
The 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health —Public Health Issues in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Part of the International Electronic Conference on Environmental Health Sciences series
11–25 Jan 2021
Infectious Disease, Mental Health, Reproductive Health, Covid, Global Health, Child Health, Occupational Health, Oral Health, Environmental Exposure
- Go to the Sessions
- Event Details
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- List of Accepted Submissions
- Event Awards
- Relevant Special Issue
- ECERPH-3 Recordings
- Conference Speakers
- Keynote Speakers
- Keynote Presentations
- ECERPH-3 Live Sessions Information
- ECERPH-3 Live Sessions Programs
- Welcome from the Chair
- Conference Chairs
- Sessions
- Event Calls
- Instructions for Authors
- Sponsors and Partners
- Conference Secretariat
- Editions in this series
Conference Closed
ECERPH-3 has been closed successfully with 131 accepted proceedings and 4 live sessions. We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciations to all the participants for their contributions and all the chairs and committee members for their excellent work.
We are in the process of electing for the Best Paper Awards and the Best Presentation Award. Winners will be announced on the conference website.
The journal Proceedings will publish all conference papers free of charge, and we will inform you once we start publication process.
List of accepted submissions (131)
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sciforum-041099 | Health state valuation and its socio-economic factors: online samples from the U.S. and Canada | N/A | N/A |
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This paper seeks to explore how people value the state of health and what socio-economic factors they might consider. I conducted an online experiment and a survey to elicit individuals’ decisions under hypothetical health states, which vary at three levels: mild, moderate, and severe. The socio-economic factors mainly include payment, personal financial situation, hospital service, support from the family, etc. The subjects were from two separate online pools of the United States and Canada, which have similar socio-economic backgrounds and different health care systems. The main task for the subjects (standard gamble) is a valuation task for a given health state, in which the subjects were required to make decisions on whether to take a risky medical treatment when facing various success probabilities. The cut off success probability is the lowest probability that they are willing to take the risky medical treatment. After this procedure, the subjects filled a survey about what factors they might have considered when making the previous decisions. This paper presents the following main results: (1) Subjects are sensitive to different levels of health states. When the health state worsens, the participants are willing to accept a risky medical treatment with a lower probability of success. This finding holds for both samples. (2) Between the two countries’ participants, more Canadians choose not to take the risky treatment; furthermore, in those who choose the risky medical treatment under the same health states, the Canadian participants are willing to accept a lower success probability. (3) Among the socio-economic factors that are significant to this health-related decision, several factors are both considered by the participants in two countries: “employer-purchased insurance plans”, “personal financial situations”, “waiting times for treatment”, “hospital services”, and “support from family or friends”. (4) Some factors are only significant in one country’s participants. For the American sample, it is “access to health insurance”, while for the Canadian sample, it is “disturbances in everyday family life”. |
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sciforum-041634 | The impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the level of worries and its associate to modified active mobility behaviour among Australian children | , , , | N/A | N/A |
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Background: The impact of the COVID19 pandemic on children population is limited. However, the change of life behaviour placed to contain its spread may have prolonged lifelong impact on a vulnerable children population. Nevertheless, damages can be mitigated significantly if prompt detections are carried. This research aimed at capturing the disparity of COVID-19 impact on Australian parents and their primary-school-age children (grades 4-6) level of worry and its correlates with modifying children outdoor active mobility behaviour. Method: We carried a national online survey sample of parents (339) from five states across Australia as well as their primary school-aged children in grades (4-6). Level of worry, amount and frequency of following the pandemic’s news and exposures to daily screen time before and during the COVID-19 outbreak, was captured online among parents as well by their children. Then, parents and children jointly reported about children active mobility behaviour covering two separate weeks, one during the COVD-19 outbreak, and another week on a typical week before then. Exploratory, spatial and statistical analysis are carried using Excel, ArcGIS, and open R statistical package. Results: Initial findings showed disparity on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemics on parents as well as their children, by ethnicity background, by type of school (private or public), and by the amount of exposure to the pandemic media and screen time. Conclusion The in-progress findings of the current research analysis may aid to identify at-risk children population and inform intervention health strategies.
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sciforum-042251 | SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH KNOWLEDGE: EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH | , , | N/A |
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PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic dynamic of sheltering-in-place affords possible opportunities to address social determinants of health (SDOH), as they relate to sexual and reproductive health knowledge (S&RHK). Strategic and crucial opportunities might exist for educational interventions by caregivers engaging in more frequent and prolonged encounters with young people. The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether two social determinants of health, income and education, are associated with sexual and reproductive health knowledge among adult women. METHODS: A 50-item survey was administered to women, aged 20-89 years, in two outpatient, metropolitan, primary care clinics in the United States. 18 of the 50 questions gauged S&RHK, and had only one correct answer. The maximal attainable score was 18. Data was coded and analyzed using IBM-SPSS. Statistical analysis included: Pearson correlation, t, and Chi-squared tests. Statistical significance was established at p <0.05.
RESULTS: 287 women, with a mean age of 55.3 ± 14.2 years, were surveyed. The majority (85.7%) were African-American, with 66 % having incomes ≤ $50,000. Average years of formal education were 14.1 ± 2.5 .The mean S&RHK score was 10.2 ± 3.6, on a scale of 0-18. Of those with formal sex education, 43.5% stated it was sufficient. 32% reported no history of formal sex education. 97% reported that having sufficient S&RHK was important. Positive correlations were found between years of education, income, and S&RHK scores (p<0.001); a negative correlation between age and S&RHK scores (p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: S&RHK was strongly associated with education and income: two SDOH. Older women, irrespective of income, were found to score lower. Educational attainment seemed to have been the discriminating factor in this demographic. All three may figure prominently into an assessment of the effects of social accountability (i.e. the micro-, meso-, and macro- elements of social determinants of health) on health outcomes. |
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sciforum-042064 | High times for cannabis-related videos on YouTube during the COVID-19 lockdown: implications on the risk of cannabis use disorders | , , , | N/A | N/A |
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As a social media platform with billions of daily views, YouTube is a catalyst for influencing behaviour. During the pandemic, many found themselves turning to platforms like YouTube as a source of information and entertainment. This paper investigated the content of cannabis videos on YouTube during COVID-19. The impact of COVID-19 on cannabis use in the community was assessed by identifying 75 YouTube videos uploaded from March-May of 2020. We found that the contents of these videos display the impact of COVID-19 on cannabis use through four key reoccurring themes; (1) buying cannabis (45%), (2) promotion of health claims (36%), (3) the push for legalization (13%) and (4) safety information (5%). More vigorous monitoring and tighter restrictions around social media is required to mitigate the risk of misinformation and normalisation, especially among those who are most vulnerable, such as individuals with cannabis use disorder. |
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sciforum-042104 | Associations between air pollutants and cancer incidence rates in Japan: An ecological study | , , | N/A | N/A |
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We investigated the associations between the incidence rates of the five most common cancer types and five air pollutants in 317 Japanese municipalities in 2017. We obtained the concentrations of the five air pollutants, i.e., sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitric oxide (NO), nitric dioxide (NO2), photochemical oxidants (Ox), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from Japan's National Institute for Environmental Studies and calculated the yearly mean of each. We identified patients of both genders with the five most common cancers in Japan's National Cancer Registry, which covers all of the cancer patients in the country. For the males, we included prostate, stomach, colon, lung, and liver cancers. For the females, we included breast, colon, lung, stomach, and uterine cancers. We calculated the Spearman rank correlation coefficients between 25 pairs of air-pollutant concentrations and the age-standardized incidence rate of the cancer types for each gender. We used a Poisson regression to examine the dose-response relationships. We identified 11 positive correlation coefficients at the Bonferroni-corrected alpha level for the five pollutants for the five cancers in both genders. We observed positive dose-response relationships between NO2 and colon cancer and PM2.5 and lung cancer for both genders. We also observed dose-response relationships between SO2 and PM2.5 and liver cancer for the males, and between NO and lung cancer and NO2 and breast cancer for the females. As an example of a dose-response relationship, with the first quartile of PM2.5 concentrations as the reference, the relative risks for lung cancer among the males were 1.01 (95%CI: 0.97–1.06) in the second quartile, 1.05 (95%CI: 1.00–1.10) in the third quartile, and 1.12 (95%CI: 1.07–1.17) in the fourth quartile. We did not observe significant associations with prostate, stomach, and uterine cancer. Our findings support the concept that exposure to air pollutants increases cancer incidence rates. |
Event Awards
To acknowledge the support of the conference esteemed authors and recognize their outstanding scientific accomplishments, we are pleased to launch the Best Paper Awards and Best Presentation Award.
Winner Announcement
On behalf of the chairs of ECERPH-3, we are pleased to announce the winners of the Best Paper Awards and Best Presentation Award:
The Best Paper Awards have been awarded to
- sciforum-042075, "Mental health and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic among Spanish residents: Do age and gender matter? An exploratory study"
Pilar Martín-Hernández
- sciforum-042204, "Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies frequency in non-Health Care Workers in a highly industrialized province of northern Italy"
Alberto Modenese* , Tommaso Mazzoli, Nausicaa Berselli, Davide Ferrari, Annalisa Bargellini, Paola Borella, Tommaso Filippini, Isabella Marchesi, Stefania Paduano, Marco Vinceti, Fabriziomaria Gobba
The Best Presentation Award has been awarded to
- sciforum-041567, "Impact of COVID-19 infodemics on knowledge, attitude and Social behavior in India: a mixed method survey"
Trishnika Chakraborty*, Gireesh Kumar Subbiah, Rizwana Fathima Jamal, Rohit Kulshrestha, Benjamin Mari Arya, Krithika Subbiah and Yogesh Damade
Each Award consists of 500 CHF.
The Awards
Number of Awards Available: 2
The Best Paper Awards for two papers will be given for the submissions as elected by the conference committee. The Awards will consist of 500 Swiss Francs to each awardee. We look forward to your submission.Number of Awards Available: 1
The Best Presentation Award for one presentation will be given for the submission as elected by the conference committee. The Award will consist of 500 Swiss Francs to awardee. We look forward to your submission.Terms and Conditions:
1. For Best Paper Awards: Submit 3-6 pages extended abstract/full paper to ECERPH-3
2. For Best Presentation Award: Submit presentation files (slide/video/poster) to ECERPH-3
3. Originality of the paper
4. Scientific merit and broad impact
5. Relevance to the conference scope
6. Interest to the readers
7. English language and style
Relevant Special Issue
Selected Papers from the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health—Public Health Issues in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Guest editor: Prof. Dr. Jon Øyvind Odland
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2021
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue is in cooperation with the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health, organized by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) from 11 to 25 January 2021 on the MDPI Sciforum platform. We welcome submissions from participants of the conference.
During the conference, a large number of excellent contributions covering key areas of opportunities and challenges will be presented. More specifically, the following areas were covered:
- infectious disease epidemiology;
- environmental exposures and health;
- mental health;
- children’s health;
- women’s health;
- exercise and health;
- health economics;
- occupational safety and health;
- public health statistics and risk assessment;
- oral health.
Submitted manuscripts should be:
- Title and Abstract should be substantially different with that of conference paper, so that they can be differentiated in various databases.
- 50% new data should be added to make it a real and complete journal paper.
- The conference proceeding should be mentioned and discussed in the introduction section.
- Conference paper link should be provided in the cover letter.
We look forward to your excellent work.
Prof. Dr. Jon Øyvind Odland
Guest Editor
ECERPH-3 Recordings
ECERPH-3 1st live session
Date: 11th January 2021, 15:00pm CET
During the inauguration of the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health, dedicated to Public Health Issues in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic we enjoyed the talks of two main speakers:
1. Dr. Masoud Dara - Responding to Tuberculosis and HIV during the COVID-19 Pandemic
2. Prof. Dr. Jon Øyvind Odland - Reproductive Health and Pregnancy Outcome in the Context of COVID-19
The presentations were followed by a fruitful discussion and a Q&A session.
The live session was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below.
ECERPH-3 2nd live session
Date: 14th January 2021, 15:00pm CET
During the second live session of the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health, we could enjoy two sessions chaired by Prof. Dr. Jimmy Efird and Prof. Dr. Nicola Magnavita, respectively. Both of them along with 3 invited speakers discussed about the epidemiology and the consequences of COVID-19 in different scenarios.
The presentations were followed by a fruitful discussion and a Q&A session. The live session was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below.
ECERPH-3 3rd live session
Date: 18th January 2021, 10:00am CET
During the third live session of the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health, we discussed which was the impact of COVID-19 over mental health and pregnancy, enjoying the following presentations:
1. Prof. Dr. Richard Gray- The Mental Health Impact of COVID-19
2. Dr. Zohra Lassi- A Systematic Analysis of Pregnant Women with Confirmed COVID-19: Clinical presentation, and Pregnancy, Birth and Perinatal Outcomes Based on COVID-19 Severity
3. Roula Zougheibe - Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak on the Level of Worry and Its Association to Modified Active Mobility Behaviour among Australian Children: A Cross-Sectional National Study
The session ended with some time to discuss and answer questions from the attendees. The live session was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below.
ECERPH-3 4th live session
Date: 20th January 2021, 3:00pm CET
During the fourth live session of the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health, we discussed which was the impact of COVID-19 over mental health, enjoying the following presentations:
1. Prof. Dr. Panagiotis Karanis - The Future of Infectious Diseases
2. Dr. Cristina Vassale - Acute Myocardial Infarction in the Time of COVID-19
3. Viveka Guzman - Looking for Flowering Trees to Walk Past: A Qualitative Analysis of US Older Adults' Therapeutic Landscapes during the COVID-19 Pandemic
4. Dr. Pasquale Caponnetto, Dr. Lucio Inguscio, Dr. Marilena Maglia, Sara Valeri - Smartphone Addiction through Age and Gender during Italian Lockdown for COVID-19
Chaired by Dr. Zahid Ahmad Butt, University of Waterloo, Canada
The session ended with some time to discuss and answer questions from the attendees. The live session was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below.
Live Session Invited Speakers

