Save the date for our 95th GPHA Annual Meeting and Conference! We’ll gather April 30-May 2, 2025, on beautiful Jekyll Island, Georgia.
Check this page often for updates on speakers, registration, hotel reservations and more!
Nominate a Public Health Hero for a GPHA Award
Nominations are now being accepted for several awards to be announced at the 95th GPHA Annual Meeting & Conference scheduled for April 30-May2, 2025 on Jekyll Island.
The deadline to submit nominations is February 28, 2025 at 5 p.m.
The 2025 award categories are:
- Sellers-McCroan Award
- Al Dohany Community Service Award
- Jules S. Terry Memorial Award
- Environmental Health Specialist of the Year Award
- Early Career Environmental Health Specialist of the Year Award
- Environmental Health Innovations Award
- Fred Agel Governance Award
- Georgia Dental Award of Merit
- Stancliff Boone Communicable Disease Specialist Award
- Applied Epidemiologist of the Year Award
- Kathy Miner Health Education and Promotion Award
- Larry W. Miller Health Information Specialist Award
- Barfield Nursing Award
- Lillian D. Wald Public Health Nursing Award
- Maggie Kline Nursing Award
- Ruth B. Freeman Nursing Award for Population Health Practice
- Administration Outstanding Service Award
- Rosemarie B. Newman Nutrition Extra Mile Award
- J. Patrick O’Neal Safety and Health Preparedness Award
- Nutrition Outstanding Leadership Award
- Academic Section Award
- Communications Excellence Award
To submit a nomination, you must complete a nomination form and submit the required information through the Digital Commons portal. Click the button below to begin.
Click here to view a list of last year’s award winners.
Be A Sponsor or Exhibitor At Our Conference!
Support GPHA and Share Your Message
The 2025 Annual Meeting & Conference unites public health professionals, students, and speakers around their shared passion and dedication to the field of public health. This diverse group makes this conference the perfect opportunity for your organization to demonstrate its interest and alignments with the issues facing public health today.
GPHA Facts:
- GPHA has more than 1,200 active members.
- GPHA represents the largest group of public health professionals in the southeast.
- The 2024 GPHA Annual Meeting & Conference hosted over 500 public health professionals and students.
- The Annual Meeting & Conference offers continuing education for CME, CNE, CHES, and nutrition continuing education.
Click the buttons below to learn more about becoming a conference sponsor or exhibitor in 2025, and when you’re ready, click the links to register!
Plenary Speakers
We’re excited to introduce our plenary speakers for the 2025 Conference!
Dr. Caree Jackson Cotwright
Dr. Caree Jackson Cotwright is the Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity for the Food and Nutrition Service at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In this role, Dr. Cotwright leads a whole-of-Department approach to advancing food and nutrition security. She also serves as one of two Departmental representatives on accelerating action on the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health goals to end hunger, improve nutrition and physical activity, and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities and implementing the corresponding National Strategy.
Dr. Jairo Garcia
Dr. Jairo Garcia is an expert in urban sustainability and climate change.
As the former Director of Climate Policy with the City of Atlanta, Dr. Garcia led the development of the first citywide Sustainability Report and the first city’s Climate Action Plan. Dr. Garcia is the CEO of Urban Climate Nexus, the North America Curator for United Nations Habitat, Visiting Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University and The Georgia Institute of Technology, and was selected by the IPCC to work as a Subject Matter Expert in the pre-scoping Special Report on Climate Change and Cities.
Michelle L. Allen
Michelle L. Allen is the Research and Development Institute Director for Positive Impact Health Centers. In this role, Mrs. Allen actively researches, creatively designs, and strategically implements effective methods to educate staff, enhance programmatic performance, and increase organizational presence on both a local and national scale.
Mrs. Allen’s dedication to public health is widely recognized and she has served as a past Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Coalition of STD Directors. She has previously sat on the Advisory Board for the STD/HIV Prevention Training Center at John Hopkins University.
Call for Abstracts
Share your expertise with other public health professionals in Georgia by presenting a workshop or poster at the 2025 GPHA Annual Meeting and Conference.
Due to ongoing severe weather response, the deadline to submit abstracts for GPHA’s 95th Annual Meeting and Conference has been extended. The new date to submit your abstract is Thursday, October 31, 2024.
An abstract submission is required regardless of the presentation format or learning method.
All submissions must be submitted through the Digital Commons portal: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gapha-conference/
You will receive notification of the status of your abstract no later than January 15th, 2025.
The goal of the 2025 Georgia Public Health Association (GPHA) Annual Meeting & Conference is to assemble public health professionals, students, County Board of Health members, and stakeholders for educational opportunities, networking, and partnership development to support the mission and vision of GPHA:
- to advocate for conditions in which all people and communities can be healthy,
- to promote the scientific foundation of public health practice and policy, and
- to assure a continuous voice broadly representing public health in Georgia.
The conference theme is “Public Health Reimagined: Innovation, Collaboration, and Equity.” Participants will receive information, resources, and access to exhibitors to allow them to engage with others engaged in public health practice, explore avenues to protect and promote the health of all people in all communities, promote efforts to achieve equity, and promote policies, systems, and overall community conditions that enable optimal health for all.
Medicine (CME) Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Georgia Public Health Association. The APHA is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Designation Statement: The APHA designates this live educational activity for a maximum of 14.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit (s)™.
Nursing (CNE) Accreditation Statement
This nursing continuing professional development activity was approved by the American Public Health Association’s Public Health Nursing Section Approver Unit, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Health Education (CHES) Statement
Sponsored by the American Public Health Association (APHA), a designated approver of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. This program is designated for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES®) to receive up to 14.5 total Category I contact education contact hours.