponsor: South Carolina Public Health Association Location: Myrtle Beach, SC March 25-26 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/yrxrzrm7 Title: 4th International Public Health Conference - Global Health Security Sponsor: Magnus Group Location: Singapore March 26-28 Type: Conference Web: https://svepm2025.com Title: Annual Meeting - Society for Veterinary Epidemiology Sponsor: SEVPM Location: Berlin, Germany March 27-28 Type: Workshop Web: https://tinyurl.com/mudu49uz Title: Public Health Interventions in the Long Run: Causes and Consequences Sponsor: Center for Economic Policy Research Location: Wageningen, The Netherlands Mar 31 – Apr 2 Type: Short Course Title: Molecular Epidemiology Sponsor: University of Bristol

Web:

Mar 31 – Apr 4 Type: Short Course Title: Advanced Decision Modeling Sponsor: Erasmus MC

Web:

http://tinyurl.com/mvbrbtew

Location: Virtual https://bit.ly/3G3VhZr

Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Your Ad Should Be Here Do you have a job, course, conference, book or other resource of interest to the epidemiology community? Advertise with The Epidemiology Monitor and reach 35,000 epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and public health professionals monthly.

Advertising opportunities exist in this digital publication, on our website and Facebook page, and in our Epi-Gram emails.

For more information please contact:

Michele Gibson / michele@epimonitor.net

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April 2025 April 3-4 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/2jd9m8 Title: Cancer Retreat 2025 Sponsor: Erasmus MC Cancer Institute Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands April 5 Type: Meeting Title: 11th Annual NYC Epidemiology Forum Sponsor: Multiple Location: New York, NY

Web:

https://tinyurl.com/5n7pebnh

April 6-8 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/3vhfx9nz Title: Annual Conference - American Society of Preventive Oncology Sponsor: ASPO Location: Philadelphia, PA April 7-9 Type: Conference Web: Title: RISE Conference on Social Determinants of Health Sponsor: RISE Health Location: Louisville, KY

https://tinyurl.com/56fc85hu

April 9-11 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/ytdbndtw Title: Genomics of Rare Disease Sponsor: Wellcome Connecting Science Location: Hinxton, England April 10-13 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/2wrxk9fr Title: 2025 Annual Conference - Population Association of America Sponsor: PAA Location: Washington, DC April 11-15 Type: Conference Title: ESCMID Global 2025 Sponsor: ESCMID Location: Vienna, Austria

Web:

https://tinyurl.com/y2e6s2ad

April 14-16 Type: Short Course Web: http://tinyurl.com/msdrnpt2 Title: Cardiovascular Epidemiology Sponsor: Erasmus MC Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands April 16-18 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/kkusp9c4 Title: SOPHE 2025 Sponsor: Society for Health Education Location: Long Beach, CA April 21-24 Type: Conference Title: 2025 World Vaccine Congress Sponsor: Multiple Location: Washington, DC

Web:

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https://bit.ly/3HFdFJd

April 2025, cont April 22-25 Type: Conference Web: Title: Annual Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference Sponsor: CDC Location: Atlanta, GA

https://tinyurl.com/2877hcbc

April 23-24 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/3dv5rprz Title: NCUIH 2025 Annual Conference Sponsor: National Council of Urban Indian Health Location: Washington, DC April 23-25 Type: Meeting Web: https://tinyurl.com/pzyk3pp4 Title: 2025 Annual Oregon Epidemiologists' Meeting Sponsor: Oregon Health Authority Location: Sunriver, OR April 25-30 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/bdfcwy8m Title: 2025 Annual Meeting - American Association for Cancer Research Sponsor: AACR Location: Chicago, IL April 27-30 Type: Conference Web: https://bit.ly/3BHaIUI Title: SHEA (Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America) Spring 2025 Sponsor: SHEA Location: Championsgate, FL Apr 28 – May 2 Type: Short Course Title: Infectious Diseases in Adults Sponsor: Harvard University Location: Virtual

Web:

https://tinyurl.com/yp9j9ade

Apr 28 – May 2 Type: Short Course Web: http://tinyurl.com/3y8ejd74 Title: Designing and Conducting Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trials Sponsor: University of Bristol Location: Virtual Apr 29 – May 1 Type: Conference Web: https://bit.ly/3WuSZrQ Title: Public Health 2025 Sponsor: Canadian Public Health Association Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba Apr 29 – May 2 Type: Conference Title: NACCHO Preparedness Summit 2025 Sponsor: Multiple Location: San Antonio, TX

Web:

https://bit.ly/3oLZ2Kz

Apr 30 – May 2 Type: Meeting Web: https://tinyurl.com/bhzrp9t7 Title: 2025 Public Health Partnership Conference Sponsor: NY State Public Health Associates Location: Ithaca, NY

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April 2025, cont Apr 30 – May 2 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/2cbk7y2r Title: 95th Georgia Public Health Association Annual Conference Sponsor: GPHA Location: Jekyll Island, GA Apr 30 – May 2 Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/4829ws8e Title: 5th IMA and OR Society Conference on Mathematics of Operational Research Sponsor: Institute of Mathematics & Its Applications Location: Birmingham, England April TBD Type: Conference Web: https://tinyurl.com/6ka7wvuj Title: Joint Meeting ADAM / European Dermato-Epi Network Sponsor: European Dermato-Epidemiology Network (EDEN) Location: April TBD Type: Conference Title: Annual Mid-Year ISPE Conference Sponsor: ISPE Location:

Web:

https://tinyurl.com/bdzmtjmb

Your Ad Should Be Here Do you have a job, course, conference, book or other resource of interest to the epidemiology community? Advertise with The Epidemiology Monitor and reach 35,000 epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and public health professionals monthly.

Advertising opportunities exist in this digital publication, on our website and Facebook page, and in our Epi-Gram emails.

For more information please contact: Michele Gibson / michele@epimonitor.net

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The Epidemiology Monitor ISSN (2833-1710) is published monthly

Editorial Contributors Katelyn Jetelina, PhD, MPH Editor and Publisher

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