UCLA Public Health Magazine - June 2012

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JUNE 2012

A HEALTHY FUTURE An extraordinary gift marks the dawn of a new era for the UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health.

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PUBLIC HEALTH Gene Block, Ph.D. Chancellor

Linda Rosenstock, M.D., M.P.H. Dean, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Sarah Anderson Assistant Dean for Communications

Carla Wohl Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Affairs

Dan Gordon

features

Editor and Writer

Martha Widmann Art Director

E D I TO R I A L B OA R D Roshan Bastani, Ph.D. Professor, Health Services Associate Dean for Research

Thomas R. Belin, Ph.D. Professor, Biostatistics

Pamina Gorbach, Dr.P.H. Associate Professor, Epidemiology

Moira Inkelas, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Health Services

Richard Jackson, M.D., M.P.H. Professor and Chair, Environmental Health Sciences

Michael Prelip, D.P.A. Professor, Community Health Sciences

May C. Wang, Dr.P.H. Associate Professor, Community Health Sciences

Ashley Kissinger and Simrin Cheema Co-Presidents, Public Health Student Association

Christopher Mardesich, J.D., M.P.H. ’98 Public Health Alumni Association

4 A HEALTHY FUTURE With an unprecedented endowment, the UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health embarks on a new era of achievement.

9 Profile: JONATHAN FIELDING The public health icon, longtime faculty member and now namesake of the school has earned a national reputation for his leadership in Los Angeles County — but says the job is far from complete.

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ALUMNI HALL OF FAME

16 TURNING THE CORNER

in every issue

20

24 RESEARCH

LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP

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In nearly a dozen years at the helm, Dr. Linda Rosenstock elevated en elite school of public health to new heights.

Project seeks to improve community’s health by overhauling small markets.

17 STUDENTS SOUND OFF

Ultrafine particles near airports…genetic predictor of aggressive Parkinson’s… sexual-minority stress and mental health…integrating immigrants into health care system…caffeine consumption and type 2 diabetes risk.

28 STUDENTS 32 FACULTY 34 NEWS BRIEFS 35 FRIENDS

Excerpts from presentations on health disparities by winners of the 2012 student competition.

PHOTOGRAPHY Reed Hutchinson / Cover; TOC: Fielding; pp. 4-5: celebration; p. 6: sign unveiling; p. 7: Fieldings with speakers; p. 8: crowd, top and bottom; p. 34: Clemens, Eisenman

ASUCLA: Todd Cheney / TOC: healthy future/hall of fame; p. 5; p. 6: Fielding reactions/sons; p. 7: Karin Fielding at podium, Fieldings with family; p. 8: center crowd images; pp. 9, 16-19, 30-31 Vince Bucci Photography / p. 3 Yvette Roman / TOC, p. 20: Rosenstock Courtesy of Karin Fielding / pp. 10-11 Courtesy of Rosa Garcia / p. 13; p. 14: new produce section Courtesy of Public Matters / TOC: Turning the Corner; pp. 12-13; p. 14: store interior, production still; p. 15 Courtesy of Nicole Vayssier / p. 28 Courtesy of Dayo Spencer-Walters / p. 29 Courtesy of UCLA Fielding School of Public Health / pp. 2, 20, 22-23, 32-34; back cover Getty Images © 2012 / p. 26 iStockphoto © 2012 / pp. 24-25, 27

School of Public Health Home Page: www.ph.ucla.edu E-mail for Application Requests: app-request@admin.ph.ucla.edu 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 2012 by The Regents of the University of California. Permission to reprint any portion must be obtained from the editor. Contact Editor, UCLA Public Health Magazine, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772.

Phone: (310) 825-6381.

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dean’s message WE CELEBRATE A NEW ERA with this issue of the magazine, our first as the UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health (see page 4).

This issue also represents a milestone for me, as I convey my last dean’s message.

It has been an honor serving as dean of the school, and I am tremendously proud of our collective achievements.

We’ve added to the ranks of our world-class faculty. With applications soaring, we have been able to recruit an even more impressive student body – one of the best and most diverse in the world. And, as the saying goes, it’s all in the name. The UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health is poised for even bigger and better things.

In addition to being an incredibly generous and transformative gift, the fact that it comes from one of our own makes it that much more special. Our faculty profile in this issue (page 9) is about Dr. Fielding, reminding us of his tremendous accomplishments as director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health but also as a respected scholar in the field of public health. A faculty member since 1979, Dr. Fielding has dedicated himself to teaching and mentoring students and amassing an impressive body of research, all while serving the county so ably. He and his wife Karin have chosen to invest in us and I am sure we will make them proud.

As I wrap up my tenure, I’d like to give a special thanks to the members of the Dean’s Advisory Board. They have provided me with tremendous counsel and support over the years, and I’m honored that they have launched the Linda Rosenstock Global Health Innovation Fund. This fund will support UCLA faculty and students in their global efforts to improve public health.

The part of this job I’ll miss the most is interacting with our students – witnessing their passion and commitment and then watching them go out and become accomplished alumni. I challenge all our current students and alums to live up to the headline of the student profile of Nicole Vayssier (page 28), who, recounting her internship in Guatemala, said, “I still can’t believe I did all that.”

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Sincerely,

Linda Rosenstock, M.D., M.P.H. Dean

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2011-2012 DEAN’S A DV I S O RY B OA R D

*SPH Alumni

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AT A JUNE 4 EVENT celebrating her tenure as dean, Dr. Linda Rosenstock received the first-ever Fielding Award for bringing honor and distinction to the school.

Pictured, top to bottom beginning with above left: Rosenstock with Pulitzer Prize-winning author and faculty member Jared Diamond, a speaker at the event, and his wife Marie Cohen; Dean’s Advisory Board member Cindy Harrell Horn with husband Alan Horn, chair of Walt Disney Studios; Rosenstock with husband Lee Bailey and their sons Adam and Matthew; with Dr. Larry Brilliant (who received the Global Health Champion Award at the event; see page 34), Horn and Girija Brilliant; with Brilliant and presenter Jeff Skoll, chair of the Skoll Foundation and Participant Media.

Ira R. Alpert* Sanford R. Climan Edward A. Dauer Deborah Kazenelson Deane* Samuel Downing* Robert J. Drabkin Gerald Factor (Vice Chair) Jonathan E. Fielding Dean Hansell (Chair) Cindy Harrell Horn Stephen W. Kahane* Carolyn Katzin* Carolbeth Korn* Jacqueline B. Kosecoff Kenneth E. Lee* Thomas M. Priselac Monica Salinas Arthur M. Southam* Fred W. Wasserman* Pamela K. Wasserman* Thomas R. Weinberger Cynthia Sikes Yorkin

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With an unprecedented endowment, the UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health embarks on a new era of achievement.

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At a March 22 ceremony and reception, students, faculty, alumni and friends celebrated the historic endowment. Opposite page insets, left to right: UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Dean Linda Rosenstock spoke at the dedication, as did Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who presented Jonathan and Karin Fielding with a certificate commemorating the event.

A HEALTHY

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cover story

The UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health has a new name and a historic endowment, thanks to an extraordinary gift valued at $50 million from one of the school’s own faculty members, Los Angeles County founding public health director Dr. Jonathan Fielding, and his wife, Karin Fielding.

In a March 22 naming ceremony to celebrate the gift, Jonathan Fielding told hundreds of students, faculty, alumni and friends of the school, “Karin and I think of our financial contribution less as a gift than an investment” – an investment, he explained, in the promise of a healthier future through the support of public health principles and the work of the school and its alumni.

“The UCLA School of Public Health hosts a world-class faculty and one of the nation’s brightest and most diverse student bodies,” Fielding said. “Their talents are improving the public’s health locally, nationally and globally.”

The Fieldings’ gift, the largest in the school’s 50-year history, will equally support faculty, students and educational infrastructure. It will endow a chair in population health to encourage work that improves health through better consideration of health effects for policies and programs in non-health sectors such as transportation, housing and education. In addition, the fund will enable UCLA to regularly assess programs to ensure that UCLA Fielding School of Public Health students graduate with the tools and skills they need to be leaders in the field of public health as it evolves.

