Author: Jessica

Annual Meeting, Final Day: Between Malaria and TB with no Coffee is not a Good Place to Be

by Jessica, posted in APHA IH Section

I usually get restless on the last day of a given conference. It is really a shame, too: the presentations on the last day are just as interesting and important as those on the first, but by then I am already thinking of getting home, following up with connections made, and going through the business cards I picked up (and trying to find them on Linked In). Fortunately for me, two of the three global health hot topics were featured this morning: malaria and tuberculosis.

The session on malaria and vector-borne diseases featured several presentations on distributing insecticide-treated bed nets and their impact, as well as one that highlighted the importance of accurate diagnosis. I have been interested in malaria ever since I was an undergraduate student at Texas A&M, so I always attend sessions on malaria if they happen at a given conference, and it is always encouraging to see how much energy there is to fight it. (I took part in a student debate at the 2007 Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting, and I went to every vector-borne disease session they had.)

Up until that point, I’d had no coffee, so I gave in to my need for caffeine and bought an over-priced latte.

The TB session was also interesting, particularly because it is another area in which I have a lot to learn (though USAID’s Global Health eLearning Center has helped a lot with that). Despite being one of the top three global diseases, it has always seemed to be the red-headed stepchild of the three big killers – since HIV/AIDS and malaria always seem to dominate the news and be a whole lot sexier in general. The presentation on latent TB in a colonia in Baja California in particular stood out to me. During my work as a Pesticide Poisoning Surveillance Fellow at NIOSH last year, I drafted an article on pesticide poisoning in farm workers and learned quite a bit about their unique burdens. With all of the attention on our ongoing border “crisis” (or however it should be phrased), I think this will remain in the spotlight.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Global Health Luncheon, as I had to catch the Sky Rail to the airport for my flight. If I find any coverage of it, I will be sure to post it here. (If you would like to cover it, dear reader, be sure to let me know!)

Annual Meeting, Day 3: NTDs, Kids, and Careers

by Jessica, posted in Aid Effectiveness, APHA IH Section, Maternal and Child Health

I started off my morning with two unpleasant experiences: a burnt cup of coffee from my hotel’s breakfast buffet and a session on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Please don’t misunderstand me – the session, hosted by Dr. Hélène Carabin, was very interesting, but pictures of the clinical manifestations of those worms will make even the sturdiest of young professionals’ skin crawl. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about onchocerciasis, or river blindness (did you know that those worms can live for 14 years in the body?); helminthes; baglisascariasis, or raccoon roundworm (in Brooklyn, of all places); neurocysticercosis, and trachoma. These diseases have rightly earned their designation as NTDs – they are inexpensive and easy to treat and prevent, yet most people have never heard of most of them. (Alanna Shaikh has a theory that giving them more descriptive and graphic names will attract attention to them – you can read her proposed naming scheme here.)

Next up was a session hosted by Dr. Elvira Beracochea on aid accountability and effectiveness. There were several very insightful talks and an interesting discussion (Dr. Beracochea always likes to involve the audience, which can be fun). After a lunch of Vietnamese fast food, I attended a session on child survival and child health, to which I was invited by Ms. Beth Charpentier (Ms. Katherine Robsky’s colleague from Global Health Access Program). While I believe that maternal and child health is very important (and I am thrilled that it is enjoying so much attention from Secretary Clinton and other development advocates), I am not very familiar with that area, so I learned a lot.

Finally, I attended the “Careers in Global Health” panel that is organized by Dr. Carabin every year. There was a very useful presentation on the key knowledge areas and skills that currently global health leaders identified as crucial to the incoming workforce. Ms. Carol Dabbs provided some practical information on the different points of entry with USAID, and then Dr. Eckhard Kleinau told his incredible story of breaking into global health after finishing his residency (he and his wife sold everything they owned and drove to Burkina Faso – from Germany! – in a VW van). If you would like any of this information, please contact me by e-mail at jmkeralis [at] gmail [dot] com.

Finally, the section held its closing business meeting at 6. After committee updates, Dr. Miriam Labbok was recognized for her hard work as section chair for the past two years. I personally will always remember her as a very welcoming face when I attended the annual meeting for the first time last year as a CDC fellow – she encouraged us “newbies” to jump right in.

