Over 400 public health practitioners and advocates came together at the Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center in Marlboro, MA, on October 4, 2011, for the 14th Ounce of Prevention Conference sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). Following welcoming remarks by Geoff Wilkinson, Commissioner John Auerbach described the current challenges and opportunities of the Department and then presented Commissioner's Leadership awards to the Revere Opiates Task Force and Communities Involved in Sustaining Agriculture. Keynote Speaker Dr. James Marks of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation then outlined some of the challenges that health promotion and prevention efforts face in today's climate and took questions from the audience. Following lunch, Office of Healthy Communities director Cathy O’Connor presented Community Transformation Awards to projects in each of the six regions of the state, including an award to the Southeast Center for Healthy Communities for their work on health assessment projects. Click here for the video. Click here for photos of last year's conference. For more information about the conference, contact Southeast Regional DPH Director Ron O'Connor at 508-984-0615

(Top row, left ) Christianson from Brix Farm in Dartmouth answers questions at his display table before the program begins. (Top row, center and right) Geoff Wilkinson, Senior Policy Advisor to the Commissioner, welcomes the conference participants and introduces Commissioner Auerbach. (Middle row, left) Judith Coykendall, director of Partners for Clean Air, a program of Seven Hills Behavioral Health, talks with a friend during the break. (Middle row, right) Keynote Speaker Dr. James Marks, Senior VP and Director, Health Group, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, addresses the challenges of prevention in the current climate. (Bottom row, left) Partners for a Healthier Community steering committee chair Wendy Garf-Lipp chats with Partners treasurer Marcia Picard before lunch. (Bottom row, center) Pauline Hamel, Kerry Mello, Marianne DeSouza, Marta Gonzalez and Kim Ferreira of GNB Allies for Health and Wellness pose for a photo after lunch. (Bottom row, right) Bonnie Andrews from the Southeast Center for Healthy Communities, Linda Gabruk of the Greater Brockton Community Health Network, and Greater New Bedford Allies chairperson and New Bedford Health Department director Marianne DeSouza pose for a photo after being awarded a Community Transformation Award for their health assessment projects.