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The first official meetings of the Council of Epidemiology Chairs took place at the 2009 ACE Annual Meeting in Washington DC. The general scope of the Council, updated mission statement and goals, and governance were discussed at the business meeting held on September 13, 2009. Dr. Nasar U. Ahmed, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work at Florida International University, was elected to serve as President through 2011. Dr. John Vena, University of Georgia College of Public Health, was named President-Elect; and Dr. Ed Trapido, Wendell Gauthier Chair for Cancer Epidemiology at Louisiana State University, will serve as recording secretary and liaison officer for the council to the ACE Board of Directors and other Epidemiologic Societies.
In addition to the business meeting, a luncheon meeting was held on September 14, 2009 on the topic of “Navigating Administrative Troubled Waters – Strategies for Managing Departments in Difficult Financial Times.” The focus of the session was on recruitment and retention with Dr. Roberta Ness, Dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health, serving as key note speaker. According to Dr. Ness, “Recruiting is like dating and mentoring is like parenting.” Following the session, a panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Ahmed and featuring panel members Drs. John Vena, Robert McKeown, and Ed Trapido, stimulated a lively exchange of ideas and experiences.
According to Ahmed, “This first meeting of the Council proved to be highly successful and exactly the forum my colleagues and I have been looking for to discuss the challenges we face in running successful academic epidemiology programs. I look forward to the next meetings on September 12 & 13, 2010 at the ACE Annual Meeting in San Francisco and encourage all epidemiology department chairs and directors to attend.”
For more information on the Council of Epidemiology Chairs, please contact Dr. Ahmed at ahmedn@fiu.edu.
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