The Scientific Program Committee Invites You to Submit Your Abstract for the 2016 ISDS Annual Conference, December 6-8, 2016
Conference Tracks
The 15th Annual International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) Conference, to be held December 6-8, 2016
in Atlanta, Georgia, will bring together leaders and scientists from
health departments, academic institutions, government
agencies/ministries, nongovernmental agencies, industry and stakeholders
from the public and private sectors. The Scientific Program Committee
(SPC) invites you to submit an abstract for the 2016 Conference!
ISDS is dedicated to the
improvement of population health by advancing the science and practice
of disease surveillance. We strongly encourage submissions that address
this year's conference theme - New Frontiers in Surveillance: Data
Science and Health Security.
The 2016 SPC is seeking
abstracts that focus on multiple aspects of disease surveillance, which
involves the timely and regular reporting of information on infectious
or chronic disease, or injury, to support population health monitoring
and response. Scientific abstracts that focus on novel surveillance use
cases, data sources, use of Big Data, methodologies for event detection,
characterization or alerting, tools for managing surveillance
processes, global health security challenges, and use of surveillance
information for strengthening health security are encouraged. Evaluation
of state/province, national or global surveillance programs,
algorithms, or interventions are also encouraged.
Abstracts accepted for presentation at the 2016 ISDS Conference will be published in a special supplement of the Online Journal of Public Health Informatics.
ISDS Conference Tracks
Each submitter will be asked
to assign their abstract to one of the following tracks. While the
tracks are designed to be distinct, there may be some natural overlap
between tracks. Therefore we encourage submitters to use their best
judgment when classifying their submissions.
Methods and Science in Surveillance:
This track is focused on methodological advances in the field of public
health surveillance or applied epidemiology. Novel methods for
analyzing data within surveillance systems are sought. This track also
seeks results from the evaluation of surveillance systems or their
components. Abstracts in this category may describe methods used in
practice, still under development, or which have been tested only in a
research setting. Examples include but are not limited to the following:
• Evaluation of a surveillance system used for monitoring the health of a jurisdiction;
• New or improved syndrome definitions for use within a surveillance system;
• Advanced techniques, components or methods for improving surveillance; or
• Novel surveillance systems developed or deployed in the field.
Informatics and Data Science:
Informatics studies and pursues the effective uses of data,
information, and knowledge for scientific inquiry, problem solving and
decision making; and data science focuses on extracting knowledge from
large volumes of data that are structured or unstructured. Although
distinct, these disciplines are closely related. Therefore we invite
abstracts that focus on one or more of the following aspects of
informatics and/or data science which enhance disease surveillance:
• Linking disparate and/or unstructured data or information across a variety of sources;
• Monitoring or improving the quality of data or information captured by surveillance systems;
• Technologies that connect
health departments/agencies to one another or with health care delivery
facilities to enable data sharing or coordination of care;
• Advanced visualization of large datasets or information streams to assist surveillance;
• Machine learning approaches to detect disease cases to enhance reporting or analysis of surveillance data; or
• Querying across networks
of databases or data sources to identify information about populations,
disease cases, or social determinants of health.
Policy:
Abstracts in this category may present descriptions of emerging policies
at local, state, federal, international levels associated with
surveillance; lessons learned from the implementation of policies;
governance of surveillance data collection, management or usage; or
approaches for using surveillance systems and data to inform health
and/or public health policy. Examples include but are not limited to the
following:
• Funding programs to support data collection or surveillance capacity building;
• Reporting requirements for health care providers or facility types;
• Use of surveillance data
to inform policies regarding health facility planning, nutrition
programs, transportation, built environment, etc.; or
• Governance of multi-state or regional data sharing to facilitate surveillance.
One Health and Health Security:
One Health recognizes the health of humans is connected to the health
of animals and the environment; and health security seeks to create a
world safe and secure from global health threats. Similar in nature,
these initiatives within the global health community seek to build
capacity for conducting active surveillance, connect surveillance
activities across governmental agencies as well as nation states, and
respond to outbreaks when and where they occur across the globe. Example
of topics for abstracts may include but are not limited to the
following:
• Implementation of capacity building program within a ministry;
• Evaluation of the functional core capacity framework;
• Future directions and innovations in public health that improve response to major health events;
• Guidance for healthcare organizations planning to cope with mass casualty crises; or
• Initiatives or concepts intended to reduce agricultural vulnerabilities.
Public/Population Health
Surveillance Practice: This track is focused on lessons and outcomes
associated with day-to-day practice of surveillance, outbreak
investigation, management, and response. Abstracts in this track can
describe projects, collaborations, methods, techniques, processes, and
systems that support and/or advance daily surveillance operations within
and across health agencies. Examples of topics for abstracts may
include but are not limited to the following:
• Redesigned work processes for epidemiologists or disease investigators;
• Results of an outbreak investigation within a jurisdiction;
• Comparison of different tools or methods for adoption by a health department;
• Specification of surveillance targets for newly emerging or reemerging diseases;
• Regional or national collaborations designed to support surveillance across jurisdictions; or
• Efforts to coordinate
preparedness for or response to an outbreak with multiple governmental
agencies and/or non-governmental organizations.
Presentation Types
Oral: Oral
presentations will be allotted 15 minutes, followed by 5 minutes for
questions. Oral presentations are the preferred format for presenting
results from an evaluation of a surveillance system, method or approach,
or evidence of change following the introduction of a surveillance
practice within a jurisdiction.
Poster:
Posters are the preferred format for presenting preliminary research and
results of small-scale studies; describing experimental
projects/programs or works-in-progress; and reporting system
descriptions. Poster sessions are designed to offer direct access to the
authors in a way not possible through oral presentations.
Panel:
Panel presentations are the preferred format for deeper discussions of
an issue or question. Panels should focus on a central topic with 3-4
speakers offering unique but complementary views on a given topic. Each
panelist should speak for no more than 10-12 minutes allowing time for
questions and discussion with the audience.
Roundtable:
The goal of a roundtable is to encourage discussion rather than be a
presentation/didactic session. The leader should be a knowledgeable and
engaging person who can help stimulate a lively discussion.
Lightning Talk:
Lightning sessions are designed to facilitate the speedy sharing of
recent research, theory, publications, works-in-progress, projects,
applications or experiences pertaining to any aspect of the science or
practice of surveillance. Each speaker has just 5 minutes for their talk
and must prepare pre-timed slides that cannot be advanced by the
speaker.
Key Dates
• Abstract Submission Deadline: August 26, 2016
• Author Acceptance Notification: October 7, 2016
Submission Website
Abstracts may be submitted at http://ISDS2016.
Additional Support and Information
Please visit the conference information page for registration, program and travel-related information.
For additional questions concerning your abstract submission, please contact Mark Krumm 617-779-0886
