Winter 2003

News

In this Issue:3Schottenfeld ReceivesLilienfeld Award

3Student Prize PaperAward Goes to UNCGraduate

5Symposia on theNew Epidemiologyof Age, Sex, RaceHighlights NewEpidemiologicFindings

6Poster SessionDisplays 106Presentations,Awards Prizes

7Minority AffairsProgram MovesAhead

Albuquerque Hosts One of ACE’s MostSuccessful MeetingsBy Paul H. Levine

The 21st annual meeting of the American College ofEpidemiology held at the Sheraton Old Town inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, proved to be the secondbest attended ACE annual meeting, drawing 274registrants. After welcoming talks by PresidentRichard Kaslow and Dr. Cosette Wheeler of theHost Committee, the keynote speaker formercongressman Stewart Udall gave an entertaining andinsightful perspective on the environmental issuesfacing the country. He detailed the past successbringing the radiation hazards of the nuclear testingand underground uranium mining to publicattention and appropriate legislation, including hisdescription of the important contributions of PastPresident Jonathan Samet who had arranged forCongressman Udall’s presentation and introducedhim. As Secretary of the Dept. of the Interior in theKennedy administration, Rep. Udall had been a

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Lilienfeld Awardee David Schottenfeld(left) and Keynote Speaker Stewart Udall(right). Photo by Paul H. Levine.

President’s LetterBy Carol J. Rowland Hogue

It is with great pleasure andprofound humility that Iwrite to you as President ofthe College. It is a dauntingtask to try to follow in thefootsteps of founders such asAbraham Lilienfeld andDavid Schottenfeld, our 2002Lilienfeld Award recipient,

and the stellar list of past presidents who have servedsince ACE was founded in 1979. I am proud thatACE is an active organization, with members eagerlyvolunteering to work for the good of our profession.

The results of your labors make a difference. Forexample, this past year the Policy Committee closelytracked the National Institutes of Health process fordefining its Boundary Panel and Integrative ReviewGroups. As each draft Boundary Panel was an-nounced, the Policy Committee sent a letterexplaining the need for epidemiologic studies to bereviewed by epidemiologists with an understandingof epidemiologic methodologies. Subsequently, wehave learned that NIH will maintain its epidemiol-ogy study sections rather than distribute epidemio-

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ACE National Office

1500 Sunday DriveSuite 102

Raleigh, NC 27607

Tel: (919) 861-5573Fax: (919) 787-4916

ACE Web Site:www.acepidemiology.org

Newsletter Editor:Paul H. Levine

Managing Editor:Peter Kralka

logic proposals to panels that might lack acritical mass of members with epidemio-logic expertise.

Concurrently, the Policy Committeetracked draft regulations promulgating theHealth Insurance Portability and Account-ability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). ACE joinedother medical research organizations inrecommending changes that should easeresearchers’ burden without increasingrespondents’ burden. Now that HIPAAregulations will be implemented in 2003,our work is just beginning. We need totrack problems in doing our researchrelated to the regulations. When youexperience problems, I ask you tocommunicate your experience to thePolicy Committee at our Web site(info@acepidemiology.org). Also, whenyou discover innovative methods to “livewith” the rules, I ask you to share those aswell. We will focus on this issue in Septem-ber at our annual meeting in Chicago.

Still another concern we are addressing isthe recent decision of Centers forMedicare and Medicaid Services to stopreleasing the Medicare Name and AddressFile directly to researchers. The PolicyCommittee is soliciting advice from our

members whether we should prepare aformal response to this change in policy.

In carrying out our mission to promotethe professional development of epidemi-ologists through educational initiatives, wecontinue to offer outstanding continuingeducation workshops in conjunction withour annual meeting. After a year’s hiatus,in 2003 we will also be providingworkshops prior to the annual Society forEpidemiologic Research meeting inAtlanta. This newsletter includes asummary of our 2002 annual meeting inAlbuquerque. I would like to personallythank Drs. Patricia Hartge and RoseanneMcTyre for their tireless efforts over thelast several years not only to lead eventplanning but also to develop an enduringstructure for assuring consistently highquality presentations. Another majoreducational initiative, led by former ACEPresident Dr. Jonathon Samet, is theworkshop on doctoral education. Heldthis month, and co-sponsored with theAssociation of Schools of Public Health,this workshop focuses timely attention onthe core educational needs of the epide-miologic workforce. Last, but certainlynot least, the Annals of Epidemiology

continues to improve, as measured by itsimpact factor. To improve the timelinessof reporting, we are happy to report thatElsevier will place the entire backlog ofpapers accepted by the Annals of Epidemi-ology on the ScienceDirect Web site.

