FOR THE
How FSPH Training Addresses Public Health Challenges
DEAN’S MESSAGE
AS A PROFESSOR OF BIOSTATISTICS AT THE FIELDING SCHOOL since 2010, I was well aware of our school’s strengths — accomplished faculty whose impact through research, teaching and service extends from the classroom to the community; bright and dedicated students who inspire us all through their passion and commitment; hardworking and talented staff who make everything we do at FSPH possible; and alumni who contribute to healthier populations, both in our local communities and around the world. Yet every day in my new role as interim dean, I’m learning even more about our incredible community, and my gratitude for the people and programs that make it so special has grown immeasurably. I am honored and humbled to serve as interim dean as UCLA undertakes a national search for a new, permanent dean. I am grateful for the outpouring of support I have received from faculty, staff and students and thankful for the vital contributions of Professor Yifang Zhu, who was acting dean for the two months prior to my appointment. I also want to express my appreciation to Dr. Jody Heymann for her leadership as the school’s dean. During the years that Dr. Heymann was at the helm, the Fielding School solidified its position as one of the nation’s leading public health schools with growing national and global impact. This issue of our magazine showcases work that is central to the Fielding School mission — training of master’s and doctoral students, as well as postdoctoral scholars. FSPH training is both formal and informal, and across all of our programs it is characterized by “doing” — the notion that students and other trainees, in conjunction with faculty, staff and community mentors, benefit greatly from practical, on-the-ground experiences that will prepare them for impactful public health careers. These activities are helping to meet critical public health needs at home and abroad. Indeed, the need for a growing and diverse public health workforce has never been greater. This is an exciting time for the public health profession, which is poised to make unprecedented progress. By preparing a new generation of public health leaders with training that will allow them to hit the ground running, the Fielding School is leading the charge.
Ron Brookmeyer, PhD Interim Dean
The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Magazine
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CONTENTS 24
12
09
10
FEATURES Q&A
04 Fielding School Training Alina Dorian on how hands-on experiences prepare students for their careers
HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
06 Healing the Health System Studies seek to improve the quality, cost-effectiveness and accessibility of care
STUDENT PROFILE
08 Counting on Improved Coverage Jay Xu quantifies how media narratives evolve following mass shootings
Visit us online: ph.ucla.edu
STUDENT PROFILE
INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE
WORKFORCE EDUCATION
MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY FOR CANCER
POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR PROFILE
UNDERGRADUATE ENGAGEMENT
SUMMER TRAINING
20 Finding Justice Negar Omidakhsh is determined to use research to lift communities like the one she knew as a child
09 Studying Racism’s Effects Rebekah Israel Cross amplifies the voices of marginalized communities
10 Small Changes, Big Implications Biological clues inform prevention strategies
12 Field Days Students recount their internship experiences
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
17 Hire Education Empowering students with career information, resources and support
18 Workplace Wellness Training FSPH students in how to ensure that all occupational settings are safe
22 Extra Credit FSPH’s Executive Programs in Health Policy & Management impart new skills to working professionals
24 First Impressions Introducing the possibilities of a public health career to top college students
ALUMNI PROFILE
21 Speaking from Experience FSPH biostatistics faculty member Kate Crespi brings students the benefits she enjoyed during her training
DEPARTMENTS 27 School Work 30 Grants & Contracts 32 Transformative Investments
PHOTOGRAPHY & ILLUSTRATION Rent Control Creative: cover. Jane Houle Photography: Dean’s Message; TOC: photo for article on p. 24; pp. 2-4, 6-8; p. 15: Esther Gao; pp. 17-18, 21-22, 24, 27, 33. Alexandra Foley Photography: TOC: photo for article on p. 10; p. 11. James Huynh: TOC: photo for article on p. 9; p. 9. Thomas Sills: p. 25. Consuelo Cid: p. 26. Paul Barnett: p. 29: photo on the left. Cherish Rider Photography: p. 29: alumni-student mentorship program. An Chuen Billy Cho: back cover. COURTESY OF: Cynthia Blackman: TOC: photo for article on p. 12; p. 13: Cynthia Blackman. Crystal Shaw: p. 13: Crystal Shaw. Chase Israel: p. 14: Chase Israel. Lamar Hayes: p. 14: Lamar Hayes. Ryan Assaf: p. 15: Ryan Assaf. Mark Alsay: p. 16: Mark Alsay. Marufa Khandaker: p. 16: Marufa Khandaker. Negar Omidakhsh: p. 20. UCLA: p. 28. UNIDAD and SAJE: p. 32.
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BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE In China, more than 3,000 health professionals have received training over the last three decades through the Fielding School’s UCLA/ Fogarty AIDS International Research and Training Program. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the FSPH-based UCLA-DRC Health Research and Training Program works with government and university partners to build local capacity to respond to emerging infectious disease outbreaks in one of the world’s major disease hotspots. In Southern California, a key region within a state widely viewed as leading the way in transforming the U.S. health care system, many health care system leaders have honed their skills at the Fielding School. Every day, both within the confines of the Fielding School and in communities near and far, students, postdoctoral scholars and working professionals are advancing their public health knowledge with the help of FSPH experts and their community partners. Through instruction and supervised hands-on experiences, skills and wisdom are passed from trainer to trainee. In the process, leaders are born — leaders who will, in time, impart their FSPH-inherited wisdom to a new generation of trainees. The road to success for any public health professional is paved with powerful training and mentorship experiences. The pages that follow depict some of the wide-ranging Fielding School training programs and approaches, and the public health benefits they bring.
Ron Brookmeyer, PhD Interim Dean
Rent Control Creative Design Direction
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Website: ph.ucla.edu
MAGAZINE STAFF
Jurriaan Linsen Visuals Coordinator
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Mikkel Allison Writer & Contributing Editor
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Stephanie Cajigal Writer & Contributing Editor
UCLA Public Health magazine is published by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health for the alumni, faculty, students, staff and friends of the school. Copyright 2018 by The Regents of the University of California. Permission to reprint any portion must be obtained from the school. Please send requests to communications@ph.ucla.edu.
Carla Denly Executive Editor & Asst. Dean for Communications Dan Gordon Editor & Writer 2
U C L A F I E L D I N G S C H O O L O F P U B L I C H E A LT H M AG A Z I N E
EDITORIAL BOARD Haroutune K. Armenian, MD, DrPH Professor in Residence, Epidemiology; Thomas R. Belin, PhD Professor, Biostatistics; Pamina Gorbach, DrPH Professor, Epidemiology; Moira Inkelas, PhD Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management; Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, PhD, MN Professor Emerita, Community Health Sciences; Michael Prelip, DPA Professor and Chair, Community Health Sciences; Beate Ritz, PhD Professor, Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences; May C. Wang, DrPH Professor, Community Health Sciences; Elizabeth Yzquierdo, MPH, EdD Assistant Dean for Student Affairs; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences; Zuo-Feng Zhang, MD, PhD Associate Dean for Research; Professor, Epidemiology; Yifang Zhu, PhD Associate Dean for Academic Programs; Professor, Environmental Health Sciences; Frederick Zimmerman, PhD Professor, Health Policy and Management; Mark Alsay and Ivan Barragan Co-Presidents, Public Health Student Association; Rita Burke, MPH ’03, PhD ’08 President, Public Health Alumni Association
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FIELDING SCHOOL TRAINING Alina Dorian, FSPH’s new associate dean for public health practice, discusses how training efforts at the school prepare students for successful careers in public health.
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AS AN EXPERT ON THE ROLE OF PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEMS in planning for and responding to public health emergencies, Dr. Alina Dorian has provided training, education and technical assistance to state and local health departments in the U.S., and has managed projects and led response teams following natural disasters and during complex emergencies around the world. In her new role as FSPH’s associate dean for public health practice, Dorian is ensuring that Fielding School graduates are prepared to thrive in the public health workforce. Through her holistic approach to practice, she focuses on the student experience, providing opportunities to help students and alumni grow professionally. Dorian, an adjunct assistant professor in the Fielding School’s Department of Community Health Sciences, spoke with FSPH’s Public Health Magazine on her approach to training at the school.
evidence base that we’ve been able to gather through research. Public health is an art as well as a science. The science of public health includes research, but in public health practice there is also art. Our job as public health practitioners is to help mold that science into the art of empowering and collaborating with communities for better health. That’s why one of the most important things we do in our training programs is to teach the concept of working with communities and with professionals in other fields. In public health we believe in action that translates research into evidenceinformed practice that makes an impact on communities. It’s not just that we want health outcomes to change; we want the process to empower the community so that those changes are sustainable.
Q: What is the role of training in public health education? A: Training is a form of education that is typically about building competencies — allowing students to put into practice what they’ve been learning in formal classroom settings. It helps our students build their identities as public health professionals and creates a launching point for their successful careers. Training doesn’t end when students get their degrees. It involves lifelong learning, constantly adding to one’s knowledge base. I view training as the opportunity for additional empowerment — power in the ability to make the right decisions, so that, in turn, we empower the communities we work with. At the Fielding School, our training programs and opportunities focus on adding expertise and competencies not only for our students, but also for faculty, as well as for alumni who come back for these opportunities and programs.
“[Training] helps our students build their identities as public health professionals and creates a launching point for their successful careers.”
