Call for Abstracts 11th Southeast Asia and Western Pacific Bi-regional TEPHINET Scientific Conference

TEPHINET, the South Asia Field Epidemiology and Technology Network (SAFETYNET), and the Australian Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP-MAE), are pleased to launch the call for abstracts for the 11th Southeast Asia and Western Pacific Bi-regional TEPHINET Scientific Conference. The conference will be held in-person at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia from September 12-15, 2023.

Eligibility

Current trainees and recent graduates (those who graduated on or after January 1, 2019) from any level (frontline, intermediate, or advanced) of public health, veterinary or one health field or applied epidemiology training programs in the Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions are invited to submit abstracts.

Abstracts must focus on epidemiological studies conducted between 2019 and 2022, and should be submitted in English.

Abstracts submitted for consideration should be original. Additionally, the abstract should not have already been presented at an international conference.

Submission of Abstracts

The abstract submission period is from December 15, 2022 to February 28, 2023. The deadline to submit abstracts is February 28, 2023 at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time. There will be NO extension to this deadline.

All abstracts must be submitted through Ex Ordo, an online platform managed by TEPHINET, at this link: https://tephinetbiregional2023.exordo.com. This is the only method of abstract submission. Abstracts not submitted through this online platform will not be considered. 

Program directors must submit abstracts on behalf of current trainees. Currently enrolled trainees must coordinate submissions with their program directors. Abstracts submitted directly by current trainees will not be considered for review.

Alumni and recent graduates may submit abstracts on their own behalf. 

Each primary author is allowed to have up to two (2) abstracts submitted.

Selection: TEPHINET will assign three qualified reviewers from our pool of abstract reviewers to review each submitted abstract. Abstracts will be considered as candidates for either oral or poster sessions. Once an abstract is accepted, the Scientific Program Committee will determine whether it is more appropriate for oral or poster presentation.

Acceptance: FETP Program Directors will receive a complete list of accepted abstracts submitted from their programs in June, 2023. Upon receipt of the results, directors are expected to communicate the results to those who submitted abstracts. Alumni will be informed of the results of their submissions directly. Those whose abstracts are accepted for oral or poster presentation will also be informed and sent joint invitation letters from TEPHINET, SAFETYNET and the ANU MAE program. They also will receive guidelines regarding the structure and delivery of their oral or poster presentations.

Instructions for Writing Abstracts

• Type and save your abstract in word processing software such as Microsoft Word, Pages (for Apple), or Google Docs; then copy and paste your abstract from your document into our web-based abstract submission system (link above). See the sample abstract below for the required format.
• Abstracts may not exceed 300 words in length. This word count excludes the headings of the structured abstract (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions) and the title and authors’ names. You can easily obtain your word count by selecting the appropriate text of the abstract and then choosing the “Word Count” command in the “Tools” menu of MS Word or of Google Docs.
• No graphics will be accepted.

The web-based system, Ex Ordo, will request the following information:

1. Authors and Training Program Affiliation
Please have the following information with you when you submit an abstract online:

• Name and email address of primary author (presenter)
• Names and email addresses of co-author/s (Please ensure that all of your co-authors have agreed to being listed on the paper prior to submitting your abstract.)
• Home country in which FETP is based as well as the FETP host institution (university, ministry of health, ministry of agriculture, etc.)
• Name of FETP Program Director
• Email address of FETP Program Director
• Status of primary author: current trainee or graduate/alumnus
• Level of training (frontline, intermediate, advanced)
• Year graduated or expected to graduate (if current trainee)
• Primary author’s First Nations identification
• Primary author’s gender identity

2. Title

• Be brief. Avoid subtitles if possible.
• Capitalize major words only. Capitalize the second component of hyphenated terms. Do NOT use abbreviations or acronyms in titles.
• Give geographic location (country, province or city) and dates of study or investigation. Do not abbreviate geographic locations; separate them from the rest of the title by an m-dash, e.g., Dengue Fever Outbreak — Ho Chi Minh City, 2015.

3. Abstract Text

• Structure the abstract using the following subheadings to identify each section: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions.
• Each subheading should be typed flush left, in bold font, and followed by a colon.
• The Background section should address both 1) the public health significance of the subject and 2) the scientific background and rationale for the study (see sample abstract).
• The Results section must contain data. It should not include such statements as “Data will be discussed.” If considerable work is needed before the conference, please state in the abstract that results are preliminary.
• Because of time constraints, changes cannot be made to the abstract after it is submitted. You may find, however, that the results and conclusions of the study do change, based on data analysis done after submission. If your abstract is accepted and significant changes have been made after submission of the abstract, please highlight the changes in your presentation, whether oral or poster.

4. Key Words
Please include 4-6 key words; use terms listed in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) from the Index Medicus (https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/search).

5. Topic of abstract: A list of topics will be provided on the online submission portal. You will be asked to select up to 3 topics from a provided list.

Please refer to the Sample Abstract, and Evaluation Criteria documents in the below section to inform your submission.