2024 CSTE Annual Conference Workshops

Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) Workshop

Strengthening Infectious Disease Surveillance and Response with Sequencing

Full Day  | CSTE staff Lead: Abby Hoffman

CSTE will host a full-day workshop on leveraging pathogen genomic data to build genomic epidemiology capacity in the existing public health workforce. Workshop attendees will hear from colleagues who use genomic data in their work to share resources and guidance for increasing the utility of genomic data in public health. Attendees will also participate in hands-on exercises to learn how pathogen genomic data is generated, analyzed, visualized, and interpreted for public health action. 

Chronic Disease Surveillance Workshop 

Advancing Chronic Disease Epidemiology Practice through Data Equity and Modernization

Half Day |CSTE staff Lead: Rebecca Ruvane

CSTE will host a half-day workshop focused on enhancing chronic disease epidemiology practice and building capacity within the public health workforce. Workshop attendees will hear from colleagues who are leveraging advanced data practices and using data to address health equity across the complex chronic disease surveillance landscape. Topics may include modernizing traditional technology and surveillance systems for improved usability; interoperability and use of electronic health record (EHR) platforms; innovative approaches utilizing cloud technologies and machine learning and/or artificial intelligence; and reducing health inequities and social determinants of health challenges to improve chronic disease outcomes and population health.  

Disaster Epidemiology Workshop 

Disaster Epidemiology in Action 

Full Day | CSTE staff contact: Andrew Adams

The Disaster Epidemiology Workshop will focus on integrating disaster epidemiology into drills and exercises and building workforce capacity through providing information on emergency management-related training opportunities. Presentations, discussion, and activities will work toward the Disaster Epidemiology Subcommittee’s goal of using epidemiology to improve the public’s health before, during and after a disaster. 

Workshop Goals: 

• Facilitate collaboration among epidemiologists in the field of disaster epidemiology 
• Disseminate information on professional development opportunities to build the field of disaster epidemiology 
• Describe best practices from the field on adapting and applying disaster epidemiology principles, tools, resources, and methodologies 

Environmental Health Workshop  

Topics in Environmental Health Surveillance

Full Day | CSTE staff Lead: Megan Toe

The CSTE Environmental Health Surveillance Workshop is an opportunity to share current practices, discuss emerging hazards, and feature peer learning in applied epidemiology across environmental topics of interest. Workshop attendees will better understand the cross-cutting nature of environmental health and the role applied epidemiologists play in building healthier communities.

The objectives of this workshop are to provide relevant, timely learning and networking opportunities for epidemiologists and public health professionals working with environmental health topics.

Forecasting and Modeling for Public Health Workshop 

Exploring and Enhancing the Utility of Infectious Disease Modeling and Forecasting

Full Day | CSTE staff Lead: Ellie Bergren

The Forecasting and Modeling for Public Health Workshop at the 2024 CSTE Annual Conference will explore the utility of forecasting and modeling in public health practice. Join us as we discuss use cases, interpretation of models, leveraging partnerships and analytic tools, and much more. We will dive into groundbreaking forecasting and modeling efforts across the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA), academia and industry, and state, tribal, local, and territorial agencies. You will hear directly from jurisdictions and partners involved in both practical and innovative forecasting and modeling approaches and we welcome open discussion in navigating challenges, successes, and needs in your jurisdiction. 

Target audience: Epidemiologists (including State Epidemiologists/Deputies in the morning), data scientists, and all those interested in learning more about the utility and application of modeling and forecasting in public health practice. 

General Injury Epidemiology Surveillance Workshop 

Examining Injury Topics That Can Bridge Communities to Better Health 

Full Day | CSTE staff contact: Danielle Boyd

This interactive, full-day workshop will lead participants through current injury surveillance issues, including methods of improving injury surveillance and presenting injury data to broad audiences. Presenters and key attendees will include CSTE members and CDC representatives from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) and National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). 

This workshop is open to all conference attendees. Advanced registration is highly encouraged, as on-site admission cannot be guaranteed. Priority will be given to CSTE Injury Surveillance Workgroup members.  

Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Workshop  

Full Day | CSTE staff Lead: Will Fritch

This workshop aims to share information and foster meaningful discussions on HAI/AR topics, including surveillance, reporting, prevention, and response activities, as well as workforce development and program leadership. Presenters and attendees will include CSTE members, CSTE fellows, HAI/AR Subcommittee leadership, and representatives from CDC and other partner organizations. Agenda items will be tailored to HAI/AR Program staff in STLT health departments but others with a stake in the work of HAI/AR Programs (e.g., division leadership) are welcome to participate.  

Influenza Workshop 

National Meeting of Influenza Surveillance Coordinators 

Full Day | CSTE staff Lead: Amelia Blumberg

CSTE, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be hosting an Influenza Surveillance Coordinators Workshop on Sunday, June 9, 2024 in conjunction with the CSTE Annual Conference. The purpose of the workshop is to provide a forum for jurisdictions and CDC to discuss current themes in influenza and other respiratory virus surveillance, especially as it relates to COVID-19, and to strengthen relationships and cooperation between influenza programs from health departments around the country. Invited participants include Influenza Surveillance Coordinators from state, territorial, and large local health departments. Participants will also include representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This workshop is open to all registered attendees. 

Objectives:  

• Identify best practices in applied epidemiology of influenza and other infectious diseases. 
• Improve the epidemiology and informatics competency of public health practitioners. 
• Facilitate skill building opportunities. 

• Identify strategies and tools to ensure more efficient and effective analysis, communication, systems thinking, and program planning in prevention, identification, and response to influenza and other respiratory viral diseases in the United States. 

Legal Workshop 

Elevating Public Health Through Laws 

Full Day | CSTE staff Lead: Sunbal Virk

The CSTE 2024 full-day legal Sunday pre-conference workshop will take a deep dive into how the law can, and should be, used in public health. Law is one of the most significant determinants of health. It provides the foundation for so many of the other determinants of health. Law also impacts those conditions that result in inequitable health outcomes and this workshop will be focused on exploring the intersection of the law and public health. The workshop will highlight the various ways in which the law, public health attorneys and policies can be used to elevate public health and health equity. Attendees can expect to get training from attorneys on doing basic legal research and hear from their experience of how they support their health department and/or epidemiologist. Attendance will also provide opportunities to learn how to identify and understand the different types of cases related to public health, such as trial court opinions and how they can be helpful in elevating public health. Attendance will provide participants with tangible insights and practice knowledge to enhance their roles in the landscape of laws and policies.  

Target Audience: Epidemiologists, Public Health Attorneys, data analysts, policy analysts. 

Legionnaires’ Disease Workshop 

Three Rivers of LD: Bridging Prevention, Investigation, & Response

Full Day | CSTE staff Lead: Akila Simmons 

This interactive Legionnaires’ disease workshop will review public health surveillance, investigations, and outbreak response best practices, CDC guidance documents, and toolkits. The workshop is targeted toward public health surveillance epidemiologists, environmental health specialists, drinking water professionals, laboratory professionals, healthcare licensing and investigations professionals, and healthcare-associated infections professionals interested in Legionella case and outbreak investigations. Through brief presentations and group discussions, it is anticipated that health departments will share their experiences and lessons regarding Legionella & water management program regulations, outbreak investigations, findings from the field, and emerging research. A Question & Answer period will be held after each panel to allow time for workshop attendees to engage with the panel speakers and other attendees. 

Maternal and Child Health Symposium

Epi Ascending: Building Equitable Maternal Child Health Together 

Half Day | CSTE staff Lead: Valerie Goodson

The 2024 MCH Symposium will focus on utilizing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Health’s Racial Equity Data Road Map as a foundation to exploring racial equity defined as “means being aware of and taking into account past and current inequities, and providing all people, especially those who are most impacted by racism, the support needed to thrive.” .  Attendees will learn more about the road map, its application in a state or local health department and practice a real scenario.  The session will also feature an opportunity for attendees to spend time during a networking session to learn more about the work of their colleagues during a special speed round of table discussions.  

