U.S. Disease Detectives Meet in Omaha

Conference attendees to focus attention on new and emerging public health disease problems

OMAHA, Neb., June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Over 1,000 disease detectives and epidemiologists from around the country will meet in Omaha June 3-7 for the 2012 Annual Conference of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE). The meeting is taking place in the home state of CSTE President Tom Safranek, M.D., State Epidemiologist at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

This year's conference theme is "Public Health 2012: Stand Up and Be Counted." Key speakers at Monday's opening plenary session include Bill Foege, M.D., M.P.H., who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in April for his work to eradicate smallpox, Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Linda Murray, M.D., M.P.H., Chief Medical Officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health in Illinois.

The job of an epidemiologist is to understand what causes people to get sick and to find ways to reduce illness, injury and death from preventable causes. "CSTE members are devoted to detecting patterns in occurrence of illness and injury, meticulously analyzing clues, and applying findings to solve medical mysteries and inform decisions that protect people's health," Dr. Safranek said. "The Annual Conference offers the opportunity for members to share their research, broaden their knowledge, and—together—improve the science and practice of applied epidemiology."

The conference will feature numerous plenary and breakout sessions as well as roundtable discussions and poster presentations. Session topics include health disparities, climate change, occupational health, healthcare-associated infections, foodborne disease outbreak response, and more.

CSTE is an organization of member states and territories and represents the perspective of epidemiologists working in state and local government. It is a professional association of over 1,000 public health epidemiologists working in states, local, tribal, and territorial health agencies. CSTE works to establish more effective relationships among state and other health agencies. It also provides technical advice and assistance to partner organizations and to federal public health agencies such as CDC. CSTE members have surveillance and epidemiology expertise in a broad range of areas including occupational health, infectious diseases, immunization, environmental health, chronic diseases, injury control, and maternal and child health. CSTE's work is an important step in ensuring a well prepared and competent public health workforce.

SOURCE Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

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