Q: So in a sense, training is a bridge between public health knowledge and public health practice? A: That’s right. Public health practice involves putting into the world the
Q: What distinguishes the student training that takes place at the Fielding School? A: Typically at universities, research is a top priority, and of course that’s important here as well. But it can’t be research for research’s sake. We need to be able to put the research findings into practice, then assess what’s working and what’s not, and with that understanding go back and conduct more research and then come back with better evidence-informed practices. That’s where we truly excel at the Fielding School — embracing the idea that research and practice go hand in hand, and making sure that circle continues to feed and strengthen itself. Our training is both through formal and informal programs, and takes many shapes. In all of the programs, though, we want to create leaders, advocates, scholars, connectors. More than train-
ing within a specific field or on a specific topic, we are shaping individuals who can take the skills they learn and successfully apply them at any level of public health for sustained positive change. Q: What role do you see for Fielding School alumni and other community partners in enhancing these training efforts? A: Our alumni and community partners are essential to the success of everything we do, because they’re often the first connection for our students as they gain practice in the real world. They are the true game changers in the field and they offer a wealth of information, resources, and guidance that cannot be taught from a textbook. Our alumni and our community partners provide invaluable opportunities and mentorship to our students. It is when knowledge and experiences
are shared that our public health efforts have greater impact. That is what makes our training programs at Fielding so successful. Q: What continues to stick with you from your own training? A: For me, the most important part was being tossed out into the field with amazing mentors who, in a sense, held my hand from afar. That trial by fire while knowing you have people behind you is very important in the practice world. You have to get your hands dirty, your feet wet. You have to be out there doing and experiencing public health. You need to know what you know, learn what you don’t know, and be capable of applying that knowledge in whatever future situation you find yourself in. I was fortunate to receive that kind of hands-on training, and it continues to inform all of my public health work. ph.ucla.edu
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HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
HEALING THE HEALTH SYSTEM THE U.S. SPENDS MORE THAN $10,000 PER PERSON on health care per year, approximately twice as much as the average spent by comparable high-income countries. There is ample evidence we aren’t getting our money’s worth. The rate of amenable mortality — premature deaths that could have been avoided with effective and timely health care — is higher in the U.S. than in any comparable high-income country, and more than 50 percent higher than in France, Australia, Japan and Sweden. “We’re spending a huge amount on the provision of medical care and not nearly enough on the social, organizational and economic factors that can lead to better population health in a more cost-effective manner,” says Dr. Thomas Rice, professor in the Fielding School’s Department of Health Policy and Management. For more than 25 years, the FSPH-based Los Angeles Area Health Services Research Training Program, funded by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, has trained doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows who 6
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Through their insights into the social, organizational and economic factors surrounding health care delivery, FSPH-trained researchers contribute to quality, cost-effective and accessible care.
become leaders in evaluating the costs, benefits, outcomes and financing of health care. The program provides two years of funding to five Fielding School PhD students at any one time, and for two new postdoctoral fellows each year who are trained in a collaboration among FSPH; the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics; the Veterans Administration (VA) Greater Los Angeles Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy; and RAND Health. Highly trained health services researchers have contributed significantly to recent positive steps in both the quality of U.S. health care and access to it, notes Rice, the program’s director. But major challenges remain. Health outcomes continue to lag behind those of poorer countries that spend far less. Wide health disparities persist, to the detriment of disadvantaged populations. Despite significant gains in access to care since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, the law faces an uncertain future amid legal and political challenges.
The FSPH-based program prepares trainees for these challenges by exposing them to all of the disciplines of public health and beyond — including economics, management, political science and the social determinants of health. The program’s multidisciplinary tint is reflected in the backgrounds of the trainees. Charleen Hsuan (PhD ’16) was a practicing attorney interested in health care ethics — in particular, how the nation decides to distribute limited health resources — when enactment of the ACA inspired her to apply to the program. “I strongly believe that evidence should drive policy decisions,” says Hsuan, now an assistant professor of health policy and administration at Penn State University. “We sometimes assume that the best policy solution to improve access or reduce disparities is to pass a law or enact a new regulation. However, my experience as an attorney suggested that there may be a gap between passing a law and actually seeing a change. My research focuses on this gap — how health laws and policies improve or restrict access to care, and reduce or increase disparities.” Dr. Maggie Ramirez (MS ’18) was in the process of completing her PhD in industrial and systems engineering at USC when she joined a study involving faculty members at the Fielding School and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The project was testing a team-based intervention to reduce risk factors for stroke among a mostly Latino population in the county health care system. Ramirez was brought on to help the research team develop and evaluate a mobile application aiming to improve communication among care team members. “That was my first exposure to the reality that certain groups had higher health risks and worse health outcomes,” Ramirez says. “I decided to see how I could use my engineering training to help eliminate these disparities.” Ramirez completed the two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Fielding School last summer, and is now an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Public Health, focusing on the design and implementation of information technology tools to improve the delivery of care to disadvantaged populations. Through her experience as clinical nursing director and director of education at a community hospital in Los Angeles, Dr. Linda Kim grew concerned about the potential for ineffective communication and collaboration among members of the health care team leading to preventable medical errors, and even deaths. Kim decided to pursue her PhD at the UCLA School of Nursing, focusing on patient safety and quality of care. After completing her doctorate, with her dissertation focusing on how interprofessional communication and collaboration affect patient outcomes and provider satisfaction,
THE FSPH-BASED LOS ANGELES AREA HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH TRAINING PROGRAM HOLDS A WEEKLY LUNCHTIME SEMINAR FOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS, POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS AND FACULTY. OPPOSITE PAGE: DR. THOMAS RICE (STANDING), THE PROGRAM’S DIRECTOR, WITH ATTENDEES.
she opted to further develop her health services research skills as an FSPH postdoctoral fellow. Kim’s FSPH postdoctoral training was based at the VA, where she found an ideal research setting in the system’s patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model, in which each patient’s overall care is coordinated by an interprofessional health care team, working closely with the patient to deliver comprehensive, patient-centered care. “The essence of PCMH is team-based care, so it aligned perfectly with my research interest,” Kim says. Under the mentorship of senior health services researchers at the VA, Kim completed the postdoctoral program in 2016. Petra Rasmussen started as an MPH student at Columbia University shortly after the ACA was enacted. “It became an exciting time, because we were seeing policies targeted at improving insurance coverage, as well as a host of delivery reforms,” she recalls. “There was also a strong need for research tracking the impact of these changes.” After several years as a senior researcher for the Commonwealth Fund, Rasmussen decided to pursue her PhD in health services research. She was drawn to the Fielding School program, she says, both by the quality of the faculty and the prospect of studying the ACA’s impact through the lens of California, which has been on the vanguard of the reforms. “I had a great job, but wanted to be able to conduct higher-quality research, and getting two years of funding made the decision to go back to school much easier,” says Rasmussen, now in her fourth year of the FSPH doctoral program and embarking on a dissertation that will examine consumer decision-making in health insurance marketplaces. “It’s immensely important to have research that helps to shape health policies and shows how these policies affect the population once they’re implemented. I’m excited to become part of a new generation that will be producing — Dr. Thomas Rice that research.”
“We’re spending a huge amount on the provision of medical care and not nearly enough on the factors that can lead to better population health.”
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STUDENT PROFILE
Counting on Improved Coverage As part of his doctoral training, biostatistics student Jay Xu is studying how media narratives evolve following mass shootings, in an effort to inform guidelines.
the coding process for large databases of media articles reporting on mass shooting events. They are also developing statistical methods to compare the coding profiles across events during the same time frame, and across different time periods within the same event. The training Xu has received as part of the collaboration has been particularly valuable, he says, in that it has involved working with faculty and students in two FSPH departments as well as colleagues outside of the school. The project also inspired Xu to successfully apply for funding from FSPH’s Gun Violence Prevention Pilot Grant program, which has allowed him OF THE 30 DEADLIEST MASS
professor of community health
to build on the media narratives
SHOOTINGS in the U.S. since
sciences, along with research-
research — including presenting
ADVISER, DR. THOMAS BELIN, FSPH
1949, the majority have occurred
ers at the UCLA-Duke Univer-
at the Joint Statistical Meet-
PROFESSOR OF BIOSTATISTICS.
in the last decade. The horrific
sity National Center for Child
ings of the American Statistical
scenes are etched in our national
Traumatic Stress and others
Association in Vancouver last
psyche — from an elementary
— seeks to provide evidence
summer. More recently, Xu
school in Newtown, Connecticut,
that could shape best-practices
received a National Defense Sci-
a high school in Parkland, Florida,
guidelines for media coverage
ence and Engineering Graduate
a church in Charleston, South
of mass shootings.
Research Fellowship from the
JAY XU (LEFT) COMBS THROUGH ARTICLES WITH HIS DOCTORAL
Carolina, an outdoor concert in
—Jay Xu 8
U.S. Department of Defense.
Las Vegas, and a nightclub in
mass shootings are covered can
Orlando, Florida, among others.
have public health implications,”
fortunate to have had the
Jay Xu, a second-year PhD
“Research suggests that how mass shootings are covered can have public health implications.”
“Research suggests that how
“I consider myself very
Xu notes. “There are concerns
opportunity to get involved with
student in the Fielding School’s
about humanizing attackers
this research almost from the
Department of Biostatistics,
and giving them the fame they
moment I set foot on campus,”
is part of a large research
seek, as well as the potential for
Xu says. “It’s allowed for so
collaboration aiming to better
encouraging copycat shooters.
much mentorship from faculty,
understand how media nar-
Studies also show negative men-
and the chance to work closely
ratives evolve following these
tal health impacts on people
with other students, which has
mass shootings, and how they
who are exposed to all of these
helped to develop my skills in
differ across events. The study
violent images.”
research and collaboration. It
— which also includes Xu’s
Xu and other members of
excites me to be involved in
PhD adviser, Dr. Thomas Belin,
the research team are devel-
research that is highly relevant
FSPH professor of biostatistics,
oping a prediction model that
to both public policy and
and Dr. Deborah Glik, FSPH
would enable them to automate
public health.”