“I am humbled by the exceptional generosity of Jonathan and Karin Fielding,” UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said. “This investment from longtime champions of public health reflects our shared confidence in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health as a resource not only for greater Los Angeles but the entire world, and will extend the school’s reach as a global leader in teaching and service.”

“Improving quality of life and promoting health for all is something Jonathan and Karin have spent their lives working to advance,” said Dr. Linda Rosenstock, the school’s dean. “This gift will play a tangible role in improving health for people in the United States and beyond. It is especially gratifying that this gift comes from one of our own, who is an icon in public health.”

An internationally renowned public health leader and innovator who has served as director of public health for the Los Angeles County Department of

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FUTURE

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Left photos: Jonathan and Karin Fielding, seated with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and his wife Carol Block, watch as (middle photos) sons Andrew and Preston unveil the sign for the newly renamed school.

Preston (top right) and Andrew (bottom right) also spoke about the family’s gift at the ceremony.

Health Services for the last 14 years, Fielding is also a distinguished professor at the school, having joined the faculty in 1979. (For more on Fielding’s career, see the profile beginning on page 9.) With a shared passion for improving public health, Karin Fielding serves as an officer of the charitable organization The Everychild Foundation, whose mission is to ease the suffering of children in the greater Los Angeles area whether due to disease, disability, abuse, neglect or poverty. She is also a court-appointed special advocate, working with children in foster care both in court and in the community. The Fieldings have two sons, Andrew and Preston, who have joined them in making this family gift.

“Service on the boards of several large foundations convinced me that it is as hard or harder to give well than even to successfully lead a large public or private organization,” Fielding said of his family’s decision to make the gift. In the end, he said, three factors pointed strongly toward the school as the ideal beneficiary: the high caliber of the school’s students, faculty and leadership; the school’s mission; and the belief that public health principles represent the most promising pathways to improving health for all and reducing the gaping disparities in health among groups.

“My experiences in UCLA classrooms and working with other faculty members, students and alumni in public health practice made the UCLA School of Public Health an easy choice for our family’s support,” Fielding said. “I understand the importance of recruiting and retaining the best faculty –

not only the best researchers but those who are committed to students and who have ties to the practice of public health. UCLA School of Public Health students enter the field with a passion and commitment to public health. As someone who has dedicated my career to service, I am inspired by the talent and enthusiasm of UCLA students, and I am delighted that our family can help them achieve their educational goals and make a palpable difference in the wider world.”

The 2011-12 co-presidents of the UCLA Public Health Student Association expressed excitement about the gift on behalf of their peers.

“Dr. and Mrs. Fielding have given UCLA students the opportunity to pursue their passion in public health,” said Ashley Kissinger. “We are so grateful for their donation and look forward to seeing what students will accomplish with this opportunity. We are honored to rename our school the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and hope that students in years to come will recognize the efforts the Fieldings have contributed to the public health community.”

“This momentous donation sends an important message: Investment in education is a pillar of molding students into future public health leaders,” added Simrin Cheema. “The gift reminds and enables us to strive for the best in what we will be able to accomplish. We're working to make them proud.”

As for supporting the school’s mission, Fielding noted that Los Angeles County is the nation’s largest county, with among the greatest ethnic, racial and economic diversity and the full range of public health

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principles, including recognition that social, physical and economic environments are major determinants of the population’s health.

At the naming ceremony, Karin Fielding referred to a blog by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called “Impatient Optimists,” featuring stories of people who spend every day helping to alleviate poverty, promote health and advance educational opportunities. “In my mind, those two words clearly describe the character of those of you who make public health your life’s work,” she said. “As a group, you are impatient to make things better, and you are optimistic that indeed it can be done. Our gift – our investment – is intended to support both your impatience and your optimism.”

The timing of the gift was threefold, Jonathan Fielding explained. The first was to honor the legacy of Dr. Linda Rosenstock, who had announced she was stepping down July 1 after nearly 12 years as the school’s dean. A second, related reason was to provide a significant boost to the efforts to recruit an outstanding successor by showing the broad community support for the school and providing financial resources in an era of fiscal constraints.

The final reason for the timing: “We wanted to be around to see the effects – how this can help the school’s students and faculty become even more successful, measured by improvements in population health,” Fielding said.

It’s an investment, he added, from which “we fully expect a high rate of return.”

Left: Karin and Jonathan Fielding addressing the attendees; top right: The Fieldings pose with friends and family members; bottom right: Jonathan, Karin, Andrew and Preston Fielding with Supervisor Yaroslavsky, Dean Rosenstock, and Chancellor and Mrs. Block.

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

challenges. “Looking ahead, our nation will increasingly resemble the Los Angeles of today,” he said.

“And in an era of globalized health threats, we are the American gateway to and from Latin America and Asia.” In addition to important work being done in partnership with underserved communities in the greater Los Angeles area, the school’s faculty and students are engaged in research and other partnerships in more than 70 countries.

The Fieldings recognized that to meet this farreaching mission, the school needed financial resources. “Past is the time when a great university can be adequately resourced without private support,” Jonathan Fielding said. “With shrinking state allocations to higher education, private resources matter more than ever.” He added that he hoped his family’s investment would inspire others.

Fielding noted that public health’s greatest successes tend to be invisible – people not becoming injured, sick, or dying prematurely. That helps to explain why schools of public health are much less likely to receive large gifts from donors than medical schools, which benefit from grateful patients and family members whose lives are touched by the care they receive. “I’m proud to be part of the medical school faculty,” said Fielding, who holds a joint appointment in UCLA’s Department of Pediatrics.

“But we need to rebalance our priorities nationally.

We are spending 50 percent more per capita than the next highest-spending countries, and not getting the value from that investment in terms of health.”

What’s needed, he added, is a focus on public health

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“How Will We Know?”

JONATHAN AND KARIN FIELDING describe their $50 million gift, the largest in the school’s history, as an investment. At the March 22 ceremony renaming the school the UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health, Jonathan Fielding outlined the ways in which the couple will know they got a high rate of return: “When our student body fully mirrors the great diversity of our local and global communities, and when our school boundaries are defined by needs and opportunities rather than bricks and mortar.

“When every high-achieving, mission-inspired applicant can afford to matriculate at our school.

“When every student gets to experience the excitement of public health practice firsthand.

“When all students consider themselves members of our extended School of Public Health family – for their entire careers, with coaching, mentoring, continuing education and networking all routinely available.

“When every alumnus and alumna accepts the responsibility of mentoring at least one new graduate.

“When our school is the preferred choice for the most inspirational teachers, and for faculty committed to translating research into policies and programs that move the needle on population health.

“When the curriculum evolves in response to frequent assessments of what students need to succeed after graduation.

And when the curriculum includes more trans-disciplinary courses, and those oriented to real-world problem solving.

And when our school is a celebrated innovator in distance and active learning.

“When every faculty member is not only celebrated for contributions to theory and research, but as a change agent, whose work contributes to a demonstrable difference in the current and future health of populations.

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“When as faculty we define ourselves first as professors of public health rather than by discipline, to reflect our shared broad purpose and mission.

“And we will know when each faculty member and student is engaged in multidisciplinary projects drawing from different departments and schools…from public affairs, medicine, social sciences, management, education, law, design and the physical sciences. And when there are sustained partnerships with outside organizations that add value – public health departments; and voluntary, professional, and communitybased organizations in many sectors, such as transportation, housing, social services and food insecurity.”

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T HE

PUBLIC

HEALTH ICON ,

FACULTY MEMBER AND NOW NAMESAKE OF

faculty profile

LONGTIME

9

THE SCHOOL HAS EARNED A NATIONAL REPUTATION FOR HIS LEADERSHIP IN

L OS A NGELES C OUNTY —

JONATHAN

FIELDING:

BUT

SAYS THE JOB IS FAR FROM COMPLETE .