Core Objectives 

• Describe the Racial Equity Data Road Map and how it can be used to assist programs in taking concrete steps to better identify, understand, and act to address racial inequities 
• Practice applying the Racial Equity Data Road Map framework to specific maternal and child health topics 
• Engage and connect with other MCH Epidemiologists through guided conversations and key topics in MCH Epi  

Occupational Health Surveillance

Surveillance Skills, Stretches, and Strategies 

Full Day | CSTE staff contact: Cailyn Lingwall

The 2024 CSTE Occupational Health Surveillance Workshop will focus on highlighting risk factors for occupational injuries and illnesses. The objective of the workshop will be to address regional and national injury and illness trends in the workplace, and to explore how increased and enhanced occupational health surveillance can help reduce occupational risks. 

Putting the Applied Epidemiology Competencies into Practice 

Exploring How to Use the AECs Toolkit 

Half Day | CSTE staff Lead: Sarah Auer

Revised in 2023, The CSTE Applied Epidemiology Competencies (AECs) serve to define the roles and responsibilities of an applied epidemiologist. To support use of the AECs, CSTE recently released a comprehensive toolkit and course trainings. The toolkit includes worksheets for creating position descriptions, career advancement portfolios, training plans and online, interactive evaluation tools for self-assessment and supervisor assessment. The course trainings provide an overview of the AECs and how to utilize them to recruit and retain epidemiologists. The workshop will start by reviewing the revisions to the AECs and the support materials available. Attendees will hear from state and local jurisdictions on how they have incorporated the AECs into their work for the purposes of workforce development. Following each presentation, attendees will have an opportunity for guided instruction on using the related toolkit material. There will also be an opportunity for questions and group discussion on best practices learned from the activities. Participants are welcome to bring materials from their agencies or specific scenarios they would like to work through during the workshop activities. 

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: 

• Describe the revisions to the 2023 Applied Epidemiology Competencies 
• Describe the AECs toolkit and training materials available 
• Utilize the AECs toolkit materials for workforce development activities 

State Epi Forum (Invite Only)

Half Day | CSTE staff contact: Jennifer Lemmings

This half day afternoon convocation and workshop on Sunday June 25, 2023 of State Epidemiologists and the CSTE Executive Board is in response to feedback we have received to provide more opportunities for State Epidemiologists and invited guests to convene and discuss priority issues early in the Annual Conference.  Agenda topics will be finalized and communicated to participants prior to the session on June 9, 2024.  Participation is invite only.   

Substance Use & Mental Health Workshop

Substance Use and Mental Health Epidemiology and Surveillance

Full Day | CSTE staff contact: Megan Toe

The 2024 CSTE Substance Use and Mental Health Epidemiology & Surveillance Workshop provides the opportunity for participants to learn from experts and peers, to share information across jurisdictions, and engage in discussion on emerging topics. This year’s workshop has distinct morning and afternoon sessions to cover various topics in applied epidemiology across relevant topics. The morning session will focus on Behavioral Health Services Information System and treatment data. After the lunch break, the workshop will reconvene with an afternoon focus on applied epidemiology across substance use and misuse topics including alcohol, cannabis, prescription drug monitoring programs, and overdose surveillance. Participants will also discuss the many ways that prevention and treatment contribute to building healthy communities.

Surveillance/Informatics Workshop

Rivers of Data, Bridges of “STLT”: Elevating Public Health Informatics 

Full Day | CSTE staff contact:  Taylor Pinsent

It will be a beautiful day in Pittsburgh!—The 2024 full day in-person workshop, Rivers of Data, Bridges of “STLT”: Elevating public health informatics will convene “yinz” with the goal of advancing public health informatics, emphasizing enterprise- and ecosystem-wide approaches. The workshop will delve into the intricate realm of public health data exchange and the skillsets needed to support it. Join us as we explore the technology and standards in development and discuss what you can be doing now to prepare for implementation. You will hear directly from public health agencies involved in both practical and innovative informatics approaches. The session will feature networking opportunities for attendees to learn more about the work of their colleagues. Attendance will provide participants with inspiration, tangible insights, and practical knowledge to navigate the challenges and opportunities in the ever-evolving landscape of public health informatics. —Won’t you be our neighbor? 