The Mental Health Impact of COVID-19
I am a Research Professor at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. I trained in Epidemiology and Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and did my PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. My major research interest is novel psychosocial treatments in severe mental illness. I have published just over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals; most are quite dull and some starkly contradict each other.
schizophrenia; epidemiology; neuroscience; psychology
[email protected]

Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Norway
Reproductive Health and Pregnancy Outcome in the Context of COVID-19
Jon Øyvind Odland, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Global Health at NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a specialist in GYN/OB, environmental medicine, and epidemiology. He has worked on mother/child programs in more than 20 countries, these days focusing mostly on the Arctic, southern Asia, and Africa. His studies have mostly focused on the impact of the environment and infectious disease on fetal development and pregnancy outcome. He has a scientific production of ca. 200 peer-reviewed papers and is now involved in a new study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers, the healthcare system, and the general population in southern Africa.
[email protected]

Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Health Services Research and Development (DVAHCS/Duke Affiliated Center), USA
Risk Reduction and Multiplicity in Epidemiology Studies
Dr. J. T. Efird completed his Doctorate in Epidemiology (Biostatistics Concentration) at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has over 30 years of experience in the field of cancer research, biostatistics, and informatics, having worked at Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical School), UCSF School of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, and most recently the University of Newcastle, Australia. Currently, he heads the Computational Sciences Team at the Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center and also serves on the GWAS and PhenWAS working groups. His area of intest is epidemiological risk assessment and statistical modelling. He has over 250 publications in scientific journals, which have been cited over 10,000 times (i10-index=135, h-index=51).
[email protected]

Special Representative of Regional Director to Belarus, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe UN City, Copenhagen, Denmark
Responding to Tuberculosis and HIV during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Dr Masoud Dara is a physician and public health specialist from Belgium. In addition to his medical and clinical studies, he has completed several postgraduate courses at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health. He has more than 25 years of experience in public health programmes spanning forty countries across four WHO regions, focusing mainly in eastern Europe and central Asia. Between 1998 and 2001, Dr Dara worked as a medical doctor and Programme Manager for Médecins Sans Frontières in Central Asia, and as the Head of Belgian Red Cross in Kosovo. From 2001 to 2003, he served as a WHO Medical Officer in Moscow, and from 2003 to 2010, as a Senior Consultant for the Royal Netherlands Tuberculosis Association (KNCV). Between 2010 and 2014, he led the WHO/Europe’s TB and MDR-TB programme. From 2014 to 2016, based at the WHO Office at the European Union in Brussels, Dr Dara served as the WHO Senior Advisor for communicable diseases, health emergencies, and humanitarian response. From October 2016 to October 2020, he coordinated the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s Communicable Diseases Department and led the Joint Tuberculosis, HIV, and viral hepatitis programme. Between March and October 2019, he acted as the Director of the Division of Communicable Diseases. Since 2008, Dr Dara has chaired the international scientific working group of TB control in prisons at the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, and served as Associate Editor of International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases since February 2015, a member of the Editorial Board of Eurosurveillance since September 2018, and on the Editorial Board of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health since February 2019. Dr Dara has authored more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals and numerous WHO guidelines. He speaks Persian, English, French, Dutch, and Russian. Dr Dara has initiated and led the establishment of several partnership fora, organized various high-level Ministerial Policy Dialogue me
emerging infectious diseases; infection prevention and control; climate change and vector-borne diseases; HIV; viral hepatitis; sexually transmitted diseases; tuberculosis
[email protected]

Department of Basic and Clinical Sciences, Centre of Anatomy, University of Nicosia Medical School, Cyprus,
Medical Faculty and University Hospital, The University of Cologne, Germany
The Future of Infectious Diseases
Born in Chryso/Evritania/Greece. Professor Karanis is a resourceful and dedicated professor with an outstanding academic background, excellent publication record, and significant teaching experiences in the fields of human anatomy and infectious tropical diseases. Enjoys worldwide collaborating in a productive and successful team and thrives in challenging environments. He completed his university studies and education in German Universities with a complete academic career in Germany and professorships at the Medical Schools of Bonn and Cologne Faculties in Germany, at the National Research Center of the Obihiro University in Hokkaido, Japan, and at the Center for Biomedicine and Infectious Diseases at the Qinghai University in Xining, Qinghai, China. He possesses mature administrative and managerial abilities and solid experience in science policy and public health. Since September 2019, he has been a Professor of Anatomy at the University of Nicosia Medical School and is the director of the Anatomy Centre and Coordinator of the Unit of Anatomy and Morphology at the University of Nicosia Medical School. He recognized the future of infectious diseases and the importance of epidemics and consciously chose them for his main field of research at a time when the western world was celebrating the eradication of infectious diseases, thinking that humanity had gotten rid of the old and well-known diseases. He has been invited by governments in Japan and China and has been elected a full professor. Professor Karanis has created new fields of research, new laboratories and departments, new structures and jobs with huge investment potential in the field of epidemiology, molecular biomedicine, parasitology, and public health worldwide. He has taught and researched specifically in Germany, Greece, Japan, and China with shorter research stays in Australia, Canada, and Thailand. His main research interests are in the fields of tropical diseases and neglected diseases. Diseases that affect millions of people every year not only in underdeveloped countries in Africa, Asia, a
anatomy; infectious diseases; neglected and emerging diseases
[email protected]

Postgraduate School of Occupational Health, Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
The Role of Occupational Health in Countering the Pandemic
Associate Professor in Occupational Health at the Department of Science of Woman/Child &Public Health of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) of Rome (Italy), physician in the Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS of Rome. Director of the postgraduate School of Occupational Health, UCSC, Rome. Coordinator of the degree course in Techniques for the Protection of the Environment and Workplace, UCSC, Colleferro's headquarters. Member of the Directory Board of the Department of Life Sciences & Public Health, UCSC, Rome. Main activities: Teaching, Research, and Medical assistance. ORCID 0000-0002-0988-7344. Scopus h-index: 27, Documents: 228; Citations: 2442. WOS h-index: 24, Articles 152; Citations 1893. Google Scholar h-index: 34, i-10 index:90; citations 4304.
health promotion; public health; epidemiology health; risk assessment; safety; risk analysis; epidemiology and public health; healthcare; environmental risk assessment; health and safety; sleep disorders and sleep medicine; risk factors; determination of
[email protected]

Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Italy
Smartphone Addiction through Age and Gender during Italian Lockdown for COVID-19
Pasquale Caponnetto, PhD in Health Science, Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist. -Clinical Psychology Coordinator at Researcher, The Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of HArm Reduction (CoEHAR), University of Catania, Italy. -Contract Professor Clinical Psychology and Addiction, at DISFOR University of Catania, Italy.
clinical psychology; psychotherapists
[email protected]
Keynote Speakers
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Annalaura Carducci, Ph.D. Research Interest: |
Short Bio
Prof. Carducci graduated in Biological Sciences, specialized in Hygiene and Public Health, and is now Full Professor of General and Applied Hygiene at the Department of Biology, University of Pisa, where she is responsible for the Hygiene and Environmental Virology Laboratory and the Health Communication Observatory in addition to serving as Director of the Master in Industrial Hygiene, Prevention, and Safety. Since 2017, she has coordinated the working group of “Environment and Health” of the National Italian Society of Public Health and she is a member of a similar working group of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Her main research topics concern the epidemiology and prevention of infectious diseases with particular focus on biological risk analysis of foods, water, air and life, and working settings. She is also interested in health and risk communication. She is the author of more than 250 extended publications in indexed and high-impact journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings.
Title: Health and Environment: A Changing Paradigm in the COVID-19 Era
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted our relationship with the environment and the achievement of sustainable development goals, sometimes in opposite ways. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated the urgent need to adopt the “one health” approach in every future action involving health and the environment, and its spread has highlighted the importance of research about the environmental determinants of its transmission. Increasing knowledge about the virus’ presence in different environmental matrices and conditions is revealing the significant diffusion of its RNA, although its actual viability in these circumstances remains to be demonstrated. Moreover, some epidemiological findings suggest that environmental conditions may be associated with the spread and related mortality of the virus. COVID-19 prevention still relies on measures linked to the environment: the use of masks, social distancing, hygiene and disinfection. On the other hand, some of these measures can exacerbate environmental pollution, such as increased waste (gloves and masks) and generalized use of disinfectants: this can produce an apparent conflict of interest between the infective and chemical risks. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic should change our approach to environmental risk assessment, focusing not only on chemicals but also on biological agents, with the analysis and comparison of these substances through quantitative methods. Efforts made toward recovering from the socio-economic impact of the pandemic should also be focused on environmental preservation and protection. In conclusion, the pandemic provides us with the opportunity to rethink the coupling of health and the environment from a wider and more comprehensive perspective.
Keywords: health and environment; COVID-19; one health approach; environmental transmission; chemical and biological risk assessment.
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Jimmy Efird, Ph.D. Research Interest: |
Short Bio
Prof. Dr. Jimmy T. Efird completed his Doctorate in Epidemiology (Biostatistics Concentration) at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has over 30 years of experience in the field of cancer research, biostatistics, and informatics, having worked at Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical School), UCSF School of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine and, most recently, the University of Newcastle, Australia. Currently, he heads the Computational Sciences Team at the Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center and also serves on the GWAS and PhenWAS working groups. His area of interest is epidemiological risk assessment and statistical modeling. He has over 250 publications in scientific journals which have been cited over 10,000 times (i10-index = 135, h-index = 51).
Title: The Prophylaxis Potential of Carnosine in the Management of COVID-19
Abstract
After Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)—the causative agent of the disease known as COVID-19—is the third coronavirus to pose serious threats to human society in this century. With 67,367,046 confirmed cases and 1,545,331 deaths worldwide as of 10 December 2020, this disease has become a global emergency. Mortality rates are higher among the elderly population and those with comorbidities such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and hypertension obesity. Increased oxidative stress/cytokine storm is also one of the main causes of COVID-19-associated complications. Carnosine is a well-established anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, antihypertensive, antineoplastic, antichelating, and neuroprotective agent that is helpful in maintaining the body’s pH balance. It is a naturally occurring dipeptide and is present in human skeletal muscles, cardiac muscles, and brain. The compound reduces the concentration of oxygen free radicals; chelates heavy metals such as iron, zinc, and copper; and inhibits protein glycation and the generation of protein carbonyls. The carnosine/non-hydrolyzed isopeptide of carnosine/N-acetylcarnosine, which is available without prescription, merits further consideration as a low-cost prophylactic approach to COVID-19 and the associated complications of this disease. This is especially relevant to low-resource regions of the world, which may be the last to achieve population-based herd immunity through vaccination.
Keywords: carnosine; COVID-19; anti-inflammatory; anti-aging; antihypertensive; antineoplastic; antichelating; neuroprotective
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Guglielmo Campus, Ph.D. Research Interest: |
Short Bio
Guglielmo Campus was nominated Extraordinariat Professor fur Präventivzahnmedizin und Orale Epidemiologie starting from February the 1st, 2019. He began his training at the Dental school, University of Sassari where he received his degree. He is Associate Professor Community Dentistry, Cariology and Paeditric Dentistry, University of Sassari since 2014. He is also Coordinator of the Italian WHO Collaborating Center (WHO CC) for Epidemiology and Community Dentistry. Research interests are largely direct towards Oral Epidemiology, Community Dentistry, Preventive Dentistry, Cariology and Paediatric Dentistry. During the years research interests span from Public Health Dentistry, Community Dentistry, Paediatric Dentistry, Restorative materials and Preventive programs. He is Member of the Research Board within The Italian Minister of Health for the realization of the Italian National Guidelines for Caries prevention and of the Clinical recommendations in Paediatric Dentistry. Dr. Campus is authors of more than 180 scientific papers. His work inside the WHO CC is to plan, to coordinate the assessing of oral health conditions of populations, policies development and implementation in Italy and other countries like Burkina Faso, Mexico etc; to support the early implementation of the phase down use of dental amalgam in the context of the Minamata Convention and Universal Health coverage (UHC) in Italy; to support measure that encourage life-course approach and population-based strategies related to reducing sugar consumption, tobacco control and affordability of fluoride-containing toothpaste and others vehicles of fluoride.
Title: COVID-19 Outbreak: International Collaborative Survey on Burden of Disease among Dentists, 2020.
Abstract
