Abstract
This Early Career Researcher (ECR) session will be the first such session at an IEA World Congress of Epidemiology. The session is being held in order to build on the work of an ad hoc ECR Committee which has prepared a report to the IEA Council recommending the creation of a formal IEA ECR group. The session will report on what the ad hoc committee has been doing, and get feedback and suggestions on how to proceed, as well as have a discussion with Professor Cesar Victora and Professor Shah Ebrahim about how to make health research work towards development. It is hoped, and intended, that the incoming IEA Council will then formally establish an ECR group within IEA. This group would aim to develop a network of emerging epidemiologists to enhance global scientific collaboration. We look forward to the active participation of early career epidemiologists from across the world in this session as it will be an extraordinary opportunity to establish a global dialogue among early career health professionals engaged in research and teaching of epidemiology.