July 2020 - The Epidemiology Monitor

Special Recap: Going From A to Z On Coronavirus With Anthony Fauci---A Unique Interview Conducted By Fellow Scientists An informative, up-to-date interview with Anthony Fauci, NIH’s Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and widely regarded as the nation’s go-to expert on scientific topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic took place in mid-July on the podcast This Week In Virology. The interview was remarkable because the virologistinterviewers, Vincent Racaniello from Mt Sinai School of Medicine and Richard Condit Emeritus Professor from the University of Florida, have been reporting and discussing COVID19 for months and were well prepared

and armed with a full set of key questions on timely and relevant COVID topics. They peppered him with questions in a collegial manner for 30 minutes. The session was not without its humorous and candid moments and it is easy to understand why Fauci has won so many supporters. Below is a recap of the highlights of the interview.

On Modes of Transmission Interviewers wasted no time in asking Fauci about the relative importance of - Fauci con't on page 7

In This Issue -3Latest National Epi Salary Survey -5On The Light Side

-13Notes on People

Present and Near Future Pandemic Situations Look Bleak High Uptake Of Mask Wearing Could Still Save Thousands Of Lives In The US And Change Course Of The Pandemic Worldwide The picture of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States which emerges from the combined forecast of two dozen modelling groups predicts there will likely be between 150,000 to 170,000 total reported deaths by August 8, 2020, according to CDC which aggregates these reports. As of mid-July the actual number of deaths July 2020

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stood at 138,782.

Cases continue to rise in the US with over 70,000 cases being reported each day in mid-July and the US cases still have not peaked.

- Bleak cont'd on page 2

Volume Forty One •

Number Seven

-15Marketplace

-Bleak cont'd from page 1 The Epidemiology Monitor ISSN (0744-0898) is published monthly

by Roger Bernier, Ph.D., MPH at 33 Indigo Plantation Rd, Okatie, SC, 29909, USA.

Graphs By The New York Times

Updated July 20, 2020, 1:59 P.M. E.T.

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No Peak Yet More distressing are US the predictions released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IMHE) which projects 224,546 deaths by November 1, 2020. This projected number has increased by more than 15,000 deaths just in the last few days. According to IMHE Director Christopher Murray, “ The US didn’t experience a true end to the first wave of the pandemic…This will not spare us from a second surge in the fall which will hit particularly hard in states currently seeing high levels of infection.”

The recent upswing in the US has been experienced in young people who have

a lower risk of death. An assumption being made is that the current surge of infections does not spread more widely to groups that are at higher risk of death. On the other hand, it is possible that additional advances in treatment such as those that have already occurred (e.g., remdesivir, proning, dexamethasone) could produce a downward shift in the number of overall deaths. No one expects a vaccine to be available and widely used within this timeframe.

- Bleak con't on page 6

Report On The Latest National Epidemiology Salary Survey By the University of Pennsylvania’s Harvey Feldman, Glen Laferty, and Lisbeth Dennis Today we share with readers the latest results of an innovative collaboration between The Epidemiology Monitor and the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB) at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Now in its third year of partnership with this publication, the national survey of faculty salaries—designed to help leaders in departments of epidemiology and preventive medicine identify and promote competitive compensation for faculty members—continues to be an important and effective tool used to gather these data.

As noted in the chart that accompanies this article, the survey returned salary data for 693 individuals from 35 institutions—compared with 594 and 32, respectively, in 2018. This represents a 17% increase in individuals and a 9% increase in responding institutions.

The CCEB began the survey more than 20 years ago, soliciting data each year from across the nation to fill a need among its peers: There was no national survey of faculty salaries that could help leaders in departments of epidemiology and preventive medicine identify and promote competitive compensation for faculty members.

Though individual institutions had been publishing salary ranges for epidemiology positions in their own departments, there was no national yardstick available.

