Hi from Atlanta, y’all– I’m at the American Public Health Association meetings, held yearly in some big American city. I love Atlanta; it’s got loads of interesting neighborhoods, good places to eat and meet, a great system of parks and paths, and an efficient public transportation system (called MARTA). I took MARTA to my hotel from the airport, which was quicker than driving. One drawback of the city is bad bad bad traffic. But I’m car-free (I accidentally wrote care-free, which is also true), happy to move about on foot.
The main conference runs from November 12–15. More than 12,000 attendees are expected. I love seeing people from all areas of public health, from clinicians to researchers to administrators to business folks to academics to students and so on. And there is very good swag. The exhibit booths are staffed with people happy to chat about their programs and hand over water bottles, coffee cups, candy, hand sanitizer, masks, pens, buttons, stickers, and all sorts of doo-lollies you never knew you needed.
There are multiple sections of APHA that members affiliate with, and they sponsor sessions. I’m with the Ethics section (natch) and also the Food and Nutrition section. I also attend talks by the Women’s Caucus and other sections. This conference is a prime opportunity for professional development and learning about up-to-date research, initiatives, emergencies, movements, etc.
I’ll be blogging about each day I’m here, sharing a few snippets of what I experienced. If you are here, too (I mean, there are 12K of us at the conference– it’s possible) or have comments or questions, please do let me know.
Sunday is the first big day of the conference, and the opening session features public health leaders speaking to the enthusiastic crowd. This is a time to welcome the members, do some cheerleading for public health, and honor professionals whose work helps make the country healthier. This year they presented the Fries Prize, awarded by the CDC Foundation and the Fries family, to Dr. Katalin Kariko, this year’s co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, for her research in developing mRNA science, making possible mRNA vaccines (including the COVID vaccines). They also awarded the prize to Dr. Anne Schuchat, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) physician and researcher, for her work on Group B streptococcus, including developing guidelines for treatment that has saved countless babies.
Dr. Kariko recorded a message of thanks, and Dr. Schuchat was present in person and chatted with the APHA leadership. Dr. Schuchat reminded us of how Dr. Kariko faced obstacle after obstacle in her career, being denied grants, being demoted in her job at UPenn, many papers rejected from journals. You can read the story in detail here and here.
Dr. Schuchat added that she herself benefitted from a group of supportive colleagues at the CDC. She didn’t face those same challenges of a hostile work environment, and in fact she found opportunities to influence the culture of the CDC, to make it a better place. She thanked her mentor Claire Broome and also her colleagues and students, noting how public health requires many hands and many ideas.
Hearing about the decades of work these women have done, being surrounded by a crowd of mostly women, doing all the detailed and thankless work that needs to be done to keep us alive and healthy, I was moved to tears. Tears of pride and tears of gratitude. My heart felt full and I knew I was in the right place and in the right profession.
In a lighter moment, Dr. Schuchat shared with the audience that she was the role model for the researcher played actor Kate Winslet in the movie Contagion. The two talked at some length about the details of Schuchat’s work. She also added that Winslet asked her questions including, “how did you wear your hair during an outbreak?”, and “What sort of shoes would you wear during an outbreak?” Well, you want the details to be right…
There’s more to share; stay tuned this week for updates from the public health mothership.
