In June, Canada will host the first-ever Epidemiology Congress. It will be the first in North America to be jointly sponsored by four major epidemiology organizations: the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the Society for Epidemiologic Research, the American College of Epidemiology and the American Public Health Association Epidemiology Section. The event will take place from June 14 to 16 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.

The Congress will bring together a larger number of epidemiologists than any meeting before. It will give the profession an opportunity to take stock of past achievements, identify its current strengths and weaknesses, and prioritize future challenges, especially regarding what needs to be accomplished during the next decade for epidemiology to thrive.

According to the organizers, it will preserve many unique features of each organization's own meeting traditions while allowing for discussion and reflection of issues common to all epidemiologists at plenary sessions. Perspectives from experts in specific fields will be disseminated through the Congress 2001 website to stimulate focused discussions before and during the meeting. Other features of the Congress include highlighted poster sessions with awards, breakfast roundtables, special symposia and lectures.