Old IT Account

Thank you to everyone who reviewed abstracts for the 2018 SPER Annual Meeting. We appreciate the time and attention you took in conducting your reviews.

Akhgar Ghassabian

Alexandra Sundermann

Amy Padula

Anjel Vahratian

Anne Marie Jukic

Audrey Gaskins

Brian Whitcomb

Candice Johnson

Carolyn Cesta

Carrie Nobles

Carrie Shapiro-Mendoza

Cassandra Pickens

Catherine Haggerty

Chinenye Nwoke

Claire Margerison-Zilko

Claudia Kozinetz

Collette Ncube

Dana Goin

Danelle Lobdell

Danielle Schoenaker

Dawn Misra

Deborah Randall

Edmond Shenassa

Emily Oken

Erica Jansen

Erika Fuchs

Erinn Hade

Frances Biel

Galit Levi Dunietz

Guoli Zhou

Helen Chin

Jacqueline Cohen

Jane Ford

Jennifer Straughen

Jessie Buckley

jill mcdonald

Julie Petersen

Kayla Anderson

Kelly Ferguson

Kelly Strutz

Kira Taylor

Kristin Palmsten

Kyley Cox

Luc Smits

Lynne Messer

Madhavi Kulkarni

Mahsa Yazdy

Margaret Adgent

Maria Ospina

Marit Bovbjerg

Mark Klebanoff

Marni Jacobs

Megan Romano

Michael Kramer

Modupe Coker

Natasha Nassar

Nicole Talge

Penelope Howards

Quaker Harmon

Russell Kirby

Sarah Keim

Sarah Tinker

Sarka Lisonkova

SImon Timpka

Sonia Grandi

Sunni Mumford

Sylvia Badon

Tamala Gondwe

Tania Desrosiers

Tugba Akkaya-Hocagil

Valery Danilack

Wei Perng

Yasser Sabr

Yeyi Zhu

Yu Li

Zeina Khodr

Zhong-Cheng Luo

Thank you to all of the members who offered their service to SPER and ran for election. The newly elected officers are listed below.

President
Brian W. Whitcomb, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Member at Large
Claire E. Margerison, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Michigan State University

Student Representative
Stephanie Leonard, PhD, MS
Postdoctoral Fellow
Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine
Stanford University

 

We are looking for volunteers to serve as judges during each of the poster sessions. Judges are typically asked to visit 4-5 posters. If you are able to help, please contact Carmen Messerlian at cmesser@hsph.harvard.edu.  Thank you!

SPER’s 31^st Annual Meeting will be held in Baltimore, Maryland at the Hyatt Regency, June 18-19, 2018.  Registration is open and a preliminary agenda will soon be available on the SPER website.

Registration

Registration is currently open for both the Annual Meeting and the Advanced Methods Workshop.  Fees for the Annual Meeting include: attendance at all sessions, meeting materials, continental breakfasts, a box lunch, and refreshment breaks.  Registration may be completed by mail, fax or via the internet.

The deadline for early registration is Monday, May 14.   A confirmation letter will be sent upon receipt of the completed registration form.  Payment can be made by check, MasterCard, Visa, Discover or American Express.  Payment must be received prior to admittance to the meeting.   Please note that anyone selected to present either a talk or a poster at the SPER meeting is required to join SPER in order to present. To register, click here.

Accommodations and Transportation

Hotels

The 2018 Annual Meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, located at 300 Light St, Baltimore, MD 21202.  Click here to book your special-rate accommodations!   If rooms at the Hyatt become sold-out in the coming weeks, we will alert you to alternative housing options through posts on the SPER website as well as on the society’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Transportation

The Hyatt Regency is 10 miles from BWI.  A taxi from the airport to the hotel will cost approximately $33-$41 each way.  Another transportation option includes light rail service.  Take the Blue Line and exit at the Convention Center station (Howard & Pratt St), which is located 3 blocks from the hotel.  One-way fares are $1.80.

Advanced Methods Workshop – Monday, June 18^th, 2:00-4:30 pm

We are pleased to offer the Advanced Methods Workshop immediately preceding the SPER Annual Meeting.  We have two exciting sessions planned: “Introduction to Epigenetics and High Dimensional Epigenome-Wide Association Studies for Perinatal Epidemiology” led by Andres Cardenas (Harvard University) and “Epidemiologic Evidence Without p-values” by Sonia Hernandez-Diaz (Harvard University).  Click here for more details on the sessions.  Don’t forget to register for the Advanced Methods Workshop when you register for the annual meeting!   Registration for the Workshop includes admission to both workshop sessions.

Opening Panel Discussion – Monday, June 18^h, 5:00 pm

We will launch the annual meeting with a panel discussion on causal inference methods and their contributions to translational research.  Our exciting lineup of panelists include leaders in the field:  Penelope Howards (Emory University), Robert Platt (McGill University), and Jonathan Snowden (Oregon Health and Sciences University).   Our discussion will be moderated by Quaker Harmon (NIEHS).

Roundtables – Tuesday, June 19, 7:00-7:45 am

We are looking forward to three Roundtable discussions at the Annual Meeting.  Our topics and facilitators this year include:

• Allen Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D. (National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences), who will lead a conversation on the most interesting unanswered questions about fertility and pregnancy health;
• Claudia Holzman, D.V.M., M.P.H., Ph.D. (Michigan State University), who will lead a discussion aimed at trainees and early career investigators entitled “Career Paths: Finding Your Way and Enjoying the Journey,” and
• Carmen Messerlian, Ph.D. (Harvard University) and Megan Romano, Ph.D. (Dartmouth College), who will lead a discussion about windows of vulnerability from preconception through childhood.