Dentists have a long tradition of control of infection. The global COVID-19 outbreak has had severe repercussions on interactions between individuals, on their behavior and on society as a whole. Work activities with a high potential of COVID-19 infection include healthcare workers performing aerosol-generating procedures or collecting/handling specimens from patients or bodies known to have or suspected of having COVID-19. The risk of cross-infection in dentistry is considerably increased by splatters and aerosols produced during routine dental treatments. The authors searched PubMed and its specific hub, Embase and Scopus servers, up to May 18, 2020, for epidemiological studies using the terms “Dentists” or “Dental personnel” and “SARS-CoV-2”, without date or language restrictions. Few or small studies that focused on specific population subgroups were found. Large population-based studies are needed to estimate the infectivity rate among dentists, to collect symptoms/signs presumably related to COVID-19 and to investigate the adopted preventive measures and personal protective equipment (PPE). To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak among dentists in several countries, a multicenter cross-sectional survey was designed with the aim to estimate the symptoms/signs reported by dentists that are presumably related to COVID-19, to explore work attitudes and behaviors and to investigate the level of preparedness regarding the protective measures and PPE used to reduce the risk of viral infection and transmission. An ad hoc questionnaire was developed and pretested in April 2020; 36 collaborating research groups around the world participated in the survey. The protocol of the study was previously described and registered in the World Pandemic Research Network (WPRN), WPRN-486352. The questionnaire had three domains: (1) personal data; (2) symptoms/signs presumably related to COVID-19; and (3) working conditions and PPE adopted after the outbreak of the infection. In the participating countries, dentists working in national health systems or in private or public settings were invited to respond to the questionnaire. Countries’ data were grouped by the case positivity rate of COVID-19 according to the survey period and grouped by gross national income per capita in 2019, Atlas method and PPP (international dollar). This is the first global population-based study that describes the effect of COVID-19 on the dental profession, reports symptoms/signs suffered by dentists and presumably related to COVID-19, explores work attitudes and behavior, and investigates the level of preparedness regarding the protective measures and PPE used to reduce the risk of viral infection and transmission. The survey data include more than 50,000 participants spread over 36 countries. The findings show that living in countries with high COVID-19 positivity rates increases the probability that dentists become infected. In terms of protective measures, the use of N95/FFP2 masks is associated with significantly reduced chances that dentists present symptoms/signs related to the disease, while other types of PPE seem to be less relevant in SARS-CoV-2 protection. Overall, the probability of dentists becoming infected is associated with the gross national income (GNI) of the countries where they work. The findings confirm the recommendation of enhancing the use of high-standard masks. This study offers global evidence regarding the dental profession and COVID-19, providing a measurement framework and methods for countries and global stakeholders to better plan health service provision. Although our data do not support all recommended enhanced protective measures, except for the use of high-standard masks, the results must be carefully interpreted.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; dentistry; global health; public health dentistry
ECERPH-3 Live Sessions Information
During the e-conference, four live sessions have been scheduled. We have invited some speakers to share their latest research. Also, a number of excellent submissions have been selected, and these works will be presented during the live sessions by the authors. During each live session, the participants will have the chance to ask questions in the “open for discussion” section.
The live sessions are free for everyone. If you are interested in attending, please register in advance for your chosen session by clicking the "Webinar Registration" buttons which are showing in below live sessions program.
ECERPH-3 Live Sessions Programs
11 January 2021
Session 1
Date: 11 January 2021
Time: 03:00pm (CET) | 09:00am (EDT) | 10:00pm (CST Asia)
Speaker |
Presentation Topic |
Time (CET) |
Conference Chair Jon Øyvind Odland, The Norwegian University for Science and Technology |
Initial Greeting of the Conference |
03:00pm – 03:10pm |
Invited Speaker Masoud Dara, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe UN City |
Responding to Tuberculosis and HIV during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
03:10pm – 03:40pm |
Conference Chair Jon Øyvind Odland, The Norwegian University for Science and Technology |
Reproductive Health and Pregnancy Outcome in the Context of COVID-19 |
03:40pm – 04:10pm |
Open for Discussions |
04:10pm – 04:30pm |
14 January 2021
Session 2
Date: 14 January 2021
Time: 03:00pm (CET) | 09:00am (EDT) | 10:00pm (CST Asia)
Speaker |
Presentation Topic |
Time (CET) |
Session chair Jimmy Efird, Health Services Research and Development |
Initial Greeting |
03:00pm - 03:10pm |
Session chair Jimmy Efird, Health Services Research and Development |
Risk Reduction and Multiplicity in Epidemiology Studies of COVID-19 |
03:10pm - 03:30pm |
Selected Presentation form Sessions Mario Keko |
COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil: Clinical Manifestation and Effect of Comorbidities on Outcomes of Hospitalized SARI Cases |
03:30pm - 03:45pm |
Short Break & Open for Discussions |
03:45pm - 04:00pm |
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Session chair Nicola Magnavita, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore |
The Role of Occupational Health in Countering the Pandemic |
04:00pm - 04:20pm |
Selected Presentation form Sessions Alberto Modenese |
Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies Frequency in Non-Health Care Workers in a Highly Industrialized Province of Northern Italy |
04:20pm - 04:35pm |
Selected Presentation form Sessions Patricia Gillen |
Health and Social Care Workers' Quality of Working Life and Coping while Working during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Positive Coping and Work-Related Quality of Life as Resilence and Protective Factors Impacting on Wellbeing |
04:35pm - 04:50pm |
Open for Discussions |
04:50pm - 05:10pm |
18 January 2021
Session 3
Date: 18 January 2021
Time: 10:00am (CET) | 04:00am (EDT) | 05:00pm (CST Asia)
Speaker |
Presentation Topic |
Time (CET) |
Invited Speaker Richard Gray, La Trobe University |
The Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 |
10:00am – 10:30am |
Selected Presentation form Sessions Zohra Lassi |
A Systematic Analysis of Pregnant Women with Confirmed COVID-19: Clinical presentation, and Pregnancy, Birth and Perinatal Outcomes Based on COVID-19 Severity |
10:30am – 10:45am |
Selected Presentation form Sessions Roula Zougheibe |
Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak on the Level of Worry and Its Association to Modified Active Mobility Behaviour among Australian Children: A Cross-Sectional National Study |
10:45am – 11:00am |
Open for Discussions |
11:00am – 11:20am |
20 January 2021
Session 4
Date: 20 January 2021
Time: 03:00pm (CET) | 09:00am (EDT) | 10:00pm (CST Asia)
Speaker |
Presentation Topic |
Time (CET) |
Session Chair Zahid Ahmad Butt, University of Waterloo |
Initial Greeting |
03:00pm – 03:10pm |
Invited Speaker Panagiotis Karanis, The University of Cologne |
The Future of Infectious Diseases |
03:10pm – 03:40pm |
Selected Presentation form Sessions Cristina Vassalle |
Acute Myocardial Infarction in the Time of COVID-19 |
03:40pm – 03:55pm |
Selected Presentation form Sessions Viveka Guzman |
Looking for Flowering Trees to Walk Past: A Qualitative Analysis of US Older Adults' Therapeutic Landscapes during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
03:55pm – 04:10pm |
Selected Presentation form Sessions Pasquale Caponnetto (Session Chair), Lucio Inguscio, Marilena Maglia and Sara Valeri |
Smartphone Addiction through Age and Gender during Italian Lockdown for COVID-19 |
04:10pm – 04:25pm |
Open for Discussions |
04:25pm – 04:45pm |
|
Ending Ceremony |
Welcome from the Chair
All participants of ECERPH-3 are welcome to submit the extended version of conference proceedings papers to the IJERPH Special Issue "Selected Papers from the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health—Public Health Issues in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic" with a 20% discount on the Article Processing Charges.
Dear Colleagues,
We are happy to invite you to the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health. The title is self-explanatory and the topics are carefully selected.
We need to look at the pandemic from many sides, and we think we have covered many important aspects with your help in the different sessions of this e-conference. So please join the conference with your presentation. You will also be invited to contribute your full paper in a Special Issue.
We hope to see the very best presentations at this critical time for humankind. Science is crucial to bring these world health issues under control and point the way forward for a better future for all of us.
Kind regards,
Prof. Dr. Jon Øyvind Odland
Chair of the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health
Conference Chair
Prof. Dr. Jon Øyvind Odland |
Jon Øyvind Odland, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Global Health at NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a specialist in GYN/OB, environmental medicine, and epidemiology. He has worked on mother/child programs in more than 20 countries, these days focusing mostly on the Arctic, southern Asia, and Africa. His studies have mostly focused on the impact of the environment and infectious disease on fetal development and pregnancy outcome. He has a scientific production of ca. 200 peer-reviewed papers and is now involved in a new study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers, the healthcare system, and the general population in southern Africa.
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Session B: Environmental Exposures and Health
Session Chaired by Prof. Dr. Annalaura Carducci
Session C: Mental Health
Session Chaired by Dr. Pasquale Caponnetto
Conference Chairs

Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Norway
Jon Øyvind Odland, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Global Health at NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a specialist in GYN/OB, environmental medicine, and epidemiology. He has worked on mother/child programs in more than 20 countries, these days focusing mostly on the Arctic, southern Asia, and Africa. His studies have mostly focused on the impact of the environment and infectious disease on fetal development and pregnancy outcome. He has a scientific production of ca. 200 peer-reviewed papers and is now involved in a new study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers, the healthcare system, and the general population in southern Africa.
[email protected]
Session Chairs

Prof. Dr. Jimmy Efird
Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Health Services Research and Development (DVAHCS/Duke Affiliated Center), USA
[email protected]
Prof. Dr. Jimmy T. Efird completed his Doctorate in Epidemiology (Biostatistics Concentration) at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has over 30 years of experience in the field of cancer research, biostatistics, and informatics, having worked at Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical School), UCSF School of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine and, most recently, the University of Newcastle, Australia. Currently, he heads the Computational Sciences Team at the Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center and also serves on the GWAS and PhenWAS working groups. His area of interest is epidemiological risk assessment and statistical modeling. He has over 250 publications in scientific journals which have been cited over 10,000 times (i10-index = 135, h-index = 51).
epidemiological risk assessment; statistical modeling

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nicola Magnavita
Postgraduate School of Occupational Health, Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
[email protected]
Associate Professor in Occupational Health at the Department of Science of Woman/Child &Public Health of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) of Rome (Italy), physician in the Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS of Rome. Director of the postgraduate School of Occupational Health, UCSC, Rome. Coordinator of the degree course in Techniques for the Protection of the Environment and Workplace, UCSC, Colleferro's headquarters. Member of the Directory Board of the Department of Life Sciences & Public Health, UCSC, Rome. Main activities: Teaching, Research, and Medical assistance. ORCID 0000-0002-0988-7344. Scopus h-index: 27, Documents: 228; Citations: 2442. WOS h-index: 24, Articles 152; Citations 1893. Google Scholar h-index: 34, i-10 index:90; citations 4304.
health promotion; public health; epidemiology health; risk assessment; safety; risk analysis; epidemiology and public health; healthcare; environmental risk assessment; health and safety; sleep disorders and sleep medicine; risk factors; determination of health risk assessment; exposure assessment; environmental exposure occupational health; hospital management; chemical risk assessment environmental epidemiology; health impact assessment informed consent; occupational epidemiology; chemical safety occupational medicine; occupational health and disease; inhalation toxicology; environmental medicine; aging and work; hazardous workers