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STUDENT PROFILE
Studying Racism’s Effects Doctoral student Rebekah Israel Cross uses her FSPH training to amplify the voices of marginalized communities through research on race, power and health. WHILE WORKING AT THE
ing how housing and community
BLACK AIDS INSTITUTE
development policies and prac-
in Downtown Los Angeles,
tices shape the health of racial
Rebekah Israel Cross heard
and ethnic minorities, especially
from people who expressed a
through segregation, housing
lack of interest in pre-exposure
discrimination and gentrifica-
prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV
tion. “It’s a great opportunity to
prevention despite being at
study racism and health through
greater risk of contracting HIV.
the lens of restrictive land-use
Their reasoning, Cross explains,
policies that contribute to a lack
is PrEP would do nothing to
of adequate opportunities for
address violence in their com-
well-being in historically margin-
munity and day-to-day lives or
alized communities and among
to eliminate systemic sources of
people of color,” Cross explains.
oppression that hinder health and well-being. For Cross, the experience
Cross also works as a graduate student researcher in the FSPH-based Center for the
showed that simply creating
Study of Racism, Social Justice
biomedical interventions or
& Health. Under the mentorship
ensuring that people have
of Dr. Chandra Ford, center
JUSTICE & HEALTH, AND TWO CENTER COLLEAGUES, NATALIE BRADFORD (SECOND
access to care isn’t always
director and FSPH associate
FROM LEFT) AND PORCHIA TOUSSAINT WILLIAMS (RIGHT).
enough to improve health — not
professor, Cross is using her
while racism continues to exist
training to help to educate her
critical race theory — which has
low public health researchers to
and perpetuate inequality. “The
colleagues and peers in public
been defined as a framework
not simply document inequality,
problem is bigger than just
health on avoiding introducing
rooted in social justice that
but to help transform it by find-
health care access or educating
seeks to understand and change
ing ways to use their research
people,” says Cross, a third-
the relationship between race,
to change the relationship
racism and power — to better
between racism and health and
capture sources of inequality
improve the health of marginal-
that harm health. In this way,
ized people.
year doctoral student in the Fielding School’s Department of Community Health Sciences. “I knew then that I needed to study something more macro, like public health.” Today, Cross is using her FSPH training to examine the many ways racism can have an impact on health. By mapping major urban areas nationwide
“At the Fielding School, I have been able to study structural racism as an actual variable in health disparities research.” —Rebekah Israel Cross
as part of her coursework in the
REBEKAH ISRAEL CROSS (LEFT) WITH DR. CHANDRA FORD (SECOND FROM RIGHT), DIRECTOR OF THE FSPH-BASED CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF RACISM, SOCIAL
Cross’ FSPH training has come
“People often think about
full circle, empowering her to
racism as interpersonal,” Cross
measure racism at its roots
says. “At the Fielding School, I
— from state-level policies
have been able to study struc-
affecting the availability of
tural racism as an actual variable
affordable housing to more local
in health disparities research.
considerations, such as which
If we treat racism — instead of
neighborhoods in an urban area
race — as a factor influencing
offer access to parks and green
health and study it systemati-
Robert Wood Johnson Foun-
biases into their research, pro-
spaces, or which schools offer
cally, we can find better ways to
dation’s Health Policy Research
grams and service delivery. In
advanced classes and programs.
measure it in order to address
Scholars program, she is explor-
her own research, Cross applies
Cross is also helping to train fel-
its broad health effects.”
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MOLECUL AR EPIDEMIOLOGY FOR CANCER
PANCREATIC CANCER IS TREATABLE when detected early, but since symptoms rarely occur until the disease has spread to other organs, the vast majority of cases are diagnosed in the later stages, making it among the most lethal tumors. According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate following a pancreatic cancer diagnosis is 9 percent. It is the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. Brian Huang, a fourth-year PhD student at the Fielding School, was drawn to FSPH’s Cancer Epidemiology Training Program by the potential public health impact that could come from research identifying early, detectable signs of the disease, and factors that increase pancreatic cancer risk. “There’s so much mystery around how pancreatic cancer develops, which is why by the time it’s diagnosed, it’s often too late,” Huang says. “I hope my research can contribute to early detection and prevention strategies.” As a cornerstone of public health, epidemiology has historically identified environmental and behavioral factors that either promote health or contribute to disease risk in populations. Beginning in 1997, the Fielding School’s NCI Cancer Epidemiology Training Program was among the first to train cancer epidemiologists in molecular epidemiology — a then-emerging branch of the discipline, fueled by the rapid advances in molecular biology and genetics.
SMALL CHANGES,
BIG IMPLICATIONS FSPH’s Cancer Epidemiology Training Program prepares the next generation of researchers to identify molecular-level markers associated with disease risk — findings that inform early detection and prevention strategies.
“In molecular epidemiology we are interested in identifying biological markers — such as serum antibodies, micronutrient levels, protein expression, genetic mutations or methylations — that are associated with disease risk, often through interactions with behavioral influences such as smoking and obesity,” says the program’s director, Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research at the Fielding School. By understanding the molecular factors associated with cancer risk, Zhang notes, public health professionals can identify at-risk populations and urge them to avoid the environmental or behavioral exposures that interact with their genetics to trigger the disease. Molecular epidemiology findings can also pave the way for early-detection strategies, or the development of targeted interventions and drug treatments. The FSPH program trains five PhD students and two postdoctoral fellows. In addition to traditional epidemiology, the trainees learn laboratory processes and methods involved in determining the biological markers used in epidemiological studies. The trainees benefit from a multidisciplinary group of faculty, both from within the Fielding School’s Department of Epidemiology and across other FSPH departments and other UCLA schools and departments — from toxicologists and biostatisticians to health care professionals who treat cancer, and researchers who focus on cancer prevention and control. For alum Claire Hahni Kim (PhD ’16), the program married her two academic interests: epidemiology and biology. After completing her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, Kim earned an MPH in chronic disease epidemiology, then worked as an epidemiology analyst at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and as a senior research associate at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, where she analyzed data from the California Health Interview Survey. 10
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BRIAN HUANG (ABOVE LEFT), A PHD STUDENT IN FSPH’S CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM, WITH DR. ZUO-FENG ZHANG, THE PROGRAM’S DIRECTOR.
“My molecular epidemiology training integrated the biological aspects of disease research with the methodological foundations of epidemiology,” says Kim, whose PhD studies focused on genetic susceptibility to lung cancer. “I learned not only the statistical aspects of diseases, but also how to explore the biology behind them.” Kim is now a senior manager on the epidemiology/ biostatistics team in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, office of the pharmaceutical company Sanofi Genzyme, analyzing clinical data for patients with rare diseases. Mia Hashibe (MPH ’99, PhD ’02) was part of the first class of cancer molecular epidemiology trainees at the Fielding School. “The idea of combining data-based research with laboratory work was really interesting to me,” she says. “Traditional epidemiology relies to a large extent on self-reported data, but we were beginning to supplement that with biological markers.” With her FSPH tuition covered by the training program, Hashibe was able to devote 20 hours a week during her PhD studies to working alongside Zhang as a research assistant. After graduation she spent seven years at the World Health Organization’s Interna-
tional Agency for Research on Cancer in France before moving to the University of Utah, where she is currently an associate professor of family and preventive medicine, as well as director of research for the statewide Utah Cancer Registry. Her studies focus on how risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol, lack of physical activity, obesity and diabetes interact with certain genetic variants to increase susceptibility to head and neck cancers. She also helped to start the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium, of which Zhang is an executive committee member, to encourage collaborations and the pooling of data. Hashibe was trained just as the field of molecular epidemiology — made possible by the revolutions in molecular biology and genetics, including the first successful sequencing of the human genome — was starting. Two decades later, the field is undergoing seismic shifts as genetic sequencing and information technologies continue to advance at a rapid clip, enabling molecular epidemiologists to examine at a more granular level how cancers develop. “When I was in the PhD program we were typically looking at one genetic variant at a time, and now we’re
looking at millions,” Hashibe marvels. “People used to refer to a ‘black box’ in cancer epidemiology — we knew about the environmental factors, but very little was known about how they interacted with the molecular biology and genetics,” says Wendy Setiawan (MS ’00, PhD ’02), an associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at USC, where she studies genetic susceptibility to the development of liver, pancreatic and endometrial cancers, and how environmental factors can increase or reduce individual risk. The FSPH Cancer Epidemiology Training Program laid the foundation for her successful academic career, Setiawan says, by giving her the ability to design and implement studies as well as teaching her how to collect and handle biological samples — something that was foreign to her previous education in epidemiology. “I still collaborate with FSPH trainees on projects,” she says. “The program’s students are always of the highest quality.” One of those trainees is Brian Huang, who has worked closely with Setiawan on pancreatic cancer studies. “With molecular epidemiology approaches, we have a chance to move pancreatic cancer in the direction of breast and colon cancer, which are very common but also now very treatable,” Huang says. “Being involved in that effort is very exciting.”
PHD STUDENTS IN THE PROGRAM, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: CLAIRE EUIYOUNG KIM, LARA YOON, GINA E. NAM AND CLAIRY (FANG) FANG.
ph.ucla.edu
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11
SUMMER TR AINING
FIELD DAYS Each summer, Fielding School students gain hands-on experience practicing public health locally, internationally and in between. For many, these internships provide the first opportunity to apply classroom lessons and to weigh potential public health career paths. On the pages that follow, eight such students recount their recent summer training and how it has influenced their post-graduation plans.
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U C L A F I E L D I N G S C H O O L O F P U B L I C H E A LT H M AG A Z I N E
CYNTHIA BLACKMAN MS Student Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Summer Training: Navy Preventive Medicine Unit, San Diego WORKER HEALTH AND
experience in military
SAFETY, along with
environments, I have had the
environmental protection, have
privilege of serving with Sailors
been my lifelong passions. I
and Marines with various skill
did my summer internship with
sets. These skill sets often
the Navy Preventive Medicine
expose them to a multitude
Unit in San Diego, working
of hazards, all of which are
closely with the Industrial
identified and mitigated for
Hygiene division in conducting
by naval industrial hygienists.
baseline and periodic industrial
My goal is to protect those
hygiene surveys; exposure
who protect us — our Sailors
monitoring; sound-level
and Marines. Through this
measurements; ventilation
internship, I was able to take my
and air-quality assessments;
first steps toward ensuring that
respirator fit testing; mold,
these protections are in place.
lead and asbestos sampling;
I was able to not only see, but
and occupational safety and
also participate in the various
health program training. I
programs geared toward
also researched whole-body
securing their safety. Partaking
vibration exposure and back
in this internship reinforced
pain in the helicopter aircrew.
my desire to become a naval
Throughout my 19-year
industrial hygienist.
