From April 3rd-4th the PROTECT team hosted the 2019 Annual Northeast SRP Meeting at the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute where SRP researchers, staff, and trainees from Boston University, Columbia University, University of Rhode Island, Harvard University, Dartmouth College, MIT, Brown University, and University of Pennsylvania joined together to discuss their ongoing work and opportunities for collaboration. The event was co-sponsored by all the Northeast SRP Centers, which worked together to develop the meeting program and identify speakers.
On the first day, PROTECT Training Core Leader Tom Sheahan and Director Akram Alshawabkeh welcomed guests and introduced the two topics that would be covered that day: “Key Components of Research Translation—Who Benefits and Why?” and “Big Data in Environmental Health: Collection, Synthesis, Analysis and Use.” As a trainee focused event, the first day of our program offered trainees the opportunity to meet the Research Translation Presenters and ask questions on policy, report back, tech transfer/innovation, and other current topics in the field of Research Translation. Additionally, following the day’s presentations the centers hosted a poster session where trainees were able to share their research with other like-minded environmental health professionals.
On the second day, the program concluded with a block of discussions on “Analyzing the Health Effects of Complex Mixtures of Chemical and Non-Chemical Environmental Stressors.” At the conclusion of the main meeting, attendees were invited to participate in a Media Relations Workshop designed to help train environmental health researchers on how to engage with the media. All presentations were received enthusiastically, and attendees were prepared with many questions and comments throughout the meeting.
If you are interested in learning more about our keynote speakers or any of the presentations that were offered during the event, check out the full agenda, poster abstracts, and a variety of presentation PowerPoints on the website. Additionally, we have included a full album of pictures that were taken throughout the event.
We are proud to have hosted such a well-received and successful meeting, and look forward to attending next year’s NE SRP Meeting at Brown University in 2020!