17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health

Project Director Jenny Twesten traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to represent the National Cancer Institute’s Tobacco Control Research Branch at WCTOH held March 6-9, 2018. This international conference drew participants from around the world, with a particularly strong presence from those across Africa, an area where prevalence of cigarette smoking is on the rise and expected to continue to do so without strong tobacco control interventions. The Bizzell Group (Bizzell) supported meeting logistics for a pre-conference workshop entitled “Research to Inform the Development and Implementation of Tobacco Control Policies and Intervention” that was attended by at least 53 people from 23 different countries.

Bizzell also coordinated the NCI presence in the exhibit hall in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which nearly ran out of materials within 4 hours of the exhibit hall opening. In addition to attending sessions on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), economic and social costs of tobacco among women, tools for monitoring tobacco use, and ending the tobacco epidemic, Jenny presented on the Africa literature review that she and Katie Cleffi have been working on with NCI and met with various organizations and experts to discuss collaboration opportunities with NCI. The abstract presented has been published in a special supplement of Tobacco Induced Diseases. She will be presenting along with the other NCI delegates at an upcoming seminar on April 17 hosted by the NCI Center for Global Health to share insights from their WCTOH attendance.

Bizzell Group Opens Atlanta Office

The Bizzell Group (Bizzell) announces the opening of its Atlanta office.  Our new location, just minutes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) campus, will enable close collaboration and rapid response to our federal clients in the southern region, including the CDC.

“Our company’s growth will provide more opportunities to expand our work portfolio and global reach through our partnerships with the CDC and other clients on issues such as infectious disease, chronic disease, birth defects, and emergency preparedness,” said Anton Bizzell, M.D., CEO of Bizzell.

With a niche in healthcare, research and communications, Bizzell is committed to advancing knowledge and expanding access to the technology and information needed to build healthy, secure, and connected communities nationally and globally.

Our portfolio includes designing and implementing IT solutions, developing evidence-based research studies and policy reports, delivering expert technical assistance and training, and producing social awareness campaigns and conferences.

Bizzell is staffed by highly experienced project directors; experts in health, mental health, and social programs; scientists; meeting  planners; and IT professionals with extensive experience supporting federal agencies and partners.

Bizzell supports the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Gender Integration Trainings

November 1, 2013 – Through a contract awarded by U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID), The Bizzell Group (Bizzell) provides the agency with short-term technical assistance designed to develop and facilitate gender trainings for the more than 450 USAID Developmental Leadership Initiative (DLI) Interns. The DLIs, located in missions around the world, work in areas of Global Health, Agriculture, Economics, Democracy and Governance.

Through our technical assistance, Bizzell is helping to train DLIs on the status of all new initiatives, strategies, and policies within USAID and U. S. Government that relate to gender integration, gender based violence, and Women, Peace, and Security as well as F Gender Indicators, and Operational Plans, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Indicators and budget attributions.

As a result of our involvement in the program, we are helping DLIs to increase their knowledge about strategies for integrating gender equality and female empowerment into Mission strategic frameworks, Country Development Cooperation Strategies (CDCS), evaluations, work plans, scopes of work, requests for assistance and proposals, and briefing documents. During the 2013 calendar year, Bizzell staff provided trainings in Bangkok, Thailand in January and September, as well as developed training for local USAID staff in the Washington, DC area. Future considerations for trainings include Budapest, Prague, Mozambique, Morocco, and the Middle East.