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jitse P. van Dijk
Department of Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
[email protected]
Jitse P. van Dijk (M), MD, PhD (WoS: 194 research papers, h-index = 27), is Associate Professor of Community and Occupational Medicine and a staff member the Department of Health Sciences, Section Community and Occupational Medicine, and of the Public Health Research program of the University Medical Centre Groningen. He graduated in Medical Sciences, Law, and Public Administration. His research focuses on the healthy development of adolescents and the promotion of social participation in the case of disease in community-based settings. A key feature of his research focuses on ethnicity. Assoc. Prof. Dr. van Dijk has participated in a large number of research grants. He was (until 2020-09) Scientific Director of the Kosice Institute for Society and Health (UPJS, SK), was a lector expert on ‘Social Determinants of Health’ in the framework of an EU project at Palacky University of Olomouc (UP, CZ). He now is Visiting Professor at the Medical Faculty of UP. He is (co)author of about 130 publications in Web of Science.
adolescents and health; chronic disease; ethnicity and health

Prof. Dr. Gianrico Spagnuolo
Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy
[email protected]
Prof. Dr. Gianrico Spagnuolo received a D.D.S. degree in Dentistry and he completed his Ph.D. in Dental Materials Biotechnology at University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy. He had been Visiting Assistant Professor and Adjunct Scientist at the Department of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology at University of Regensburg (Germany). He was associate researcher at Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Biomaterials (CRIB)—University of Naples “Federico II”, and he completed the three-year postgraduate program in Oral Surgery at the same University. He has served as Professor of Operative Dentistry at Sechenov University, Russia. Now he is Professor at School of Dentistry—University of Naples “Federico II” and his research interest is focused on cell–tissue–materials interactions at molecular and clinical levels, as it applies to oral medicine and stomatology.
dental materials; dental surgery; restorative dentistry; endodontics; oral health and oral medicine

Dr. Zahid Ahmad Butt
School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Canada
[email protected]
Dr. Zahid Butt is a physician epidemiologist and Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo. His research applies a ‘syndemic’ framework to examine interrelationships between epidemics of infectious diseases, social disparities, co-morbidities, and substance use using epidemiological, statistical, spatial, and machine learning methods. Dr. Butt’s research activities in the domain of public health, big data analytics, and spatial epidemiology have led to more than 100 papers in numerous high-impact journals including The Lancet, Lancet Infectious Diseases, Nature, and BMJ. He is Section Editor-in-Chief of the Infectious Diseases section of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
public health; infectious diseases; big data analytics; social disparities; co-morbidities; substance use; spatial epidemiology

Prof. Dr. Johanne Sundby
Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, The University of Oslo, Norway
[email protected]
Medical doctor, OB/GYN specialist, Professor in Global Health and Women’s Health. Policy maker in women’s health. Long experience working on research and capacity building in low-income countries. Author of >100 papers. Supervised >30 PhD students.
women’s reproductive health; STD; maternal health; infertility; youth health rights; HIV/AIDS; abortion issues

Dr. Pasquale Caponnetto
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Italy
[email protected]
Pasquale Caponnetto, PhD in Health Science, Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist. -Clinical Psychology Coordinator at Researcher, The Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of HArm Reduction (CoEHAR), University of Catania, Italy. -Contract Professor Clinical Psychology and Addiction, at DISFOR University of Catania, Italy.
clinical psychology; psychotherapists

Dr. Pantelis T. Nikolaidis
School of Health and Caring Sciences, University of West Attica, Greece
[email protected]
Dr Pantelis Nikolaidis is a Greek sports scientist who has specialized in sports physiology. He teaches at the School of Health and Caring Sciences of the University of West Attica (Athens). He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers and has served as reviewer for more than 80 international scientific journals. His research interests focus on athletes’ fitness profiling. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the section Exercise and Health of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
athletes’ fitness profiling; exercise and health

Prof. Dr. Annalaura Carducci
Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Italy
[email protected]
Prof. Carducci graduated in Biological Sciences, specialized in Hygiene and Public Health, and is now Full Professor of General and Applied Hygiene at the Department of Biology, University of Pisa, where she is responsible for the Hygiene and Environmental Virology Laboratory and the Health Communication Observatory in addition to serving as Director of the Master in Industrial Hygiene, Prevention, and Safety. Since 2017, she has coordinated the working group of “Environment and Health” of the National Italian Society of Public Health and she is a member of a similar working group of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Her main research topics concern the epidemiology and prevention of infectious diseases with particular focus on biological risk analysis of foods, water, air and life, and working settings. She is also interested in health and risk communication. She is the author of more than 250 extended publications in indexed and high-impact journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings.
hygiene; public health; infectious diseases; risk assessment; environmental virology; water; aerosol; health literacy; risk communication; occupational health
Conference Committee

Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Food Science, Toxicology and Legal Medicine, University of Valencia, Spain; Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain
epidemiology; chronic illnesses; pregnancy; environmental exposure; environmental health; diet; newborn; children; lifestyle factors
Ma[email protected]

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA
neuropsychopharmacology; mental health; addiction; suicide; stigma; health disparity; minority health
[email protected]

Special Representative of Regional Director to Belarus, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe UN City, Copenhagen, Denmark
emerging infectious diseases; infection prevention and control; climate change and vector borne diseases; HIV; viral Hepatitis; sexually transmitted diseases; tuberculosis
[email protected]

Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Statistics Unit, Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy
tuberculosis; NTM; respiratory infections; epidemiology; medical statistics
[email protected]

School of Exercise and Sport Science, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Italy
physical activity; metabolic expenditure; motor control; sport technology; testing; training
[email protected]

Institute for Health Policy, Division of Management, Policy and Community Health, The University of Texas School of Public Health, USA
health policy; environmental policy; cumulative risk; community-based environmental assessment; policy design
[email protected]

School of Education, Early Start and Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Australia
physical activity; sedentary behaviour; digital technology use; sleep; 24-hour movement behaviours; health and developmental outcomes; early childhood; school-aged children and adolescents
[email protected]

Assisted Reproduction Unit, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
assisted reproduction; minimally invasive techniques; infertility; gynecological endocrinology
[email protected]

Department of Maternal and Child Health and Urology, Policlinico Umberto I - "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy
adenomyosis; endometriosis; effects of environmental factors on women’s health infertility; minimally invasive gynecologic surgery; pelvic pain
[email protected]

Office of Global Health Education; Department of Healthcare Policy & Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, USA
global public health; women's health; environmental health; epidemiology
[email protected]

Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy
clinical research; epidemiology; diagnostic and prognostic study; breast cancer epidemiology; probiotic administration and infant nutrition
[email protected]

Consumer and Organisational Digital Analytics (CODA) Research Centre, King's Business School, King’s College London, UK
sharing economy; health analytics; environmental sustainability; customer experience value; technology addiction; social media influencers; mobile marketing; virtual reality; virtual worlds
[email protected]

Faculty of Education, Health and Human Sciences, School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, UK
nutrition; oral health; maternal and child health; diabetes; obesity; health inequalities; ethnic minorities
[email protected]

Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Italy
epithelial-mesenchymal transition; diabetes; lipid metabolism; mitochondrial carriers; obesity; thyroid hormones
[email protected]