My goal for after graduation
clinical trials. The development
CRYSTAL SHAW PhD Student Department of Biostatistics
Summer Training: Pfizer, Inc., La Jolla, California
BIOSTATISTICS LIVES AT THE
compounds and the design of
INTERSECTION of my love for
studies involving patients. My
quantitative, analytical thinking
role consisted of building and
and my passion for making a
analyzing gene networks (visual
difference. I chose this field
displays of the relationships
for my PhD studies so that
between genes), with the
I could dedicate my career
primary goal of identifying new
to solving interesting, high-
drug targets. I streamlined the
impact problems. Last summer,
process of turning raw data
I was offered an internship in
into gene networks, improved
the Computational Biology/
metrics used in creating the
was always to obtain a position in
of life-saving drugs starts with
Oncology group at Pfizer, Inc. in
networks, and built a software
the pharmaceutical industry, but
a diverse group of scientists
La Jolla, California. The group
tool for this data pipeline that is
this summer experience taught
finding patterns in big data, and
conducts pre-clinical research,
currently being used within the
me that the application of my
I believe that biostatisticians are
which means that its work
group for research in various
biostatistical training extends far
well equipped to impact this field
precedes the formulation of drug
cancer settings.
beyond designing and analyzing
in a powerful way.
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SUMMER TR AINING
CHASE ISRAEL MPH Student Department of Epidemiology
Summer Training: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
IN MY ROLE AS A RESEARCH
are keeping parents from
INTERN for the Pediatric Injury
implementing them.
Prevention Scholars program
Along the way I was also
within the trauma department
able to contribute to a few
at Children’s Hospital Los
grants, my favorite of which
Angeles (CHLA), I worked on
was for an initiative to tailor
research aiming to keep kids
active-shooter trauma training
out of the emergency room. My
to high school students. I
main goal was to develop an
loved that we were trying to
original study for that purpose,
tackle an issue that makes
and in the process I found
many people uncomfortable,
there is a gap in the literature
because those are the issues
on smartphone applications
that tend to need the most
aiming to reduce distractions
attention. I found the team I
among teen drivers. Motor
worked with at CHLA inspiring;
vehicle crashes are the biggest
as a result, I am staying with
killer of U.S. teens. My survey
the trauma department through
study focuses on parental
the academic year, and am
perceptions regarding those
considering pursuing injury
apps and the barriers that
prevention as a career.
LAMAR HAYES
MPH Student (pictured far left) Department of Environmental Health Sciences Summer Training: Sonke Gender Justice, Cape Town, South Africa campaign training curriculums. This opportunity to help
will be invaluable for my future work in the field. Acquiring
advance global health outcomes
knowledge about community
was a great educational
trainings and events in a foreign
experience in building
country gave me a firsthand
culture-specific content. My
view of some of the differences
internship enabled me to
in how public health initiatives
better understand some global
unfold in other countries.
health successes, as well as the
The experience enhanced my
challenges of implementing
interest in global health and
initiatives while being
increased my awareness of
I INTERNED LAST SUMMER
master’s student in public health
conscious of social stigmas
global health issues. It solidified
at Sonke Gender Justice, a
at the University of Cape Town,
and atmospheres in different
my desire to work abroad with
nonprofit organization in Cape
my work aimed to improve
countries. Learning about the
underrepresented populations
Town, South Africa that works
maternal and infant/child health
culture and experiences of the
in an effort to improve maternal
across Africa to promote gender
outcomes by creating an online
population was something I
and infant/child health
equality. In conjunction with a
program for Sonke’s fatherhood
thoroughly appreciated, and it
outcomes.
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U C L A F I E L D I N G S C H O O L O F P U B L I C H E A LT H M AG A Z I N E
RYAN ASSAF MPH Student Department of Epidemiology
Summer Training: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru I HAD THE PLEASURE OF completing my summer internship in the epidemiology program at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, under the direction of Dr. Kelika Konda [adjunct assistant professor in FSPH’s Department of Epidemiology and in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA]. My work with Dr. Konda on HIV prevention efforts entailed setting up and providing training to clinical staff at 10 sites for the distribution of PrEP, a medication that can prevent HIV. This was part of a study that was also being conducted in Brazil and Mexico. My main role was to investigate and develop a research question from data collected in a preliminary survey. I performed literature reviews, coding and statistical analyses, which led to the submission of two abstracts to a conference as first author and second author. A major driver for my working in Peru was to learn Spanish and obtain a strong understanding of the culture, which I can continue to draw on in Los Angeles. The experience I gained helped to reinforce what I learned in my first year as an MPH student, confirmed my desire to go into research involving prevention of infectious diseases, and opened the door to my participation in global
ESTHER GAO
MPH Student Department of Community Health Sciences Summer Training: Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles
work. I plan to continue to a PhD, with the hope of returning to Peru to pursue further research.
WITH THE SUPPORT OF Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education funding through the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, I worked with Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) to create and implement a pilot project that encouraged small-farm business owners to promote healthy foods and relay nutrition messages about their produce to customers. Market visitors were encouraged to try samples highlighting market produce and received recipe cards with fact sheets that summarized the recipe’s nutritional benefits. Given my interest in chronic disease prevention and my love of nutrition, it was an ideal experience. I was drawn to SEE-LA’s mission of supporting not only members of the community, but also small-farm business owners. The internship showed me the time and dedication public health professionals devote to the field. Their passion was inspiring, and it sparked my interest in improving access to resources such as healthy foods for disadvantaged communities. Every week I looked forward to having conversations about food with interested patrons and watching their surprised faces when they tried a new vegetable for the first time. The experience solidified my desire to work in the community and pursue a career in which I am directly interacting with the community members I serve. ph.ucla.edu
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SUMMER TR AINING
MARK ALSAY
MPH Student (pictured standing) Department of Health Policy and Management Summer Training: AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Los Angeles
AS A PROCESS IMPROVEMENT intern
margin, no mission.” It highlights the
at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation
critical role capital and money play in the
(AHF) in Los Angeles last summer, my
organization’s ability to fulfill its mission,
job was essentially to analyze data on
which is to provide high-quality care
HIV/STD testing processes to establish
regardless of ability to pay.
benchmarks that would improve the
Working at a large nonprofit like
organization’s ability to bring people
AHF has affected the way I think about
who are HIV/STD-positive into care.
solving issues of health and social justice.
I took this opportunity because I
Seeing how the organization utilizes its
wanted to broaden my experiences by
resources to provide testing, outreach,
working in a nonprofit setting. Over the
medical care, advocacy and now housing
10-week period I learned a great deal
to the communities it serves has inspired
about the organization, its culture and
me to work to build more dynamic
its people. One of the major lessons
programs that can address the same
can be summed up in the mantra, “No
issues in other communities.
MARUFA KHANDAKER MPH Student Department of Community Health Sciences
Summer Training: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
MY INTERNSHIP AT the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, a global health research institute based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to return to my roots and work in my parents’ home country. I have always wanted to learn more about the country my parents emigrated from, particularly its inadequate and fragmented health care system — which had frequently served as a barrier to quality health care for some of my family members. What’s more, this was a chance to participate in the efforts of an organization my paternal grandfather had worked in as it was being created, to walk in his footsteps and see Bangladesh through a local lens. Through my projects, which focused on health-service planning and the development of effective referral systems, I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge — about the current health care system, the disease burden of slum communities, and the health-seeking behaviors and preferred providers of the people in these communities. Living like a local during student-led protests also broadened my understanding of the corrupt political climate of Bangladesh. Overall, the experience showed me the importance of research and medicine, especially as a voice to address the needs of the unheard, and fueled my passion for global health work. 16
U C L A F I E L D I N G S C H O O L O F P U B L I C H E A LT H M AG A Z I N E
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
H I R E
E D U C A T I O N
The FSPH Career Services office empowers students with information about employment trends and possible career pathways, practical resources, and a community of support to confidently make a lifetime of career decisions.
STUDENTS HENAR ABDELMONEM (LEFT) AND TAYLER WARD AT FSPH CAREER SERVICES’ “UNLEASH YOUR STRENGTHS” ORIENTATION.
BARELY MORE THAN A YEAR AFTER GRADUATING from the Fielding School, Gelliza Gervacio (MPH ’17) holds her dream position, working as a biostatistician at a clinical research organization in Carlsbad, California. For that, she says, she owes a debt of gratitude to both her biostatistics education and the training she received from the FSPH Career Services office. “Getting your degree doesn’t guarantee that you’ll end up with the job you’re looking for,” Gervacio says. “In addition to subject-specific expertise, you need professional skills — including knowing how to make your résumé stand out, how to establish relationships with people in your industry and how to present yourself in ways that will make people want to hire you.” The FSPH Career Services office trains students in these skills through one-on-one counseling, as well as activities ranging from peer-to-peer workshops to hands-on learning experiences. Students learn about employment trends, obtain feedback on their résumés, conduct mock interviews and salary negotiations, and are counseled on how to make the most of their internship experiences. They are connected as part of the training with potential employers, including alumni and other community partners. “We want to equip students with the confidence, skills, tools and community to move successfully through every phase of their internship, their job search and beyond,” says Kristy Sherrer, FSPH’s career services director. “By prioritizing this type of training, we’re making sure students have the pieces they need to maximize their impact on the public health workforce.”
The training starts with a self-assessment. Unleash Your Strengths, a new initiative based on Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment, is administered to all incoming students. Once they are made aware of their strengths, Sherrer explains, students can better identify areas within public health where they can make the biggest impact and achieve the most fulfillment. Sherrer notes that the Fielding School has surveyed employers about the skills they particularly value in new hires, and has asked FSPH alumni what skills they found most valuable as they moved into the job market. Among both groups, the most frequent responses were strong verbal and written communication, along with problem-solving skills. “Building confidence around professional communication is a major focus,” Sherrer says. The professional development training provided by the FSPH Career Services office continues to be in high demand, Sherrer notes. As part of an assessment of the level of participation and effectiveness of the programs, she found that students’ self-reported confidence levels in professionalism topics soared from 47 percent before the training to 95 percent after. Gelliza Gervacio was among those who moved into the high-confidence category as she took advantage of the training through the duration of her time in the MPH program. “Career advisers I saw before I got to the Fielding School tended to offer more generic tips, but Kristy Sherrer understood the statistics industry,” she says. “Because of that, the advice I received was geared to exactly what I wanted to be doing after graduation.” ph.ucla.edu
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INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE
Workplace Wellness UCLA’s Industrial Hygiene Program, based in the Fielding School, teaches students how to ensure that jobs are safe.