‘There’s Always So Much More to Do’ Dr. Jonathan Fielding tells his staff that when it comes to improving the health of the 10 million people living in the nation’s most populous county, impatience is a virtue.

“People need to understand what public health is and what it does for them.

If they understand that very small investments can yield very large returns, we will gain much more support.”

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“There’s always so much more to do that I never feel we’re doing enough,” says the founding director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, who has served more than three decades on the faculty of the UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health – a school that was renamed in March in recognition of a $50 million gift from the public health icon and his wife (see page 4). “We still have such an enormous preventable burden of disease and injury that it’s important not to be satisfied – always to look at what more needs to be done rather than focusing on our accomplishments.”

Stipulating that the job is never complete, Fielding’s accomplishments are considerable. Under his leadership, L.A. County’s public health department has earned a reputation for innovative and proactive initiatives, including the first-of-its-kind A-B-C restaurant grading program; one of the nation’s most ambitious chronic disease and injury prevention programs; and a state-of-the-art emergency preparedness and readiness program.

Fielding is also helping to shape the state and national public health agenda. He is a founding member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and chair of the U.S. Community Preventive Services Task Force, a national group of experts who assess and recommend policies to improve population health. He is immediate past chair of the Partnership for Prevention and the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary’s Advisory Committee on the 2020 Health Objectives for the Nation. In 2011, President Obama appointed Fielding to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health, which advises on intersectoral policy opportunities to improve health. Fielding is vice chair of the Los Angeles First Five Commission, which grants more than $100 million a year to improve the health and development of children ages 0-5.

And despite his ample local, state and national responsibilities, Fielding has remained an active member of the school’s faculty – teaching a course on the determinants of health in populations, providing opportunities

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“We need the expertise of the school’s faculty, and benefit from the help of its students.

In addition, it’s important to be close to the cuttingedge research that takes place in the academic environment.”

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Above: L.A. County’s public health director addresses the news media. Below: A firstof-its-kind restaurant grading program under Fielding’s leadership has reduced severe food-borne illness.

for students to gain hands-on practice experience at the county Department of Public Health, and collaborating with other faculty members on research aiming to more precisely forecast the long-term public health impact of changes in population characteristics and adoption of new policies, including those in nonhealth sectors. Fielding, with colleagues at the school, has been a leading voice in a national movement known as Health in All Policies, which argues that decisions made in transportation, agriculture, energy, education and other sectors have significant public health effects that should be considered.

Born and raised in Westchester County, NY, Fielding was drawn to medicine at an early age, but also harbored ambitions of making a broader impact than would be possible seeing one patient at a time. In high school he was selected to spend a day shadowing the Westchester County public health director.

The experience made a lasting impression. “We were talking about problems of a whole community,” Fielding recalls. “It was very different from how I was used to thinking about medicine.”

Fielding went to Harvard Medical School and intended to go into pediatrics, which appealed to him for its focus on prevention and family-centered care. But during his pediatric training he was struck by how little he could do for many of his patients in clinical practice. “I saw problems of poverty and families that couldn’t afford enough food,” he says.

“I saw terrible mental health problems that weren’t getting attention. I saw lack of stimulation and neglect. And there was precious little I could do to solve these problems on an individual level.”

While completing his pediatric residency, Fielding went back to Harvard for his M.P.H. (he later added an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business Administration). He was already enticed by the opportunities to make a difference in the public health profession when he was

hired as medical director for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Corps program. In that role, Fielding was responsible for the health of approximately 50,000 young people per year who came through the program for the chance to earn a G.E.D. and learn a trade.

“These were mostly high school dropouts who came from very difficult, often desperate circumstances,” he says. “You could see the effects of poverty and other social forces on their life trajectory, and the importance of prevention. It made me think hard about what I wanted to do, and it just seemed logical that if I wanted to really make a difference at a broad level, I should go in the direction of public health.”

In 1974, when Fielding was 32, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis appointed him public health commissioner. Fielding wasted no time taking bold action by launching the nation’s first statewide tobacco control program. He was also well ahead of the curve in emphasizing prevention strategies such as nutrition, physical activity and stress reduction to combat chronic diseases, an emerging public health concern that had yet to receive significant attention.

When Dukakis lost his reelection bid in 1978, Fielding found himself looking for new work. He had a kindred spirit at UCLA in Dr. Lester Breslow, then-dean of the School of Public Health. “We had the same notions about public health,” Fielding says, “and he became a great mentor to me.” Breslow had previously invited Fielding to teach at the school as a visiting faculty member; now he was offering him a full-time position as professor of public health and pediatrics, and co-director of a new Center for Health Enhancement Education and Research. Although Fielding received many offers for jobs on the East Coast, he was intrigued by the UCLA offer. “They were taking a chance on me – I’d never been an academic before,” he says. “It sounded like an exciting opportunity to make a difference, so I decided to take a chance too.”

In 1998, Fielding was presented with another opportunity to make a difference. He was asked to work with Breslow and other faculty colleagues in assessing and then drawing up a plan to revitalize public health in the county. The plan was embraced by the county board of supervisors, and when it passed Fielding was asked to join the department as the public health officer. In 2006, the supervisors agreed to form a separate Department of Public Health, a move Fielding had strongly advocated. “We had been part of a department that had a different mission,” Fielding explains. “That made it very difficult to get the resources or the attention that I thought public health deserved.”

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The Fielding-led department has garnered attention and widespread praise for many of its programs, starting with the restaurant-grading system, which improved hygiene and significantly reduced the frequency of severe food-borne illness. Even before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the department moved to develop aggressive preparedness programs – now widely emulated – to protect against natural emergencies such as pandemics, as well as the threat of bioterrorism.

The department’s chronic disease control program has flourished under Fielding, forging partnerships with community-based organizations to implement cuttingedge initiatives in nutrition, physical activity and tobacco prevention, while working with city governments to advance policies on everything from antismoking ordinances to developments that promote walking and bicycling.

While tending to the health of the county’s 10 million residents, Fielding has continued to stay engaged as a faculty member at the school. He says the relationship – on which he placed an exclamation point with the naming gift this year – contributes to ensuring that the school’s faculty remains grounded in the everyday realities of public health practice, while providing valuable work experiences for students during their education. But Fielding points out that the close ties are equally vital to the department. “We need the expertise of the school’s faculty, and can significantly benefit from the help of its students,” Fielding says.

“In addition, it’s important to be close to the cutting-edge research that takes place in the academic environment, and to be able to collaborate with faculty in research and evaluation around the pressing public health problems we face.”

“You could see the effects of poverty and other social forces on their life trajectory, and the importance of prevention. It just seemed logical that if I wanted to really make a difference at a broad level, I should go in the direction of public health.”

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His many honors include elected membership in the Institute of Medicine; the Sedgwick Memorial Medal for contributions to the public health field and the Milton and Ruth Roemer Award for achievements in local public health, both from the American Public Health Association; and, in 2009, the UCLA Medal, the highest honor conferred by the university. But Fielding isn’t content to reflect on his accomplishments. There’s always so much more to do. “We have huge disparities in health,” he laments. “When an African American male in Los Angeles County lives on average 18 years less than an Asian-Pacific Islander female, that tells you there’s a lot of work to be done. And that’s just one example.”

Fielding remains as sold as ever on the power of public health in addressing such concerns. One of his goals is to help others understand how much there is to do – and how much public health can contribute with sufficient funding.

“We haven’t done as good a job as we need to in educating both the public and policy-makers on why core public health has to be part of a national strategy,” Fielding says. “People need to understand what public health is and what it does for them. If they understand that very small investments can yield very large returns, we will gain much more support.”

Above left: With then-Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke announcing a voluntary program to eliminate added trans-fats in food served at restaurants. Above right: Viewing posters made by schoolchildren for potential use in the department’s annual calendar on preventing lead poisoning. Lower left: At a news conference with Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. Lower right: Promoting the importance of breakfast for preschool- and school-age children.

