Of the more than 900 scientific sessions, a number featured HSPH faculty, research assistants, and staff. For example, Nancy Krieger, associate professor of society, human development, and health, spoke to a packed hall about social justice and inequalities in health. Krieger co-founded The Spirit of 1848, an APHA caucus that is an activist, volunteer network. The group celebrated its 10-year anniversary this year. The caucus’ name refers to the early days of a worldwide public health movement and its links to other burgeoning movements for social justice: abolition, women’s rights, trade unions, child welfare, and political efforts to secure social and economic democracy.

Christie Hager spoke about the relationship between the judiciary and local public health officials in improving public health in a session sponsored by the APHA’s Health Law Forum, of which she is chair. As director of the Public Health Law Core of HSPH’s Center for Public Health Preparedness, she undertook a pilot project in Western Massachusetts’ Hampshire County to train judicial personnel alongside local public health agents on each other’s respective roles. Hager recently resigned from the Division of Public Health Practice to accept the position of chief health counsel to newly elected Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Salvatore DiMasi. Hager will continue as an instructor in the Department of Health Policy and Management.

Kasisomayajula "Vish" Viswanath, associate professor of society, human development, and health, reported on national data that examined the difference in health information-seeking between Spanish- and English-speaking Latinos.

Brian Gibbs, director of the Program to Eliminate Health Disparities at the Division of Public Health Practice, presented a poster and gave a panel presention on social transformation models, while Jay Silverman, assistant professor of society, human development, and health, spoke in sessions on state-level interventions for intimate partner violence and on rape and sexual assault experiences of teenage girls.

Jane Clougherty, doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health, spoke about evaluating the efficacy of environmental interventions for alleviating asthma symptoms and improving quality of life among children in urban public housing.

Beth Molnar, assistant professor of society, human development, and health, moderated a session on mental disorders among children, and presented prospective data on the temporal ordering of psychiatric and substance disorders in urban adolescents exposed to childhood adversities.

For more information about the meeting, visit http://www.apha.org/.