DR. SHANE QUE HEE (CENTER), FSPH PROFESSOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES AND DIRECTOR OF THE UCLA INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE PROGRAM, EXPLAINS THE TESTING AND MANIPULATION OF COMMERCIAL VENTILATION SYSTEMS TO THE PROGRAM'S STUDENTS, INCLUDING JACK AROUCHIAN (LEFT) AND XINGMEI LIU (RIGHT).
18
ASK DR. SHANE QUE HEE, FSPH professor of environmental health sciences, about the impact of the UCLA Industrial Hygiene Program and his answer is emphatic: “It saves lives.” So why don’t industrial hygienists — the scientists and professionals who help to protect the health and safety of workers — make regular headlines? Probably because, like many public health practitioners, their work is focused on preventing people from getting sick or injured in the first place. Que Hee, who directs the FSPH-based training program, explains that industrial hygienists traditionally worked in factories, where they assessed whether workers were exposed to unsafe levels of toxic chemicals and other hazards, and trained them to follow procedures and wear protective equipment. The field has evolved to include oversight of non-factory settings, where industrial hygienists might be responsible for verifying that air filtration and ventilation systems are properly functioning and
U C L A F I E L D I N G S C H O O L O F P U B L I C H E A LT H M AG A Z I N E
not exposing workers to polluted air, or that desks, spaces, chairs and work environments are not ergonomic stressors. Industrial hygienists work for large companies, governments, insurance carriers, unions, universities and consulting companies. They often collaborate with epidemiologists, physicians, nurses, safety specialists and toxicologists. They anticipate, identify, evaluate, control and prevent factors that affect worker health, including physical factors (noise, heat, cold, radiation); airborne particles and chemicals; biological exposures such as airborne microorganisms; mechanical stressors such as those causing carpal tunnel syndrome; and factors affecting psychosocial health, including job stress and workplace violence. “Being an industrial hygienist means you have to be able to measure stressors to show that you have a safe and healthy environment,” Que Hee says. “You need to know how to do a risk assessment to confirm that whatever guidelines or regulations are applicable are obeyed.”
The UCLA Industrial Hygiene Program’s curriculum includes hands-on training using monitoring and safety equipment, field trips, and courses in biostatistics, epidemiology, general environmental health and other scientific fields. Students are taught, for example, not only how to take air samples and submit them to a lab, but also the methods the lab will use to analyze the samples. The program, based in FSPH’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, was established in 1983 and is part of the UCLA Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. It is supported by the Southern California NIOSH Education and Research Center, one of 18 multidisciplinary occupational health centers of excellence in the U.S., which provides students with some financial support for tuition and living expenses. Students receive MPH, MS and doctoral degrees; currently the program includes 10 students, four of whom are doctoral students. Nadia Ho entered the program while pursuing dual degrees with FSPH’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) and the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. After Ho’s first year at FSPH, she did a summer internship within the environmental health and safety department of defense contractor Northrop Grumman. “With heavy manufacturing you get exposed to all the aspects of industrial hygiene,” Ho says. “This site [where I interned] makes propulsion and power generation systems and launch platforms for U.S. Navy submarines and aircraft carriers. The process included welding of stainless steel, as well as painting and sandblasting. We had a facilities team that did construction, painting and sandblasting. I was there, absorbing everything. I realized this was really what I wanted to do. It involved worker safety and environmental programs and touched upon everything EHS students learn at UCLA.” Dr. Niklas Krause, director of the Southern California NIOSH Education and Research Center and FSPH professor of environmental health sciences and epidemiology, says industrial hygienists are in great demand.
“Being an industrial hygienist means you have to be able to measure stressors to show that you have a safe and healthy environment.” — Dr. Shane Que Hee
“All organizations have safety and health concerns, so they need to have a supply of well-trained industrial hygienists,” he says. Second-year MPH student Jack Arouchian is familiar with the many forms of practice that industrial hygiene can take. Before enrolling at FSPH, he worked with a consulting company where he assessed safety at foundries, bakeries, factories, airports and many other settings. He currently works as an industrial hygienist with the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, where he helps to ensure the safety of lineworkers, individuals who construct and maintain electric power lines. Arouchian recently was asked to investigate a volt explosion, determined that it occurred due to methane gas leaking, and asked the workers to clear the site. “What I’ve learned [at UCLA] has helped me train an average of 20-30 lineworkers weekly,” he says. “I teach them how to eliminate or minimize exposure to hazardous agents such as asbestos, lead, respirable crystalline silica, noise and heat stress, and what the health effects of contaminants are.” One of the courses offered by the program explores the health effects posed by physical agents, sources of energy such as noise, vibration and electromagnetic radiation that may cause injury or disease. That course inspired second-year MS student Cynthia Blackman to focus her research thesis on the effects of whole body vibrations experienced by U.S. Navy aircrew and how they relate to back pain. “A lot of the literature says that after a certain amount of time, helicopter pilots experience chronic back pain, but most of those papers were written in the ’80s and ’90s, and they were focused on pilots,” Blackman notes. “I haven’t found a lot of literature focused on aircrew.” Blackman enrolled in the UCLA Industrial Hygiene Program while serving as a surface warfare officer with the U.S. Navy. Upon graduation, she plans to return to military service, but as an industrial hygienist. “On one ship, two doors down from where I was working, there was a door that was taped off,” Blackman recalls of her time as a surface warfare officer. “It turned out there was potential lead exposure and we needed to have our industrial hygienist come in and evaluate the space. It made me think, these are the people who are protecting the United States. Who’s protecting them? I want to be the one protecting them.” ph.ucla.edu
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POSTDOCTOR AL SCHOL AR PROFILE
Finding Justice
Hearing about the refugee journeys of her parents and their friends left Negar Omidakhsh determined to improve social conditions through research.
Negar Omidakhsh (PhD ’17)
Postdoctoral Scholars train-
Development Goals established
hadn’t yet turned 2 when her
ing program, based in FSPH’s
by the United Nations General
parents brought her and her
WORLD Policy Analysis Center.
Assembly in 2015. Omidakhsh’s
older brother to Canada as
“Growing up with a mother who was such an inspiring role model gave me an appreciation for the importance of equality and how that shapes all female generations.” —Negar Omidakhsh
While pursuing her under-
postdoctoral research has
refugees. They had fled Iran in
graduate and master’s educa-
focused on policies and norms
the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic
tion at the University of British
related to gender equality. Her
Revolution — losing almost all of
Columbia in Vancouver, Omida-
first project looked at child
their money to smugglers in the
khsh devoted significant time to
marriage policies — an issue
process — so that Omidakhsh’s
advocating for refugee rights.
of personal interest to Omida-
father could receive a university
She co-coordinated a well-
khsh, whose grandmother and
education. Growing up, Omida-
attended series of talks at the
mother married at ages 12 and
khsh watched with admiration
Vancouver Public Library, where
15, respectively. She found that
as her parents worked tirelessly
refugees could share their sto-
in countries that implemented
to learn a new language and
ries, then spent two years volun-
policies prohibiting child mar-
obtain college degrees. She
teering at a high-profile refugee
riage, attitudes about domestic
heard stories of the refugee
law firm, preparing background
violence improved among both
journeys of her parents’ friends,
research for families seeking
men and women. In June 2018,
each characterized by hardship,
to avoid deportation. Omida-
Omidakhsh co-led a workshop
pain and the courage required
khsh then came to the Fielding
at the Girls Not Brides Global
to leave homes behind in the
School for her PhD in epide-
Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malay-
hope of a better future.
miology, with her dissertation
sia, designed to assist advocates
focusing on maternal occupa-
from around the globe in trans-
exposures proved pivotal when it
tional exposures and childhood
lating the findings into impact.
came time for Omidakhsh to con-
cancer risk.
These formative childhood
sider what she wanted to do with
In the Hilton program,
Omidakhsh says she has received invaluable training
her own life. “That understand-
Omidakhsh is learning state-of-
from the Hilton program in
ing of adversity early on is what
the-art approaches to deter-
how to conduct independent
inspired me to pursue research
mining the most effective and
research. She has also ben-
aiming to alleviate the struggles
efficient ways to improve social
efited from the opportunity
faced by some of the world’s
conditions for poor and margin-
to supervise FSPH graduate
most marginalized populations,”
alized populations at a global
students in a systematic review
says Omidakhsh, who is currently
scale — specifically, how best
of the relationship between
in her second year of the Hilton
to implement the Sustainable
global policy and women’s work outcomes. In all of her work, Omidakhsh is driven by a desire to improve the lives of women around the world. “I care about women’s health, their autonomy, the norms that shape who they become and the rights of their children, particularly if they are girls, to an education and a safe and thriving environment,” she says. “Growing up with a mother who was such an inspiring role model gave me an appreciation
NEGAR OMIDAKHSH WAS 2 WHEN HER FAMILY MOVED TO CANADA AS
for the importance of equality
REFUGEES FROM IRAN FOLLOWING
and how that shapes all female
THE 1979 ISLAMIC REVOLUTION.
generations.”
