An APHA veteran, Beth Molnar, assistant professor of society, human development, and health in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, has gone to the annual meeting nine out of the last 10 years. She sees the meeting as a useful way to present her research findings to a broad public health audience. This year she was part of a panel discussion on "Violent Behavior in Adolescents and Young Adults." Having the meeting in San Francisco was a bonus for Molnar, who previously did research at the University of California, San Francisco. Said Molnar: "The annual APHA meeting is a great place to see people I know from HSPH who are working all over the world, as well as colleagues from my previous work. It is also a good opportunity to network with others with similar interests."

Melissa Perry, assistant professor of occupational epidemiology in the Department of Environmental Health, presented a poster on farm pesticides. She said, "I find attending the APHA meeting a wonderful way to meet new colleagues, connect with old friends and reaffirm with over 10,000 other professionals all of the reasons why we are committed to improving public health."

Nancy Krieger, associate professor of society, human development, and health in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, said that she went to APHA because "it is an opportunity to see colleagues from around the country and to expose more people to the ideas central to the APHA Caucus I chair, ‘The Spirit of 1848,’ regarding the fundamental links between social justice and public health." The caucus sponsors sessions each year on: the politics of public health data; the social history of public health; and progressive pedagogy. The Caucus also has a new "integrative" session that links the three subjects, as well as a student poster session, she said.

"APHA is always a great opportunity to see the breadth of public health research and application from around the country and around the world," said Michelle Samplin-Salgado, communications manager at the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention. "There are usually so many sessions to attend, people to reconnect with, and exhibits to visit, that I leave inspired and exhausted."

This year was about the fifth time that Michael Ganz, assistant professor of society, human development, and health in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, has attended the annual meeting. He presented two posters at the meeting: "Effects of Adult Smoking on Children’s Health Care Utilization and Expenditures" and "Estimating the Prevalence, Correlates and Costs of Child Mental Health Conditions Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey." He said he enjoyed discussing his research with a number of other scientists and that one researcher has already followed-up with him to discuss his work.

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