GIS and Pandemic Avian flu at URISA’s GIS in Public Health Conference

Maps and large displays of situational awareness are part of everything from Star Trek to Pirates of the Carabean to the new Battle Star Galatica.

Here is to the peple wo make the maps in real time and those who use them – GIS and public heal folks.

The conference helps underscore how much work goes into getting good information and maps created. Just the titels of the presentaions where interesting.

URISA’s 2009 GIS in Public Health Conference (June 5-8 in Providence, Rhode Island) will offer important topics addressed by leaders in the field. Themed “Putting Health in Place with GIS”,

Pandemic/Avian Flu
Emergency planners and healthcare providers at all levels should be involved in the preparation for and response to a possible outbreak of a deadly contagion. This session will inform participants of some of the spatial challenges and solutions relevant to pandemic influenza.

Geospatial of Avian Influenza Molecular Using Geographical Information System in Indonesia Mujiyanto Sadali, NIHRD Unit Donggala Ministry of Health, Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia

A Pan Flu Early Warning GIS for At Risk Populations in Rural Areas Michael Shambaugh-Miller, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE

The Russian influenza in Sweden in 1889-90: An Example of Geographic Information Lars Skog, Royal Institute of Technology, Stocksund, Sweden

Health Disparities and Social Factors in Health This session addresses concepts and methods for investigating social factors in health and associated health disparities.

Mapping Health Disparities in Cleveland, Ohio Terese Lenahan, The Center for Community Solutions, Cleveland, OH
Map Legend Design for Visualizing Community Health Disparities Ellen Cromley and Robert Cromley, The Institute for Community Research, Hartford, CT

Geography of Personal Crisis – Geo-Referenced Data in Suicide Research Radoslaw Panczak, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom Public Health Epidemiology Epidemiology has long been associated with geospatial and temporal factors. This session will inform participants on several relevant investigations.

Space-Time Cluster Analysis of American Cutaneous Leishmaniosis in Venezuela Eva-Mary Rodriguez, University of Central Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela

Analyzing Risk Factors for Blastomycosis in Urban Areas Melissa Lemke, Center for Urban Population Health, Milwaukee, WI Cancer Geographics GIS has been gaining much greater core importance in cancer epidemiology and related areas. Organizations like North American Association of Central Cancer Registries and the CDC cancer programs, as well as state cancer registries are formally adopting GIS as an important tool. Standards have been developed for capturing cancer patient data so that address geocoding produces a high hit rate enabling spatial epidemiology to more accurate, comprehensive and relevant. Papers in this session provide a look at how widely Cancer GIS is being pursued.

Geographic Cluster Evaluation of Female Breast Cancer: Does Scale Matter? Nancy Tian, Texas State University – San Marcos, San Marcos, TX

Exploratory Temporal Visualization of Massachusetts Breast Cancer Data Archives Alex Brown, University of Massachusetts – Lowell, Lowell, MA

Complete conference details are available online: www.urisa.org/conferences/health

Wendy Nelson Executive Director – URISA [email protected] www.urisa.org 847-824-6300

Mark Your Calendar:
URISA’s GIS in Public Health Conference – June 5-8, 2009 – Providence RI
URISA/NENA Addressing Conference – August 4-6, 2009 – Providence RI
URISA’s 47th Annual Conference – September 29-October 2, 2009 – Anaheim CA
GIS in Transit Conference – November 10-12, 2009 – St Petersburg FL
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