The full plenary schedule is now available for the 2017 Preparedness Summit, scheduled to take place on April 25-28, 2017 in Atlanta. This year’s plenaries will feature conversations with leaders and experts from diverse sectors about issues such as biodefense, technological innovation, and the evolving status of water in the context of national health security. Details on the time/date, topic, and speakers for each session are included below. As a reminder, 2017 Preparedness Summit early bird rates end this week. Register by this Friday, March 17 to save $100.
Opening Plenary – April 25, 2017; 8:00-10:00 AM
Envisioning the Future: Federal Efforts to Prepare the Nation
Fitting for this year’s Preparedness Summit theme of looking towards the future, the first plenary session will serve as an important jumping-off point informing the critical steps we must take to drive national resilience and recovery forward. Co-chairs for the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, former Senator Joseph Lieberman and former Governor and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Thomas Ridge will lead the conversation.
Together the speakers will discuss strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities related to biological and chemical threat awareness, prevention and protection, surveillance and detection, and response and recovery. Additional details on this session can be found by viewing our original opening plenary announcement.
Thursday Plenary – April 27, 2017; 8:30-10:00 AM
The Way Forward: Emerging Technologies Driving Public Health Emergency Preparedness
Rapid innovations in technology are transforming how we look at, plan for, respond to, and recover from all hazards events. As the speed of technological advances continues to increase, questions arise about practical applications, scalability, and access to data. Dr. John Brownstein, Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and Professor at Harvard Medical School, will shed light on these questions as they relate to the dramatic transformation of public health surveillance infrastructure and what this means for public health preparedness.
Closing Plenary – April 28, 2017; 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
A Sea of Changes: A Closer Look at Climate, Its Impact on Water, and Preparing Communities for the Future
Climate change impacts are expected to increase the severity, frequency, and scale of extreme weather events, droughts, and floods, as well as affect sea levels and precipitation patterns. Today’s global community is less prepared than ever to address the challenges of water contamination, scarcity, and flooding. As a result, there is a rising urgency to consider what these implications will mean at the local level and how public health officials can lead efforts to effectively mitigate health risks in affected communities.
The Preparedness Summit’s closing plenary, will feature Selwin Hart, MPH, CPH, Ambassador of Barbados to the United States of America and Former Director of the United Nations Climate Change Support Team, David Rozell, MPH, CPH, Program Manager for Public Health Emergency Preparedness, Tulare County (CA) Health and Human Services, and Clark Halvorson Assistant Secretary for Environmental Public Health, Washington State Department of Health. They will share strategies, challenges, and other key insights on addressing the effects of climate change as it relates to water.
