CONFERENCE VENUE:

National Institutes of Health
Natcher Conference Center
(Building 45)
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS:

John Henderson
Green Spaces for DC

Jennifer Roberts
University of Maryland
School of Public Health

LOCAL ORGANIZING SUPPORT

Maryland Recreation and
Parks Association 

NIH Support Committee

Heather Bowles (NCI)
Frank Perna (NCI)
Dana Wolff-Hughes (NCI)
David Berrigan (NCI)

ALL COMMITTEES & ORGANIZERS

The Active Living Conference

The Active Living Conference began in 2004 and is a venue for both cutting-edge research and for making findings usable by non-scientists. The conference brings together a diverse audience and provides networking and engagement opportunities for active living researchers and practitioners from many fields. Presentations and discussions focus on the importance of creating healthier communities for all people. The 2023 Active Living Conference will take place March 13 – 16 at the Natcher Conference Center on the NIH Campus in Bethesda, MD. Come join this diverse group of researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to advance knowledge and action on how to evaluate, create and sustain active living environments.

Registration is Open

• Standard Delegate (after January 31st) – $599
• Standard Student (after January 31st) – $329

The registration fee includes:

• All conference sessions
• Access to conference materials, including the Whova conference app
• Networking and poster reception
• Lunch as scheduled in the conference program

Refund Policy

If you find it necessary to cancel the registration completely, please notify us immediately. Cancellations must be submitted in writing to Amanda Walker (amandaw@gpred.org) and received by February 13, 2023, in order to receive a refund less a processing fee of $25. No refunds will be granted for cancellations received after this date. Substitutions may be made at any time but please advise the conference organizers of a change of name as soon as possible.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Shannon Zenk

Shannon N. Zenk, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN is Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). Her background is in nursing and public health. Dr. Zenk’s own research focuses on community environments as a social determinant of health and health inequities. She and her team conducted pioneering research on food deserts in the United States.

Dr. Zenk is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and was inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame in 2019. She earned her bachelor’s in nursing, from Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington; her master’s degrees in public health nursing and community health sciences from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC); and her doctorate in health behavior and health education from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Dr. Zenk was previously Nursing Collegiate Professor in the Department of Population Health Nursing Science at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Nursing, and Fellow in the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy.

Active Living Conference Group Hotel Rates

A limited number of group rate rooms are available at the following hotels located in downtown Bethesda, Maryland. Both hotels are located near the Bethesda Metro station, which provides access to the NIH campus via the Red Line.

Hilton Garden Inn
Washington, DC/Bethesda
Group Rate:  $189 plus tax
(13%) per night
Booking Deadline:
Monday, February 13, 2023

Hyatt Regency Bethesda
Group Rate:  $258 plus tax
(13%) per night
Booking Deadline:
Monday, February 13, 2023

If you prefer make your reservation at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda by phone, you can call Central Reservations at 1-800-233-1234 and ask for the GP RED/Active Living Conference group rate.

2023 Conference Theme

The 2023 Active Living Conference theme, Expanding Active Living Applications beyond Chronic Diseases to Synergistic Epidemics, or “syndemics”, focuses attention on the role of active living in addressing multiple intersecting crises, such as coronavirus disease (COVID-19), mental health, climate change, and structural racism. The Active Living Conference highlights research, policies, and practices based on a multilevel perspective. Physically active behaviors have been well documented to prevent, intercept, and treat several common chronic diseases, including multiple cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Physical activity also supports the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of individuals, families and communities.

Active living can help mitigate some of the consequences COVID-19 pandemic. For example, physical activity is associated with large reductions in COVID-19 related mortality. Further, being active, especially in natural environments, can ameliorate the negative physical and mental consequences of confinement and restriction experienced by many during the pandemic.  Inequities in social determinants of health, such as access to natural environments and other areas for active living, became abundantly clear at the height of quarantining and social distancing. Racist policies and practices, including redlining and underinvestment in active living resources (e.g. parks and trees) in redlined neighborhoods, are old problems that are creating contemporary health and social inequities.

Featured conference presentations will address these intersecting factors, and we encourage researchers and practitioners to submit papers that evaluate active living solutions and communicate promising remedies to pandemics, climate change, structural racism and their interactive influences on mental and physical health and health equity. The evidence and experience shared at 2023 Active Living Conference will help understand and address the barriers to creating communities that improve health outcomes, eliminate health disparities, instill pride and inclusivity, produce abundant social capital, and provide accessible public realms for all.

EXHIBITOR LEVEL SPONSORS: