Des Plaines, IL, April 20, 2016 -- The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), in partnership with the American Public Health Association (APHA), is pleased to share the details of the 2016 GIS and Health Symposium. The theme for this year's Symposium is “Mapping the Way to Healthy Communities”. The event will take place June 1-3, 2016 in Washington, DC.

The Symposium features workshops, keynotes, important panel discussions, and eighteen breakout sessions comprised of more than 60 presentations. Newsworthy topics ranging from lead exposure and the Zika virus to the Ebola response and active lifestyles will be discussed in the presentations.

Mapping Ebola - URISA's GISCorps

On June 1, four half-day workshops will be presented:

• Conducting Community Health Resources Field Inventories
• Visioning and Mapping Healthy Communities
• Integrating Community Input in Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) through Sketch Maps and GIS
• Emergency Preparedness for GIS

We are honored to welcome  Carrie Stokes, the first Geographer of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as our esteemed keynote speaker on June 2.

Breakout sessions are scheduled on June 2 and 3 and are organized into these themes:

• Creating New Directions in Health for Vulnerable Populations
• Using GIS to Fight Dengue and Zika
• Using Social Media in Health
• Assessing the Impact of GIS in Planning for Health
• Breaking Out GIS to Enhance Understanding of Disease Risks
• The ABCs of Health Disparities
• Active Pathways to Health
• GIS and Health Go Global
• Who’s Getting Served?
• Patterns of Community Health and Wellbeing
• Power Tools for Community Health
• The Effects of Crime and Place
• At the Intersection of Transportation and Health
• Exposing Community Health Risks through GIS
• Geospatial-based Health Advocacy, Education, and Interventions
• GIS and Cancer: Research, Surveillance & Patient Outcomes
• Making Health Measures Count
• Protecting the Health of Mother and Baby

The conference will wrap up with an important conversation about GIS and Mapping Support for the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa, which was one of the most challenging and acute public health crises of modern time.

Join us in Washington DC in June to take part in the discussions.

Early registration discounts are available until May 9. For complete details, including sponsorship opportunities, visit http://www.urisa.org/URISAHealth  

Contacts:
Wendy Nelson
Executive Director - URISA
Email Contact  
www.urisa.org   
847-824-6300  
@URISA

URISA fosters excellence in GIS through its programs, guiding and supporting GIS professionals throughout their careers.

Mark Your Calendar:

URISA's 2016 GIS and Health Symposium - June 1-3, 2016 - Washington, DC

URISA Leadership Academy - August 1-5, 2016 - Chicago, Illinois

URISA's 2016 Caribbean GIS Conference - September 5-8, 2016 - Barbados

GIS-Pro 2016: URISA's 54th Annual Conference - October 31-November 3, 2016 - Toronto, Ontario Canada