Messages from the Secretary

27 June 2010

Notice of the 54^th Annual Scientific Meeting, to be held in Belfast 6^th - 8^th September 2010.
Notice of the AGM, to be held on 6^th September 2010
Notice of retirement of committee members and an invitation for nominations for new ordinary committee members
Notice of retirement of the Honorary Treasurer and an invitation to consider standing for this position
Information on courses, conferences, and publications of potential interest to SSM members.

54^th Annual Scientific Meeting, Belfast

Registration for the 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting to be held at the Queen’s University Belfast from 6^th to 8^th September 2010 opens on Friday 25^th June 2010. See www.ssmconference.org.uk/ for details. We hope to see as many SSM members and new faces as possible there, so please forward this email to colleagues who may be interested in the Society and/or attending the ASM. We recommend that non-members apply to join the Society as soon as possible (applications can be made online via www.socsocmed.org.uk/membership1.htm) so that they can register for the Society at the reduced member’s rate by the end of July, after which the conference fees increase.

Up to 31^st July 2010

From 1^st August 2010

SSM Member or retired member (£)

Non-member (£)

SSM Member or retired member (£)

Non-member (£)

Conference Day Rates

Mon 6^th Sept

Tues 7^th Sept

Wed 8^th Sept

140

160

100

180

100

110

200

110

3-Day Conference

Mon 6^th–Wed 8^th Sept

260

280

300

320

Join SSM for one year

£20 per year

n/a

Dinner: Belfast City Hall

7.30pm Tues 7^th Sept

The programme for the meeting will shortly be available at www.ssmconference.org.uk/

Society for Social Medicine

· 54^th Annual General Meeting

Members are hereby notified that the 54^th Annual General Meeting of the Society for Social Medicine will be held on Monday 6^th September at 5.15pm on Monday 6^th September 2010 at Queen’s University Belfast.

· SSM Committee Membership

Steve Cummins and Ivan Perry will be retiring from the committee at the end of 2010. Nominations are sought from members of the Society for two Ordinary committee members, to serve for a term of three years. The nomination form is attached. If you would like to stand but do not know which of your colleagues or other people are SSM members, you could ask them or you can contact secretary.ssm@gmail.com. The proposer and seconder do not need to sign the same copy of the form if that is difficult.

· SSM Honorary Treasurer

Aileen Clarke is planning to step down as treasurer of the Society at the end of 2010. Invitations are now invited for nominations for the role to start in 2011. Being treasurer involves running the finances of the society and the membership database. It is not too onerous but requires a head for figures! Funding is available for one day a week of administrative support. Perks of the job include a supportive and fun committee meeting three times a year with friendly colleagues at the top of their field, and free attendance at the Annual Scientific Meeting. We are planning a generous overlap period to ensure that the new treasurer feels fully trained and perfectly comfortable in the post. Contact Aileen for further details: aileen.clarke@warwick.ac.uk. The nomination form is attached.

Courses

· The UCL Summer School on Social Determinants of Health 12^th – 16^th July 2010, UCL, London, UK.

See www.ucl.ac.uk/iish/summerschool09/Leaflet%20Summer%20School%202010.pdf. Fees for the 2010 Summer School are £650 for payment received after 28^th May 2010.

· Introductory course How to practice evidence-based care, 14^th & 15th October 2010, Edinburgh, UK

See: www.crts.org.uk/CRF/Edinburgh/. They are offering a 10% discount to SSM members.

· Erasmus Summer Programme Quantitative Medical Research, 9^th – 27^th August 2010, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

NIHES and Erasmus MC have announced the 20^th programme: www.erasmussummerprogramme.nl/

· Concepts of Epidemiology: introductory crash course 6-10th of December 2010, Edinburgh, UK

See: www.lifelong.ed.ac.uk/cpd/courses/medicine?Course=K1797

There are five bursaries for Scotland-based participants working/studying in the public sector, courtesy of the generosity of NHS Health Scotland, which will be used for those who cannot raise the funding from their employers.

In addition, up to five SSM members can benefit from a 10% discount, given they have a current SSM membership number. The course had a waiting list last year, so they would encourage SSM members to take up this offer sooner rather than later. Contact Barbara Badger: Barbara.Badger@ed.ac.uk .

· A unique new masters level module in Health Screening will be running at the University of Warwick in December 2010.

Supported by the National Screening committee, the course includes:

§ Criteria for Introducing Screening Programmes

§ Technicalities of Screening Test Performance

§ Screening Economics

§ Ethical Issues and

§ Opportunities to meet and discuss these topics with experts from the UK National Screening Committee

The course can be taken either as part of established masters programmes or as a standalone course. The National Screening Committee is offering two free places this year. For further information visit http://cpd.screening.nhs.uk/warwick-module or contact: Jeanette Pratt Course Co-ordinator - Masters in Public Health at J.Pratt@warwick.ac.uk.

Other conferences

· First International association of NGOs (UN) Conference to be held on 17th and 18th July 2010 at New Delhi. See www.ggsict.net.

Research funding

The Management Board of the Actuarial Profession wishes to commission research in the area of modelling and understanding heterogeneity in mortality and morbidity risk which has an impact in areas of actuarial interest. The focus of the call will be on pump-priming interdisciplinary university-based research in the area of mortality/longevity/morbidity with a clear line to how the results will be fed back to the Profession and/or lead to ground-breaking research. The Profession would welcome proposals in the following areas:

1. The three themes underpinning the 2009 Joining Forces conference www.actuaries.org.uk/knowledge/publications/conferences/joining_forces_on_mortality_and_longevity_20091021:

2. Areas with immediate practical impact

3. The public interest:

Further details including the application process can be found at www.actuaries.org.uk/call_research_mortality. The closing date for applications is 5.00 pm BST on 31^st August 2010. For further information or an informal chat, please contact Ruth Loseby at ruth.loseby@actuaries.org.uk.

Other information of potential interest to members

· Michael Marmot´s strategic review of health inequalities in England post 2010 report, entitled Fair Society Healthy Lives, can be downloaded at www.ucl.ac.uk/gheg/marmotreview.

· Several new books on health available from the Policy Press www.policypress.co.uk with a website discount of 20%. Also journals.