Evolving and Improving Along the way, the survey has continually improved its approach—

first by modeling it on the popular, sophisticated tool that the American Statistical Association has long provided for the closely related field of biostatistics, then by distinguishing tenured from nontenured positions and pegging salaries to the number of years a faculty member had spent at a particular rank. (Readers should note that when faculty members change jobs, results may vary: They may report their status by the total years spent at a particular rank, or they may appear in the 0-to-1 range at the new institution.) Starting with the 2016 data, The Epidemiology Monitor has played an essential role by rendering the data anonymous before sharing it with the CCEB.

“...there was no national yardstick available."

Latest Survey For the latest survey, partners reached out to epidemiology chairs across country to inform the questions. Though the report will not serve as the sole basis for decisionmaking, it can nonetheless add a useful perspective for assessing academic faculty salary levels in epidemiology. The data provide key bench-marking for faculty salaries, which cannot be obtained by looking more globally, one respondent remarked.

“...a useful perspective for assessing academic faculty salary levels in epidemiology."

Future Surveys, Even Bigger Aims The CCEB and The Epidemiology Monitor aim to continue to nationalize the survey; the ultimate goal is to provide the field of epidemiology with an industry standard that can cont'd on page 4 - Salary

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-Salary cont'd from page 3 standard that can more directly inform salary levels and that reflects national trends. With continuing improvements, the survey team looks forward to gaining even more respondents and gathering a more robust data set. Work on the next survey will begin in fall 2020, when epidemiology department chairs will receive a request for data. Department chairs who would like to join the survey should contact The Epidemiology Monitor <editor@epimonitor.net>.

Stay tuned for more information, as the survey continues to evolve.

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- Salary cont'd on page 5

-Salary cont'd from page 3

On The Light Side—Skit, Rhyme, & Song Humorous TV Skit Given all the interest and attention around the COVID-19 pandemic, it is perhaps not surprising that many persons with only the slightest credentials have felt the need to share their views about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and what to do about it. With so many people interested and asking, it has been difficult for some to resist the opportunity to be “an expert”.

It seems the world has a much larger supply of epidemiologists than we could have ever guessed. But this is not a new phenomenon in epidemiology since the boundaries of the field have never been bright lines.

In fact, the phenomenon is frequent enough that the term “armchair epidemiologist” was coined to describe it. Presumably, this is the opposite of a true epidemiologist, namely a shoeleather epidemiologist.

In any case, an Australian comedian Mark Humphries has succeeded in

making good fun of armchair epidemiologists by playing the role of one in a television skit available on YouTube.

He claims he graduated from the University of Wikipedia and claims he succeeded in learning to spell epidemiology and in publishing his first peer-reviewed text message. Listen and enjoy at this link: https://bit.ly/3eJTKqE

“...it has been difficult for some to resist the opportunity to be 'an expert'."

Four Word Rhyme From Ohio State University Epidemiologist Bill Miller an epidemiologist at Ohio State University College of Public Health has written a simple four word rhyme to help people know what to do to lower their transmission risk of COVID-19.

Click on this YouTube link to hear the one minute delightful rhyme. https://bit.ly/32E959y - Light Side cont'd on page 6

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Bleak cont'd from page 2 Positive Side

“...US could cut the November projection by an estimated 41,304 lives."

On the positive side, the IMHE estimates that if strong social distancing mandates are reimposed when deaths per day reach a level of 8 per million (a higher rate than was occurring when mandates were imposed initially because modellers assume reimposition will be more difficult to achieve a second time), and if at least 95% of the population wears masks in public places, then the US could cut the November projection by an estimated 41,304 lives. That amounts to saving approximately 400 lives each day between now and then. IMHE states “those who refuse masks are putting their lives, their families, their friends, and their communities at risk.”

For example, as of July 19, 2020, Florida has had an estimated 4,894 deaths out of a projected 19,284 by November 1 which is only 25% of projected deaths.

Likewise Texas with 3,929 deaths to date and with 18,675 projected has only experienced 21% of their projected deaths.

California has had an estimated 8,000 deaths out of a projected 21,264 or 38%.

