A number of Mini-Symposia will be held as part of the EPICOH 2019 Conference. Descriptions of those confirmed are below.<\/p>\n
Please check back regularly as more will be added.<\/p>\n
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OMEGA-NET (The Network on the Coordination and Harmonisation of European Occupational Cohorts) is a 4-year EU Cost Action that seeks to create a network to optimize and integrate occupational, industrial, and population cohorts, and to provide a foundation for an enhanced evidence base for the identification of health risks and gains related to occupation and employment to foster safe and healthy preventive strategies and policies.\u00a0 The objectives of the OMEGA-NET symposium are to present ongoing work in the network as well as related research projects involving occupational cohort studies, data pooling, and data harmonization.<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE<\/a> for more information<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Associations between occupational exposures and neurodegenerative disorders (including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson\u2019s and Alzheimer\u2019s diseases) have not been studied as extensively as cancer and respiratory diseases and their causes remain largely unknown. Due to complicated clinical diagnosis and lack of registries, case ascertainment is a limiting factor when studying neurodegenerative disorders. Case-control studies are best suited for inclusion of incident cases, but prone to recall bias. Studies on neurodegenerative disorders may additionally suffer from lack of recall because of disease characteristics. Cohort studies are free from recall bias and offer opportunities to study associations with occupational exposures. Moreover, baseline blood may be informative about exposures (e.g. lead) well before disease onset. Although occupational information collected in most cohorts is limited, successful studies in cancer and respiratory epidemiology have shown that occupational studies in general populations can be informative. Because each study design has its advantages and disadvantages, neurodegenerative disorders should be looked at more in a range of (occupational) studies to gain better understanding of the aetiology. Furthermore, advanced exposure assessment methods are essential to identify risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE<\/a> for more information<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This mini-symposium will build on mini-symposia with a similar focus that we have presented at previous EPICOH conferences and will provide EPICOH delegates with an overview of current issues in military epidemiology, focusing on how past conflicts can influence how we support current and future service personnel and veterans. Taken together, the armed forces and veterans are a significant proportion of the workforce in many countries. \u00a0This mini-symposium will have representation from three of the nations in the \u2018Five Eyes\u2019 alliance, which over the years have been involved in a number of major conflicts. It will show that lessons from the long-term effects of the Vietnam and First Gulf War conflicts can be learned to the benefit of those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, thus enabling comparisons within and across nations and conflicts.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE<\/a> for more information<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The quality of exposure assessment is a fundamental (yet often overlooked) consideration in the design and evaluation of human observational studies. The need for high quality exposure assessment is particularly relevant for outcomes with long latency periods, such as cancer, where detailed information on past exposures to a hazard are often missing and must be indirectly estimated or modelled.\u00a0The goal of this symposium<\/em>\u00a0is to consider\u00a0(and emphasize the importance of)\u00a0high-quality\u00a0exposure assessment\u00a0in epidemiological studies of cancer,\u00a0\u200bfor various\u00a0occupational hazards. Outputs will\u00a0inform: 1) methods to evaluate exposure assessment quality in epidemiological studies (e.g., for use in hazard and risk assessment), and 2) strategies for individual researchers to consider in the design and conduct of\u00a0future\u00a0research.<\/p>\nAdvances in neurodegenerative disease epidemiology<\/h3>\n
Military Epidemiology \u2013 what can we learn from the past to help and support future generations of military personnel?<\/h3>\n
Exposure Assessment in Epidemiological\u00a0Studies of Cancer: importance and\u00a0implications for hazard and risk evaluation<\/h3>\n