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U C L A F I E L D I N G S C H O O L O F P U B L I C H E A LT H M AG A Z I N E
ALUMNI PROFILE
Speaking from Experience Having thrived during her training at the Fielding School, Kate Crespi is using her faculty position to ensure that her students reap the same rewards. KATE CRESPI (MS ’91, PHD ’04) believes the most important quality for any academic in mentoring students is empathy. And as someone who trained in the Fielding School’s Department of Biostatistics before joining the department’s faculty, where she is now professor in residence, Crespi can easily identify with her students’ experiences. Crespi completed her MS in FSPH’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences,
DR. KATE CRESPI WITH JUSTIN WILLIAMS (MS ’16), A PHD CANDIDATE IN THE FIELDING SCHOOL’S DEPARTMENT OF BIOSTATISTICS.
then spent five years working
“Biostatistics is a highly collaborative discipline, so it’s particularly beneficial to train at a research powerhouse like UCLA.” —Dr. Kate Crespi
at the South Coast Air Quality
ment of Biostatistics, considers
in the FSPH-based Center for
Management District. While
Crespi one of his department’s
Cancer Prevention and Control
there, she developed quanti-
most valued trainers. “As an
Research, where she is now the
tative health-risk assessments
active researcher on many
lead biostatistician.
associated with air pollution
high-profile projects in FSPH
exposures, using both com-
and the David Geffen School of
than 100 peer-reviewed publica-
puter simulations and statistical
Medicine at UCLA, she is instru-
tions and has served as principal
methods. Fascinated by the
mental in bringing graduate stu-
investigator or co-investigator
work, Crespi decided to return
dents onto scientific projects,”
on more than 40 funded studies
to the Fielding School for a PhD
Banerjee explains. “Working
covering major public health
in biostatistics.
with Dr. Crespi has considerably
issues such as cancer, obesity
“Ever since I was a kid, math
enhanced the research experi-
and infectious diseases. But
was my favorite subject, but not
ence of many of our students.”
nothing takes a back seat to
for its own sake; I was interested
During her own train-
Crespi has amassed more
her work with FSPH students.
in using statistics to advance
ing, Crespi says, she grew to
“I know how stressful graduate
public health,” Crespi explains.
appreciate both the quality of
school can be,” she says. “I try
As she progressed through her
the program’s faculty and the
to be supportive, maintain a
training — including a postdoc-
wide-ranging research opportu-
positive outlook, and allow stu-
toral fellowship supported by
nities within and outside of the
dents to feel a sense of owner-
the biostatistics department’s
Fielding School. “Biostatistics is
ship of their work, while making
HIV/AIDS training grant — Cre-
a highly collaborative discipline,
sure they understand that
spi concluded that she didn’t
so it’s particularly beneficial
science has to be conducted
want to leave academia. “I have
to train at a research power-
with a high level of integrity
experience working for the
house like UCLA,” she says.
and attention to detail. It’s also
government and in the private
Many of the connections Crespi
easy for doctoral students to
sector, but what I love most is
forged during her training have
get caught up in the minutiae
doing research and mentoring
endured through her faculty
of their dissertation. I want to
students,” she says.
tenure. Most notably, as a post-
make sure my students don’t
doctoral scholar Crespi began
lose sight of the big-picture
collaborating with researchers
impact of their work.”
Dr. Sudipto Banerjee, chair of the Fielding School’s Depart-
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WORKFORCE EDUCATION
E X T R A C R E D I T FSPH’s Executive Programs in Health Policy & Management allow working health professionals to gain new skills.
NIKI MILLER, MPH ’16 (LEFT), AND HER COLLEAGUE, KARINA ROMERO, BOTH OF WHOM COMPLETED THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT COURSE THROUGH THE FSPHBASED EXECUTIVE PROGRAMS IN HEALTH POLICY & MANAGEMENT, WORK TOGETHER IN SUPPORT OF THE UCLA FACULTY PRACTICE GROUP.
CARLOS CHAVEZ (MPH ’18) already had an established career at health insurance provider Anthem Inc. when he decided to enroll in FSPH’s Executive Master of Public Health (EMPH) to fill in gaps in his health policy and management knowledge. The program made it possible for Chavez to take classes toward his degree on weekends while continuing in his fulltime job. But right before he was about to graduate, Chavez realized he wanted to tack on another skill that seemed to be in heavy demand. “I was getting involved in a lot of projects at work as a contributor, but not as a manager,” Chavez says. “As
I started to look for a new position, I noticed many hiring managers wanted people with project management skills or certification.” Chavez learned that in addition to offering a degree program for working professionals, UCLA’s Executive Programs in Health Policy & Management, based in the Fielding School, include a project management workshop. Over the course of two weekends, Chavez learned how to manage all phases of a health care-focused project and how to use project management software. Chavez, now a business change manager at Anthem, is currently working with information technology and
“People arrive in management positions through many different paths.” — Dr. Leah Vriesman
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business colleagues to create a new payment system for some providers in Anthem’s care network. Like Chavez, most people who sign up for FSPH’s professional development workshops are looking to get a boost in their careers, says Dr. Leah Vriesman, director of Executive Programs in Health Policy & Management and adjunct associate professor at the Fielding School. “People arrive in management positions through many different paths,” Vriesman says. “They may have a health care background, such as a radiology technician or licensed vocational nurse, and have an aptitude for managing people. They may then find themselves managing the organization’s process improvement processes and they start to realize they don’t have project management skills or quality metrictracking skills they need.” FSPH offers several courses for health administration professionals, which can be taken alone or as part of a series. Topics include: * Health Care Transformation & Performance Excellence. Attendees in these courses are encouraged to think through how they would improve everyday processes at work to make them more efficient. Participants learn about gathering data and applying basic statistical analyses to their data sets, and then create visual representations of their data that others can understand. * Health Care Project Management. These courses, offered over two weekends, can be used to satisfy the required 35 hours of education for certification from the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional. Niki Miller (MPH ’16), a graduate of FSPH’s EMPH program who is now director of business operations for UCLA Health, used the knowledge she learned from this series to implement standards in projects that she manages, such as one involving credentialing software. “After obtaining my MPH, I read books about project management, but this course helped me learn a structured approach and hands-on problem-solving techniques,” Miller says.
A Foot in the Hospital Door: Early Workforce Development “Instead of giving up their passion for health care, [students] can see through this program that there are options in health care management.” — Kyle Sullivan
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UNDERGR ADUATE ENGAGEMENT
The UCLA Public Health Scholars Training Program engages some of the nation’s most promising college students in an eight-week summer introduction to the possibilities of a public health career. ELAINE OWUSU WILL NEVER FORGET the summer between her junior and senior years at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Owusu spent eight weeks in residence on the UCLA campus, where she and more than three dozen peers received an intensive introduction to the field of public health as part of the first cohort of the UCLA Public Health Scholars Training Program. The program combined education and hands-on training — in Owusu’s case, an internship assisting the director of quality improvement at St. John’s Well Child & Family Center, which provides 24
free and low-cost care to nearly 100,000 low-income patients in Los Angeles. “The most enjoyable part was learning what it means to be a public health professional,” says Owusu, who plans to pursue master’s degrees in public health and business administration. “The opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas with my amazing cohort, as well as with professionals from the greater Los Angeles area, left me inspired and ready to change the world.” Owusu was among 40 undergraduate and recently graduated college students from across the nation who spent last summer learning about pub-
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lic health and the potential for careers within the field. The eight-week program — including two days a week of seminars, workshops, mentorship and professional development, along with three days a week working as interns at community-based public health organizations — is funded by the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Fielding School was one of five Undergraduate Public Health Scholars programs funded, with a five-year, $2.7 million grant supporting the summer scholars with stipends, housing and other
expenses, including a trip to the CDC in Atlanta. In the U.S., a minimum of 250,000 new public health workers will be needed by 2020 to fill gaps created by retirement and other turnover, according to the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health. Equally concerning to the CDC is the lack of diversity within the public health workforce, which threatens to compromise the ability of public health professionals to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse society. The Public Health Scholars Training Program is part of an effort to address both the pipeline and diversity issues by introducing bright and dedicated young students to the possibilities within the public health profession. The first 40 of the 200 students who will participate in the FSPH program over the five-year period were selected out of a highly competitive process that produced nearly 1,200 applicants, with the funding support for the scholars helping to ensure that students from low-income backgrounds could afford to participate. “These are young students who are in the ‘sweet spot’ for the population we want to reach — still undecided about what they want to do and unsure about what a career in public health looks like, but deeply committed to improving the conditions around them and excited to learn about the opportunities,” says Dr. Michael Prelip, professor and chair of FSPH’s Department of Community Health Sciences and director of the program. “The passion they brought to our school was contagious.” To help the program’s first cohort learn about all facets of public health, the program recruited faculty from all five FSPH academic departments for skills training, lectures and professional development activities. Weekly themes were built off of the interests expressed by the scholars, with health equity and social justice serving as the underlying component. Community professionals were brought in to discuss their organizations and how their careers developed, and policy and advocacy discussions were held on the week’s theme.
UCLA PUBLIC HEALTH SCHOLARS TRAINING PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS ASHYA SMITH (LEFT) AND AYANNA SMITH, UNDERGRADUATES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, ANN ARBOR, AND XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA, RESPECTIVELY, BOND DURING A HEAL THE BAY CLEANUP EVENT IN REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA.
A key part of the training program involves the internships. Students are placed, based on their interests, in community-based organizations, health systems and government agencies throughout Los Angeles, with the internship supervisors serving as the students’ professional mentors. Kelly Reyna, a student at Emory University in Atlanta majoring in human health and sociology, did her internship at The Wall Las Memorias Project, a community health organization in Los Angeles that provides health services to Latinx, LGBTQ+, low-income, and other populations. Working closely with the organization’s executive director and HIV program manager fueled Reyna’s interest in pursuing health equity through advocacy, community
engagement and other public health approaches; after her senior year at Emory, she plans to spend a year working for a public health organization while applying to MPH programs. Francisco Ortiz, a political science major at UC Merced, saw the FSPH training program as an opportunity to better understand how advocacy and programming efforts could improve the overall health and education of college students. Learning about public health and participating in the day-today operations and research efforts at Latino Equality Alliance — including the publication of the UndocuQueer Health Resource Guide for Los Angeles and UndocuQueer Night, which centered on storytelling, advocacy and action — left Ortiz determined to
“Participating made me feel like I’m really working toward something that can make a positive difference in the world.” — Bryan Okelo ph.ucla.edu
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UNDERGR ADUATE ENGAGEMENT
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY’S BLANCA MORALES HELPS TO IMPROVE LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS’ ACCESS TO FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.