Target Audience: Epidemiologists, informaticians, data analysts, and data scientists that manage public health data systems and data exchange across all domains. 

Tribal Epidemiology 

Advancing Health Equity by Advocating for Data Equity: Dismantling Systemic Racism in Public Health Data Systems 

Half Day | CSTE Staff Lead: Colin Gerber

Better health outcomes can be achieved when there are high quality, complete, and reliable data about our communities to inform interventions. However, systemic racism in public health data systems continues to be a barrier, particularly for American Indian and Alaska Natives who experience significant disparities across a range of health indicators. A lack of or limited Tribal access to life-saving public health data held by local and state health departments and federal agencies contributes to these disparities by preventing Tribal nations from conducting basic public health functions such as public health surveillance, case investigations, and case connections to care. This interactive workshop will explore the role of data in Tribal public health and health care and teach participants how to identify and advocate for policy changes within their agency that will lead to more equitable data access for Tribes. 

Objectives:  

After this workshop, participants will be able to… 

• Explain the history of Tribal public health and current structure of Tribal public health and health care 
• Describe the current public health data system through an equity lens 
• Identify norms, policies, and institutional structures in their health department/agency that contribute to unequal data access for Tribes 
• Describe the consequences of unequal data access for Tribes 
• Develop a plan to address barriers to Tribal data access 
• Advocate for their plan’s implementation in their health department/agency

Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases Workshop

Bridging the Link Between Surveillance and Response

Half Day | CSTE staff Lead: Rachel Radcliffe

The Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases (VBZD) Workshop will facilitate networking and information sharing among public health staff whose work focuses on VBZD surveillance, capacity and partnership building. Topics to be covered in the workshop are anticipated to include recent surveillance trends and multijurisdictional response activities for malaria and other VBZD.

Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Workshop 

Enhancing Prevention, Surveillance, and Elimination Efforts 

Half Day | CSTE staff Lead: Symone Richardson

The Viral Hepatitis Surveillance workshop is targeted towards viral hepatitis surveillance coordinators, program coordinators, and additional state and local health department staff engaged in viral hepatitis surveillance activities. Workshop discussions will explore the existing capacity of viral hepatitis surveillance programs across various jurisdictions, identifying programmatic challenges, technical assistance needs, and opportunities for guidance, standardization, and collaboration as well as strategies to strengthen prevention efforts and pave the path towards elimination.  

Wastewater Epidemiology Workshop 

Building Wastewater Surveillance Epidemiology 

Full Day | CSTE staff Lead: Abby Hoffman

CSTE will host a full day wastewater surveillance epidemiology training workshop at the 2024 CSTE Annual Conference to convene wastewater surveillance epidemiologists from STLT health agencies and CDC to discuss current trends and emerging issues in wastewater surveillance, share best practices, identify gaps, and discuss ways in which to improve wastewater surveillance. Topics may include wastewater surveillance guidance and toolkits, methods for sampling and testing wastewater, data analysis methods, how to use wastewater surveillance for public health action, and guidance for communicating/interpreting results for diverse audiences.  

Waterborne Enteric Disease Workshop 

Waterborne Enteric Disease Outbreak Detection and Response 

Full Day | CSTE staff Lead: Rachael Singer

CSTE, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will host a waterborne enteric disease outbreak detection and response workshop for epidemiologists. The purpose of this workshop is to engage in meaningful discussions surrounding methods for detecting, investigating, and controlling waterborne enteric disease outbreaks. For each subtopic, one or two outbreak examples will be presented as case studies. Through brief presentations, STLT epidemiologists will share their experiences, challenges, and lessons learned regarding surveillance, outbreak detection, and outbreak response in their jurisdictions. A question-and-answer period will follow each session to allow time for workshop attendees to engage with the panel speakers and each other. The last session will highlight resources for epidemiologists, including training and communication platforms currently available or under development. Presenters and attendees will include CSTE members from state health departments and CDC representatives from the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases (DFWED).