We are delighted to invite abstract submissions for Public Health Science: A National Conference Dedicated to New Research in UK Public Health, to be held as a virtual conference this year on 26 November, 2021. Now in its ninth year, this annual conference aims to showcase the diversity, quality, and impact of public health research in the UK and Ireland. The conference provides a platform for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers – including those early in their careers – to discuss important public health issues; the latest public health perspectives and science; and their implications for public health practice, policy, health services, and research.
One of the greatest challenges of our time is the climate crisis and its impacts on environments, livelihoods, health, and wellbeing. Climate change has been called the biggest threat to global health in the 21st century and especially affects the most vulnerable populations in society. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the social and health inequalities that it has laid bare, highlights converging climate and health crises.
Although submissions can be related to any area of public health, for this year’s conference we welcome interdisciplinary submissions from researchers, charities, local authorities, National Health Service workers, and policy makers at the intersection between environment, sustainability, and public health, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference will consist of oral paper presentations, chaired poster sessions, and keynote speeches. Submissions are now open for oral and poster presentations. Abstracts can be submitted under any of the three core themes: a) creativity in public health science; b) new methodological approaches to public health science; or c) impact and implementation of public health science in policy and practice. Research described in the abstracts may have been undertaken anywhere in the world, but must be relevant to public health science, practice, and policy in the UK and Ireland. We particularly encourage submissions from individuals in the early stages of their careers. Contributions are also encouraged from disciplines not traditionally associated with health, such as engineering, built environment, energy and resources, planning, and natural sciences, where the research relates to public health.
In recognition of the contribution that early career researchers make to public health, we will again be awarding prizes for the best oral and poster presentations by early career researchers. These prizes are sponsored by The Lancet and the NIHR School for Public Health Research. If you wish to be entered into this competition, please indicate in your covering letter whether you are a pre-PhD researcher (eg, MSc student, foundation year trainee, research assistant, public health trainee, or academic clinical fellow), PhD student, or postdoctoral trainee (eg, clinical lecturers, clinician scientist fellows, or equivalent posts).
Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words, be written in English, and contain no references, tables, or figures. Submissions should include the following sections: background (including context and aim); methods; findings; and interpretation. Please also include a non-declaratory title (including a study descriptor – eg, retrospective cohort study, RCT); names, titles, highest degrees, and affiliations of authors; postal and email address for the corresponding author; any funding received (please also state if none); and a brief summary of each author’s contributions and competing interests. Abstract guidelines are available on The Lancet’s website. Reports of randomised controlled trials should follow the CONSORT extension for abstracts guidance. Abstracts should not have been previously published elsewhere and must include some results (results of ongoing analyses are acceptable). Abstracts accepted after peer review will be published by The Lancet, online and in print.
Submit your abstract as a Microsoft Word document through The Lancet’s online submission system, stating in your covering letter that the submission is for the Public Health Science conference. All abstracts will be considered for oral and poster presentations. The deadline for abstract submission is 14 June 2021. After The Lancet’s peer review process, successful applicants will be informed of the acceptance of their abstract for oral or poster presentation by September 15, 2021.