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THE CORNER: Project Seeks to Improve Community’s Health by Overhauling Small Markets

Yash La Casa Market in East Los Angeles underwent a major overhaul last fall. Boards and bars that covered the front of the store were removed, as were posters pitching soda and beer. A fresh coat of paint was put on the exterior and larger windows were installed to allow natural light to brighten what was once a dark, uninviting interior. Inside, displays were rearranged to more prominently showcase healthy food items at the front of the store, including fresh fruits and vegetables, bottled water and nutritious snacks.

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An empty lot at the back of the store was converted into a vegetable garden with a sitting area for customers.

The makeover, overseen by Nathan Cheng, a business consultant hired by the UCLA-USC Center for Population Health and Health Disparities (based in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health), resulted in a 25 percent increase in revenue for the mom-and-pop corner store. But this is not just a small-business success story; it is part of a strategy to increase access to and consumption of healthy foods in low-income communities – and, in the process, confront the issue of obesity, one of the nation’s most significant public health problems.

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Clockwise from left: Students from East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy (ELARA) at Esteban Torres High School break up concrete to make way for an edible backyard garden at Yash La Casa Market; the converted garden with fresh vegetables; ELARA students delight crowds while promoting fruits and vegetables at the 2011 East Los Angeles Mexican Independence Day Parade; transformed exterior of Yash La Casa Market. while proving economically viable for the corner store owners. “Our interest is not just in focusing on individuals, but in changing the environment of the community through improved access to healthier food,” explains Dr. Michael Prelip, professor of community health sciences at the school and principal investigator of the study.

“Education alone isn’t enough,” adds Dr. Deborah Glik, professor at the school and a another principal investigator on the study, which is part of a larger UCLA Center for Population Health Disparities initiative led by Drs. Alexander Ortega and William McCarthy. “Encouraging people to make changes at the individual level while also changing the environment is much more powerful.

Once people see that they can make healthier purchases in their neighborhood, they are more likely to follow through and become savvier consumers.”

The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health group was highly selective in identifying the four corner stores that would be offered the makeovers: They

“Our interest is not just in focusing on individuals, but in changing the environment of the community through improved access to healthier food.”

Dr. Michael Prelip

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

Yash was the first of four corner stores in East Los Angeles that will be converted into healthier, more inviting environments in conjunction with a National Institutes of Health-funded study. The goal is to change eating behaviors and reduce cardiovascular disease risk among the heavily Latino population in the area, which is plagued by high rates of obesity-related chronic diseases.

East L.A., like most low-income communities, has limited access to comprehensive grocery stores, farmer’s markets, or other sources for foods recommended for a healthy and balanced diet. Instead, the community has a preponderance of fast-food restaurants and approximately 150 corner stores, where fresh produce and other healthy foods are rare and the emphasis tends to be on items such as chips, beer, cigarettes and lottery tickets.

The five-year UCLA Fielding School of Public Health project is designed to see whether a twopronged strategy of assisting stores in becoming more appealing and health-oriented, while simultaneously increasing community demand for healthy foods through an effort spearheaded by area high school students, will achieve the desired healthier behaviors

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14 had to be family owned and operated, run by people with an interest in community development and a willingness to take a risk. In exchange, the owners received funding to rework their storefronts and obtain new equipment such as refrigeration units, and have benefited from the assistance of consultant

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

Left to right: Yash La Casa Market store interior before the transformation; production still from “Have You Noticed How Much Junk Food We Eat?” video pro duced by ELARA students and Public Matters; newly revamped Yash La Casa Market’s produce section.

Nathan Cheng, who assists with everything from inventory and rearranging the store interior to providing advice on running the business.

Prelip notes that typical corner stores have old, concrete floors, poor lighting and no windows. A wall of chips is often the first thing the customer sees, in part because the large corporate distributors of snack foods offer discounts and signage in exchange for high-visibility displays. So, in addition to the exterior changes, the UCLA team worked with the store owners to move the displays of unhealthy foods to the back of the store and place fresh fruits and vegetables in the front. “Yash previously had its point-of-sale right at the door,” says Cheng.

“People would go in, buy their lottery tickets or pack of cigarettes right at the entrance, and then get out quickly without seeing the rest of the inventory.

Pushing that point-of-sale back brings the customer deeper into the store, and then we place healthy items at the point of sale for the impulse purchases.”

In addition to promoting healthy products, one of the project’s goals is to make the store’s environment inviting. That’s being accomplished through aesthetic changes – natural light, wider aisles, neatly stocked shelves – and with strategies that include offering free wi-fi and holding special programs such as cooking demonstrations. “We conceptualized these stores as community assets where healthy activities take place,” Prelip explains.

Cheng, a former store owner who began assisting in corner store makeovers in low-income neighborhoods more than a decade ago, provides

advice designed to assist the owners in making their businesses more profitable. He teaches, for example, that healthy foods such as fresh produce have a short lifespan – and thus should be placed in strategic locations within the store and sold more aggressively than unhealthy items, most of which have an indefinite shelf life. He explains that a key to success is a dynamic owner in the mold of the

traditional greengrocer – one who passes out samples and talks with customers about the items.

Cheng encourages the store owners to forge their own identity. For Kulwant and Balvinder Songu, owners of Yash, that’s meant playing up their Indian heritage – adding food products from India and sharing favorite recipes with interested customers, including how to prepare the items.

The change has resulted in more energized owners – and an engaged customer base.

“I’m honest with the store owners from the beginning,” Cheng says. “I tell them that what we’re doing is going to make more work for them. They will have to keep up the produce, go into their inventory and observe things a lot more closely than they have in the past. But I also tell them that there’s a reward: You’re going to make more money.

Especially in this economic climate, that resonates with them.”

But Cheng stresses that even the most successful makeover is unlikely to succeed without a corresponding effort to increase demand for healthy eating in the surrounding community. So the project brought in Public Matters, which designs and implements media, education and civic engagement initiatives for public benefit, and established partnerships with two high schools in the area. Public Matters is training students at the School of Communications, New Media and Technology at Theodore Roosevelt High School and The East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy at Esteban Torres High School to be foodjustice advocates, promoting healthy eating and the remade corner stores through social marketing activities. Through Public Matters, the students take an

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Top: Ramirez Meat Market store exterior before the transformation. Above left and right: Ramirez Meat Market gets a fresh coat of paint, courtesy of East Los Angeles community volunteers and students at the School of Communications, New Media and Technology at Theodore Roosevelt High School. Below: Store exterior during the transformation.

“Often these stores are viewed as dark places where you get lottery tickets or alcohol...not somewhere you would bring your kids.

Now that these stores are becoming family-friendly and healthy, they are emerging as focal points of community engagement.”

Dr. Deborah Glik

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

For the fourth quarter ending last December – the first since it reopened after the makeover – Yash saw a 25 percent increase in revenue compared with the same period the previous year. The owners are pleased with their improved bottom line, but equally excited about their new status as a neighborhood asset.

“Often these stores are viewed as dark places where you get lottery tickets or alcohol…not somewhere you would bring your kids,” says Glik. “Now that these stores are becoming family-friendly and healthy, they are emerging as focal points of community engagement.”

Following the Yash conversion last fall, a second makeover was completed in February, with two others to follow. The four converted stores will be evaluated over two years using community surveys, patron surveys and observations. More than simply looking at the changes as they pertain to the impact on the stores’ profitability, the researchers will measure changes in the demographics and purchasing patterns of the customer base, and in the knowledge and attitudes about food among not only the corner store patrons but the community at large. “Most studies involving interventions to increase healthy food access have been limited to the people shopping at the store or the farmer’s market,” says Prelip. “We are interested in how this affects the community.”

Prelip and Glik hope the success of the four overhauled East L.A. stores inspires others to follow suit. Their team is closely documenting the process to identify characteristics needed for success and sustainability, toward the goal of developing a toolkit that store owners in East Los Angeles and other communities will be able to use in the future. “This isn’t a magic bullet, but we hope it’s part of the solution,” Prelip says. “There’s a tendency to think that every community needs large grocery stores, but if you look in other parts of the world, most places don’t have them and they have healthier diets than we do. What’s needed is healthy food that is accessible and that people will choose to purchase.”