Tomorrow’s Global Health Luncheon promises to be a real treat (though I probably will not be able to attend – I will have to navigate public transportation back to the airport). The malaria session is always well-attended, however, and it is in the morning – so hopefully I will see you there!

More APHA Blog Coverage

by Jessica, posted in APHA IH Section, Information and Social Media

Other than myself and the official APHA meeting blog, some other folks are covering the Annual Meeting in Denver:

John Schrom, an epidemiologist based in Minneapolis who focuses on HIV/AIDS, is sharing his experience on his blog.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has a special blog dedicated to the meeting.

Annual Meeting, Day Two: MDGs and Refugees

by Jessica, posted in APHA IH Section, MDGs / SDGs

I am always amazed at how exhausted these conferences always leave me. It is an energizing kind of exhaustion – the wonderful thing about the annual meeting’s size and diversity is that there is always so much going on, and we always want to soak up as much of it as we can. But as sponge-y as I try to make myself, absorbing meetings, scientific sessions, the expo hall, and a lovely awards ceremony is enough to leave anyone a little drained. It does, however, make me admire all of our overseas colleagues so much more, because they manage to participate right along with us, despite what must be a serious case of jet lag.

After the business meeting this morning, I wandered through the expo hall. Then I attended a session on the MDGs and the right to development, which was quite a learning experience for me – I had never heard of development framed in a human rights context, so I was definitely exposed to a new way of thinking about the MDGs and global health and development in general. Dr. Elvira Beracochea recommended some great pieces to read on health and development in general, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (always a classic), the Paris Declaration, and the Millenium Declaration, among others.

After lunch at an Irish pub on the 16th street mall, I went to a very interesting session on forced displacement and refugee health, chaired by Mr. Jirair Ratevosian. One project in particular captured my interest – Ms. Katherine Robsky, who worked as a fellow with the Global Health Access Program – shared her work with a project on the Thailand-Burma border with a TB treatment project that worked with IDPs targeted by the military junta. Apparently the program takes on a handful of fellows each year for various health-related projects, so that is one to add to my list (all you students looking for opportunities – heads up!) I spoke with her and one of her colleagues afterward, since I have a special interest in refugee and IDP issues (I recently had an article accepted by Forced Migration Review, and I wrote about the Rohingya refugee camp earlier this year). Her colleague invited me to attend her presentation (during the Child Survival and Child Health 2 session) on a project working in the same area tomorrow morning, so I will have to add that to my list.

In the evening, I went to the IH section’s awards reception. I heard so many inspiring stories of people’s devotion to amazing work and got an awesome free dinner to boot. I will post pictures with this entry once I get them from the Dr. Padmini Murthy (probably after we have all recovered back home).

The APHA 2010 Annual Meeting Begins!

by Jessica, posted in APHA IH Section

I flew into the mile-high city this morning with a delicious sense of anticipation.  Remembering the energy that I brought back with me from Philadelphia last year when I attended APHA’s annual meeting for the first time, I am excited at what this year will hold now that I have a decent idea of what the heck is going on.  I landed at the Denver airport at 7:20 a.m., dashed outside to catch the bus to my hotel (because who wants to pay $21 for a shuttle when the bus only costs $9 one-way?), tossed my bags down in my hotel room and dashed off to the Convention Center.

I made it just in time for the Global Health Connections Committee meeting.  After introductions, Dr. Jaya Prakash gave a summary (accompanied by myself – with two minutes’ notice! – and Ms. Vina HuLamm) of the progress on the Global Health Expertise Directory, which is expected to launch early next year.  I skipped the Opening General Session to staff the International Health Welcome Booth, but I heard it was a powerful and inspiring experience – you see the videos of it on the APHA Annual Meeting Blog, and the videos are also posted on APHA’s YouTube Channel.

The IH Section had its first business meeting this afternoon at 2.  We saw a lot of new faces, and Dr. Miriam Labbok encouraged them to get involved in one of the many committees  and working groups.  I had a chance to meet several members that I connected with globally, including Dr. Gonzalo Bacigalupe. 

I will be recapping the sessions and meetings I attend on this blog and posting updates on Twitter (when I can get wireless in the convention center, anyway).

My Twitter handle is @jessicakeralis. Other IH section members on Twitter include Dr. Bacigalupe (@healthglobal and @bacigalupe) and Mr. Jirair Ratevosian (@jratevosian). APHA is also tweeting with @APHAAnnualMtg and @PublicHealth.