28 August 2009

EDDP 2010: Of Special Interest to European ISDS Members

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EDDP 2010
Join us in Munich, Germany from February 25 – 28, 2010
for the International Conference on Early Disease Detection and Prevention

We are delighted to announce the launch of the Preliminary Program.

Abstract submission deadline is September 15, 2009.
Submit your abstract now – don't miss out !!!

We are proud to present the EDDP 2010 committee members
For further information click here.

Chairman:
Yoram Yagil

Co-Chairpersons:
George Bakris
Hermann Haller
Reuven Zimlichman

Steering Committee:
Mark Cooper, Daniel Duprez, Harlambos Gavras, Pavel Hamet, Doron Lancet, Friedrich C Luft

Scientific Committees:
Cardiac Disease:
Enrico Agabiti Rosei, Daniel Duprez, Anthony Heagerty, Amos Katz, Sverre Kjeldsen,
John Lekakis, Athanasios Manolis, Robert Phillips, Ton Rabelink, Reuven Zimlichman

Hypertension:
George Bakris, Michael Burzstyn, Arun Chockalingham, Carlos Ferrario,
Haralambos Gavras, Pavel Hamet, Lawrence Krakoff, Friedrich C Luft, Ernesto Schiffrin

Renal Disease:
Lise Bankir, Hermann Haller, Reinhold Kreutz,
Friedrich C Luft, Steve Scheinman , Joshua Weissgarten

Diabetes and Metabolism:
Mark E Cooper,Nish Chaturvedi, Youfei Guan, Peter Rossing, James Sowers, Sho-ichi Yamagishi

Health Policy:
Arun Chockalingham, Moshe Leshno, Uwe Siebert

For further information visit us at:
www.paragon-conventions.com/eddp2010

Paragon Conventions
18 Avenue Louis-Casai, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: +41-22-5330-948, Fax: +41-22-5802-953
eddp2010-at-paragon-conventions.com

27 August 2009

August Literature Summaries Now Available

The summaries from the August Literature Review are now available on the ISDS wiki.

*Please note that the Literature Reviews have switched to a bi-monthly schedule. The latest articles collected in the Research Committee's article search will continue to be posted monthly, however.

The next Literature Review call will be taking place on Thursday, October 29th at 10:00 am EST.

26 August 2009

Job Opening: Senior Project Manager -- DiSTRIBuTE Project

Overview
The mission of the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) is to improve population health by advancing the field of disease surveillance. The Society provides an educational and scientific forum to explore and address population health monitoring across institutional and professional boundaries. The DiSTRIBuTE project was developed by ISDS members as a distributed, influenza surveillance system. DiSTRIBuTE uses aggregate, influenza like illness (ILI), emergency department data from existing syndromic surveillance systems developed by state and local public health departments.

ISDS is seeking an experienced Sr. Project Manager for a grant-funded project that could develop into a longer term opportunity, based on performance and future funding. The DiSTRIBuTE Sr. Project Manager, reporting directly to the President of the ISDS Board of Directors, will work with the Scientific Director and other members of the project team, including members of the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to recruit, enroll and coordinate the rapid expansion of the DiSTRIBuTE community of practice to improve the timeliness, availability and accessibility of syndromic surveillance information related to H1N1 influenza cases and outbreaks in the United States. The DiSTRIBuTE Sr. Project Manager will be accountable for the rapid expansion of a large scale, complex, national flu surveillance project in conjunction with ISDS, PHII and CDC, on time, on budget and across all national, state and local jurisdictions.

Job Description

The Sr. Project Manager will have excellent relationship-building skills, as well as strong leadership and team management capabilities, to lead a diverse and dynamic team in the successful delivery of this complex, integrated project. This role requires deep understanding of project management methodologies, tools and approaches to effectively manage a complex, multi-disciplinary project. The Sr. Project Manager will report directly to the President of the ISDS.