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium
physical activity; sedentary behaviour; 24-hour movement behaviours; interventions; exercise is medicine; preschool children; children
[email protected]

Faculty of Sport, CIFI2D, and Porto Biomechanics Laboratory (LABIOMEP), University of Porto, Portugal
biomechanics; biophysics; sports technology; sports training and performance evaluation
[email protected]

CarMeN laboratory, INSERM U1060, Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud, Chemin du Grand Revoyet, France
diabetes; metabolic disorders; obesity; pollutants and endocrine disruptors
[email protected]

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jackson State University, USA
obesity; minority health; global health; neglected tropical diseases; lead poisoning; arsenic poisoning; iron; vitamin A; breast cancer; smoking; depression; complementary and alternative medicine; metabolic syndrome; enteric pathogens; hepatitis B; Hepat
[email protected]

Instituto de Saúde Ambiental (ISAMB), Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
infectious diseases; HIV; hepatitis; tropical medicine
[email protected]

Department of Human Sciences, Society and Health University of Cassino e Lazio Meridionale, Italy
sport; performance; physical activity; training; motor control
[email protected]

Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Seville, Pirotecnia Campus, Spain
exercise physiology; stress hormones; anxiety; depression; neurotrophic factors; neuroplasticity
[email protected]

Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Italy
innate immunity; defensins; health; sudden cardiac death; physical activity and thrombophilic risk
[email protected]

Unidad Economía Agroalimentaria - CITA - Gobierno de Aragón, Spain
consumer demand; food labelling; health-related claims; hypothetical and no-hypothetical evaluation methods
[email protected]

intellectual and developmental disabilities; family; community based supports; innovative services; social inclusion; public attitudes
[email protected]

Department of Economics, Boston University, 270 Bay State Road, USA
incentives and payment design in the health market; competition in the health market; interaction between public and private health sectors
[email protected]

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Texas Tech University, USA
control theory and the development and analysis of mathematical and statistical models in agriculture, the environment and medicine
[email protected]

Occupational Health Department, Metopolitan General Hospital, Greece
occupational health; occupational medicine; exposure assessment; public health; environmental epidemiology; environmental health; employee well-being; preventive medicine
[email protected]

School of Languages and Education, Universidad Nebrija, Spain
reading; bilingualism; mental lexicon; psycholinguistics; applied linguistics
[email protected]

food, nutrition and health; environment and health; transdisciplinary collaboration approaches
[email protected]

nursing; social sciences; neuroscience; psychology
[email protected]
Call for Submissions
Dear scientists, researchers, and authors,
We need to look at the pandemic from many sides, and we think we have covered many important aspects with your help in the different sessions of this conference. We aim to have a discussion relating to infectious disease, global health, mental health, reproductive health, occupational health, and environmental exposure, etc.
We proudly invite the global community of scholars to join ECERPH-3 to present their latest public health research and development and share novel ideas on COVID-19 topics. Thanks to the flexibility of our innovative electronic platform, you are welcome both to upload and present your work and to attend the conference completely free of charge. We have also created a Special Issue for selected conference papers in our journal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601, IF 2.849). Papers submitted to this Special Issue, if accepted for publication, will receive a 20% discount on the Article Processing Charges.
ECERPH-3 offers you the opportunity to participate in an international scholarly conference without the concerns and expense of travelling—all you need is to have access to the Internet. During the conference period, you will be able to upload papers, posters, presentations (including videos) and comment on other presentations, and otherwise engage with fellow scholars in real time. In this way, the conference offers a novel opportunity to exchange opinions and views within the scholarly community and to discuss the papers and latest research in a discussion forum.
Paper Submission Guidelines:
For information about the procedure for submission, peer-review, revision and acceptance of conference proceedings papers, please refer to the section "Instructions for Authors".
Timeline:
Abstract Submission Deadline: 23 October 2020 10 December 2020
Notification of Acceptance: 28 October 2020 17 December 2020
Full Paper Submission Deadline: 18 November 2020 4 January 2021
Conference Open: 25 November–9 December 2020 11-25 January 2021
We look forward to receiving your research papers and to welcoming you to this 3rd edition of the e-conference.
Kind regards,
Conference Chair
Prof. Dr. Jon Øyvind Odland
Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Conference Secretariat
Ms. Cici Zhou
Ms. Rainy Han
ECERPH-3 Secretary
E-Mail: [email protected]
Instructions for Authors
- Scholars interested in participating with the conference can submit their abstract (about 200-300 words covering the areas of manuscripts for the proceedings issue) online on this website until 23 October 2020 10 December 2020.
- The Conference Committee will pre-evaluate, based on the submitted abstract, whether a contribution from the authors of the abstract will be welcome for the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health. All authors will be notified by 28 October 2020 17 December 2020 about the acceptance of their abstract.
- If the abstract is accepted for this conference, the author is asked to submit the manuscript, optionally along with a poster and/or PowerPoint and/or video presentation of his/her paper (only PDF), until the submission deadline of 18 November 2020 4 January 2021.
- The conference proceedings papers and presentations will be available on https://sciforum.net/conference/ECERPH-3 for discussion during the time of the conference 25 November-9 December 2020 11-25 January 2021 and will be published in Journal Proceedings.
- The accepted papers will be published free of charge in the journal Proceedings of the conference itself. The Open Access Journal IJERPH will publish a Special Issue of the conference to include extended and expanded version of conference proceedings papers, with a 20% discount on the Article Processing Charges (the submission to the journal is independent from the conference proceedings and will follow the usual process of the journal, including peer-review, APC, etc.).
First page:
- Title
- Full author names
- Affiliations (including full postal address) and authors' e-mail addresses
- Abstract (200-250 words)
- Keywords
- Introduction
- Methods
- Results and Discussion
- Conclusions
- (Acknowledgements)
- References
Manuscripts should be prepared in MS Word or any other word processor and should be converted to the PDF format before submission. The publication format will be PDF. The manuscript should count at least 3 pages (incl. figures, tables and references) and should not exceed 6 pages.
Accepted File Formats
- MS Word: Manuscript prepared in MS Word must be converted into a single file before submission. When preparing manuscripts in MS Word, the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health Microsoft Word template file (see download below) must be used. Please do not insert any graphics (schemes, figures, etc.) into a movable frame which can superimpose the text and make the layout very difficult.
- LaTeX: Manuscripts prepared in LaTeX must be collated into one ZIP folder (include all source files and images, so that the Conference Secretariat can recompile the submitted PDF). When preparing manuscripts in LaTeX, please use the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health LaTeX template files.

