The 27th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) will be held at the Rebouas Conference Center, School of Medicine of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, from August 30th to September 3rd, 2015. This year's conference theme will be Addressing Environmental Health Inequalities, and the scientific program will be oriented by the theme of social determinants of health, and how they can generate environmental health inequalities. The meeting will be comprised of four and half days of presentation of new and developing research, and will offer a platform for discussion and collaboration across a wide variety of scientific fields of interest in the field of environmental public health. The conference will include plenary sessions with invited keynote speakers, oral and poster presentations of research selected by the Scientific Planning Committee from submitted abstracts, and breakout sessions allowing for in-depth discussion of specific topics across the field of environmental epidemiological research. Examples of topics include: the exposure and health effects of air pollution, global climate change, the built environment, persistent organic pollutants, and epidemiologic methods. Meeting goals are to present our current understanding of issues in environmental epidemiology, and provide novel research strategies to ameliorate the health impacts of environmental agents. The meeting will welcome participants from developed and developing nations, and the organizers will facilitate the attendance of participants from developing countries to assure representation from not only North America and Western Europe, but also researchers from Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, South and Central America, and Australia. By awarding travel grants and registration fee waivers funded by this proposed grant application, the organizers will ensure participation and presentations by investigators from low-income developing countries and underserved minorities. The requested funds will also offset the costs associated with publication and dissemination of the conference proceedings. The 2015 conference location in Sao Paulo, Brazil will significantly enhance the public health impact by facilitating the exchange of information and ideas among epidemiologic investigators and public health practitioners in South America, a part of the world with many of the problems to be addressed at this meeting but who have been underrepresented in past meetings on other continents. Subjects of particular relevance to participants from the Latin-America region will be encouraged. In addition, to maximize these benefits, the meeting is being conducted in association with Brazilian Public Health Association (ABRASCO). This will be the first such meeting on this continent, and will result in many new research interactions and collaborations with the rest of the world. This conference will facilitate the development of novel strategies to ameliorate public health burdens imposed by environmental hazards.
The ISEE annual conference plays a vital role in facilitating a dialogue among leading environmental epidemiologists. The need for a global approach to solving environmental issues affecting public health among those most affected is mirrored in the theme for this year's conference, 'Addressing Environmental Health Inequalities.'