Duties
• Provide project management for a large-scale, national, multi-customer, multi-vendor and multi-partner project including:
• Develop project goals, timelines and deliverables, integrated project plans, key roles and responsibilities.
• Manage complete project development and implementation life-cycle and ensure that goals are met.
• Matrix manage/coordinate internal and external resources to meet objectives.
• Manage relationships with sites, subcontracts, partners and sponsors.
• Provide internal/external status reports and project dashboards.
• Manage, with the ISDS Board President, project governance including Advisory Committee, Project Committee, Community of Practice and stakeholder meetings.
• Facilitate goals/priorities/decision making and escalate to advisory board and sponsors as necessary.
• Communicate with and influence internal and external stakeholders regarding key project objectives and steps to ensure buy-in.
• Create and ratify project quality/performance standards and report relevant metrics.
• Supervisory responsibility for project staff including both direct reports and subcontracted staff.
• Provide guidance to subcontract sites and staff around achievement of goals and deliverables (matrix and direct reporting).
• Act as central coordinator for project team.
• Address/resolve interpersonal or team dynamic concerns.
• Manage staff hired by ISDS for the DiSTRIBuTE project.

Skills
Highly organized and self-directed with ability to work with minimal supervision; detail oriented with no loss of big-picture objectives; results oriented, a fast learner and accepting of change; ability to prioritize and multi-task effectively; excellent written/verbal communication skills, with exceptional presentation abilities to senior management and other key stakeholders; ability to work in a time-sensitive, deadline driven, political environment; expert knowledge of the key components of project management (e.g., scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, integration),

Experience
5-7 years experience in a project manager role leading complex, geographically distributed, technical/public health initiatives. Successful track record in completing projects on time and on budget working with senior level professionals from multiple disciplines and diverse stakeholder groups. Strong knowledge of MS tools including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Visio and Project. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, Master’s in Public Health, Healthcare or Public Administration or Business preferred. Project management certification (e.g. PMI, PMP) highly preferred. Healthcare or Public Health experience required.

How to Apply
Resumes should be sent to: Barbara Honthumb, Sr. Consultant Finance and Planning, Tufts Health Care Institute (THCI)

Job Opening: Community of Practice Coordinator -- DiSTRIBuTE Project

Overview
The mission of the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) is to improve population health by advancing the field of disease surveillance. The Society provides an educational and scientific forum to explore and address population health monitoring across institutional and professional boundaries. The DiSTRIBuTE project was developed by ISDS members as a distributed, influenza surveillance system. DiSTRIBuTE uses aggregate, influenza like illness (ILI) emergency department data from existing syndromic surveillance systems developed by state and local public health departments.

ISDS is seeking an experienced public health professional for a grant-funded project that could develop into a longer term opportunity, based on performance and future funding. The DiSTRIBuTE Community of Practice Coordinator (CoP Coordinator), working under the direction of the Sr. Project Manager and in collaboration with the Scientific Director and other members of the project team, will be responsible for recruiting, enrolling and facilitating the rapid expansion of the DiSTRIBuTE Community of Practice. Currently the DiSTRIBuTE Community of Practice is a 10 site proof-of-concept project which will expand nation-wide to improve the timeliness, availability and accessibility of syndromic surveillance information related to H1N1 influenza cases and outbreaks in the United States.

Job Description

The CoP Coordinator will have excellent group facilitation and meeting coordination skills, as well as strong communications and organizational capabilities, to coordinate the rapid expansion of a diverse and dynamic, geographically dispersed DiSTRIBuTE Community of Practice (CoP). This person will ideally have close working relationships within the public health surveillance community and will be highly motivated to ensure that the DiSTRIBuTE CoP succeeds in meeting project goals. The CoP Coordinator will champion the CoP’s success in developing a national, distributed influenza surveillance system and work with the Sr. Project Manager, Scientific Director and others to ensure that communications about the project flow to and from participating sites to the sponsors, stakeholders and other DiSTRIBuTE team members. Other duties may include: providing perspectives and resources to participating DiSTRIBuTE sites; periodically reviewing progress and developmental needs of current and future sites; ensuring that data submission and reporting needs of sites are met; troubleshooting data collection and submission problems in collaboration with the DiSTRIBuTE Technical Site Liaisons; and building collaborative relationships with officials and sponsors from other national, state and local agencies. The CoP Coordinator will report directly to the Sr. Project Manager with a matrix reporting relationship to the Scientific Director.

Duties
• Develop documents to be used to recruite new sites that communicate the Federal/State/Local plans for summarized ILI surveilance and the importance of participation in the DiSTRIBuTE CoP.
• Work the DiSTRIBuTE Public Health Site Liaisons to recruit sites into the DiSTRIBuTE CoP and facilitiate connection with DiSTRIBuTE Technical Site Liasions to establish and maintain the collection and submission of data to the DiSTRIBuTE website.
• Support new and existing DiSTRIBuTE CoP sites.
• Moderate CoP discussion web group, manage two-way social media conversations.
• Organize and run meetings weekly webinar/conference calls; ensure that meetings stay on track, and that meeting goals are accomplished.
• Organize community documents (charter, agendas, meeting minutes, etc.) and produce weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports and post to the DiSTRIBuTE website as appropriate.
• With the Sr. Project Manager, Scientific Director and others, manage effective distribution of the CoP’s messages and findings to users, working group members and stakeholders.