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intensive academic-year program and internship in food justice and media production. They learn about the root causes of so-called food deserts and their connection to race/ethnicity, income and health disparities. They learn media literacy, particularly as it pertains to the messaging of food and beverage companies.

Under Public Matters’ guidance, the students created educational videos that were screened in the summer of 2011 in a neighborhood park, prior to the first store reopening. The students have also participated in the hands-on transformation of the corner stores, and have continued to play an active role in promoting them – leading cooking classes at the stores, among other activities.

“We can’t expect the store owners to enter into a partnership with this project unless we can deliver a customer base,” says Reanne Estrada, Public Matters’ creative director. “Our job is to help make sure there is community buy-in, and the students have proven to be very effective at amplifying the message to their friends, families, and community organizations. They are invested in the success of these stores – when they give presentations, they talk about these as ‘their’ markets.”

“Often, corner store conversions are focused only on the inside of the store,” says Mike Blockstein, principal at Public Matters. “We’re trying to make a longterm transformation in people’s perceptions both about the markets and about the notion of eating healthy. That doesn’t come simply – you’re talking about ingrained habits and a mentality that it costs more to eat healthy. If the community is supportive of these markets and the concept of healthy eating, the transformation is much more likely to endure.”

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hall of fame

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alumni hall of fame: the 2012 inductees The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Alumni Hall of Fame was established in 2002 to honor alumni with outstanding career accomplishments in public health, as well as those who have volunteered time and talent in their communities in support of public health activities. The 2012 inductees, recognized April 18 at the school’s 38th Annual Lester Breslow Distinguished Lecture, exemplify the school’s commitment to teaching, research and service.

NUNTAVARN VICHIT-VADAKAN, M.P.H. ’81, Dr.P.H. ’87 Vichit-Vadakan is the founding dean of the Faculty of Public Health at Thammasat University in Thailand, where she has been instrumental in developing the school’s educational program and a research agenda for the faculty. Her own research on the effects of air pollution and health has led to national policy interventions, most notably the elimination of lead from gasoline, the establishment of national air quality standards, and implementation of environmental mitigation measures. She serves as the lead negotiator for Thailand at the Conference of the Parties for the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the first international health treaty, and has played a pivotal role in the negotiation of a protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products. Vichit-Vadakan received both her degrees – an M.P.H. in 1981 and a Dr.P.H. in 1987 – in Community Health Sciences from UCLA. CLAIRE D. BRINDIS, M.P.H. ’73, Dr.P.H. Brindis is director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies and a professor of pediatrics and health policy at UC San Francisco, where she is also director of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health and executive director of the National Adolescent Health Information and Innovation Center. Brindis’ research focuses on program evaluation and the translation of research into policy at the local, state, and national levels. Her expertise is in the areas of adolescent and child health policy, adolescent pregnancy and pregnancy prevention, reproductive health services for men and women, school-based health services, and analyses of a wide array of health policies, including health care access for underserved communities.

A member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, Brindis received her M.P.H. in Community Health Sciences from UCLA in 1973.

FREDERICK J. ANGULO, D.V.M., Ph.D. ’95 A medical epidemiologist trained in veterinary medicine and public health, Angulo has served in a variety of scientific and leadership positions related to food safety, anti-microbial resistance, and global health since joining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1993 in the Epidemiology Intelligence Service.

Since 2010 he has been part of CDC’s Center for Global Health, serving as director of the Global Disease Detection program, which conducts infectious disease capacity-building efforts in more than 25 countries.

Previously he served in the CDC’s Foodborne Diseases Branch, where he established several national surveillance programs, including FoodNet and the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS). Angulo received his Ph.D. in Epidemiology from UCLA in 1995.

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

PREVIOUS INDUCTEES Manal Aboelata, M.P.H. ’01 Ira R. Alpert, M.S.P.H. ’66 Wendy Arnold, M.P.H. ’82 Stanley P. Azen, Ph.D. ’69 Donna Bell Sanders, M.P.H. ’81 Robert Black, M.D, M.P.H. ’76 Lisa Bohmer, M.P.H. ’94 Diana M. Bonta´, R.N., M.P.H. ’75, Dr.P.H. ’92 Linda Burhansstipanov, Dr.P.H. ’74, M.P.H. ’72 Virginia A. Clark, Ph.D. ’63 Francine M. Coeytaux, M.P.H. ’82 Suzanne E. Dandoy, M.D., M.P.H. ’63 Paula Diehr, M.S. ’67, Ph.D. ’70 Sam Downing, M.B.A., M.P.H. ’71, F.A., C.H.E. D. Peter Drotman, M.D., M.P.H. ’75 Betsy Foxman, M.S.P.H. ’80, Ph.D. ’83

Ignacio Ferrey, M.P.H. ’04 Mark Gold, D.Env. ’94 Harold M. Goldstein, M.S.P.H. ’89, Dr.P.H. ’97 Raymond D. Goodman, M.D., M.P.H. ’72 Richard A. Goodman, M.D., J.D., M.P.H. ’83 Kathryn Hall-Trujillo, M.P.H. ’76 Nancy Halpern Ibrahim, M.P.H. ’93 Nancy Hessol, M.S.P.H. ’82 Carolyn F. Katzin, M.S.P.H. ’88, C.N.S. Robert J. Kim-Farley, M.D., M.P.H. ’75 Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.P.H. ’76 James W. LeDuc, Ph.D. ’77, M.S.P.H. ’72 Stanley Lemeshow, Ph.D. ’76 Rod Lew, M.P.H. ’88 Peter Long, M.P.H. ’08, Ph.D. Nicole Monastersky Maderas, M.P.H. ’03

Please access information on 2013 nominations at ph.ucla.edu/alumni or call (310) 825-6464.

Angela E. Oh, J.D., M.P.H. ’81 Jean Le Cerf Richardson, M.P.H. ’71, Dr.P.H. ’80 Keith S. Richman, M.D., M.P.H. ’83 Pauline M. Vaillancourt Rosenau, Ph.D., M.P.H. ’92 Jessie L. Sherrod, M.D., M.P.H. ’80 Irwin J. Shorr, M.P.H. ’72, M.P.S. Stephen M. Shortell, M.P.H. ’68, Ph.D. Arthur Southam, M.D., M.B.A., M.P.H. ’84 Shiing-Jer Twu, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. ’91 Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env ’88 Kenneth B. Wells, M.D., M.P.H. ’80 Zunyou Wu, M.D., Ph.D. ’95, M.P.H. ’92 Toni Yancey, M.D., M.P.H. ’91 Michele Yehieli, M.P.H. ’89, Dr.P.H. ’95 Linda M. Yu Bien, M.S.P.H. ’79

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2012 student competition

students sound off As part of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s 2012 Student Competition, five students were selected as finalists and invited to deliver a five-minute oral presentation at the 38th Annual Lester Breslow Distinguished Lecture April 18 on how they would either solve or creatively analyze or evaluate health disparities.

The students, representing the school’s five departments, each received a $1,000 prize from Molina Healthcare Inc. A distinguished panel of judges selected two winners, Shemra Rizzo and Rebecca Wolfe, who each received a $5,000 prize courtesy of the Breslow Student Fellowship Fund and the new Fielding endowment.

Following are excerpts from the winning students’ presentations.

SHEMRA RIZZO Ph.D. Student / Biostatistics HEALTH DISPARITIES in a population are commonly defined as avoidable or unjust differences in health. This definition is too vague for effective policy-making. I define health disparities as avoidable differences in health and access to health care arising from socioeconomic conditions, such as poverty and discrimination, as well as environmental and behavioral factors. This highlights the importance of identifying root causes of disparities in order to prevent them.

