DENVER, June 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Six members of the Poudre High School Science Olympiad team from Fort Collins are special guests at the 2008 Counsel of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Annual Conference, currently underway in Denver.
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Attending the conference opening day today is senior Deep Chandegara, along with juniors Katie Ashby and Elizabeth Bloemen, sophomores Peter Pham and Eric Yang, and freshman Ian Koss. CSTE also extended special invitations to Denver-area students who participated in the 2008 Youth Epidemiology Scholars competition.
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"We are pleased to make this opportunity available to students with an interest in science and math to give them exposure to the exciting field of epidemiology," CSTE Executive Director Pat McConnon said.
This year's conference theme is "Public Health Epidemiology: Adapting to a Changing World." The theme - and much of the research to be presented during the conference - reflects the increasing challenges to public health posed by emerging threats, or by familiar risks that have evolved to become more pervasive and persistent.
"We're excited and honored by the presence of these young scientists at our conference," CSTE President-elect Perry Smith, M.D. said. "It's critically important to recruit a new generation of epidemiologists to help us learn why some people get sick and others don't. The way these young people apply their knowledge ultimately will impact all our lives."
CSTE is a professional association of over 1050 public health epidemiologists working in states, local health agencies, and territories. CSTE works to establish more effective relationships among state and other health agencies. It also provides technical advice and assistance to partner organizations, such as the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), and to federal public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CSTE members have surveillance and epidemiology expertise in a broad range of areas including occupational health, infectious diseases, immunization, environmental health, chronic diseases, injury control, and maternal and child health. CSTE's work is an important step in ensuring a well prepared and competent public health workforce.
SOURCE Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