South Carolina is in a similar situation having had only a quarter of its projected deaths, albeit with smaller absolute numbers. These states have the most to gain in lives saved by adopting universal masking with thousands of lives at stake in the largest states. Even in South Carolina, an estimated 2,450 of the 3,437 projected deaths yet to occur or 71% could be prevented by near universal masking.

World Impact To view the latest projections visit:

"...increasing mask use could lead to greater than 50% reductions in the number of deaths in many locations around the world."

The effectiveness of mask wearing can reduce respiratory infections by 33% and slow community spread and the IMHE estimates that increasing mask use could lead to greater than 50% reductions in the number of deaths in many locations around the world. It could change the course of the pandemic, according to IMHE. State Impacts The estimated deaths by Novermber 1 in the US have been calculated separately by state. Some of these states such as New York have already experienced the bulk of their projected deaths with only slight increases anticipated between now and November.

Other states such as Florida and Texas have experienced a much smaller percentage of their projected deaths.

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https://bit.ly/39fdIZ2 ■ Light Side cont'd from page 5

A Song To Stop The Spread Also, not to be outdone, Michael Rayo, one of Miller’s colleagues at the University (see above) wrote a song to get the message across in yet another way. He told the Ohio State News “I read Bill Miller’s tweet about his rhyme and I felt compelled to write the song, because there is still a lot of confusion in our state and in the country about what we need to do to stay safe in the pandemic…We all want to get back a semblance of normal, and these four words (and a mask!) can really help.”

Click here to listen to the song. https://bit.ly/32CZekv ■

FAUCI INTERVIEW three routes of transmission often ascribed to SARS CoV-2, namely droplet spread, aerosol, and contact with contaminated surfaces. Fauci stated there is no firm data but it is assumed that droplet spread accounts for most of the transmission. He noted that without a special event, as happened in the hotel in Hong Kong with the first SARS virus which traveled vertically and then across to another hotel, it is impossible to tell that spread is occurring via aerosol and how much is aerosol.

Fauci added it is “an intelligent guess” that the large majority of COVID-19 is transmitted by droplet spread within a distance of 6 feet or less, but that he would not rule out the possibility that aerosol spread occurs without knowing how much of the spread is caused that way. Likewise, Fauci said the amount of spread by direct contact with contaminated surfaces is unclear. It has been detected on surfaces, but we are unsure if the detected viral material is really infectious. He allowed that if someone coughed in their hand, then touched a door knob, and someone else came behind them 15 minutes later, then that could transmit the virus effectively. But in his view, droplet spread predominates over spread from touching surfaces.

The question is an important one because it speaks to the potential effectiveness of wearing masks.

Period of Infectivity Another important question covered in the interview was about the length of time a patient is infectious. The question arises particularly for persons recovering from COVID-19 who remain positive by polymerase chain

reaction (PCR) for extended periods of time. Can the amount of virus or viral load as measured by “cycle threshold” in the test be used to evaluate infectiousness because some persistently positive patients have very low viral loads of 35 or above (the lower the Ct level the greater the amount of target nucleic acid in the sample). According to Fauci, the chances that the viral material detected is infectious or “replication competent” is miniscule and this threshold value can be interpreted to mean a patient is not contagious. The Ct values are often not given but are available if patients ask for them with their test results.

“...it is 'an intelligent guess' that the large majority of COVID-19 is transmitted by droplet spread..."

Percent Asymptomatic or Presymtomatic Fauci joked that he liked these kinds of questions because there is no right or wrong answer. He said one can guess at the answers to such questions provided one does not take the guess too seriously! He used the outbreak on the Theodore Roosevelt nuclear aircraft carrier where there was only one or a few symptomatic sailors out of about 1100 sailors who got infected to establish that there would have to be a substantial amount of asymptomatic cases in order to account for this pattern. He could not imagine one person coughing enough to infect so many others.

"...he liked these kinds of questions because there is no right or wrong answer."

