Annual Meeting of The American College of Preventive Medicine Spotlights Healthy Families and Healthy Communities

Annual Meeting of The American College of Preventive Medicine Spotlights Healthy Families and Healthy Communities

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM), the nation's leading society of physicians committed to health promotion and disease prevention, will host Preventive Medicine 2012 in Orlando, Florida February 22-25. The nation's premiere conference on the science and practice of preventive medicine will feature world-class educational programming, intensive skill-building institutes and scientific abstract sessions. The theme of this year's conference, "Healthy Families, Healthy Communities," will be reflected throughout the program agenda and will focus on practical strategies for improving and maintaining the health and well-being of children and adolescents, their families, and the communities in which they live, learn, work and play.

Preventive Medicine 2012 will spotlight renowned thought leaders in public health and preventive medicine

• William Foege, MD, MPH, Fellow in the Global Health Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has played a key role in many of the major important public health advances of the 20th century, including the eradication of smallpox and the quantification of the actual causes of death attributable to preventable factors, such as smoking, poor nutrition and other behavioral risks, and environmental exposures. He has served in a variety of executive positions at the Carter Center and is senior investigator on child development at the Task Force for Child Survival and Development, as well as Presidential Distinguished Professor of International Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. As an accomplished author and lecturer, Dr. Foege has worked to broaden public awareness of the issues of child survival and development, population, preventive medicine, and public health leadership.
  
• Mark Hyman, MD, a family physician, four-time New York Times bestselling author, and Chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine, will discuss the groundbreaking whole-systems medicine approach known as Functional Medicine. Dr. Hyman's soon-to-be-published book, The Blood Sugar Solution, and companion PBS special which will air in March, address the global epidemic of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. At Preventive Medicine 2012, he will present chronic disease as a "food borne" illness and discuss how it can be prevented and reversed through diet.
  
• Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD, an internist and health economist, also serves as Director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Volpp has been involved in numerous studies and published extensively on the use of financial incentives in smoking cessation, weight control, and health insurance value-based premium incentives. He will provide an in-depth look at how behavioral economics has been studied and used to improve health behaviors, with an emphasis on risk factor reduction and control, both from personal incentives and through health policy actions, like health insurance benefit design.

"This year, the American College of Preventive Medicine is truly fortunate to have some of the most astute minds and influential voices in the field of preventive health on our program to address our membership," says ACPM President Miriam Alexander, MD, MPH, FACPM. "Experts like Drs. Foege, Hyman and Volpp, with their vast experience and unique perspectives, will provide not only their insights as to where we stand today, but will also look ahead to the future of preventive medicine."

"From public policy to clinical practice, the attendees of Preventive Medicine 2012 are among those seeking out viable solutions to these challenges," notes Dr. Alexander. "This conference presents an opportunity for our community to gather, interact, and explore the latest innovations and advances, as well as learn from each other's experiences."

More than 900 physicians, nurses, medical students and other healthcare professionals will gather at Preventive Medicine 2012 for exceptional educational programming, as well as the latest advances and best practices in Clinical Preventive and Lifestyle Medicine, Prevention Policy, Public Health Practice and Medical Quality. Over 40 educational sessions and skillbuilding institutes will be presented by the nation's leading experts in the field of preventive medicine.

About ACPM

The American College of Preventive Medicine is the national professional society for physicians committed to disease prevention and health promotion. Founded in 1954, ACPM provides leadership in research, professional education, development of public policy, and enhancement of standards of preventive medicine. Specialists in preventive medicine are uniquely trained in both clinical medicine and public health. They have the skills needed to understand and reduce the risks of disease, disability and death in individuals and in population groups.

More information on ACPM is available at www.acpm.org and the full program can be found at www.preventivemedicine2012.org.

SOURCE American College of Preventive Medicine