Skills

Highly organized and self-directed with ability to work with minimal supervision; excellent people and team building skills; detail- and results-oriented, a fast learner and flexible; ability to prioritize and multi-task effectively; excellent written/verbal communication skills, ability to work in a time-sensitive, deadline driven, political environment. Extensive travel may be required in early stages of the project.

Experience

A minimum of 5 years experience in public health ideally working within a local health department on planning or training projects. Strong knowledge of MS tools including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Familiarity with and experience managing virtual and face-to-face meetings and communitications including email, conference calling, webinars, bulletin boards and blogs. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, Master’s in Public Health preferred.

How to Apply
Resumes should be sent to: Barbara Honthumb, Sr. Consultant Finance and Planning, Tufts Health Care Institute (THCI)

24 August 2009

August Public Health Practice Committee Meeting

When: Monday August 24, 2009 12 Noon EDT

Agenda:

1. Welcome

2. ISDS Updates
Rachel Viola, ISDS Project Manager
Julia E. Gunn, RN, MPH (ISDS Board Representative)

3. ISDS Funding & DiSTRIBuTE Project Updates
Don Olson, ISDS Research Director

4. Regional & Local School Surveillance - Rockland County, NY
E. Oscar Alleyne, MPH
County Epidemiologist
Rockland County Department of Health
Slides

5. 25 Years of School Surveillance - Dutchess County, NY
Andrew Sherman Rotans, MPH
Senior Public Health Advisor
Dutchess County Department of Health

6. School Surveillance: ILI Definitions and Signal Response
Lisa McHugh, MPH
Influenza Surveillance Coordinator
New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services

7. Update on New CDC Guidelines for State & Local Novel flu A (H1N1) Surveillance: Comparing Advanced Surveillance to Laboratory Testing

8. Next Meeting: Monday September 28, 2009; 12 Noon EDT

*Please contact Rachel Viola and Alan Siniscalchi (PHPC Chair) if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the agenda at: rviola-at-syndromic.org

13 August 2009

Articles for August Literature Review

The ISDS Research Committee is now accepting submissions for its August Literature Review, which will be taking place on Thursday, August 27th at 10:00 am EDT.

This file gathers recent selections from our PubCrawler search; several articles concern the H1N1 threat. Articles are cited at the end of this email; should you need to download any of them, please inquire about gaining access to the Research Committee's gmail account.

Please email your input on any selected articles by August 26 to: rviola-at-syndromic.org.
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Kelley PW.
A commentary on the military role in global influenza surveillance.
Am J Prev Med. 2009 Sep;37(3):260-1.

Owens AB, Canas LC, Russell KL, Neville JS, Pavlin JA, MacIntosh VH, Gray GC, Gaydos JC.
Department of Defense Global Laboratory-Based Influenza Surveillance: 1998-2005.
Am J Prev Med. 2009 Sep;37(3):235-41.

Watkins RE, Eagleson S, Veenendaal B, Wright G, Plant AJ.
Disease surveillance using a hidden Markov model.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2009 Aug 10;9(1):39. [Epub ahead of print]

O'neill PD.
Bayesian inference for stochastic multitype epidemics in structured populations using sample data. Biostatistics. 2009 Jul 31.

Buehler JW, Whitney EA, Smith D, Prietula MJ, Stanton SH, Isakov AP.
Situational Uses of Syndromic Surveillance.
Biosecur Bioterror. 2009 Jun;7(2):165-177.

McLeod M, Mason K, White P, Read D.
The 2005 Wellington influenza outbreak: syndromic surveillance of Wellington Hospital Emergency Department activity may have provided early warning.
Aust N Z J Public Health. 2009 Jun;33(3):289-94.

Xing J, Burkom H, Moniz L, Edgerton J, Leuze M, Tokars J.
Evaluation of sliding baseline methods for spatial estimation for cluster detection in the biosurveillance system. Int J Health Geogr. 2009 Jul 17;8(1):45.

May L, Chretien JP, Pavlin JA.
Beyond traditional surveillance: applying syndromic surveillance to developing settings--opportunities and challenges. BMC Public Health. 2009 Jul 16;9(1):242.

