APHA 2024 attendees will gain valuable public health insights from an all-star lineup of public health speakers in Minneapolis this fall.
To be held Oct. 27-30, APHA’s 2024 Annual Meeting and Expo will feature an array of public health events, from scientific and poster sessions to exhibits and learning opportunities. Presentations and plenaries will include influential leaders in the public health field, including local, state, national and global health trailblazers.
Speakers at the Sunday, Oct. 27, opening session will include keynoter Reed Tuckson, MD, FACP, managing director of Tuckson Health Connections LLC and co-founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID. Tuckson is also a co-convener of the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science, which is working to shore up public trust in science so that people can make sound health and medical decisions for themselves, their families and communities. The work dovetails well with APHA 2024’s meeting theme of “Building Trust in Public Health and Science,” which will be showcased throughout the four-day event.
Reed Tuckson, a co-convener of the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science, is keynote speaker for the APHA 2024 opening session
Photo by Kenneth Zirkel, courtesy Brown University School of Public Health
Science has come under attack in the U.S. in recent years, with more than a quarter of Americans saying they had no or not much confidence in scientists as of fall 2023, a recent Pew Research Center survey found. Only about 57% of Americans said they believed science has had a positive effect on society, dropping 16 points since the COVID-19 pandemic started in spring 2020.
Discussions on trust in science will continue throughout the meeting, including during a live podcast taping Sunday evening. Abdul El-Sayed, MD, DPhil, host of the award-winning “America Dissected” podcast, will interview New York University professor Eric Klinenberg, PhD, author of “2020: One City, Seven People and the Year Everything Changed.” The 2024 book contends that the nation must deal with the trauma of the pandemic before it is able to move forward.
Meeting conversations will encompass the breadth of public health. On Monday, Oct. 28, the general session will feature a panel discussion with some of the stars of “The Invisible Shield,” a four-part PBS series that was released this year. The documentary traces U.S. public health history from the 17th century through the COVID-19 pandemic, showing how work improved quality of life and increased life expectancy. The filmmakers showcase the ways public health often operates behind the scenes and why it is critical that Americans support its mission.
Annual Meeting “Champion Conversations” will bring engaging, influential public health leaders and professionals to the stage. Topics include democracy and health, women in public health, racism and public health, public health messaging, and the future of infectious disease control.
The meeting’s closing session on Wednesday, Oct. 30, will explore what it will take to build a comprehensive system that champions public health and can help the nation reach APHA’s vision of “optimal, equitable health and well-being for all.”
Annual Meeting-goers will have the opportunity to engage with exhibitors, book authors and more at the Public Health Expo. The expo will also be home to the meeting’s popular poster sessions, where attendees can talk one-on-one with presenters, as well as the Emerging Scholars Theater, where students give quick presentations on their research.
Meeting participants can start planning their schedules now, including time for continuing education opportunities, networking and socials, with the meeting’s online program.
Registration and housing are now open for the meeting. Attendees who take advantage of the Sept. 16 advance registration can save as much as $119. The meeting offers discounted rates for students, early-career professionals and other special categories.
For more information, visit www.apha.org/meeting-registration.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
