The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics was established by Congress to serve as an advisory body to the Department of Health and Human Services on health data, statistics and national health information policy. It fulfills important review and advisory functions relative to health data and statistical problems of national and international interest, stimulates or conducts studies of such problems and makes proposals for improvement of the Nation’s health statistics and information systems.

The Board of Professional Affairs is responsible for recommending and implementing APA policy, standards and guidelines for the profession of psychology, maintaining relationships with other professional organizations and groups appropriate to its mission, recognizing contributions to the profession of psychology through awards and honors, proposing to the association ways to enhance the profession of psychology and fostering the application of psychological knowledge to promote public welfare.

APHA’s Annual Meeting & Exposition serves as the home for public health professionals to convene, learn, network and engage with peers. Dr Mays and BRITE Center participants will present on the following topics at this year’s APHA meeting:

• Racial/Ethnic Differences in Perceived Need for Mental Health Care
• Sexual orientation, relationship status, and mental health/substance use morbidity: Results from the California Quality of Life Surveys
• Increasing Acupuncture Utilization As An Adjunct Treatment in African American Breast Cancer Survivors
• Mental health correlates of sexual orientation concealment and disclosure in the California Quality of Life Survey

BRITE Center Director Dr. Vickie Mays will speak at the annual meeting of the Society for the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues and 25th Anniversary Celebration. She and Drs. Laurie Elam-Evans, Shiriki Kumanyika, and Tiffany Gary-Webb will speak on the topics of leadership, mentoring, and professional development as part of a panel moderated by SAAPHI board member Brittney Francis, MPH.