- Paper Format: A4 paper format, the printing area is 17.5 cm x 26.2 cm. The margins should be 1.75 cm on each side of the paper (top, bottom, left, and right sides).
- Paper Length: The conference proceedings paper should not be longer than 6 pages. The conference manuscript should be as concise as possible.
- Formatting / Style: The paper style of the Journal Proceedings should be followed. You may download the template file to prepare your paper (see above). The full titles and the cited papers must be given. Reference numbers should be placed in square brackets [ ], and placed before the punctuation; for example [4] or [1-3], and all the references should be listed separately and as the last section at the end of the manuscript.
- Authors List and Affiliation Format: Authors' full first and last names must be given. Abbreviated middle name can be added. For papers written by various contributors a corresponding author must be designated. The PubMed/MEDLINE format is used for affiliations: complete street address information including city, zip code, state/province, country, and email address should be added. All authors who contributed significantly to the manuscript (including writing a section) should be listed on the first page of the manuscript, below the title of the article. Other parties, who provided only minor contributions, should be listed under Acknowledgments only. A minor contribution might be a discussion with the author, reading through the draft of the manuscript, or performing English corrections.
- Figures, Schemes and Tables: Authors are encouraged to prepare figures and schemes in color. Full color graphics will be published free of charge. Figure and schemes must be numbered (Figure 1, Scheme I, Figure 2, Scheme II, etc.) and a explanatory title must be added. Tables should be inserted into the main text, and numbers and titles for all tables supplied. All table columns should have an explanatory heading. Please supply legends for all figures, schemes and tables. The legends should be prepared as a separate paragraph of the main text and placed in the main text before a table, a figure or a scheme.
MDPI, the publisher of the Sciforum.net platform, is an open access publisher. We believe that authors should retain the copyright to their scholarly works. Hence, by submitting a Communication paper to this conference, you retain the copyright of your paper, but you grant MDPI the non-exclusive right to publish this paper online on the Sciforum.net platform. This means you can easily submit your paper to any scientific journal at a later stage and transfer the copyright to its publisher (if required by that publisher).
Conference Secretariat
Ms. Cici Zhou
Ms. Rainy Han
MDPI Branch Office, Beijing, China
E-Mail: [email protected]
For information regarding sponsoring opportunities, please contact the conference secretariat.
A. Infectious Disease Epidemiology
With increased travel, climate change, environmental degradation, and inequity in access to healthcare, there has been an increase in the incidence of infectious diseases overall as well as those that are newly emerging, such as COVID-19. The global pandemic of COVID-19 has highlighted important issues and deficiencies in infectious disease prevention, control, and management in addition to pandemic preparedness. Clearly, there needs to be an increased emphasis on multidisciplinary research and approaches for understanding the transmission of infectious diseases and the complex underlying relationships with social determinants of health, climate change, and the environment. Public health interventions and strategies need to be tailored to address inequities in health, the impacts of climate and environment, and the economic, social, and political consequences for populations.
Session Chair
Dr. Zahid Ahmad Butt, School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Canada
B. Environmental Exposures and Health
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the role of the environment not only in terms of the emergence and spread of a novel virus but also the positive effects of containment measures (i.e., lockdowns) on air and water pollution. In the “Covid Era” the focus on environmental health-related issues has extended from chemical to microbiological agents, also pointing out such emerging issues as healthcare-related wastes and excessive environmental disinfection. Moreover, the need to consider health and environment from the “One Health” perspective to adequately face present and future emergencies is becoming increasingly evident. This session aims to present studies on the environmental exposure and risk assessment for chemicals and microbial pathogens in the context of changes induced by the pandemic. Topics will include air pollution, water pollution, solid wastes (including hospital wastes), wastewater (including wastewater surveillance), climate change, exposome, chemical and biological agents, and models for exposures and risk assessment.
Session Chair
Prof. Dr. Annalaura Carducci, Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Italy
C. Mental Health
This is a session for clinicians and researchers to showcase psychological and non-psychological strategies and technologies that empower patients and health personnel to manage their mental health and/or substance use disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The intent of the session is to identify and highlight existing and innovative psychological and non-psychological strategies and technologies that use evidence-based strategies to empower patients and health personnel in self-management in terms of mental health.
Session Chair
Dr. Pasquale Caponnetto, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Italy
D. Children’s Health
Children and their health is a dyad that is sometimes difficult to disentangle. Many risk factors do exist—sometimes they are modifiable, like all risk factors with a behavioral component, and sometimes not, like gender. Causal pathways are not always clear, most of the time, because of the study design but sometimes—to the researcher’s great pleasure—such pathways are visible, or at least a part is visible. Sometimes the risk factors are age-dependent: they do not work similarly at every possible timepoint in life. Where to start with disentangling children and health? Encountering COVID-19, young age, apart from the fact that this is not modifiable, is a difficult variable related to contagiousness. Next, we could start with modifiable risk factors that are not well known. We could also try to get more of a grip on the way risk factors are working by introducing mediation. In addition, we could try to do a study with a longitudinal design or combine the findings for trend analysis. We should keep in mind that decision-makers require new knowledge to be of assistance for children and health systems managing these risk factors. These health systems can be those which were not defined as such before, like schools or municipalities.
Session Chair
Prof. Dr. Jitse P. van Dijk, Department of Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
E. Women’s Health
This session will explore women’s health from a gender perspective, with equity and respect as buzz words, and seeks contribution on all aspects of women’s mental, physical, and reproductive health. Underresearched themes and studies on marginalized populations are welcome.
Session Chair
Prof. Dr. Johanne Sundby, Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, The University of Oslo, Norway
F. Exercise and Health
The aim of this session is to present research on the interplay among exercise, health, and COVID-19. Questions such as ‘How this pandemic influences exercise-related characteristics’ or ‘Has exercise a mediating role on the effect of this pandemic on health’ are of special interest.
Session Chair
Dr. Pantelis T. Nikolaidis, School of Health and Caring Sciences, University of West Attica, Greece
G. Health Economics
The COVID-19 pandemic has a multitude of health economic consequences and, thus, the conference welcomes contributions on the broad subject economics of COVID-19.
H. Occupational Safety and Health
Occupational medicine, in its over 300 years of history, has aimed at improving the quality of work life. The new challenge posed by COVID-19 has seen occupational physicians at the forefront of seeking conditions to continue working safely. By directly collecting workers’ opinions, occupational doctors are able to determine the impact of the epidemic on workers and production, which safety measures are most effective, how we need to protect those at increased risk, what the conditions are of who returns to work after their illness and how to help them, what are the epidemiological data collected from workers and how their health can be promoted. These and other topics arising from the workplace experience will be welcomed at this congress.
Session Chair
Dr. Nicola Magnavita, Postgraduate School of Occupational Health, Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
I. Public Health Statistics and Risk Assessment
This session is interested in the analysis of putative factors related to disease risk and public health outcomes. This includes the examination of environmental, behavioral, viral, chemical, genetic, and dietary data originating from laboratory studies, public health surveys, clinical trials, observational/epidemiologic studies, medical records, and government/public sources. Outcomes may include cancer, neurologic conditions, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, substance abuse, respiratory/pulmonary disease, fatigue, pain, disrupted sleep, and musculoskeletal disorders. The session also encourages summary and overview presentations on health statistics and policy assessment of disease risk as well as modeling and methodologic talks from allied fields such as engineering, geology, epidemiology, mathematics, statistics, data science, medicine, and bioinformatics.
Session Chair
Dr. Jimmy Efird, Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Health Services Research and Development (DVAHCS/Duke Affiliated Center), USA
J. Oral Health
A strong association is widely recognized between several systemic diseases and oral health; thus, this mutual influence of oral conditions on general health may be a topic of public interest, involving the impact of local bacterial infections on systemic organs, as well as the role of inflammatory mediators in vascular impairments and heart failure.
Among several potential transmission sources in the spread of COVID-19, dental services have received a high volume of attention. Several reports and manuscripts have been released on how this infection could be transmitted through public and private dental services and on the possible solutions to reduce the virus’ transmission during clinical procedures.
The session “Oral Health” in the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health—Public Health Issues in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic aims to collect high-quality studies and in vitro/in vivo research related to the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into high consideration the translational and clinical aspects.
Session Chair
Prof. Dr. Gianrico Spagnuolo, Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy
K. Posters
All researchers are encouraged to present their findings in a separate poster. As for papers presented at the conference, participants will be able to ask questions and make comments about the posters. Posters can be presented without an accompanying proceedings paper and will be available online on this website during and after the e-conference. However, they will not be added to the proceedings of the conference.