Attending the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) Leadership in Action Conference is always a highlight, and the 2025 gathering in Palm Springs, CA, provided much-needed warmth (for those hailing from the north) and a moment for reflection and community building. Held at a beautiful resort, the setting itself offered a sense of tranquility—a rare commodity for those working in public health today.
An Inspirational Gathering
While the conference saw slightly lower attendance than previous years, and a palpable sense of uncertainty pervaded the discussions among the immunization program managers and staff, the event ultimately proved to be both congenial and motivational. The opening plenary, delivered by Mark Del Monte, CEO/Executive VP of the American Academy of Pediatrics, resonated with many from the start. His remarks were a powerful reminder of our core purpose, urging us not to give up in the face of ongoing challenges. He drew inspiration from history, citing immunologists who faced scorn and ridicule for their beliefs, reinforcing the idea that opposition is nothing new and that our dedication will ultimately prevail. A common mantra heard at the conference – this too shall pass!
Key Conversations and Highlights
The pre-conference poolside reception set the tone for informal, yet crucial, conversations. Discussions ranged from the recent ACIP meeting recommendations, the noticeable absence of CDC staff, to the overarching uncertainty regarding future public health policies and funding.
However, there were moments of celebration, particularly for the various AIM award recipients, and shared success stories. News from North Dakota about completing and receiving their Medicaid-Match identified a potential additional funding pathway for other jurisdictions to pursue.
HLN and ICE…and Don’t Forget the Cookies
The HLN booth generated significant buzz—and not just because of the delicious cookies! There was a lot of conversation about HLN’s free, open-source evaluation and forecaster system, the Immunization Calculation Engine (ICE).
ICE represents a decade of investment in developing a robust immunization forecasting software. Easy to implement and increasingly being leveraged within Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Immunization Information Systems (IISs), ICE delivers evidence-based recommendations, aligned with professional medical societies’ guidelines and is continually refined through feedback from HLN’s ICE Advisory Group.
ICE comes initially configured with a default immunization schedule that supports all routine childhood, adolescent, and adult immunizations. Recent shifts in ACIP’s processes and composition have reaffirmed HLN’s commitment to following evidence-based recommendations from professional medical societies. Reach out to ice@hln.com for more information or read more at hln.com/ice.
The 2025 AIM conference was a crucial end-of-year checkpoint for the immunization program community. It provided a space to acknowledge the difficulties we’ve experienced, while being re-energized by our shared mission, successes, and the innovations—like ICE—that continue to support our work in protecting public health.