Our mission does not stop with educa-tion, but continues with recruiting bothFellows and Members, particularly fromunderrepresented populations. This yearfor the first time our workshops includeda free, day-long training session forepidemiologists and community partners,developed by our Minority AffairsCommittee. We plan to offer a similarworkshop in Chicago in 2003. ACE hasendorsed an ambitious plan to increase thenumber of minority epidemiologists andto enhance epidemiologic researchdesigned to improve the health ofminority populations and eliminate racialand ethnic health disparities.

We welcome your active involvement aswe strive to carry out our mission. Pleasefeel free to communicate with me directly(chogue@sph.emory.edu) or through ourWeb site. I look forward to hearing fromyou.

Retiring President Richard Kaslow discusses the transition withincoming President Carol Hogue at the Albuquerque meeting.Photo by Paul H. Levine.

President’s Lettercontinued from page 1

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ACE 2002 Lilienfeld AwardBy Clark W. Heath, Jr.

The 2002 Lilienfeld Award was presentedto David Schottenfeld, MD, MSc, at theannual ACE meeting held in September inAlbuquerque. Dr. Schottenfeld is the JohnG. Searle Professor of Epidemiology at theUniversity of Michigan School of PublicHealth, and concurrently Professor ofMedicine at the UM School of Medicine.His career amply meets the criteria for theLilienfeld Award: distinguished contribu-tions through research, teaching, andpractice of epidemiology.

He is perhaps best known for his leader-ship of the annual summer course inepidemiology, held since 1987 at UM inAnn Arbor, and for his editing of thewidely used cancer epidemiology text,“Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention.”That text, first published in 1975 andthen reissued in 1982 and 1996 with Dr.Joseph Fraumeni as co-editor, is now inthe process of yet a further edition.

Dr. Schottenfeld received his MD degreefrom Cornell University in 1956 andthereafter completed three years of clinicaltraining: one year at Duke University andtwo years at Bellevue and MemorialHospitals in New York City. In 1959 he

entered the Epidemic Intelligence Serviceat CDC, serving his second year onassignment with Abe Lilienfeld himself atJohns Hopkins. That year led to a closerelationship with Dr. Lilienfeld through-out the following years until Dr.Lilienfeld’s death in 1984.

After a further year in clinical work atMemorial Hospital, Dr. Schottenfeldearned his MSc degree in 1963 at theHarvard School of Health. He then joinedthe staff of the Department of PublicHealth at Cornell Medical College in NewYork City where he remained for some 13years, rising to the level of professor. In1986 he assumed his present positions atUM, serving also as Head of the Depart-ment of Epidemiology from 1986 through1991.

ACE was honored to present Dr.Schottenfeld with the Lilienfeld Award, tohave him and his wife Rosalie at theannual meeting, and, on the occasion ofthe ACE Banquet, to hear his personalreflections regarding his career in epidemi-ology and his particular contacts with Dr.Lilienfeld himself.

David Schottenfeld (right), winner of the 2002 Lilienfeld Award, makes acomment to Clark Heath, Chairman of the Awards Committee, during hisaddress to the membership. Mrs. Heath is on the left. Photo by Peter Kralka.

UNC GraduateWins 2002 ACEStudent PrizePaper AwardBy Clark W. Heath, Jr.

The 2002 Student Prize Paper Award waspresented at the ACE Annual Meetimg toWiwan Sanasuttipun, Ph.D., M.S.P.H.,for her paper entitled “Particulate AirPollution and Lung Cancer: A Case-Control Study in Connecticut, Utah, andIdaho”. Dr. Sanasuttipun is presently aGuest Researcher in the EpidemiologyBranch of the National Institute ofEnvironmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).Her paper represents work she did as adoctoral student in the Department ofEpidemiology at the University of NorthCarolina (UNC). She received herdoctoral degree at UNC in December2001. Her co-authors on the paper wereD.P. Sandler, C.R. Weinberg, D.L. Shore,C.M. Shy, and D.P. Loomis. The findingsreported in the paper showed that long-term exposure to increased levels of totalsuspended particles in air significantlyincreased risk of lung cancer, the riskbeing greater in Connecticut than in thewestern states and the joint effects withsmoking being multiplicative. Indeveloping her research work, Dr.Sanasuttipun made use of a large case-control study already underway atNIEHS/UNC exploring the possiblerelationship of residential radon exposuresto lung cancer risk. Instead of radon data,however, she made use of the nationalparticulate air pollution data basemaintained by the EnvironmentalProtection Agency and estimated indi-vidual case and control exposure levels bymeans of computerized technologyavailable through the geographicalinformation system (GIS). Dr.Sanaputtipun presented her paper at theAnnual Meeting on September 24.

