Digital Public Health Seminar Series

We are hosting a series of workshops on Digital Public Health this May through July. The seminar series will consist of 4 modules. As a participant, you will have an opportunity to actively interact with speakers from across the world and engage with key concepts through scenarios based on the speakers’ real-world experiences. Find information and registration link for each session below.

Session 1

May 22, 2024, 12 – 3 PM PDT

Digital Public Health – What is it, and how does it affect public health practice?

Summary:

The acceleration of digital transformation of public health and society in general has implications for public health practice. “Digital public health” has been used in different ways to describe practice changes in public health that are being made to leverage digital technologies in the field and respond to public health challenges resulting from the broader digital transformation in society. Some of these challenges include escalating misinformation and disinformation amplified through digital media and the role of digital determinants of health on public health outcomes. In this session, participants will have interactive discussions with speakers from BC and Europe who have researched and practiced digital public health. The interactive discussions will enable participants to recognize the role of digital public health in modern practice, consider the implications of digital public health in their own practice and consider practical ways to integrate solutions into their current or future public health practice.

Speakers:

Ihoghosa Iyamu MD, MDICHA, is a PhD Candidate at the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH), UBC and a Graduate Researcher at the clinical prevention services unit of the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC).
Stefan Buttigieg, MD. works in the Ministry for Health and Active Aging in Malta and is the Vice President of the Digital Health Section of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA).
Laura Maaß is a PhD candidate at the Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health Bremen (LSC), Germany, and a member of the steering committee of the European Public Health Association’s Digital Health section. She is a public health practitioner by training.
Felix Holl PhD, MPH, MSc, is a postdoctoral fellow in Medical Informatics at the DigiHealth Institute, Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences, Germany and a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Elida Sina, PhD, is a post-doctoral researcher at Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS, Bremen, Germany

Where?

This seminar was held virtually on Zoom, the recording is available here.

Session 2

June 5, 2024, 12 – 3 PM PDT

Digital Health Promotion

Summary:

The presentation will provide an overview of modern tools for public health promotion including social media, mobile apps, and other online education channels, describe strategies to ensure effective communication using such media for various target populations and explore the risk of misinformation and disinformation. You will interact with speakers from across Canada in this session. This workshop will explore real-world problems with designing health promotion campaigns using digital media and identify strategies to ensure effective public health communication. Participants will gain skills for effective public health promotion and communication using digital technologies.

Speaker/Facilitator

Mark Gilbert, Associate Professor, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia and Public health physician at British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. He holds an Applied Public Health Chair related to improving STBBI testing systems.

Panelists

Francisco Ibanez-Carrasco, Assistant professor, in Learning Innovations at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto and member of The Canada-International HIV and Rehabilitation Research Collaborative (CIHRRC).
Ian Roe, Co-Founder, I Boost Immunity and Kids Boost Immunity, Content Strategist, Communicable Disease and Immunization Service at British Columbia Centre for Disease Control
Heather Pedersen, Online Sexual Health Manager, Clinical Prevention Services, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control
Ihoghosa Iyamu, Post Doctoral fellow at the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH), UBC and a Graduate Researcher at the clinical prevention services unit of the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC).

Where?

This seminar was held virtually on Zoom, and the recording is available here.

Session 3

June 26, 2024, 12 – 3 PM PDT

Design Thinking in Public Health

Summary:

This seminar will provide an overview of design thinking principles – a human-centered approach to innovation and problem-solving. Specifically, it will focus on the application of the 5 stages of design thinking to address public health problems using digital technologies. Participants will learn about tools and approaches to navigate ethical and equity challenges with applying design thinking when creating digital public health interventions at scale. This session will be facilitated by product designers who will share practice-informed tools that can help participants better understand concepts related to design thinking and human-centered design in their own public health practice. Come prepared for a workshop-style afternoon where you will get a feel for what these tools and approaches are, with lots of opportunities to ask questions and get feedback (if you wish).

For in-person attendees, pizza lunch will be provided. Limited seats only, please confirm your mode of attendance (and your dietary restrictions for in-person attendees) when signing up.

Speakers:

Sol Alban is a product designer with UX designing experience and a Master of Library and Information Studies student the University of British Columbia.
Mark Bondyra, User experience designer and Senior business analyst at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control
Heather Pedersen, Online Sexual Health Manager (GetCheckedOnline, SmartSexResource) the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control
Ihoghosa Iyamu MD, MDICHA, PhD is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH), UBC and a Graduate Researcher at the clinical prevention services unit of the BC Centre for Disease Control.

Where?

This session will be hybrid with primary attendance being in-person. Video-conference via zoom will be facilitated for virtual attendees not based in Vancouver.

In person (with pizza lunch) at Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre (DHCC), 2775 Laurel Street, Vancouver; or
Virtual via Zoom

Recording

The recording is available here .

Session 4

July 10, 2024, 12 – 3 PM PDT

Virtual on Zoom

Decoding Machine Learning for Public Health Research: Case Studies from Epidemiological Research

Summary

In this focused presentation, we aim to demystify the complex world of machine learning (ML) and illuminate its potential to revolutionize public health research. Starting with a clear breakdown of essential ML terminologies, we will guide attendees through the processes involved in employing ML techniques for insightful predictive and causal analyses. Central to our workshop is a series of real-world examples from our own clinical research endeavors, showcasing the practical application of ML approaches in addressing public health challenges. These examples will cover disease areas such as Tuberculosis and Multiple Sclerosis. We will navigate through the hurdles commonly faced in this innovative field, sharing strategies devised from our experiences to overcome these obstacles. The session is designed to shed light on best practices, drawing upon specific methodologies to stimulate an enriching dialogue about their relative merits and applicability. Participants will have ample opportunities to ask questions.

Speakers

Dr. Ehsan Karim, Assistant Professor, School of Population and Public Health at UBC & Scientist at the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes
Md. Belal Hossain, PhD Candidate at University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health
Hanna Frank, PhD Candidate, University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health
Momenul Haque Mondol, PhD Student, University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health

Where?

This session held virtually on zoom.

Recording

The recording is available here .