Call for Preconference Workshop Proposals
The online abstract submission site is now open!
Submission Deadline: December 12, 2025, 11:59 pm, Pacific
New Horizons in Prevention Science: Multilevel Interventions for Systemic Challenges
The Program Committee of the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) invites proposals for preconference workshops to be held on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, the first day of the SPR Annual Meeting. We are also interested in post-conference workshops, which are virtual workshops that take place in the months following the conference at a date acceptable to both the presenter and SPR. Both pre-and post-conference workshops are primarily pedagogical, with hands-on instruction and specific learning objectives. The Program Committee encourages workshop proposals on any topic, as long as the workshop’s objective is to enable the audience to gain skills and knowledge that are important to prevention scientists.
Preconference, in-person workshops typically are a full day in length. SPR will provide a suitable room and audiovisual equipment and will reproduce handouts if they are provided far enough in advance. Postconference virtual workshops are typically a half day in length. SPR will provide Zoom hosting for virtual workshops. Please indicate your preference to be a preconference workshop, a post-conference workshop, or either option.
The SPR Training Committee will select workshops on a diverse set of topics from the submitted proposals. Priority areas have been identified by the SPR training committee, considering the conference theme as well as the following:
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- The SPR Training Needs Assessment Task Force (TNATF), which completed a two-year project that surveyed the SPR membership and other stakeholders on the training needs of prevention scientists (Chilenski et al., 2020; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-020-01151-1)
- Ethical issues in bringing prevention programs into community settings (e.g., how to develop ethical partnerships with historically disadvantaged communities; issues of privacy in an era of big data access; Leadbeater et al., 2018; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-018-0912-7)
- The SPR Health Equity Task Force (Boyd et al, 2022; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-022-01462-5).
Below are the training needs that have been identified as priorities for the 2026 workshops:
- The selection and application of theoretically informed innovative study designs (e.g., quasi-experimental, intensive longitudinal, nested) and complementary analytic approaches (e.g., time-series, latent variable modeling, artificial intelligence) that facilitate an understanding of multilevel factors and social determinants of health in prevention science;
- Best practices in complex multilevel intervention design and co-design, project management, and team dynamics;
- Building interpersonal skills (e.g., conflict resolution, consensus building) to enhance mentoring, teaching, interdisciplinary research, or partnerships with systems (e.g., child welfare, education, health) with the goal of reducing health disparities, supporting health equity, or promoting the implementation and sustainability of effective prevention programs and practices;
- Identifying and successfully obtaining funding from diverse sources (e.g., federal, foundations, non-profits) to support complex or multilevel prevention research.
Workshop proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria: clarity of workshop objectives; value of the topic to the field of prevention science; relevance to the conference theme(s), TNATF-identified theme(s) and/or ethical issues in prevention science; likelihood that the content and methods of the workshop will impart knowledge and/or skills successfully; relevant background of presenters; and lack of redundancy with recently presented workshops click here for workshop history.
To propose a workshop, please follow these steps.
STEP ONE: Initiate a preconference/postconference workshop proposal using the online submission process at https://spr.confex.com/spr/spr2026/precon/cfp.cgi.
- Complete contact information for the workshop organizers and presenters.
- Enter the title of the workshop.
STEP TWO: Create your proposal according to the following outline, including all requested information. Then, compile into a single PDF and upload it to the online submission website.
- Title of workshop.
- Name, affiliation, email, and phone number for all presenters, with primary contact listed first.
- Purpose of the workshop, including specific learning objectives. In other words, what new skills and knowledge will the attendees take away?
- Target workshop audience, including the background attendees should have.
- Materials to be provided to attendees.
- Maximum number of attendees, if any.
- Audio-visual requirements.
- Workshop format preference (in-person or virtual; preconference, post conference, or either)
- Brief CVs of all presenters, and a brief explanation of how the presenters are qualified to conduct the workshop.
- Outline of workshop, including (a) roles of presenters if more than one is listed, and (b) which aspects of instruction are hands-on.
- Relevance to priority topics, conference theme, TNATF-identified training needs, and/or equity and ethics in prevention science.
Proposal Submission Instructions
All proposals must be submitted online at preventionresearch.org
The online submission site is now open!
Submission Deadline: December 12, 2025, 11:59 pm, Pacific
For questions regarding online abstract submissions, the peer review process, or other details, please contact Jennifer Lewis by email at jenniferlewis@preventionresearch.org or by telephone at 703-934-4850, ext. 1.