CDC’s Disease Detectives Share Findings from the Forefront of Public Health

The CDC will hold its annual Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Conference from April 23–26, 2024, in Atlanta, GA. The EIS Conference is the nation’s flagship applied epidemiology conference where EIS officers share their work on leading-edge investigations, scientific findings, and forward-thinking strategies to inform improvements in public health. This year’s conference will feature more than a hundred presentations on crucial investigations and innovative analyses conducted by EIS officers, also known as CDC’s disease detectives.

“For 73 years, EIS officers have deployed at a moment’s notice to investigate emerging health threats, protect people, and save lives,” said Leslie Ann Dauphin, PhD, the Director of CDC’s National Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Public Health Infrastructure and Workforce. “These incredibly dedicated officers are the public health fire fighters of today and the public health leaders of tomorrow.”

Fast Facts:

• The conference is free and open to the public with both in-person and online attendance options.
• Presentations will be livestreamed with recordings available via a virtual platform for registrants.
• Event registration is required for attendance and will remain open throughout the conference.

Highlights:

• Alexander D. Langmuir Lecture—on April 24, CDC Director Mandy Cohen, M.D., M.P.H., will introduce this year’s Alexander D. Langmuir lecturer, Atul Gawande, M.D., M.P.H., the Assistant Administrator for Global Health at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dr. Gawande will speak on Global Lessons for Advancing Life Expectancy at Home and Abroad.

• TED-Style Talks—on April 23 and April 26, current and former EIS officers will give a behind-the-scenes look at their investigative experiences in eight TED-style talks:
  • Living in the Response—A Decade of Life and Work in the Appalachian Coal Fields
  • Unlearning How to Lead—EVALI in the Salt Lake Valley
  • Trials and Tribulations— The Journey to a Maternal Group B Streptococcus Vaccine
  • People, Prevention, Porta-potties— Understanding Access to Restrooms, Hygiene Resources, and Shelter amid an Increase in Hepatitis A Virus in San Diego
  • Tropical Tees, Musibis, and Making a Team—Successful Collaboration in American Samoa
  • A Story Data Can’t Tell—The Impact of Violence in Black Communities
  • Data Equity = Health Equity
  • Struggles and Triumphs of Women in Coal Mining

• Local Stories and Topics of Interest—Use the online tool to quickly search for specific cities, states, or topics among all of the work being presented at the conference or sort the presentations using a dropdown list to find topics of interest.

EIS is a long-standing, globally recognized fellowship program renowned for its investigative and emergency response efforts. When disease outbreaks or other public health threats emerge, EIS officers investigate, work to identify the causes, seek to rapidly implement control measures, and collect evidence to recommend preventive actions.

CDC has trained over 4,000 EIS officers who have investigated and responded to a wide range of public health challenges and emergencies. With 97 percent of EIS officers remaining in public health positions after the fellowship, the EIS program serves as an important pathway for strengthening the public health workforce at the local, state, and federal levels.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC’s world-leading experts protect lives and livelihoods, national security and the U.S. economy by providing timely, commonsense information, and rapidly identifying and responding to diseases, including outbreaks and illnesses. CDC drives science, public health research, and data innovation in communities across the country by investing in local initiatives to protect everyone’s health.