Infection in Children vs Adults Fauci was asked if children acquire or transmit infection with COVID-19 differently than adults since this question is relevant for what to do about opening schools. Also, some persons appear to believe that because children do not get as sick as adults, - Fauci cont'd on page 8

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FAUCI INTERVIEW they can be returned to school safely.

Fauci joked again that this question took them to a “data free zone”.

"... this question took them to a 'data free zone'."

To correct this lack of information, a new study called the Human Epidemiology and Response to SARSCoV-2 (HEROS) will rapidly enroll 6,000 people from 2,000 U.S. families already participating in NIH-funded pediatric research studies in 11 cities.

The study team will prospectively follow these children and their families for six months to determine who gets infected with SARS-CoV-2, whether the virus is transmitted to other family members, and which family members with the virus develop COVID-19.

Safest Way to Open Schools

"...the effort to get highly sensitive tests is a good example of where the perfect can be considered the enemy of the good!"

Fauci believes the fundamental guiding principle should be that to the best of our capabilities, we should try to get kids back to school because the unintended deleterious consequences for the children, their parents, and society can be substantial. Possibilities will depend a great deal on where children are living. Some counties may be able to send kids back to school without worrying about anything, and other places will have enough infection to be unsafe, or infection levels requiring mitigating risk. Such mitigation activities could include using alternate day classes, morning or afternoon classes, wearing masks, and protecting the vulnerable. It is paramount he added that everyone be attentive to the safety of the children AND the teachers. Otherwise, schools could reopen and teachers might not want to come back.

Inexpensive Testing

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The interviewers had recently spoken

with Michael Mina at Harvard who is championing the idea of having a saliva-based antigen test that would only cost a dollar and could be manufactured in extremely large quantities and made widely available.

Fauci was asked what he thought about that and whether or not it would ever happen. He said something along those lines is really needed, essentially an easy test where you can get the answer instantaneously. It would alleviate a lot of anxiety and it would be important for public health because you could test a group before sending them in to class or to a factory knowing that at that given moment--- everyone was negative.

According to Condit, such tests would be less sensitive than PCR, but offered that we do not need exquisitely sensitive tests in these situations if you can catch all the persons with high viral load who are the contagious ones. It would be enough to identify these to mitigate the spread of infection. This goes back to the concept that not all PCR positive patients are infectious. As Fauci noted, the effort to get highly sensitive tests is a good example of where the perfect can be considered the enemy of the good!

Local or Systemic Viral Infection Fauci was asked to what extent he thinks SARS-CoV-2 infection is confined to the respiratory system or whether it escapes and also infects other organs directly such as the vasculature, kidneys, and even the brain. Alternatively, should the effects of COVID-19 being seen in other organs be considered sequelae of the respiratory infections. Fauci said he believes the “virus is getting out, - Fauci con't on page 9

FAUCI INTERVIEW although there is not overwhelming evidence that this is in fact the case. It could be that we are seeing downstream distal effects that are essentially respiratory. He offered that we will learn the answer to this question from autopsy studies. If virus is seen in these other organs, then it will be an open and shut case that this is a systemic infection.

question of whether or not herd immunity can actually be achieved without a vaccine. In Fauci’s opinion, if we want to get herd immunity purely on the basis of excluding vaccine, an awful lot of people are going to get sick. “I don’t want to see herd immunity because we had 70% of the people get infected.” I am putting my stock in getting a vaccine as quickly as possible, Fauci added.

“...the IFR for COVID-19 has to be around 1%."

Infection Fatality Rate Immunity Another favorite topic of inquiry for epidemiologists was pursued by the virologist-interviewers who wanted to elicit Fauci’s best guess about the infection fatality rate.

He reported that his early thinking was the IFR at 1%. Just giving it a ballpark look, it is obviously more than seasonal flu, and looking at what goes on with other corona viruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which had an IFR of 10% or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) which kills 37%, the IFR for COVID-19 has to be around 1%. The calculation is difficult to make accurately because it depends on the number of asymptomatic cases, said Fauci.

