HLN’s own Aasa Dahlberg Schmit had the pleasure of attending the AMIA 2024 Annual Symposium in San Francisco, where she participated in a panel discussion titled “Partnerships to Promote Public Health Informatics Capacity to Support the Data Modernization Initiative in Public Health.” This was one of 39 panels featured during the conference. The 2024 Annual Symposium attracted over 2,500 attendees, marking it as the highest-attended symposium to date, with participants from 47 states, 7% international attendees, and 24% students.
Aasa presented a poster session titled “Data Modernization Initiative (DMI) Leadership and Projects Across State Public Health Agencies.”
Aasa’s primary focus was on sessions, panels, and posters related to public health informatics, which, although somewhat limited and challenging to locate, provided valuable insights. She particularly enjoyed the overview of the Public Health Data Exchange presented by ASTHO, UCF, ASTP, and the CDC, as well as a presentation by the CDC on NERDS, a national center’s education program related to data science aimed at rapidly upskilling staff. She attended sessions on the use of generative AI to enhance and support clinical workflows. The rapid advancements in this area are both impressive and raise some concerns.
Aasa is eagerly anticipating next year’s AMIA Symposium, which aims to focus more on public health informatics.