empower marginalized communities in ways that improve health outcomes. He is currently applying to PhD programs in public health and social psychology. For Vivian Duong, a fourth-year UCLA student majoring in psychology
something she intends to explore in the future, particularly as a way to open up dialogues about mental health. Duong came away from the experience with the realization that there are many potential routes she can pursue in public health. “One can do much with it, from creating impact in the local community to disease prevention within a state, nation or globally, to advocating for better health policies, to even the use of art to enhance health within the public space,” she says. Among the most valuable aspects of the program for many of the scholars was the opportunity to meet and establish enduring bonds with peers who are equally passionate about public health. “Participating in this program made me feel like I’m really working toward something that can make a positive difference in the world, and I’m not the only one trying to do so,” says Bryan Okelo, now in his senior year at Washington University in St. Louis. For his internship with Community Health Councils, an organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of underserved populations, Okelo educated residents of Los Angeles’ Baldwin
“These young students are unsure about what a career in public health looks like, but deeply committed to improving the conditions around them and excited to learn about the opportunities.” — Dr. Michael Prelip
with a double minor in Asian American studies and education, the program offered the chance to learn about the intersection of mental health and public health, particularly in Asian American communities. During her internship at Valley Family Center, a nonprofit organization providing counseling and educational services, Duong discovered her passion for using art to facilitate growth and healing — 26
Hills neighborhood on pollution-related health risks faced by their community and ways to make their concerns heard. Upon graduation, he plans to spend a year working in public health before returning to school for a doctoral program focusing on the intersection of community health sciences and health policy and management. The bonding among the scholars was no accident. “We wanted to create
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that sense of community among the cohort — to help them understand that the relationships they developed here would continue to serve as support systems for the rest of their careers,” says Lindsay Rice, program manager for the UCLA Public Health Scholars Training Program. “By the end, the students felt like they were part of something bigger than themselves.” The first cohort of scholars will remain in touch through quarterly conference calls, Rice notes, and were encouraged to use their mentors as sounding boards as they consider their next steps. Prelip and Rice point out that the enthusiastic participation of FSPH faculty, students, staff, alumni and community partners in the program was one of the most heartening outcomes of the program’s first year. “This program is exactly what I needed when I was at their stage,” says Lisa V. Smith (MPH '94, DrPH '00), an adjunct associate professor in FSPH’s Department of Epidemiology who was active in both the design and teaching portions of the program, and who now has one of the scholars interning on her unit at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, where Smith is a supervising epidemiologist in charge of rapid assessment training and evaluation. “I didn’t know public health was an option when I was in college, and so it took me 10 years to find my niche. It’s important to show these talented young people the career possibilities in public health.” In addition to faculty such as Smith, nearly two-dozen Fielding School doctoral and master’s degree students volunteered their time as mentors and teachers. “Working with such an amazing, passionate group of young people helped to reenergize my own research,” says Sarah Roth, a PhD student in FSPH’s Department of Community Health Sciences who assisted in the design and administration of the program, as well as leading workshops and mentoring students. “After working with the scholars this summer, I truly believe that this group and their peers across the country have the vision, passion, and drive to reimagine what public health can and should be.”
SCHOOL WORK Ron Brookmeyer Named Interim Dean DR. RON BROOKMEYER, Fielding School of Public Health professor of biostatistics, began his service as interim dean of FSPH on November 1. Brookmeyer, who joined UCLA in 2010 as a professor of biostatistics, uses the tools of the statistical, informational and mathematical sciences to address global public health problems. Over a span of more than three decades, he has developed statistical methods that sound the alarm to help address major global health challenges. Among Brookmeyer’s many accomplishments, he earned worldwide recognition for predicting the magnitude of the impending HIV/AIDS epidemic with work beginning in the mid1980s, and, through widely cited studies, he called attention to the looming Alzheimer’s epidemic. Brookmeyer’s numerous honors include being an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, recipient of the American Public Health Association’s Mortimer Spiegelman Gold Medal in health statistics, and holder of the American Statistical Association’s Nathan Mantel Lifetime Achievement Award and the Karl E. Peace Award for outstanding statistical contributions for the betterment of society. He has served on numerous editorial boards and scientific panels and is currently a member of the Board of Reviewing Editors for the journal Science.
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FSPH SIGNS MOU WITH SHANDONG UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN CHINA REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH and the Shandong University School of Public Health in China signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at a ceremony hosted by FSPH on October 8. The MOU is a symbolic agreement between the two schools to facilitate joint scientific research and training opportunities in global health. The Fielding School has 19 active MOUs with institutions throughout the world. ph.ucla.edu
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JONATHAN AND KARIN FIELDING ESTABLISH 5 STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS LONGTIME PUBLIC HEALTH ADVOCATES Dr. Jonathan Fielding and Karin Fielding and their sons have established five fellowships for outstanding, newly admitted UCLA Fielding School of Public Health students. Called the Fielding Fellowships, the awards will provide up to $40,000 per year for tuition and living expenses beginning with the 2019-20 academic year. All students pursuing a master’s in public health degree at the Fielding School are eligible if their interests align with one or more of the Fellowships.
The Fielding Fellowships cover public health issues that each member of the Fielding family cares deeply about and include: » » » » »
The Andrew B. Fielding Fellowship in Mental Health The Preston J. Fielding Fellowship in Environmental Health The Jonathan E. Fielding Fellowship in Health Policy The Karin B. Fielding Fellowship in Maternal and Child Health The Jonathan E. and Karin B. Fielding Family Fellowship in Nutrition
LEADERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENTS
STAY CONNECTED WITH UCLA FSPH
DR. YIFANG ZHU, professor of environmental health sciences, was appointed associate dean for academic programs at the Fielding School, effective July 1. Zhu, an alum of the Fielding School, was appointed to the California Air Resource Board’s Research Screening Committee in January 2014 and is collaborating with Chinese researchers to address critical air pollution faced by Chinese cities and to advocate for measures to improve air quality in China. Zhu served as acting dean of FSPH from September 1 through October 31 of this year. DR. ALINA DORIAN, adjunct assistant professor of community health sciences, was named associate dean for public health practice, effective July 1. Much of Dorian’s public health practice experience has focused on the role of domestic and international public health systems in planning for and responding to public health emergencies, and the development of tools and policies to decrease the impact of disasters. DR. ANNE RIMOIN, associate professor of epidemiology, was appointed director of the Fielding School’s Center for Global and Immigrant Health in September. Rimoin has conducted research in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the past 16 years and her work has yielded important
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findings, including the emergence of monkeypox since the cessation of smallpox vaccination and the identification of new pathogens in animals and humans.
FSPH Receives $2 Million to Support Students with Financial Need
W E L C O M I N G N E W FA C U LT Y ROCH A. NIANOGO (MPH ’13, PhD ’17), assistant professor of epidemiology Nianogo’s combined public health and medicine expertise inform his research, which focuses on preventing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, both globally and in the U.S. HILARY ARALIS (PhD ’16), adjunct assistant professor of biostatistics Aralis applies sophisticated methodological approaches to studying a wide variety of public health issues, including psychological and behavioral health, HIV/AIDS, aging and Alzheimer’s disease, military health, family- and community-based interventions, and environmental effects on maternal and child health. ILAN MEYER, adjunct professor of community health sciences Meyer studies public health issues related to sexual and gender minorities. He is the principal investigator of two large population health studies, including the TransPop Study, which aims to describe health and stressors of transgender people in the U.S. using a national probability sample. ELIZABETH YZQUIERDO, adjunct assistant professor of community health sciences Yzquierdo has served as the Fielding School’s assistant dean for student affairs since 2016, and has worked for more than 16 years to identify, support, recruit and retain promising individuals from diverse educational and socioeconomic backgrounds who are interested in health careers.
A $2 MILLION GIFT from Jean Balgrosky and Parker Hin-
A LU M N I -S T U D E N T M E N TO R S H I P P R O G R A M
shaw will make it possible for more aspiring public health students to pursue their academic goals at UCLA. Beginning with the 2019-20 academic year, the Jean Balgrosky and Parker Hinshaw Fellowship will provide assistance with tuition and living expenses for incoming students with financial need at the FSPH. The gift to establish the fellowship will be matched by an additional $1 million from the UCLA Chancellor’s Centennial Scholars Match. Balgrosky, who earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from UCLA, was the first recipient of the Fielding School’s Raymond D. Goodman Scholarship, in 1981. The award propelled her journey to becoming a chief information officer for large health systems, including Scripps Health, Holy Cross Health (now Trinity Health) and, currently, MD Revolution and MintHealth. She continues to be active in the Fielding School community,
THE FIELDING SCHOOL’S MENTORSHIP PROGRAM has matched more
serving on the school’s advisory board and teaching a course
than 200 students with alumni to form pairings that will last throughout
on health information technology in the Department of
the academic year. The FSPH alumni mentors represent a cross-section
Health Policy and Management. Hinshaw also has a suc-
of public health specialties and work for leading companies and organi-
cessful career in health. He is the founder of several health
zations, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
information technology consulting firms and has developed
Environmental Protection Agency, Cedars-Sinai, the United Nations and
technology systems for Eli Lilly and Co. and Community Hos-
PricewaterhouseCoopers. For more information about the program,
pitals of Indianapolis.
please email FSPHalumni@support.ucla.edu. ph.ucla.edu
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GRANTS & CONTRACTS
This section includes new grants and contracts awarded in 2017-18. Due to space limitations, only funds of $50,000 or more are listed, by principal investigator.