Seroprevalence Not content to ask only about fatality, the interviewers pursued Fauci asking--what do you think is the best estimate of the seroprevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in the United States? It is going to vary depending on where you are, but New York is leading the pack at 22%, he said. Overall Fauci’s best estimate is that seroprevalence is probably a few percentage points, say 3-4%.

This immediately prompted the

A great deal of uncertainty has surrounded the kind of immune response produced by COVID-19, how durable it may be, and how protective against future infection.

Condit posed the question in five parts, namely, what fraction of infections generate immunity, does it wane, if so, how fast does that immunity wane, does reinfection actually occur and at what rate, and what are the consequences of any reinfection that does occur—is it milder?

Joking about having to answer five questions in one, Fauci nevertheless took on the challenge and thought he could meet it because the questions were related. Based on the experience with other coronaviruses that cause the common cold, Fauci said he thinks 100% of infected persons get immunity, but we don’t know how long that immunity lasts because the virus has not been around long enough to determine the duration of immunity.

To get a good view of the “immunity landscape” would require a year or two of observation to see what happens.

Of course it is possible for immunity to - Fauci con't on page 10

“...Fauci’s best estimate is that seroprevalence is probably a few percentage points, say 3-4%."

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FAUCI INTERVIEW

"So at least for a finite period of time we can get a good response..."

wane, according to Fauci, and a question buried in there is--does the sub-optimal immunity make things better or worse upon re-exposure. Fauci said he did not think there is any evidence that waning immunity makes things worse. Looking for evidence about this, Fauci offered that persons who have had a coronavirus cold do not appear to get a worse coronavirus cold the next time, though he was not sure how well this phenomenon has been looked at.

Vaccine Efficacy Given the remaining uncertainty about the quality and quantity of immunity conferred by a COVID-19 infection, the interviewers were quick to ask whether or not waning immunity has any impact on the thinking about how a vaccine might work. According to Fauci, the answer is no, at least not on how a vaccine might work. It does influence thinking about whether or not you might need to get boosted.

"...antibody to the spike protein correlates with animal protection and so it really looks pretty good."

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The data just published in the New England Journal for the Moderna mRNA vaccine really does look good said Fauci. You don’t want to put all your marbles on a study population of only 45 subjects, but they got a pretty robust neutralizing antibody response using the moderate dose (100mg) vaccine against wild type virus. That response is as high as or higher than what we find in convalescent serum. So at least for a finite period of time we can get a good response, said Fauci.

How long it lasts we don’t know, he said, and added I’ll worry about that later because now the first worry is if you can get protection long enough to cover a season, and if the immunity wanes, we can worry about a booster shot.

Vaccine Make Up Continuing the interview focused on vaccines, the virologists asked if it is a good idea for vaccine makers to be focused so centrally on the spike protein as the key antigen on the viral surface at the expense of all the other viral proteins that might be important for inducing immunity Fauci noted this was a loaded question, presumably because of all the different vaccine candidates in contention for becoming the vaccine or vaccines of choice. In Fauci’s view, if you look at it theoretically and conceptually, the antibody that blocks virus binding to the receptor on host cells is classically how you block infection. He said antibodies to the other components are not unimportant, however, antibody to the spike protein correlates with animal protection and so it really looks pretty good.

Duration of Immunity In seeking to better understand the duration of immunity, Fauci reminded listeners that if COVID-19 is merely a respiratory infection then you would expect a weaker response and not long lasting immunity. On the other hand, if persons with multi-system disease with COVID have a systemic viremia, then you could get “years worth” rather than “months worth” of durable immunity. And we know from other viral diseases like measles that a more systemic infection produces a more lasting immunity. Again, it is from autopsy studies that researchers will learn to what extent COVID-19 is a local viral infection with distant sequelae for other organs or a systemic infection with virus.

