EIS, officers have been involved with treatment, eradication, and disease-control efforts for a variety of medically related crises. Below is an abridged timeline of their work. 1950s: The EIS worked on polio, lead poisoning, and Asian influenza 1960s: Cancer clusters, and smallpox 1970s: Legionnaires' disease, Ebola, and Reye syndrome 1980s: Toxic shock syndrome, birth defects, and HIV/AIDS 1990s: Tobacco, West Nile virus, and contaminated water 2000s: Post 9/11 anthrax attacks, E. coli O157:H7, SARS, H1N1, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina 2010s: The aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, obesity, fungal meningitis, and Ebola 2020s: Zika virus, COVID-19 pandemic EIS conference EIS officers attend an annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia, to present components of their work from the preceding year. During the conference, the Alexander D. Langmuir Prize is awarded "to a current officer or first-year alumnus of the EIS for the best scientific publication. The award consists of a $100 cash prize, an engraved paperweight, a case of ale or beer redolent of the John Snow Pub in London, and an inscription on the permanent plaque at CDC." A complete list of Langmuir Prize winners is included below: In popular culture In the 2011 film Contagion, the character Doctor Erin Mears (portrayed by Kate Winslet) is a physician and investigator with the Epidemic Intelligence Service who was tasked by the CDC to discover the origin of a highly contagious and deadly virus known as MEV-1 which was rapidly spreading throughout the world following initial outbreaks in Kowloon, Hong Kong and Minneapolis, Minnesota. References Further reading Gerard Gallagher (2017). "CDC's EIS program molds clinicians into public health professionals." (Healio.com) External links Epidemiology Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epidemiology organizations Organizations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic