School of Public Health’s students showcase their research at the Saskatchewan Epidemiology Association Symposium

The Saskatchewan Epidemiology Association (SEA) held its annual symposium on October 21, 2010. The theme of this year's event was, "Exposing ourselves: investigating everyday environment and their health impacts". In recent years many chemicals have made the headlines for their known and potential impacts on human health. Whether it is BPA in baby bottles or pesticides putative link to ADHD, many question the health effects of the myriad of chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis. This year's SEA symposium brought together an exciting mix of researchers, public health practitioners, academics, policy experts and students to present on a wide array of research examining chemical exposures in the Canadian population and the risks to both human and animal health. 

This year also marked the first time that Elluminate technology was utilized to broadcast the morning session province-wide. This was particularly helpful because the symposium was sold out and Elluminate provided speakers with the opportunity to connect with those invididuals unable to attend. 

"The involvement of the School of Public Health at the University of Saskatchewan was instrumental," said Josh Marko, SEA Chair. "The School not only provided the Elluminate technology, but the students were also very much part of the symposium, presenting their posters and participating in the day long events. The SEA would welcome student input to build on the success of this year's event for future symposiums."

Keynote speakers included:

• Tye Arbuckle, PhD. Senior Epidemiologist and Research Scientist, Populations Studies Division, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada.
• Dr. Arbuckle received a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina in 1994 where her dissertation focused on the potential effects of herbicide exposure on adverse pregnancy outcomes among farm families in Ontario. She followed this research with one of the first biomonitoring studies of herbicide exposure in farm families. Her current research centers on exposure to and potential adverse health effects of environmental chemicals during pregnancy and early life using biomarkers.
• John Giesy, PhD. Professor and Canada Research Chair in Environmental Toxicology, Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre at the University of Saskatchewan.

In addition to the above speakers, Cheryl Walder, professor in the School of Public Health and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine also presented. 

The School of Public Health is proud to report that six of its students showcased their research through oral and poster presentations. These included:

Molly Bell, MPH student, presented her poster titled, "Best Practices in Skin Cancer Prevention: Implications for Saskatchewan"
Chel Hee Lee, Collaborative Biostatistics student, presented his poster titled, "Effect of Assumption Violations on Capture-Recapture Models for Chronic Disease Surveillance"
Opeyemi Fadahunsi, MPH student, presented his poster, "Health care equity audit of surgical services in the Saskatoon Health Region"
Simon Kapaj, a PhD student in the School of Public Health's Epidemiology program, delivered an oral presentation on the topic, "Human Health Effects from Chronic Arsenic Poisoning - A Review", which addressed the quality of drinking water in rural and First Nations communities of Saskatchewan
Robert Nesdole, a PhD student in the School of Public Health's Epidemiology program, presented his poster titled, "Physician Remuneration in Canada, 1999-2006"
Fidel Obu, MPH student, presented his poster titled, "The epidemiology of Chlamydia infection in Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region, 2005-2009"
Tolu Sajobi, a PhD student in the Collaborative Biostatistics program, presented his poster titled, "Longitudinal health-related quality of life: New statistical methods to study change in domain importance"

From Left to Right: Fidel Obu and Molly Bell

Both Fidel Obu and Robert Nesdole tied for first place in this year's poster competition. The School of Public Health would like to applaud all the students on their participation, and would like to send a special congratulations to Fidel and Roberts on their hard-earned awards, and to faculty member Dr. John Campbell who was awarded this year's John Snow Cholera Pump Handle award.