Presidents of
Congress Sponsoring Organizations Address Participants In Miami
American College of
Epidemiology
“The
next generation of epidemiologists may never collect their own data.”
Jonine Bernstein, president of the American
College of Epidemiology, asserted that epidemiology as a field is now
at a crossroads because of the need to integrate epidemiology and
biology. She discussed challenges associated with doing pooled studies
and said new analytic methods are needed. In a surprising statement,
she said the next generation of epidemiologists may never collect
their own data. The field should remain hypothesis driven and not
simply technology driven she added, and should adhere to sound
principles
Society for Epidemiologic Research
“The
methods focus of SER and the recognition of trainees have been there
since the beginning almost 50 years ago.”
Diane Lauderdale,
President of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and one of the
main sponsors of the Congress, presented a retrospective look at the
profession and the Society in anticipation of the Society’s 50th
anniversary next year. She described the significant transformations
which have taken place since the 1960’s including the transition from
a focus on infectious diseases to chronic diseases, from a focus on
organisms to one on risk factors, and from a field dominated by
physicians to one populated by non-physicians. Through her analysis
she uncovered that the SER focus on methods and on enlisting young
investigators to interact with veteran epidemiologists was present
from the earliest days of the organization.
International Epidemiology Association
"To
make the world a better place.”
Valerie
Beral,
president of the IEA, stated the purpose of epidemiology very
succinctly—to make the world a better place. It is worth remembering
she said the encouraging declines in world mortality. For example,
citing published sources, mortality under age 50 accounted for 28% of
all deaths in 1970 but only 14% by 2010. This finding has been used by
Richard Peto and other co-authors to argue for 2030 goals that,
if met, could reduce 2010 rates even further, thereby preventing
millions of excess deaths.
American Public Health Association
“As long as the profession continues to squander its opportunities to
make greater use of data, the field will not realize its full future
potential.”
Oscar Alleyne,
Chair of the APHA Epidemiology Section, delivered a talk on the future
of epidemiology. He was critical of the preparation of
epidemiologists which is too focused on the more technical aspects of
the discipline and less on the softer skills of project and people
management. He called for more holistic training in epidemiology to
confer skills that are necessary to succeed not only in generating
data but on the practical side in making use of epidemiology. Along
the same line, Alleyne made an impassioned appeal for greater
application of epidemiology to health problems. He described this task
as a social responsibility of epidemiologists, and he urged support
for the International Joint Policy Committee of the Societies of
Epidemiology. As long as the profession continues to squander its
opportunities to make greater use of data, the field will not realize
its full potential, Alleyne told The Epidemiology Monitor.
Society for Pediatric
and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research
“Skepticism is chastity to the intellect and it is
shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer”
Suzan Carmichael,
President of SPER took the opportunity at the Congress to educate the
attendees about the Society she represents. The Congress gave the
Abraham Lilienfeld award for overall excellence in epidemiology to
McGill’s Michael Kramer. During this session, Kramer described
his reasons for being skeptical about the Developmental Origins of
Health and Disease (DoHaD) hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that
infant growth permanently programs individuals to have certain health
outcomes. Kramer told the audience that epidemiologists do not share
the excitement of other scientists about this hypothesis and cited
three reasons for being skeptical. There are genetic or epigenetic
confounders, there have been flawed analyses, and the evidence is weak
that pregnancy is indeed the critical period. Kramer quoted George
Santayana to justify his stance on the DoHaD
hypothesis—“Skepticism is chastity to the intellect and it is shameful
to surrender it too soon or to the first comer”. He described this
skeptical stance as a defining feature of epidemiology and as a
motivation for him to embark on a career in the field. ■
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