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close observer of the Cuban missile crisis,which he cited as arguably the greatestdanger to our country in the 20th century.He expressed concern over the currentemphasis on bioterrorism, suggesting thatthe money and the energy being pouredinto an implied threat which may be lessdevastating thanlocal needs alsorequiring compet-ing funds. Hiscomments were anexcellent preview ofthe Policy Forumon “EpidemiologyAfter 9/11: Time toRearrange Prioritiesfor Public Health?”That session wasmoderated byCarlos Camargoand included talksby Scott Lillibridge,Michael Stoto, andBrian Strom. The speakers highlighted themany federal, state, and local changes thathave occurred since 9/11/01. All speakersencouraged members of ACE to play amore active role in this ongoing process.The current climate provides tremendousopportunities for those interested inbioterrorism preparedness and response,or in simply strengthening the US publichealth infrastructure. Even those whostrongly oppose these changes—because ofa concern about misplaced priorities—were encouraged to speak out in orderto preserve a comprehensive and morebalanced public health agenda. In the finalhalf-hour, numerous members had anopportunity to voice a range of opinionsabout this controversial topic.

Dr. Kaslow, in discussing his term asPresident, noted that his emphasis hasbeen on human determinants of infectionand this has led him to concentrate on theevolution and adaptation of agent andhost to the environment. He discussedACE’s history transforming itself into avery different organization with differentchallenges. In addition to the issues ofbioterrorism and the changing epidemio-logic perspective on hormone replacement

Albuquerque Hosts One of ACE’s Most Successful Meetingscontinued from page 1

therapy, Dr. Kaslow focused on theInternet and the significant misinforma-tion from supposedly reputable WEBsites. Dr. Kaslow closed emphasizing theimportance of getting more membersinvolved in the organization, moreinvolvement with other health-care

oriented groupsurging modifica-tions of the HIPPAregulations, andurging morethought as to howACE can generateadditional funds toimplement itsprogram as well asbetter ways ofpublicizing it.

The three panelson “Age, Sex, andRace: Towards aNew Understand-ing for Epidemiol-

ogy,” were informative and attractedconsiderable discussion. These and othermeeting activities, many of them de-scribed elsewhere in this Newsletter,included continued progress on the ACEMaster Plan and a smooth transition inleadership, including the membership’sacknowledgment of themany accomplishmentsunder Past PresidentRichard Kaslow and awarm welcome to newPresident Carol Hogue.

Several of the successfulapproaches that mark theACE meetings continuedto be well presented, wellattended and wellreceived. For the thirdconsecutive year, JackTaylor of the NationalInstitute of Environmen-tal Health Sciencesupdated the epidemiol-ogy community on thecurrent status ofmolecular genetics whichcontinues to be extremely

useful in the growing field of molecularepidemiology. The workshop on Multi-level Analysis in Public Health, conductedby Ana Diez Roux of the ColumbiaUniversity School of Public Health andRon Harris of the University of Texas,informed a packed audience on theappropriate applications of a variety oftechniques to research investigations. Aunique and successful workshop devel-oped by Minority Affairs ChairpersonVickie Mays brought the Native Americanand Latino Communities together withinterested attendees in a format thatincluded visits into the communities.

The poster session had 106 excellentposters and awards were given to JessicaDavila (PhD from Baylor College ofMedicine, Houston TX), Julie Kranick(MA from Columbia University, NewYork, NY), Lorraine Halinka Malcoe(PhD from the University of New Mexico,Albuquerque) and Sandro Galea (MD,MPH from New York Academy ofMedicine, New York, NY). (See article onpage 6.)