Many efforts to tackle disparities focus on incidence of specific diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. An effective approach would identify common causes for all of these, such as diet and physical activity. These behaviors are often not individual, but communitywide. For example, in surveying Latinos in East L.A., I found that not being able to effectively read nutrition labels was not just a problem of a few individuals, but a neighborhood-wide deficiency. This motivates taking communities, not individuals or entire socioeconomic, ethnic or racial groups, as the fundamental population units for effective health care policy.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to eliminate health disparities.

The greatest gains come from culturally relevant environmental and behavioral interventions at the community level, where community members are involved at every stage of the design and implementation. Healthy and empowered communities are the building blocks for societies that are culturally diverse yet health-equitable.

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

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REBECCA WOLFE M.S. Student / Environmental Health Sciences IN A STATE of optimal health equity, all individuals would: 1) have access to excellent preventive and treatment-oriented medical care, and 2) live in neighborhoods that are both free from environmental degradation and supportive of health lifestyles.

The disproportional levels of environmental degradation placed on minority and economically deficient communities are of primary concern because the resulting burden of ill health is not evenly shared among citizens. Most disconcerting, however, is the lack of awareness among residents and their lack of political clout to control circumstances affecting their own health. Underserved populations will continue to suffer from unevenly distributed environmental health consequences until they are equipped with the knowledge and political will to rebuild their own communities. Real change depends first upon our willingness to see vulnerable populations as fellow actors capable of controlling their own lives, and second upon our willingness to assist in their transformation.

I believe the only way to reverse the environmental degradation of local communities is to actively prepare public school students in grades K-12 for careers in science and law. Students must be motivated toward the goal of environmental equity. They need to be equipped through rigorous and content-specific training. By giving students a sense of purpose, we will empower many of them to acquire the skills necessary to have a profound impact on their local neighborhoods.

JULIA CALDWELL Ph.D. Student / Community Health Sciences

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

IT IS UNACCEPTABLE to live in a country where poverty, discrimination and inadequate medical care determine who lives and who dies. Health disparities are systematically shaped by policies, and in turn are avoidable. Elimination of systematic health differences is a realistic and attainable goal for the field of public health.

To do so, the field needs to continue reframing its research and programmatic focus to increase integration across social sectors and academic disciplines. There is potential in a place-based approach to understanding how where we live, eat, and work influences our health.

Place-based approaches require multiple players, such that public health professionals are involved in city zoning decisions and urban planners incorporate design elements while engaging in public health decision making. Funding agencies must broaden their focus on issues outside of the health care system to include projects that focus on the root causes of health disparities such as poverty, lack of education, social prejudice, and failed government policies. Health equity is also achieved through diversifying the professionals who work in the field.

The continued presence of health disparities should unsettle our sense of social justice. We have an obligation to the socially disadvantaged and powerless to help them live longer and healthier lives. Through increased collaboration across disciplines and diversification of professionals in the field, health equity can become a reality.

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TO CREATE POLICIES that address the many issues facing marginalized populations, health disparities research needs to adopt a new agenda: text, target and time. Text refers to the increased use of cell phones by people of all levels of socioeconomic status (SES); studies should utilize this tool to access demographics that tend to be underrepresented in research. In order to understand the long-term and short-term trends in health disparities, researchers need to specifically target and oversample historically disadvantaged groups.

Time addresses the need for longitudinal research to unravel causality.

Often the question becomes: Does social disadvantage affect biological processes and exposures, or do differences in exposures and biological processes contribute to social disadvantage? Longitudinal research in lower SES groups would present a huge challenge, but would provide the greatest benefit. An increased commitment to health disparities research from the scientific community could have a phenomenal impact on the adoption and employment of efficient and effective health policies.

There is no doubt that historical events play a role in the landscape of health disparities, and the research regarding these narratives could shed light on the origin of current trends. However, the most informative research will likely arise from addressing the concept of reverse causality as it pertains to health disparities through longitudinal research and the use of advanced analytical models. Researchers should begin to focus on the proposed three-T agenda: text, target and time.

2012 student competition

CAITLIN MORRISON M.P.H. Student / Epidemiology

SANDHYA SHIMOGA Ph.D. Student / Health Services INDIVIDUAL CHOICES are important determinants of one’s health – be it choice to smoke or gorge on unhealthy fast food. However, these choices are not always made in isolation. They are subject to our resources – income, education, information – which can play pivotal roles in nudging us toward better or worse choices. As part of the larger society, all individuals are guided by societal norms on lifestyle choices. Social determinants such as built environments, government policies, and political climate also influence choices. A fast-food restaurant in a poor neighborhood may present the only available and affordable choice of a meal outside of home, whereas the same restaurant in a wealthy neighborhood is one of many choices.

While having the liberty to make individual choices is of paramount importance in a democracy, the choices do not resist influences of social determinants. The potential situations where people are prone to making unhealthy choices can be altered by making small changes or by facilitating better choices at both the individual level and in the private and public sectors.

Achieving a sustainable equity in health requires changes at the individual level as well as at the collective thinking level of the society.

Providing opportunities to individuals so that they make better choices is a small but significant step, a solution that preserves individual liberties and freedom while adhering to distributive justice principles.

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UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

LEGACY

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Having led the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

to unprecedented

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levels of achievement and prestige, Dr. Linda Rosenstock announced in September 2011 that she would step

“Linda has been a tremendous asset to the school, and to the university,” stated UCLA executive vice chancellor Scott Waugh in making the announcement. “We will miss her tremendously.”

Rosenstock arrived in November 2000 following seven years of service in the Clinton administration as director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). As dean, she proceeded to launch a series of initiatives to put the school on a solid track for growth. After facing a fiscal crisis at the beginning of Rosenstock’s tenure, the school has been on strong financial footing ever since, finishing in the black each year since FY 2003-04.

Rosenstock’s leadership has been an unqualified success by every measure – from faculty recruitment and research productivity to the excellence and diversity of the student body; from the school’s

began with, ‘It’s 70 and sunny here, Jack. What’s the weather like where you are?’ It was never 70 and sunny in Boston.”

STUDENTS. Applications to the school have soared – up 44 percent since 2006 – resulting in a more competitive and diverse student body. The school’s students come from more than 35 countries and constitute one of the most diverse student populations in the United States. The entering class of 2011-12 included the highest proportion of Latinos in the school’s history (15 percent), reflecting an effort to increase diversity aided by Rosenstock’s lead in securing scholarship funding from The California Wellness Foundation and The California Endowment. During Rosenstock’s tenure, UCLA Students of Color for Public Health was created to support and enhance the school’s diversity; the

IN

NEARLY

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down after nearly 12 years as the school’s dean, effective July 1 of this year.

A DOZEN YEARS AT THE HELM ,

D R . L INDA R OSENSTOCK ELEVATED AN ELITE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH TO NEW HEIGHTS .

LEADERSHIP organization has created public health courses in the community, establishing a pipeline to encourage students from underserved areas to study public health.

In 2004, the school launched a public health minor for undergraduates, which quickly became among the most popular minors at UCLA. “UCLA Fielding School of Public Health students look to Dean Rosenstock for her guidance and support,” says Ashley Kissinger, 2011-12 copresident of the UCLA Public Health Student Association. “We strive to meet the high expectations she has for students.”

INFRASTRUCTURE. Rosenstock also strengthened the Dean’s Office infrastructure in ways that supported the school. She created several seniorlevel positions, including associate dean for research – a move that contributed to a tripling of the school’s contract and grant activity. A new associate dean for global and immigrant health position helped to bring together the work of faculty and students in more than 70 countries, supporting the school’s international health focus, one of Rosenstock’s major strategic priorities. The establishment of an assistant dean for communications helped to produce a biannual magazine, professional collateral and increased visibility for the school and its faculty. An assistant dean for student affairs contributed to the rise in

“Linda assembled a first-rate administrative leadership team and has led the recruitment of almost half the current faculty of first-rate teachers, researchers and those concerned with translating research to serve our communities.

She became a national leader in public health education while remaining very approachable for faculty and students.