- Fauci con't on page 11

FAUCI INTERVIEW Decision Making Around COVID-19 Asked to explain what the different groups involved with operation Warp Speed are doing, Fauci described Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) as a public private partnership of people from different agencies as well as outside investigators who are brought together to help prioritize which agents to pursue and to make sure that resources are appropriately divided among the different priorities.

Operation Warp Speed is more of an operational group looking at diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines but now mostly focused on therapeutics and vaccines. They do not actually conduct the work but outline the protocols, identify common primary and secondary endpoints, and provide other types of standardizing guidance across studies.

an effective vaccine or vaccines, government officials must also be concerned about the adequacy of the eventual vaccine supply. Fauci’s assessment of the situation is as follows. He believes that deployment looks promising because the federal government has invested hundreds of millions of dollars per vaccine candidate and we are having the vaccine makers proceed whether or not they know if the vaccine will be successful. They are making these vaccines even before they know if they are going to work. If it does work, you save many months. If it doesn’t work you’ve lost a lot of money. So the urgency of the situation dictates that it’s worth investing the money to save a lot of time. The companies say they will have enough vaccine by the first quarter of 2021 to be able to start distributing tens if not hundreds of millions of doses.

Criteria for Vaccine Selection

Unique Response

Rich Condit asked what are the criteria used in prioritization. One is what the proposed vaccine or therapeutic looks like in animal studies, and what is the current need for it in treating the disease For example, Fauci noted we have two therapies now that work well for COVID-19 but what we need now are agents that work earlier on to prevent a sick person from going to the hospital. So these earlier acting agents are the ones we want to study such as convalescent plasma, hyperimmune globulin, direct antivirals, and monoclonal antibodies—all are being studied based on the deliberations about prioritization, according to Fauci.

In closing their interview, Racaniello and Condit wanted to know if there has ever been anything like this in response to a new infection. They already suspected the answer and paraphrasing Fauci he said there’s never been anything like this for sure. I don’t like the name Warp Speed because it makes it look like we are callously rushing out to do things he said. In the way we’ve done things right now, it is truly remarkable in the view of someone like me who has been doing this for 40 years and I’ve been involved in the development of a bunch of vaccines.

The speed we have been moving at is mind boggling and is orders of magnitude more quickly than what we were doing a decade ago.

Vaccine Distribution In addition to worrying about finding

- Fauci con't on page 10

“...what we need now are agents that work earlier on to prevent a sick person from going to the hospital."

"They are making these vaccines even before they know if they are going to work."

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FAUCI INTERVIEW Future Funding

"...he is hoping for the infusion of a lot of money..."

In closing, Racaniello wanted to know if Fauci foresees extra funding being made available for basic science on emerging pathogens that are a little bit too risky for the normal funding procedure.

Fauci noted that monies have been available even before COVID-19 for preparedness work. He said he believes that Congress realizes that we really have to be prepared for the next one and he is hoping for the infusion of a lot of money into this type of preparedness research.

To listen to the 30 minute podcast, readers should visit This Week in Virology at: https://bit.ly/32DrG5V â&#x2013;

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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, as California’s new state epidemiologist. Dr. Pan had been Alameda County’s health officer since July 2018. She was director of the division of communicable disease control and prevention and deputy health officer for the Alameda County Public Health Department since 2011.The state public health officer, Sonia Angell, told the local media that extensive experience in public health, infectious diseases and emergency response is exactly what California needs right now in our continued response (to) the COVID-19 pandemic. Pan was trained as a pediatric infectious disease specialist and will be a co-leader of California’s response to the coronavirus.

Interviewed: Ali Khan, epidemiologist and dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center by Democracy Now! Khan was also former director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the CDC. He told interviewer Amy Goodman “So, this, without a doubt is the greatest public health failure in our nation’s history, and it just continues to be in freefall.”

He called for integrated, whole-of-government leadership, contact tracing and isolation, mask wearing, hand washing, social distancing, and effective treatment of hospitalized patients.