The uniformly excellent weather, the localhospitality and nourishments, and theprovocative program provided a challeng-ing model for next year’s meeting inChicago.

Michael Stoto discusses bioterrorismconcerns at Policy Forum

Incoming President Carol Hogue presents outgoing PresidentRichard Kaslow with a plaque thanking him for hisimportant contributions to ACE over the past year.Photo by Peter Kralka.

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Symposia Target the New Epidemiology of Age,Sex and RaceThree symposia were presented at theAlbuquerque meeting focusing on thechanging parameters involving the wellestablished parameters of age, sex andrace in epidemiology.

AgeThe first symposium, which focused onage, noted that as our populationcontinues to age and our knowledge of thebiology and needs of the aging increase,we continue to gain new information onthe changing epidemiology of the aging.This first of three ACE symposia inAlbuquerque, organized by Dr. TamaraHarris of the National Institutes on Agingand moderated by Dr. Paul Levine of TheGeorge Washington University School ofPublic Health and Health Services, hadfour experienced speakers with differentareas of concentration.

The first, Dr. Lenore Launer, also fromthe National Institute on Aging, focusedon the risk factors for dementia measuredin middle age vs. old age. Dr. Launerbegan with the crossover of cholesteroland blood pressure which if elevated, is asign of poor health in the youngerpopulation and then is predictor of betterhealth in the aged. She then noted thatearly body mass index and weight weremore important than the same parametersat the time of a major event, the impor-tance of gender (e.g. females have a higherincidence of specific problems after age 65and education is more important infemales than males), the data regardingwhether Alzheimer’s is a vascular disease,and the conflicts between prospective

studies and case-control studies on therelationship between smoking andAlzheimer’s.

Dr. Beatriz Rodriguez from the Universityof Hawaii discussed problems related toresearch on diabetes in the aged. Theclassification of diabetes by the AmericanDiabetic Association (ADA) and the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) are not thesame, and the epidemiologic data differaccording to which classification is used.As an example of the problems, the ADAfocuses on fasting blood sugar alone andnot the two-hour post-prandial bloodsugar (PPBS).

Dr. Richard Baumgartner from theUniversity of New Mexico alerted manyof the attendees to the issue of the causesand consequences of sarcopenic obesity inold age. Sarcopenia is slow erosion ofmuscle mass and is associated with lowsocioeconomic status in the agingpopulation. It is also associated withcognitive impairment and there wasconsiderable discussion about whetherphysical activity is a cause (no data) andwhether it is preventable.

Dr. George Kaplan from the University ofMichigan presented data from work hecompleted with his colleague, JenniferBalfour, on the social determinants ofaging. Dr. Kaplan put the problem ofaging in a global perspective, noting that2/3 of the elderly will be in developingcountries. He also noted that there arenow more centenarians than in the totalpast history of the world. In addition to

the contribution of income and education,Dr. Kaplan discussed the impact ofneighborhood deprivation, includingproblems with traffic, trash, lighting,crime, transportation and noise.

A number of issues were raised in theQ&A period, such as the possible biasesinvolved in who gets two-hour PPBS,whether the protective effect of NSAIDSfor Alzheimer’s should be used in aprevention trial, and the question of whysarcopenic obesity is associated withosteoporosis if obesity protects againstosteoporosis.

SexThe second panel, entitled “WhenEpidemiologists Think about Sex: Genderand Epidemiology,” was moderated byMaureen C. Hatch of the National CancerInstitute and was co-organized by MarleneB. Goldman, New England ResearchInstitutes, who opened with a discussionof gender gaps in cancer risks. She wasfollowed by Michael D. Lockshin, of theBarbara Volcker Center for Women andRheumatic Disease, who discussed the roleof gender in autoimmune diseases. Thethird speaker in the panel, Roberta Ness ofthe University of Pittsburgh GraduateSchool of Public Health, covered the topicof “The Influence of Reproductive Eventson Later Cardiac Disease.” Finally, EllenSilbergeld, University of Maryland,addressed “Lessons Learned: How ShouldWe Measure the Effects of Gender andHealth on Disease?”

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Posters on Breast Cancer Survivaland Hepatocellular CarcinomaWin Awards in AlbuquerqueBy Irene Hall

The Albuquerque meeting attracted 106abstracts for the poster session, more thanany previous meeting. Two types of posterprizes were awarded, one for studentposters and one for posters overall. Firstprize for the student award went to JulieKranick for a poster entitled “DoesSubsequent Pregnancy Influence BreastCancer Survival” and Jessica Davila wonfirst place overall for her poster on “BirthCohort Effects and the Incidence ofHepatocellular Carcinoma.”

