Abstract Submissions

Submit your abstract and be a part of HEI's Annual Conference

We are now accepting abstract submissions for the 2026 HEI Annual Conference. 

The deadline for submissions is January 9, 2026.

Please read the text below carefully; we have three streams for abstract submissions.

1. Investigators currently funded by HEI
Please submit an abstract describing your HEI study here. Contact Dr. Dan Crouse (dcrouse@healtheffects.org) if you have any questions about this.

2. Open Submissions
The conference is open to all; no prior work with HEI is required to attend and join the HEI community. The work presented to the open submission call must not be related to an ongoing study funded by HEI. PIs on ongoing studies funded by HEI cannot be the poster presenter. HEI-funded PIs may be co-authors on submissions.

This year, HEI is interested in highlighting research related to the following topics:

• Multipollutant exposures and health estimation
• Air toxics (also known as hazardous air pollutants or noncriteria pollutants)
• Non-tailpipe exposures and health effects
• Environmental exposures and neurological disorders in older adults 
• Case studies or success stories on science-based air quality actions that reduced air pollution and improved public health 
• Challenges and solutions related to air quality and intermodal freight and goods movement 
• Quantitative bias analysis in environmental health research
• Applications of satellite-derived observations of air pollution in health studies

The abstract word limit is 300 words not including the title, authors and author affiliations, and any references.

Successful applicants will be notified in early February. Those invited to present their work will be expected to register for the event and to attend at their own expense. HEI does not cover travel or accommodation costs for those presenting posters through the open submission process.

Contact Dr. Dan Crouse (dcrouse@healtheffects.org) if you have any questions about Open abstract submissions.

Submit your open abstract here.

3. The Jane Warren Award 
The Jane Warren Award invites 6 current trainees (i.e., masters students, doctoral students, or postdoctoral fellows) to present their research at the HEI annual conference. Three "local" applicants from the Chicago area and three "general" applicants living anywhere in the United States will be selected. Each awardee will be invited to present their research in a short lightning talk and poster session at HEI's Annual Conference and will have their conference registration fees waived. The general awardees will be reimbursed for travel to and from the event, and for accommodation during the conference. As with open abstract submissions, the work presented must related to one of the topics indicate above. The work presented must not be related to an ongoing study funded by HEI. PIs on ongoing studies funded by HEI cannot be the poster presenter. HEI-funded PIs may be co-authors on submissions.

More information about this award is available here. 

Please make sure that you have a copy of your abstract ready to upload to this form before you start filling it out. The abstract word limit is 300 words not including the title, authors and author affiliations, and any references.

Contact Ms. Samantha Miller (smiller@healtheffects.org) if you have any questions about the Jane Warren award.

Submit your Jane Warren Award abstract here.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING POSTERS:
The size of the poster board is 4 ft tall x 6 ft wide (~122 cm x 183 cm). Any poster size that fits on the board with space around the edges is acceptable.

Prepare a heading for the top of your poster that indicates the title and author(s). The lettering for this section should be at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) high. The title and authors should be the same as in the abstract. The principal investigator of the study should be underlined.

Please include short and legible Introduction, Summary, and Conclusions sections. Consider using bulleted points instead of full paragraphs. Because of the varied nature of the participants at the HEI conference, please present the main points so that these can be understood by non-experts and experts alike. Avoid the use of confusing abbreviations and acronyms. 

Please be concise, so that you can use as large a font size as possible; larger font sizes are easier to read. Maintain a consistent font type and style.

Tables and figures should cover about 50% of the poster. Please include results with tables and figures. 

Keep in mind that your text and figures must be legible at distances of four feet or more. Keep figure legends brief, but do not omit them. 

Please attend your poster during your assigned session. Assignments will be provided ahead of the conference and in the conference program.

For posters on ongoing HEI-funded studies:

Please send a final version of your poster to science-admin@healtheffects.org before or shortly after the conference. HEI archives electronic copies of all HEI-funded posters and abstracts as part of the study files and plans to post them as secure PDFs on the HEI website on the Ongoing Studies page. Please let us know if you need to remove sensitive information. 

Note that your poster will be on display only during the day of the session to which you have been assigned.