The symposium focused on the role and practice of the public health surveillance, of both animal and human populations, in providing information for the development of policy and decision making.
Two international speakers, Dr Lisa Lee and Professor Roger Morris, presented plenary sessions on distinguishing characteristics of health surveillance, the critical developments in the area and future challenges.
Further sessions were devoted to the interface between human and animal surveillance, based on the concept of ‘One World, One Health’, the theory and practice of surveillance in New Zealand i(eg,infectious disease, occupational and environment) and discussion of the health surveillance activities undertaken by various agencies.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Dr Lisa Lee, Assistant Science Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA
Dr Lisa Lee
Bio: Dr Lisa M. Lee has served as CDC’s Assistant Science Officer since March 2006, where she serves as the deputy to the Chief Science Officer and assisted with the development and execution of scientific and research strategies in support of CDC’s mission. She created and leads the Surveillance Science Advisory Group, which advises CDC on the science of public health surveillance, and the Institutional Biosecurity Board, which monitors dual use research of concern. In addition, she oversees the agency’s public health ethics activities, as well as its scientific regulatory services.
Dr Lee has worked in as a public health epidemiologist and surveillance scientist for over 20 years at the local, state, and federal level. She spent many years as a senior epidemiologist with the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at CDC where she led the domestic national HIV/AIDS surveillance activities including development and implementation of a new national HIV incidence and viral resistance surveillance system. She served as the lead scientist on the national HIV prevention initiative, Advancing HIV Prevention. Dr Lee’s work at CDC has included ethics of public health surveillance, development and evaluation of surveillance systems, research on HIV and fertility, HIV/AIDS survival, HIV and tuberculosis, and data quality. She has led several agency-wide working groups and committees working to establish and maintain an environment of scientific integrity and excellence.
Dr Lee is the lead editor of Principles and Practice of Public Health Surveillance, 3d edition (OUP, in press). She serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, has authored numerous scientific publications, and has served as a peer- and guest reviewer for many scientific conferences and numerous scientific journals including the American Journal of Public Health, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the American Journal of Managed Care, AIDS, Emerging Infectious Diseases, and Epidemiology. She has presented at over 25 national and international scientific conferences and has received numerous awards for her contributions to public health. Before coming to CDC, she spent many years working in local and state public health programs. Dr Lee is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and is trained in epidemiology, formal demographic methods, and bioethics.
Emeritus Professor Roger Morris, formerly Gilruth Professor of Animal Health and Director of the EpiCentre, Massey University
Emeritus Professor Roger Morris
Bio: Professor Roger Morris established the EpiCentre at Massey University in 1986, and was responsible for the development of the Centre. Earlier in his career he was Assistant Chief Veterinary Officer for Australia, responsible for epidemiology and biosecurity policy development, and then Head of the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota before taking up his position as Gilruth Professor of Animal Health at Massey University, which allowed him to develop the EpiCentre. Over the last 40 years he has provided consulting services concerning disease control and international biosecurity policy to all the major international organisations and to countries throughout the world. One of his major interests has been the development of national information systems and surveillance procedures for diseases, particularly those affecting both animals and man. In recent years he has been extensively involved in control of avian influenza in Asia, and in the development of training in epidemiological approaches to disease control for both public health specialists and veterinarians in the Asian region. He has also guided a research program on the integration of epidemiological and economic methods to develop optimum surveillance strategies for diseases, using the twin concepts of risk landscaping and portfolio analysis. He is now Emeritus Professor at Massey University, and runs an international consultancy company specialising in animal health and food safety policy and programs.
The presentation will be co-authored by Dr Shiyong Wang, senior health specialist in the World Bank East Asia region. Dr Wang has a background of working on AIDS/HIV epidemiology and control in China, and currently manages projects concerned with both communicable and non-communicable diseases in East Asia for the World Bank. He has also contributed to the recovery work following the Sichuan earthquake. He is currently undertaking work in cooperation with Professor Morris on the development of joint surveillance strategies in human and animal populations for influenzas and other emerging diseases.
SPEAKERS
Associate Professor Michael Baker, Department of Public Health, University of Otago-Wellington
Dr Don Bandaranayake, Institute of Environmental Science & Research
Dr Derek Bell, Public Health South
Associate Professor Barry Borman, Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University
Dr Katherine Butterfield, ERMA New Zealand
Dr Donald Campbell, New Zealand Food Safety Authority
Professor Jeroen Douwes, Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University
Professor Nigel French, Massey University
Tanya Gray, Ministry for the Environment
Dr Nick Jones, Hawkes Bay District Health Board
Ron King, Auckland Regional Public Health Service
Dr Douglas Lush, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Kylie Mason, Ministry of Health
Dr Fran McGrath, Ministry of Health
Dr Melissa McLeod, Department of Public Health, University of Otago-Wellington
Professor Neil Pearce, Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University
Dr Phil Shoemack, Bay of Plenty District Health Board
Mark Wagstaffe, Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University
Dr Paul White, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