Other awardees included Lorraine Malcoewhose poster addressed “Social Stressors in

Relation to Intimate Partner ViolenceAgainst Native-American Women” andSandro Galea who won third place for aposter on “Changing Racial/EthnicDisparities in Homicide Mortality inNYC 1990-98: the Role of Drugs.”

The process this year, overseen by IreneHall, involved two reviews with abstractsreviewed by a panel of seven reviewers andthe posters evaluated by six judges, withPolly Marchbanks chairing the posterjudges committee.

Meeting participants browse the many aisles of posters.

New Phone NumberIn order to better serve our members, we have created a direct phone lineto our staff. Now you can reach us with all inquiries at (919) 861-5573.

Our fax number, mailing address and e-mail address remain the same.

Manuscripts“In Press”Go OnlineAnnals of Epidemiology, the official journalof the American College of Epidemiol-ogy, now offers the online service Articlesin Press for all manuscripts accepted forpublication. This service, availablethrough Elsevier Sciences ScienceDirect,allows all accepted manuscripts to beposted on the World Wide Web within15 days of receiving the author’s correctedproofs. Authors will greatly benefit fromthis increased visibility and speedy, onlinepublication process.

Articles in Press takes full advantage ofthe enhanced ScienceDirect functionality,including the ability to be cited. This ispossible due to the innovative use of theDOI article identifier, which enables thecitation of a paper before volume andissue numbers are allocated. Themanuscript posted to Articles in Press willautomatically be replaced online as soonas the final version has been published inthe printed journal.

This service has been launched forAnnals of Epidemiology, which youcan access today via your institution’ssubscription to ScienceDirect atwww.sciencedirect.com or theWHO HINARI initiative atwww.healthinternetwork.org.

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The MinorityAffairs Committeehas hit the groundrunning this yearthanks to thePresident's appoint-ment of several newmembers and theleadership of Vickie

Mays, who was appointed its Chair.

The current activities of the MinorityAffairs Committee build on its longhistory of commitment to increase thenumber of underrepresented minoritiesin the fields of epidemiology and biostatis-tics, to bring science and scholarship tothe study of health problems of racial/ethnic minorities and to stimulateleadership in the College in the develop-ment of policies that support these goals.

In 2002 thecommittee, as partof its rebuildingeffort, developeda strategic planwhich appears onthe ACE Web site.A highlight of thatstrategic plan is ayearly preconventionmeeting with thegoals to offer to theCollege and itsattendees a scientificworkshop thatdelves in depthinto some aspect ofminority health of interest to the work ofepidemiologists, as a means of drawingthose interested in minority health to theCollege as members and to increase theknowledge base in epidemiology onminority health issues.

This year's meeting, entitled "Commu-nity-Based Participatory Research inAmerican Indian and Latino Communi-ties: Epidemiologists in the Community,"was a great success thanks to the dynamicpresentations and hands-on small workinggroups with experts in CBPR. Approxi-

mately 50 workshop participants benefitedfrom presentations and small groupworking sessions with Nina Wallerstein,Felicia Hodges, Helen Hazuda, NancyReifel, and Alex Ortega.

A highlight for all were the presentationsby funding agencies who supportcommunity-based participatory research.Drs. Ronit Elk (ACS) and WilloPequegnat (NIMH) were joined byNIEHS in providing tips and offeringindividual meetings to those interested inthe funding of epidemiologic research thatutilizes community-based participatoryresearch methods.

In keeping with its goal of the develop-ment of minority epidemiologists, themeeting was attended by a group ofmiddle school children from the nearby

pueblos. During the lunch hour thestudents participated in a slide showdeveloped by Johns Hopkins graduatestudent Nora Lee. (You can see the youngepidemiologists-to-be (above) at theannual meeting). The presentation wasdesigned to increase the young students’knowledge of public health and inparticular epidemiology.

Nora was joined by the committee'sprevious Chair Bill Jenkins, current ChairVickie Mays, Vic Schoenbach, committeesecretary (thanks for the photos), and

Willo Pequegnat (NIH) plus a visit fromBoard Member Camara Jones. Nora isinterested in working with graduatestudents at other universities to expandthis excellent outreach effort.

The Committee is indebted to theUniversity of California's Office of thePresident's Special Assistant Dr. Rae LeeSipiron for her organization of this eventand the underwriting of the luncheon andtransportation to bring the students to themeeting. Minority Affairs is lookingforward to working with Dr. ShafdeenAmuwo and his graduate students at theUniversity of Illinois at the Chicagomeeting in continuing this tradition ofoutreach in the service of increasing theinterest of racial/ethnic minorities in acareer in epidemiology. If you think youwould like to serve as one of the rolemodel epidemiologists to discuss careeroptions please contact me as we welcomeyour involvement in planning next year'sactivities. As outlined in the strategic plan,next year's preconvention meeting themeis Measurement Issues. Planning for thepreconvention meeting will get underwaysometime soon as Minority Affairscoordinates with the board.

During the Albuquerque ACE meeting,Minority Affairs activated two ad hoc

Minority Affairs Committee Inaugurates anAnnual Preconvention WorkshopBy Vickie Mays

Johns Hopkins graduatestudent Nora Lee. Photo byVictor J. Schoenbach.

continued on page 9

Students pay close attention to a discussion led by Bill Jenkins atthe Minority Affairs workshop. Photo by Victor J. Schoenbach.

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Epidemiologyon the Front Lineand Under Fire

Focusing attention on the practical and methodological issuesof conducting epidemiologic research today

ACE AnnualMeetingChicago

September 7-9, 2003

What can be learned to improve analytic epidemiologic methods after eventssuch as cancellation of the main arm of the Women’s Health Initiative study?

What methods may assist researchers deal with data collection issues arising fromHIPAA, pressures on informed consent, and other challenges to clinical research?

Are cancer registries still viable? Why are there not surveillance programsfor diabetes, asthma, and other major health threats?

Now that the genetic code is written, what is the needfor population-based studies?

We propose to tackle these and other challengesto the discipline at the 2003 meeting.

If you would like to help plan the program,please contact Faye Davis (fayed@uic.edu) or

Carol Hogue (chogue@sph.emory.edu).

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ACE Board Encourages Membersto Join a CommitteeAt the ACE Board meeting in Albuquer-que, one of the discussion items was theimportance of increasing involvement ofmembers in a variety of committeeactivities. Working on committees is anexcellent way for new (or established)members to learn more about ACE,helping themselves as well as the organiza-tion in its various projects.

Any members wishing to participatein committee activities should eithercontact the committee chairperson ifa specific area is of interest or contactPeter Kralka at pkralka@olsonmgmt.com.There is also a form on ACE’s Web site(www.acepidemiology.com) that can beused for printing and faxing to ACEheadquarters at (919) 787-4916.

The current committees andcontact information are as follows:

Admissions Committeejohn.f.acquavella@monsanto.com

Awards Committeecwheath@mail.tds.net

Communications Committeeccamargo@partners.org

Education Committeechogue@sph.emory.edu

Ethics and Standards of Practicermckeown@gwm.sc.edu

Finance Committeejjcollins@dow.com

Membership Committeemendola.pauline@epa.gov

Minority Affairs Committeemays@ucla.edu

Nominating Committeejsamet@jhsph.edu

Policy Committeebstrom@cceb.med.upenn.edu

Publications Committeelinetm@exchange.nih.gov

Newsletter OpportunitiesThe ACE Newsletter is seeking twoeditors: an overall Newsletter Editor and aPhoto Editor.

The Editor would be phased in over a fewmonths, working with the current Editorand assuming responsible for future issuesin mid-2003.

Photographs are important to theNewsletter in enhancing its appearance aswell as helping members match nameswith faces. The Photo Editor is a newposition and he/she would have theprimary responsibility for planning thephotographs for the next issue in conjunc-tion with the Editor, selecting the bestphotos to match the planned stories, anddeveloping a photo file useful for futureissues. For more information about eitheropportunity, please contact Paul Levine atsphphl@gwumc.edu.