Bilancia M, Fedespina A.
Geographical clustering of lung cancer in the province of Lecce, Italy: 1992-2001.
Int J Health Geogr. 2009 Jul 1;8(1):40.

Tang XY, Huang TR, Zhu XD, Hu MQ, Xu J, Zhou HX.
[Using spatial autocorrelation analysis to study spatial heterogeneity of liver cancer in Guangxi]

Wang XL, Wang QY, Liu DL, Zeng DJ, Cheng H, Li S, Duan W, Li XY, Luan RS, He X.
[Comparison between early outbreak detection models and simulated outbreaks of measles in Beijing] Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi. 2009 Feb;30(2):159-62. Chinese.

Chu AF, Marcus SM, Ruck B.
Poison control centers' role in glow product-related outbreak detection: implications for comprehensive surveillance system.
Prehosp Disaster Med. 2009 Jan-Feb;24(1):68-72.

Hanshaoworakul W, Simmerman JM, Narueponjirakul U, Sanasuttipun W, Shinde V, Kaewchana S, Areechokechai D, Levy J, Ungchusak K.
Severe human influenza infections in Thailand: oseltamivir treatment and risk factors for fatal outcome, PLoS One. 2009 Jun 25;4(6):e6051.

Liu J, Bi Y, Qin K, Fu G, Yang J, Peng J, Ma G, Liu Q, Pu J, Tian F.\
Emergence of European avian-like H1N1 Swine Influenza A Viruses in China.
J Clin Microbiol. 2009 Jun 24

Touch S, Grundy J, Hills S, Rani M, Samnang C, Khalakdina A, Jacobson J.
The rationale for integrated childhood meningoencephalitis surveillance: a case study from Cambodia, Bull World Health Organ. 2009 Apr;87(4):320-4.

Chretien JP, Tomich NE, Gaydos JC, Kelley PW.
Real-Time Public Health Surveillance for Emergency Preparedness.
Am J Public Health. 2009 Jun 18.

D'Ortenzio E, Do C, Renault P, Weber F, Filleul L.
Enhanced influenza surveillance on RĂ©union Island (southern hemisphere) in the context of the emergence of influenza A(H1N1)v.
Euro Surveill. 2009 Jun 11;14(23):19239.

Pan K, Deem MW.
Comment on Ndifon et al., "On the use of hemagglutination-inhibition for influenza surveillance: Surveillance data are predictive of influenza vaccine effectiveness"
Vaccine. 2009 Jun 11.

Ohkusa Y, Yamaguchi R, Sugiura H, Sugawara T, Yoshida M, Shimada C, Hori N, Sugishita Y, Yasui Y, Sunagawa T, Matsui T, Taniguchi K, Tada Y, Taya K, Imamura T, Okabe N.
[2008 G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit Meeting Syndrome Surveillance]
Kansenshogaku Zasshi. 2009 May;83(3):236-44. Japanese.

van Asten L, van der Lubben M, van den Wijngaard C, van Pelt W, Verheij R, Jacobi A, Overduin P, Meijer A, Luijt D, Claas E, Hermans M, Melchers W, Rossen J, Schuurman R, Wolffs P, Bouchier C, Schirm J, Kroes L, Leenders S, Galama J, Peeters M, van Loon A, Stobberingh E, Schutten M, D V M MK.
Strengthening the diagnostic capacity to detect Bio Safety Level 3 organisms in unusual respiratory viral outbreaks.
J Clin Virol. 2009 Jun 6.

Levy PP, Valleron AJ.
Toward unsupervised outbreak detection through visual perception of new patterns.
BMC Public Health. 2009 Jun 10;9(1):179. [Epub ahead of print]

Uscher-Pines L, Farrell CL, Babin SM, Cattani J, Gaydos CA, Hsieh YH, Moskal MD, Rothman RE.
Framework for the development of response protocols for public health syndromic surveillance systems: case studies of 8 US states.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2009 Jun;3(2 Suppl):S29-36.

Abstract Submssion Deadline Extended

The deadline has been extended for abstract submission to the 2009 annual conference of the International Society for Disease Surveillance. Abstract submissions are now due by September 15th, 2009.

This year's conference will feature prominently innovative assessments, methods, analytic techniques and experiences related to H1N1 surveillance.

Details on abstract submission and conference registration can be found at http://thci.org/syndromic/conference2009/