2026 Military Environmental Epidemiology Symposium Welcomes Gasper as Featured Speaker

Joseph Gasper, PhD, a Westat Associate Vice President for Education and Social Policy, was an invited speaker at the 2026 Military Environmental Epidemiology Symposium (MEES) held at the Uniformed Services University in April. MEES convenes leading experts studying the health effects of military service. The 2026 MEES was attended by over 300 participants representing federal agencies and academia.

Gasper’s talk highlighted the opportunities and challenges of using the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER) for research. ILER compiles data from a variety of sources to create a complete occupational and environmental exposure record that spans a military career. His presentation was based on analyses conducted by Westat staff, including researchers Anne Roubal, PhD, and DeLayna Goulding, MPH, who linked ILER to Veterans Health Administration (VHA) electronic health records (EHRs). This work examined the association between toxic exposures and mental health conditions among post-9/11 veterans deployed to Southwest Asia.