Aaron Blair leads a challengingbreakfast roundtable on “CancerRisks and Pesticides: Challengesin Environmental Epidemiology.”Breakfast roundtables continueto be a popular feature of ACEsessions and this year’sroundtable, organized byPatricia Hartge, included eightsessions attended by more than60 participants. Photo by PaulH. Levine.

committees. One co-chaired by OliviaPokras Carter and Vickie Mays will lookat the policy implications for epidemio-logic research on racial/ethnic minoritiesof the California Racial Privacy Initatitive.This initiative is designed to remove thecollection of race/ethnicity by the State ofCalifornia with the exception of specificareas. The Ad Hoc committee will explorethe possible impact of this initiative onhealth research for racial/ethnic minori-ties. The committee will work with thePolicy Committee after it has researchedthe issue to determine whether the Collegemay want to take a position on the matter.

The second Ad Hoc Committee, chairedby Bill Jenkins, will evaluate thepreconvention workshops held byMinority Affairs. Minority Affairs willthen present to the board a proposaloutlining a structure and request for thesemeetings to be held annually.

Any interested members who want tovolunteer to work with Minority Affairsshould contact the Chair atmays@ucla.edu. In particular, theMinority Affairs Committee is looking toappoint an Ad Hoc Committee to beginthe work of Curricular Offerings inEpidemiology on racial/ethnic groups.The strategic plan which is on the ACEWeb site provides an overview of thisproject.

Minority AffairsCommittee

continued from page 7

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Call for AbstractsAnnual Meeting of the AmericanCollege of Epidemiology

Epidemiology on the Front Line and Under Fire:Focusing attention on methodologic and practical issuesof conducting epidemiologic research

Chicago, IL, September 7-9, 2003

The American College of Epidemiology invites the submission of abstracts forconsideration for poster presentations. Poster presentations provide an opportunityfor participants in the ACE annual meeting to share their work with interestedcolleagues in an informal, relaxed setting. Poster sessions are prominently sched-uled during the meeting. Poster sessions will include poster discussion groups andoral presentations by some authors. Prizes will be awarded for the best student-prepared poster.

Your abstract will be published in the program and in the Annals of Epidemiology,the official journal of the American College of Epidemiology. Abstracts may bereformatted for journal publication so that all abstracts appear in uniform type. Byfollowing the instructions, you will guarantee that your abstract will appear as youintended. Instruction on submitting abstracts can be found at ACE’s Web site athttp://www.acepidemiology.org/meetings/2003chicago/abstractform.doc

Abstracts should be prepared according to the instructions provided. Abstractsmust be received via e-mail by April 1, 2003. Please submit your abstracts toinfo@acepidemiology.org

FAX AND MAIL submissions will NOT be accepted.

Keywords

RaceThe third panel of the meeting, “Ethnicityand Epidemiology: Casting ‘Race’ in aNew Light,” was an exciting close to whathad already proven to be a very stimulat-ing meeting. Although measures of racehave been associated with a wide variety ofhealth conditions, what race means withrespect to health status, and whether racemeans the same thing regardless of healthcondition remains largely unexamined.The panel successfully explored “race” as aproxy for socioeconomic status, culture,and genes, and introduced the notion that“race” measures exposure to racism in our“race”-conscious society. Incoming ACEPresident Carol Hogue moderated thesession, Camara Phyllis Jones (CDC)presented four different approaches tomeasuring racism, Sylvia Guendelman(UC Berkeley) presented data highlightingthe impact of acculturation on the healthof recent Mexican immigrants, andCharles M. Rotimi (Howard University)explored the roles of genes and the lack ofa genetic basis to “race.”

Contributing to this article were CarolHogue, Camara Jones and Paul Levine

Symposia Target theNew Epidemiology ofAge, Sex and Race

continued from page 5

Aging

Behavioral

Biomarkers

Birth Defects

Cancer

Cardiovascular/Stroke

Clinical

Diabetes

Emerging Infections

Environment

Ethics

For additional information about the meeting or abstract submission, contact theACE at (919) 861-5573 or email the college at info@acepidemiology.org.

Information about the College and the 2003 Annual Meeting may be found atACE’s Web site: www.acepidemiology.org.

Please consider attending one of the continuing education workshops on Sunday.

