The 25th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) will be hosted by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, an Associated Institute of the University of Basel, and held at the Conference Center Basel, in Basel Switzerland from August 19th - 23rd, 2013. The theme is Environment and Health - Bridging South, North, East, and West. This year's conference will be the first-ever joint conference of three leading scientific societies dedicated to improve public health, namely the ISEE, the International Society of Exposure Sciences (ISES), and the International Society of Indoor Air Quality (ISIAQ). These 3 groups are the premier scientific organizations focusing on relationships between environmental contaminants and their associated health effects in human populations. The meeting will offer 4.5 days of cross-disciplinary examination of new research and methods of international, national, and regional significance through a program consisting of plenary sessions, symposia on pre-selected and contributed topics, oral presentations, posters and poster-discussion sessions, technical sessions, and optional early morning training courses. The 4 planned plenary sessions will feature invited keynote addresses by prominent individuals in the field. Featured symposia will include 2-4 daily presentations with discussions to highlight important scientific issues relevant to the conference objectives or theme. Major goals of this meeting are to present our current understanding of issues in environmental epidemiology, indoor environments and exposure sciences and provide examples of novel research strategies to ameliorate the health impacts of environmental agents. An example of the distribution of the research topics likely to be included in the 2013 conference include: air quality, global climate change, the built environment and indoor air quality, the health effects of persistent organic pollutants including pesticides, phthalates, and other compounds in consumer products, exposure assessment, and state-of-the-art epidemiologic methods. Attendance among women and underserved minorities has always been strong and is clearly visible already in the submitted abstracts. We will encourage presentations by investigators from low income countries. Attendees from less developed countries will be eligible for travel grants and registration fee waivers.
The ISEE annual conference plays a vital role in facilitating a dialogue among leading environmental epidemiologists and the 2013 Conference underscores an inclusive multi- disciplinary approach through the bringing together of the ISEE, the International Society of Exposure Sciences (ISES), and the International Society of Indoor Air Quality (ISIAQ). The need for a global approach to solving environmental issues affecting public health is mirrored in the theme for this year's conference, Environment and Health- Bridging South, North, East, and West. The 2013 conference location in Basel, Switzerland will significantly enhance the public health impact by facilitating the exchange of information and ideas among epidemiologic investigators and public health practitioners, and it is one of the most important global forums for the presentation of human health research as it relates to the contamination of vital natural resources such as air and water, living environments, and systems supporting food production