She leaves an enduring legacy.”

Dr. Jonathan Fielding PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

elevated national and international profile to its enhanced infrastructure and soaring fund-raising, culminating in its largest-ever gift, the $50 million endowment from Jonathan and Karin Fielding that renamed the school (see page 4); and in the admiration and affection she earned from faculty, students, alumni and friends of the school, some of whose reflections are included on these pages.

FACULTY. Since 2000 the school has recruited more than 30 new tenure-track faculty members from diverse backgrounds: The faculty now includes nearly 10 percent more women and has seen a sixfold increase in representation from underserved populations. Rosenstock has recruited many prominent junior and senior faculty members, adding to a top-tier group. From 1999-00 to 2009-10, faculty contract and grant activity more than tripled – from $16 million to more than $52 million. As of the 2011-12 academic year, 16 faculty members – including Rosenstock – had been elected to the Institute of Medicine, among the most prestigious honors for any health professional.

“When Linda was recruiting me, she was absolutely disarming,” recalls Dr. Jack Needleman, an internationally recognized health services and policy expert at the Harvard School of Public Health before coming to UCLA in 2003. “Every phone call

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22 “Linda Rosenstock has been the perfect person at the right time for the school’s deanship.

I admire Linda for her charisma, vision, tact, directness and clarity.

I treasure our friendship.”

Dr. Jared Diamond PROFESSOR, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR

“The one word I would use to describe Linda is insightful.

Action without insight can be nonproductive or even counterproductive.

Linda has always brought real insight into the actions she’s engaged in, insight into the problem to be solved or issue to be addressed, insight into the people and institutions who have to be influenced.”

Dr. Jack Needleman UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

PROFESSOR

application rates and diversity of applicants while enhancing career counseling for students. And finally, an assistant dean for development and alumni affairs led to a more engaged alumni, an increased donor base, new endowments and, most recently, the record naming gift from the Fieldings.

DEVELOPMENT. The Fielding gift was the crowning achievement of a hugely successful development program for the school during Rosenstock’s tenure. From 2000 to 2011, the school raised $90 million from individual donors, corporate support and foundations. Center endowments exceeding $5 million each created the Bixby Center on Population and Reproductive Health and the UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity.

Rosenstock helped to secure more than $30 million in state and congressionally directed funds to establish the Global Bio Lab at UCLA, a vital new public health resource that builds the school’s internal research capacity while increasing visibility and service to the outside public health community. In addition, the enhanced development program has resulted in more scholarship funds available for students, many of whom come from underserved areas and have a great need for financial support.

A significant factor in the increased fundraising has been a Dean’s Advisory Board that is stronger than at any time during the school’s history. Many Los Angeles business and entertainment leaders have been added to the board, and members have embraced their role as ambassadors for the school.

VISIBILITY. The school has increasingly attracted high-profile speakers to Commencement ceremonies and the annual Lester Breslow Distinguished Lecture, as well as to special events such as the 50th anniversary celebration in 2011.

Speakers and visitors to the school have included leading national public health, political and cultural figures and newsmakers.

Rosenstock also helped to raise the school’s profile on the UCLA campus and within the University of California system through the many university and UC-wide leadership roles she undertook, including initiatives on global health and future growth in the health professions. Nationally, she continued to build on the public health leadership role that began when she headed NIOSH, for which she received the Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award, the highest executive service award in the government. Rosenstock served as co-chair of an Institute of Medicine committee on public health workforce needs that authored an influential report and chaired a separate task force on the national public health workforce; was appointed by President Obama to serve as a member of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative

Public Health; and is immediate past chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health and the Society of Medical Administrators.

Last year, Rosenstock chaired the Institute of Medicine’s Preventive Services for Women Committee, established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 to identify preventive services necessary for women’s optimal health and well being that health plans should be required to include. The committee recommended that eight services, including family planning, be covered without co-payments. Less than two weeks later, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services adopted the recommendations as proposed.

“At every step of Linda Rosenstock’s career she has managed to keep science separate from politics,” says Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine, of Rosenstock’s success in taking on the contentious issue. “She goes where the evidence leads.

This is what makes her such an effective advocate for public health.”

It was yet one more example of leadership that helped to elevate an institution that was already in the elite schools of public health to a new level of excellence…better positioned than ever before to make a difference in improving health in Los Angeles, across the nation and around the world.

“We’re all taught that we should leave a place better than we found it,” says Dr. Gerald Kominski, professor and director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, who served as associate dean for academic programs under Rosenstock from 2001 to 2008. “Linda can definitely say that the school is a better place today than before she became dean.”

Donations to the Linda Rosenstock Global Health Innovation Fund, established by the Dean’s Advisory Board, will advance the school’s leadership role in addressing global threats to public health. For more information, go to ph.ucla.edu/giving or see the remittance envelope included in this issue.

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VICE CHANCELLOR, UCLA HEALTH SCIENCES AND DEAN, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA

“I have appreciated Dean Rosenstock’s interest and leadership in exploring training collaborations with universities in China, Singapore and other parts of the world, and her support of global health training and research. She has been acutely perceptive about the importance of partnering with international institutions as public health increasingly becomes a global issue.”

Dr. May C. Wang

“One of the reasons I enjoyed being part of Linda’s administration was that she valued everyone’s input and was very open to listening to all points of view and perspectives, even if they were counter to her own.

On many occasions, she modified her thinking in response to issues that were brought to her attention by her management team.”

Dr. Gerald Kominski

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“There are three hallmarks to Linda’s leadership of the UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health. First is her vision – her ability to anticipate public health issues that are just over the horizon so that the school can be ahead of the curve, creating solutions and educating the next generation of public health experts for their future environments. Second is the depth and breadth of her experience, which has been instrumental in overseeing the school’s continued growth and impact. And finally is Linda’s stewardship of this world-class institution, which will help ensure that UCLA continues to be a leading voice in promoting public health at home and abroad for many decades to come.”

Dr. A. Eugene Washington

“Linda brought to the school hard money and fierce leadership, with a soft heart for research that rights the inequities in health.

I am awed and privileged that I was faculty at her helm.”

Dr. Ninez Ponce

thanks!

PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR, UCLA CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY RESEARCH, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC PROGRAMS, 2001-2008

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

“With her strong background in government, Linda brought a decidedly collaborative approach to public health. She realized that achieving the goal of getting to a healthier population would require the dedication of multiple public, private and community stakeholders. Her gracious and open approach has expanded the reach of the school on very important initiatives.”

Dr. Benjamin K. Chu PRESIDENT, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGION, KAISER FOUNDATION HEALTH PLAN AND HOSPITAL

“I had the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Rosenstock while serving as co-president of the Public Health Student Association this past year. Not only was she very amenable to speaking with students about her work and hearing about our future career plans, she has demonstrated to me that determination and perseverance can lead to significant impact.”

Simrin Cheema 2011-12

CO-PRESIDENT, UCLA PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT ASSOCIATION

FRED H. BIXBY CHAIR, COMMUNITY HEALTH SCIENCES

PROFESSOR AND CO-DIRECTOR, UCLA KAISER PERMANENTE CENTER FOR HEALTH EQUITY

“Linda’s public health leadership is clearly motivated by an abiding sense of justice, so it’s no surprise that her management within the school has been characterized by fairness. She’s one of the rare deans who is both a transformative leader and an effective manager, and she's been a real delight to work with.”

Dr. Fred Zimmerman FRED W. AND PAMELA K. WASSERMAN CHAIR IN HEALTH SERVICES

“Recognizing that the standing of a school is closely tied to the quality and quantity of its research, Linda appointed the first-ever associate dean for research, a strategic move that signaled both internally and externally that this was a research-intensive school of public health.

Under her leadership, we have more than tripled the amount of research funding brought into the school.”

Dr. Roshan Bastani PROFESSOR, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH AND CO-DIRECTOR, UCLA KAISER PERMANENTE CENTER FOR HEALTH EQUITY

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

“The dean brought an important national perspective to the School of Public Health through her contacts in Washington, DC, and around the country. She worked to give the school a national presence among other public health agencies and institutions, which has been and will be important to the school’s future direction.”