Genetics

Health Services

HIV/AIDS

Infection

Injury

Methods

Molecular

Neuroepidemiology

Nutrition

Occupational

Other

Pediatrics

Pharmacoepidemiology

Pregnancy

Psychiatric

Public Health Practice

Reproductive

Social

Substance Abuse

Women’s Health

Visit theAmerican Collegeof Epidemiology

Web site at:

www.acepidemiology.org

ACE

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American College of EpidemiologyAbraham Lilienfeld Award

Call for NominationsThe American College of Epidemiology invites nominations for the Abraham Lilienfeld Award.(Past awardees can be viewed at http://www.acepidemiology.org/awards/LilienfeldAwardees.htm)

The College’s most prestigious award is given in honor of Abraham Lilienfeld, outstanding teacher, scholar, and founder of the AmericanCollege of Epidemiology. Fellows and members of the College are invited to nominate appropriate candidates for this honor.

Please submit a letter stating the special qualifications and contributions of the candidate to excellence in epidemiology. A copy of thecandidate’s curriculum vitae must also be enclosed. The deadline for receipt of nominations for the 2004 Award is October 31, 2003.

The award is conferred each year at the Annual Meeting. The Lilienfeld Awardee has the opportunity to address Fellows and Members ofthe College during the Annual Meeting program. Lilienfeld Awardees also are recognized as lifetime Honorary Fellows of the College.

Please send your nominations to:

Clark W. Heath, Jr., MD, Chair, Awards Committee

American College of Epidemiology1500 Sunday Drive, Suite 102, Raleigh, NC 27607

Ph: 919-861-5573 • Fax: 919-787-4916E-mail c/o: info@acepidemiology.org

American College of EpidemiologyStudent Prize – Call for Papers

The American College of Epidemiology invites submissions for the 2003 Student Prize.This prize recognizes an outstanding scientific contribution by a student of epidemiology.

(Past awardees can be viewed at http://www.acepidemiology.org/awards/StudentPrizePaperAwardees.htm)

Students who are eligible for Associate Member status are invited to submit a paper.To be eligible, students must be in training or have completed training no earlier than July 1, 2002.

The submitted paper should contain the findings of original research conducted by the student during training and should be suitable forpublication. The style should follow the format of the Annals of Epidemiology. Papers submitted may be sole-authored, or, if co-authored,

the student should be the lead author and the student’s advisor must provide a letter documenting the roles of the student and co-authors.

The Student Prize will consist of:

The deadline for receipt of submissions is March 31, 2003. Six copies of the paper and advisor’s letter, if appropriate, and a cover letterindicating address for correspondence (please include postal and e-mail addresses as well as telephone and fax numbers) should be sent to:

Clark W. Heath, Jr., MD, Chair, Awards Committee

American College of Epidemiology1500 Sunday Drive, Suite 102, Raleigh, NC 27607

Ph: 919-861-5573 • Fax: 919-787-4916E-mail c/o: info@acepidemiology.org

• Financial assistance to attend the Annual Meeting of theAmerican College of Epidemiology.

• Presentation of the paper at the meeting.

• Expeditious review of the paper for publication in theAnnals of Epidemiology.

• A special recognition award from the College.

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1500 Sunday Drive, Suite 102, Raleigh, NC 27607Phone: (919) 861-5573; Fax: (919) 787-4916www.acepidemiology.org

2002-2003 ACE Board of DirectorsPresident

Carol J. Rowland Hogue, PhD, MPHE-mail: hogue@sph.emory.edu

President-Elect

Carlos A. Camargo Jr., MD, DrPHE-mail: ccamargo@partners.org

Immediate Past President

Richard A. Kaslow, MDE-mail: rkaslow@uab.edu

Secretary

John Acquavella, PhDE-mail: john.f.acquavella@stl.monsanto.com

Treasurer

James J. Collins, PhDE-mail: jjcollins@dow.com

Board of Directors

Roger H. Bernier, PhDE-mail: rhb2@cdc.gov

Aaron E. Blair, PhDE-mail: Blaira@epndce.nih.gov

Melissa Bondy, PhDmbondy@request.mdacc.tmc.edu

Betsy Foxman, PhDE-mail: bfoxman@umich.edu

Marlene B. Goldman, ScDE-mail: mgoldman@neri.org

Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhDE-mail: cdj9@cdc.gov

Nancy Kreiger, MPH, PhDnancy.kreiger@cancercare.on.ca

Martha S. Linet, MDE-mail: linetm@exchange.nih.gov

Rosanne B. McTyre, PhDE-mail: romc@weinberggroup.com

Colin L. Soskolne, PhDE-mail: soskolne@ualberta.ca

Zuo-Feng Zhang, MD, PhDzfzhang@ucla.edu