JANET FRANK Older Adult Mental Health Services: Future Recommendation for Workforce Education & Training Archstone Foundation, $55,000 for two years PATRICIA GANZ A Model Clinical/Translational Research Program for Breast Cancer Survivors: A Focus on Cognitive Function After Breast Cancer Treatment The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, $250,000 Adjuvant Therapy Discussions: A Focus on Long Term and Late Effects of Treatment Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, $340,000 for one-and-a-half years
RICHARD AMBROSE
CINDY CAIN
NRG-S1418/BR006 - A Randomized, Phase III Trial
Assessing the Effects of Sediment Augmentation
Building Neighborhood Social Capital: Trust,
to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of MK-3475
on the Marsh Plain and Tidal Creeks at the Seal
Safety, and Helpfulness
Merck and Company, INC & National Surgical
Beach Wetland
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, $50,000
Adjuvant Breast & Bowel Project Foundation,
Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife
California End of Life Option Act at One Year:
$463,856 for eight years
Service & Southwest Wetlands Interpretive
Convening Key Stakeholders
Association, $151,678 for two years
California Healthcare Foundation & University of
DEBORAH GLIK
California, San Francisco, $94,205 for one-and-
C'este la Vie +
a-half years
The African Network for Health Education,
SUSAN BABEY California Health Interview Survey 2015-2016
$300,000 for three years
Policy Research Studies
EMMELINE CHUANG
The California Endowment, $527,000 for two years
Qualitative Research, Project Management and
PAMINA GORBACH AND STEVEN SHOPTAW
Statistical Analysis - Task Order
Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) and
Department of Veterans Affairs, $1,317,555
Substances Cohort at UCLA Linking Infections
ROSHAN BASTANI Precision Health Approaches to Liver Cancer
Noting Effects (MASCULINE)
Control
JASON CLAGUE AND THOMAS BELIN
National Institute on Drug Abuse, $9,458,924 for
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center/Clinical
Developing Statistical Methods for Spatial
five years
and Translational Institute/David Geffen School
Relationships and Missing Teeth in Oral-Health
of Medicine, $200,000 for two years
Research
JULIA HECK
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial
Ambient Air Toxics and Breast Cancer Risk
Research, $55,013 for one-and-a-half years
UC California Breast Cancer Research Program,
ROSHAN BASTANI & BETH GLENN Comparative Effectiveness of System
$867,768 for three years
Interventions to Increase Human Papillomavirus
BURTON COWGILL
(HPV) Vaccine Receipts in Federally Qualified
Project Towards No Nicotine: Afterschool
JODY HEYMANN
Health Centers (FQHC)
Tobacco Use Prevention Program
Lancet Series on Gender
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute,
UC Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program,
United Arab Emirates & Stanford University,
$6,476,899 for six years
$397,095 for two years
$440,000
HIRAM BELTRAN-SANCHEZ
CATHERINE CRESPI
Education and Work for Youth with Disabilities
Demographic Models and Hypotheses Testing of
Investing in the HIV Care Continuum: Model-
Ford Foundation, $750,000 for two years
Delayed Effects on Adult Mortality
Based Methods to Translate Adolescent Medicine
National Institute on Aging & University of
Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions
MICHAEL JERRETT
Wisconsin, $166,349 for three years
(ATN) Findings into Policy Recommendations
Effects of Brake and Tire Wear on Particulate
Mexican Health and Aging Study III
National Institute of Child Health and Human
Matter Composition, Reactive Oxygen Species,
National Institute on Aging & University of
Development & University of North Carolina,
Placental Development and Birth Outcomes in
Texas, Galveston, $278,027 for five years
$155,161 for four years
Los Angeles
BARBARA BERMAN
REBEKAH ISRAEL CROSS AND
Resources Board, $458,813 for two years
E-cigarette and Tobacco Use Prevention for Deaf
CHANDRA FORD
Building GIS into the Tobacco Control Policy
and Hard-of-Hearing Youth
Health Policy Research Scholars
Research of Southeast Asia
UC Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program,
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, $120,000
Fogarty International Center & Loma Linda
$299,816 for two years
for four years
University, $176,806 for four years
Advancing the Realization of the Right to
California Environmental Protection Agency Air
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LEEKA KHEIFETS
NINEZ PONCE
THOMAS RICE
Exploring Distance and Magnetic Fields
California Health Interview Survey
Los Angeles Area Health Services Research
Association in California Power Line Study
Archstone Foundation, $510,000 for four years;
Training Program
Electric Power Research Institute, $272,917 for
Kaiser Foundation Research Institute [National],
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality,
two-and-a-half years
$300,000 for two years; Kaiser Foundation
$2,564,835 for five years
Exploring Pesticide Use in Plant Nurseries Under
Research Institute [Northern California],
Power Line Rights of Way
$1,350,000 for two years; Kaiser Foundation
BEATE RITZ
Electric Power Research Institute, $307,213 for
Research Institute [Southern California],
Environmental and Genetic Predictors of
two years
$1,350,000 for two years; California Health
Parkinson’s Progression
Handbook of Biological Effects
Benefit Exchange, $1,352,628; California Children
National Institute of Environmental Health
Electric Power Research Institute, $75,696 for
and Families Commission (First 5 California),
Sciences, $150,856
one-and-a-half years
$1,700,000 for two years; The California Endowment, $2,999,240 for two years; California
PETER SINSHEIMER
GERALD KOMINSKI
Department of Public Health, California Tobacco
Pilot Camless Engine Demonstration Project
California Health Policy Research Program
Control Program, $1,500,000 for four years
Southern California Edison, $250,000
2018-2020
Monitoring Access and Coverage: The California
for two years
The California Endowment and University of
Health Interview Survey 2017-2018
California, Berkeley, $137,000 for two years
California Healthcare Foundation, $716,000 for
ANNETTE STANTON
California Simulation of Insurance Markets
three years
Understanding and Improving the Experience of
California Healthcare Foundation & University of
Philippines Commission on Higher Education
Breast Cancer
California, Berkeley, $56,049
Philippines Office of the President Commission on
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, $250,000
Demographic Analysis and Microsimulation
Higher Education & University of the Philippines
Model Comparisons
Manila, $424,929 for two years
California Health Benefit Exchange, $737,460
MAY SUDHINARASET Patient Centered Process Quality for Maternal
NADEREH POURAT
and Child Health & Family Planning
NIKLAS KRAUSE
Children’s Oral Health Needs Assessment
Gates Foundation & University of California, San
Southern California Education and Research
County of Los Angeles Department of Public
Francisco, $301,747 for three years.
Center (NIOSH)
Health, $939,207
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Chronic Disease Prevention Strategy in Los
ONDINE VON EHRENSTEIN
$8,087,602 for five years
Angeles (CDPS): Community-Clinical Linkages
Pesticide Exposure and Birth Outcomes
(CCL) Evaluation Services
National Institute of Environmental Health
RANDALL KUHN
County of Los Angeles Department of Public
Sciences, $155,958 for two years
The Matlab Linked Database: A 40-Year Archive
Health, $183,736
of Health, Population and Development Data in
Evaluating the Whole Person Care Pilot Program
STEVE WALLACE
Rural Bangladesh
California Department of Health Care Services,
Linking State Policies to Latino and Asian
National Institute of Child Health and Human
$4,000,000 for four years
American Immigrant Health Care Access
Development, $169,173 for two years
Housing for Health (HFH) Evaluation Services
National Institute on Minority Health and Health
County of Los Angeles Department of Public
Disparities, $2,792,624 for five years
ELIZABETH ROSE MAYEDA
Health, $96,600
Racial Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease and
Smokefree Multi-Unit Housing Evaluation Services
YIFANG ZHU
Related Dementia: The Role of Blood Pressure
County of Los Angeles Department of Public
Impacts of Electronic Cigarette Emissions on
Throughout Adulthood
Health, $1,135,157 for two years
Indoor Air Quality
National Institute on Aging, $772,168 for
Stockton Needs Assessment
UC Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program,
three years
Abbott Fund, $303,819
$353,096 for two years
JACK NEEDLEMAN
MICHAEL PRELIP
FRED ZIMMERMAN
Utilization of Genetic Testing and Its Downstream
UCLA Public Health Scholars Training Program
Identifying Early Childhood Interventions in San
Effects Using Longitudinal Claims Analysis
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Diego County, California, and Quantifying Their
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, $149,930
$2,739,111 for five years
Impact on Health Equity
Health Net GoNoodle Evaluation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, $200,000 for
Health Net, Inc., $209,520 for five years
two years
KIMBERLY PAUL & BEATE RITZ Environmental Predictors of the Overlap of Neurodegenerative Disorders and Metabolic Dysfunction National Institute of Environmental Health
Stay Connected with UCLA FSPH
Sciences, $120,132 for two years ph.ucla.edu
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TRANSFORMATIVE INVESTMENTS
P R O M O T I N G H E A LT H F O R A L L Lead funding from The California Endowment makes grassroots advocacy and community organizing an integral part of student training at FSPH.
AS A SECOND-YEAR STUDENT in UCLA’s Public Health Training Program on Population Health Advocacy in 2017, Saul Garcia, MPH ’18 (above, far left), fought to ensure that South Los Angeles residents had opportunities to lead healthy, productive lives. Today, Garcia is a coalition organizer for the Urban Peace Institute, where he advances community health by supporting efforts to improve access to quality schools, parks and public spaces in historically marginalized neighborhoods. Thanks to The California Endowment’s support of student training initiatives at the Fielding School, it’s an outcome that’s largely by design. By providing training to effect change and financial resources to support students’ work, the Fielding School’s program allows students to gain the experience with advocacy and community work that they want and need. This ultimately prepares alumni like Garcia to join the public health workforce and drive systemic changes that will help foster healthy and safe communities. With seed funding from The California Endowment to establish the program in 2015, Garcia and a growing cadre of fellows have contributed more than 25,000 hours to public health advocacy, in collaboration with nearly 30 community-based organizations across Los Angeles. The field training program embeds public health students in organizations serving under-resourced communities to gain experience and develop skills in design, implementation and evaluation of population health advocacy. For community partners, the project provides experienced, motivated and highly committed students to help advance organizational and community agendas. The Endowment recognized the need to 32
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create opportunities for students to gain tangible experience with evidence-based policies and programs and learn how they can be implemented in the community setting, in collaboration with the partner organizations. “Policy advocacy is an important skill set for public health practitioners to possess,” says Marion Standish, senior vice president at The Endowment. “Our experience has shown that policy and systems change is an essential component in community change and promoting health equity across the state.” The program’s ultimate aim is to create significant and sustainable change in students, organizations and communities through a pipeline of leaders who intimately know the challenges and opportunities within their communities and will devote themselves to this work. In addition to lead funding from The Endowment, the program has received support from Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and The Max Factor Family Foundation. But maintaining this substantial undertaking and providing policy and advocacy training for students well into the future requires further support. To help the Population Health Advocacy Program train public health students to become advocates for change, please visit giving.ucla.edu/advocacy. As the largest source of funding from foundations to the Fielding School, The California Endowment’s support has widespread impact on the school’s mission of training, research and service. In addition to supporting the advocacy program, The Endowment regularly funds the California Health Interview Survey, housed within the FSPH-based Center for Health Policy Research, as well as faculty research initiatives focused on advancing community health.
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Leave a lasting legacy and support public health for generations to come by including the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in your estate plans. With your support, the Fielding School can continue to create healthy futures for all and advance public health through discovery, service and education. You can help train the next generation of public health students through fellowships, or endow a faculty position or chair to attract and retain leading public health professors. You can also dedicate your support to a particular issue, department, or toward the greatest needs of the school. Please contact Devon Brown, director of gift planning, for more information about the many flexible ways you can include a philanthropic gift in your estate plans.
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