Dr. Fazlay Faruque, University of Mississippi Medical Center
Over the last 50 years, the application of geospatial technologies has evolved in many areas of health, including environmental tracking, disease surveillance, resource allocation, and spatial attributes of disease. Collaboration in development and implementation of these technologies will be crucial in meeting the world’s future health needs.
With this in mind, a Working Group of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) is organizing its 2nd Symposium on Advances in Geospatial Technologies for Health.åÊ The symposium is in collaboration with the 5th International Conference on Medical Geology (MEDGEO-2013), and the goal is to enhance cross-disciplinary collaborations to improve health and well-being by utilizing Earth observing technologies and data.
This joint event is scheduled for Aug. 24-30, 2013 in Arlington, Virginia.
The symposium topics will include applications of remote sensing and geospatial technologies in the areas of:
Û¢ Air Pollution Modeling for Health Impact Studies
Û¢ Air-borne, Soil-borne and Water-borne Diseases
Û¢ Big-Data Analysis in Public Health Research
Û¢ Environmental Public Health Surveillance
Û¢ Infectious and Vector-borne Diseases
Û¢ Climate Variability and Health
Û¢ Tele-Epidemiology
Û¢ Healthcare.
In addition to technical sessions, the event will include workshops and short courses on geospatial technologies and environmental health geared toward young professionals. Notable speakers include Dr. James Acker and Dr. Radina Soebiyanto from NASA; and Stan Morian from the Earth Data Analysis Center (EDAC), an internationally recognized expert in the field of air quality and human health.
Keynote lectures will include speakers from the American, French, and Japanese space agencies, giving participants a chance to hear about the advances in public health research made by national space programs. Other keynotes will include speakers from the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), åÊEsri, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Medicaid, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). Additionally, Dr. Franca Jones from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will deliver her keynote speech outlining the recently released National Biosurveillance Science and Technology Roadmap.
The symposium will offer a special opportunity for students presenting work related to the geospatial technology and health.åÊ NASA has funded a grant to support a few travel fellowships for students to present papers at the symposium. Application forms and the announcement are available on the symposium website.
The joint event of ISPRS Symposium and MEDGEO-2013 conference is being managed by the Geological Society of America (GSA).
Information on registration and conference costs can be found online. Early registration closes on July 15.