Interviewed: Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist and now CEO of Pandefense Advisory by WIRED magazine. Speaking of the pandemic, Brilliant was asked “how do we get out of this mess?” He called for finding a way to deal with clusters in nursing homes and other special populations, testing, contact tracing and isolation, and keeping bars, indoor restaurants, churches and other potentially super-spreader places closed.

Profiled: Ajay Sethi, Associate Professor of Population Sciences at the University of Wisconsin in Madison by the Wisconsin State Journal. Sethi gives a course on “Conspiracies in Public Health” to teach that we are all capable of conspiracy thinking and to impart skills on how to converse with persons holding different views. When asked to identify the most troubling conspiracies regarding COVID19 he singled out accounts that public health workers and hospital staff in Florida and Georgia have been asked to manipulate or underreport data on COVID cases.

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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 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 Alternately you can view individual months online:

AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER

VIRUS UPDATES FOR PENDING EVENTS We are attempting to update our online epi event calendar to reflect cancellations and postponements. Many organizations have yet to update their event information.

If your organization has made decisions please let us know so we can keep our calendar as clean as possible. Thank you - mailto:events@epimonitor.net

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: Linda Bernier, Director of Advertising / 770.533.3436 / linda@epimonitor.net

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Assistant, Associate or Full Professor - Epidemiology Faculty Position The Department of Epidemiology in the University of Iowa, College of Public Health invites applications for an open-rank tenure-track faculty position (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor). We welcome applicants with experience in any area of epidemiology, including clinical and population-based studies, cancer, chronic/noncommunicable diseases, nutrition, infectious diseases, molecular and genetic, reproductive and perinatal, injury and disability, social epidemiology, health disparities or the use of technology for disease monitoring and intervention; or equivalent areas.

Applicants must hold a PhD or other doctorate in epidemiology or in a relevant field or a MD with experience in epidemiology or relevant field.

For consideration at the tenure-track Assistant Professor level, applicants should demonstrate a commitment to excellence in teaching and advising graduate students; excellence in epidemiologic methods; exceptional potential for an extramurallyfunded research program; and a track record of scholarly research including peer-reviewed publications. Candidates must demonstrate a commitment to promoting a diverse academic environment.

In addition, for consideration at the tenure-track Associate and Full Professor level, applicants must also have a commensurate record of teaching experience; commensurate record of publications in peer-reviewed publications; and commensurate record of extramurally-funded research.

The College of Public Health is nationally ranked as among the top 10 publicly supported schools of public health and has a diverse research portfolio. The College is located on the main health campus in direct proximity to the other health sciences colleges (Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry). The Department of Epidemiology partners with the University’s Carver College of Medicine and research and training relations with the Iowa Department of Public Health. The University of Iowa is home to the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, and to the Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences, an NIH CTSA program hub. Core departmental resources for clinical epidemiology and outcomes research include the Preventive Intervention Center, the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) cohort, and the Health Effectiveness Research Center.

Iowa City, the sixth largest city in Iowa, is consistently voted one of the best places to live in the U.S. It is one of only two UNESCO Cities of Literature in the U.S. and enjoys a vibrant artistic community. With 33,564 students, the University is one of the state’s largest employers. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics has been included in the US News and World Report’s list of “America’s Best Hospitals” for 26 years in a row.

To apply for this position, please visit http://jobs.uiowa.edu, faculty requisition #73975. Candidates should provide a letter of interest, research statement, curriculum vitae and names of three references. Please address inquiries and nominations to the search committee chair, Kelli Ryckman, at kelli-ryckman@uiowa.edu or call (319)384-1562. Additional information about the department is available at http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/epi/ The Department of Epidemiology, the College of Public Health and the University of Iowa are committed to increasing the diversity of our faculty. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. The University of Iowa is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment free from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, religion, associational preference, status as a qualified individual with a disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Please address inquiries and nominations to: Kelli Ryckman Search Committee Chair kelli-ryckman@uiowa.edu/ (319)384-1562

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