These forums provide an excellent opportunity for informal discussion and getting to know fellow SPER colleagues.  All registered conference attendees are welcome to attend!

Keynote Speaker

Our Keynote Speaker will be Merete Eggesbø, M.D., Ph.D., who is a senior researcher in environment exposure & epidemiology at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.   Dr. Eggesbø will discuss advances in the study of gut microbiota, including its early life determinants and health consequences.  Please note that the keynote address is scheduled for the second half of the first morning session on Tuesday, June 19.   Click here to learn more about Dr. Eggesbø and her research program.

Fun Run 5K

Participate in what is becoming an annual conference tradition, the SPER- and SER-sponsored Fun Run 5K!   Click here to register and for additional details.  Hope to see you there!

• I would like to start by thanking everyone who took part in the survey about remote mentoring. We had 98 responses, and most of you were interested in the program. In particular, 50 of our members have manifested an interest in having a SPER member as a mentor– 29 have volunteered to serve as a mentor, but we need at least 20 more. We are all very busy, but participating in this initiative will take about 1 hour every 2-3 months, and it will be a great way to support SPER trainees. Mentors may be at a relatively early stage in their career – we will ensure that each mentor will be paired up with a more junior mentee. If you are interested in participating, please write to Carmen Messerlian at cmesser@hsph.harvard.edu.
• We have been working on changing the look of the SPER website, but this has been put on hold for the moment in view of the June meeting. However, I am delighted to share a tangible step forward: a link to PPE online is now operational on the SPER website. SPER members are now able to access the journal directly. This has been a long time coming, but it is finally here.
• The 31^st SPER Annual Meeting, which will take place in Baltimore, MD, on June 18-19, is now all but finalized, thanks to the work of the Executive Committee and, especially, to your contributions.  Highlights include:
  • The pre-conference Advanced Methods Workshops, which will take place on Monday, June 18^th from 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm. This year’s workshops will feature an introduction to epigenetics and a discussion of how to interpret epidemiologic evidence without using p-values.
  • A panel discussion on causal inference methods to kick off the Annual Meeting at 5 pm on Monday afternoon. The first poster session and welcome reception will follow at 6.30 PM.
  • Our keynote speaker, Dr. Merete Eggesbø (Norwegian Institute of Public Health). She will give a talk on “Gut microbiota –early-life determinants and potential health consequences.”
  • 18 podium presentations, many featuring papers by trainees
  • Five speed posters, all by trainees, just before the 2^nd poster session
  • Poster prizes, which will highlight work presented by trainees
  • The business meeting, which starts immediately after the scientific sessions on Tuesday afternoon. This year, we have a number of important topics to discuss.  Please attend! The continued strength of SPER depends on your involvement.
• Many people contributed to our conference planning activities, and I would like to thank them all: our Executive Committee for their generous commitment to keeping things running, and often going above and beyond the call of duty; Sue Bevan for handling many of our administrative tasks smoothly and efficiently, and our Student Representative, Carmen Messerlian, for organizing the Advanced Methods Workshop. I also want to thank all who have submitted an abstract to the meeting, the abstract reviewers, and everyone who has contributed to our awards – by presenting a paper or nominating someone. Finally, a big thank you goes to those who have graciously accepted -or volunteered -to contribute to the meeting, as speakers or as moderators.

Looking forward to seeing you all in Baltimore!
Olga

Registration Information
Registration is currently open for both the Annual Meeting and the Advanced Methods Workshop.  Registration fees for the Annual Meeting include: attendance at all sessions, meeting materials, continental breakfasts, a box lunch, and refreshment breaks.  The deadline for early registration is Monday, May 14.   To register, click here.

Accommodations
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, the venue for our 2018 Annual Meeting.  Click here to book your special-rate accommodations!

Fun Run 5K
How can you experience the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, promote health, increase the visibility of epidemiologists in the community, and enjoy comradery with your colleagues — all at the same time?   By participating in the annual Fun Run!   This SPER- and SER-sponsored event will take place the morning of Wednesday, June 20.   If you are interested in registering for this 5K run or 1 mile walk, stay tuned for registration details to come.

Hope to see you there!

Stay up-to-date on all SPER-related news!

Don’t forget to renew your SPER membership for 2018!   Benefits include discounted registration rates for the annual meeting; access to the online jobs and fellowships board; participation in the electronic mailing list; subscription to Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology – and more!   If you would like to join SPER (or know a classmate or colleague who does), please complete the membership application on the SPER website [link here].

Nominations are being sought for President (2018-2021), one Member-at-Large (2018-2022), and SPER Student Representative (2018-2019). All terms will begin at the close of the Annual Meeting (June 2018).  Click here for a description of each position.

Members of SPER are encouraged to nominate themselves or a member of SPER to run for these positions.  Please help our Society achieve continued success through this opportunity for professional service.

Nominations are due by March 1, 2018 and should be sent to Sunni Mumford at mumfords@mail.nih.gov or can be submitted online through the SPER website.

Electronic voting will take place in April 2018.

Explore the SPER jobs & fellowships bank!   It currently has 5 listings, which include advertisements for postdoctoral fellowships and professorships.  This bank often includes postings for local, state, and federal positions as well as training opportunities.  Check back regularly for timely access to these postings!

If you are looking to hire an epidemiologist with expertise in perinatal and/or pediatric health and would like to advertise your position on the SPER website, please submit your information here.