Dr. Anne R. Pebley

“Before we met, my friends and colleagues who already knew Linda had said we were either going to love or hate each other because we were both so energetic. Fortunately it was the former.

Linda has an intensity and an energy that comes through no matter what she’s doing. Her legacy will be a faculty that’s closer-knit and more diverse, students who are engaged and actively participating in their education experience, and a major gift that has put us into the elite of schools.”

Dr. Toni Yancey

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research highlights High Levels of Ultrafine Particles Near LAX Pose Potential Health Threat

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

The study found highly elevated concentrations of ultrafine particles at the blast fence of LAX, with a more than 100-fold difference in particle concentrations between the highest spikes during takeoffs and when no takeoff was occurring.

COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) emit into nearby areas large quantities of ultrafine particles – small particles that are not regulated but have been shown to be more toxic than larger particles – according to a UCLA Fielding School of Public Health study published in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

Airborne particulate matter has been associated with adverse health impacts that include respiratory and cardiopulmonary effects, as well as lung cancer. Although airports are major sources of particulate matter in many urban environments, there has been little research on the characteristics of the particulate matter emitted from aircraft, or of the potential exposure and health risks for residents in surrounding communities.

Ultrafine particles are of special concern because they can penetrate cells and travel deep into the lungs and brain. Studies have found that children, older adults and people who have either respiratory or cardiovascular disease are the most vulnerable to being affected by exposure to elevated levels of these particles.

The new study, headed by Drs. John Froines and Yifang Zhu of the school’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, measured real-time concentrations and size distributions of ultrafine particles (defined as having a diameter of less than 100 nanometers) and other particulate matter at the blast fence of LAX (140 meters from the takeoff position) and at five downwind sites up to 600 meters from the takeoff runway and upwind of the nearby Interstate 405 freeway.

At the blast fence site, the researchers found highly elevated concentrations of ultrafine particles, with the largest numbers found at the particle size of approximately 14 nanometers, and the highest concentrations of ultrafine particles found during individual aircraft takeoff. The study found a more than 100-fold difference in particle concentrations between the highest spikes during takeoffs and the lowest concentrations, when no takeoff was occurring.

“The communities surrounding airports have become increasingly aware of potential impacts to air quality and public health from airport operations,” says Zhu, the study’s lead author. “The observed highly elevated particle concentrations downwind of LAX associated with aircraft takeoff activities, including especially large quantities of ultrafine particles at the lower end of currently measurable particle size ranges, has significant exposure and possible health implications.”

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UCLA RESEARCHERS MAY HAVE FOUND A KEY to identifying Parkinson’s disease patients who will progress rapidly toward motor decline, a finding that raises hopes for the development of new therapies and could help to identify patients who would most benefit from early intervention.

In a study published in the peer-reviewed online journal PLoS ONE, the researchers found that Parkinson’s sufferers with two specific variants of a known genetic risk factor for the disease had a significantly speedier progression toward motor decline than patients without the variants.

“This is a relatively small study with 233 patients, but the effects we’re seeing are actually quite large,” says Dr. Beate Ritz, incoming chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and the primary investigator of the study.

The α-synuclein (SNCA) gene is a well-known risk factor for Parkinson’s disease, and higher levels of a protein made from this gene are associated with greater disease severity in familial cases of Parkinson’s disease. Ritz and colleagues examined two risk variants, the Rep1 263bp promoter and rs356165. They recruited Parkinson’s disease patients shortly after they were diagnosed from three Central California counties, and followed 233 of those patients for an average of 5.1 years.

Ritz’s group found that carriers of the Rep1 263bp variant had a four-fold higher risk of faster motor decline. The researchers observed an even stronger trend in motor decline when both Rep1 263bp and rs356165 variants were considered.

When doctors currently see Parkinson’s disease patients, they can’t predict how rapidly their motor function will deteriorate – for instance, they can’t say how quickly the patient will decline to the point that he or she needs a wheelchair or other aids, according to Dr. Jeff Bronstein, professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a member of the research team. “But if our results are confirmed, these gene variants can now identify patients who are likely to have faster progression,” he says.

Because of the difference in rates of disease progression, researchers can test potential therapies in individuals carrying the genetic variations, obtaining faster results on the efficacy of those drugs, notes co-author Shannon Rhodes, a researcher in epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

Ritz notes that there are probably other markers that need to be identified, because not all patients with the variants in question become rapid progressors.

In addition, the results need to be replicated, so future studies with many more subjects are needed.

research

Genetic Predictor for Aggressive Form of Parkinson’s Disease Identified

When doctors currently see Parkinson’s disease patients, they can’t predict how rapidly their motor function will deteriorate. If these results are confirmed, that will change.

Sexual Minority Stress Jeopardizes Mental Health of Midlife and Older Gay Men UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

SEXUAL MINORITY STRESS, along with aging-related stress, jeopardizes the mental health of midlife and older gay men, according to a UCLA Fielding School of Public Health-led study published in the American Journal of Public Health. In the study, sexual minority stress included the men’s perceptions that they needed to conceal their sexual orientation or that others were uncomfortable with or avoided them because of their sexual orientation.

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In addition to sexual orientation stigma, the mental health of the midlife and older gay men in the study was negatively affected by having experienced the loss of many of their peers to AIDS.

The study also found that legal marriage for same-sex couples may confer a unique protective effect against poor mental health. Having either a same-sex domestic partner or a same-sex spouse boosted the emotional health of the men in the study, but having a same-sex legal spouse appeared to be the most beneficial relationship arrangement.

“This study shines a light on the mental health of a generation of gay men who survived the early years of the AIDS crisis and came of age on the heels of the gay rights movement,” says Dr. Richard G. Wight, associate researcher at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, a visiting scholar of public policy at the Williams Institute at UCLA, and the study’s lead author. “Whether legal marriage benefits mental health within same-sex couples in the way it has been proven to benefit different-sex couples deserves much more empirical attention, particularly given that same-sex marriage is not available in most states and was only briefly available in California in 2008.”

The findings suggest that targeted campaigns may be necessary to address this generation of gay men’s heightened risk for poor mental health. In addition to sexual orientation stigma, the mental health of the men in the study was negatively affected by having experienced the loss of many of their peers to AIDS. General aging-related stress, such as concerns over finances and independence, also affected the mental health of these midlife and older gay men.

The study was based on self-administered questionnaires completed in 2009 or 2010 by approximately 200 HIV-negative and HIV-positive gay-identified men between the ages of 44 and 75. The studied men were a subsample of participants in the UCLA component of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, one of the largest and longest-running natural-history studies of HIV/AIDS in the United States. Dr. Roger Detels, principal investigator of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study and a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, was also an investigator in this study.

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

Improved Cultural Competence Needed to Better Integrate Immigrants into U.S. Health Care System THE GROWING DIVERSITY of the U.S. immigrant population underscores the need for improved cultural competence and an increased role for health care providers in facilitating the integration of the foreign-born population into the U.S. health care system, according to a research paper co-authored by Dr. Arturo Vargas Bustamante, assistant professor of health services in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

Writing in Virtual Mentor, the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, Vargas Bustamante and his co-author, Dr. Philip J. Van der Wees of Harvard Medical School, noted that if current trends continue the U.S. immigrant population will double in size in the next 30 years. Immigrants currently comprise nearly 30 percent of the nation’s uninsured population. Approximately 33 percent of U.S. immigrants are uninsured – roughly half of them undocumented – compared with 12.5 percent of the native-born population.

The U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides similar entitlements to U.S.-born people and documented immigrants (undocumented immigrants are not eligible), though there is a five-year waiting period for some benefits.

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research

The clear beneficiaries of the new law, the authors stated, include the approximately 7 million low- and middle-income documented immigrants who are currently uninsured and have been in the country more than five years.

However, they noted, “Even if immigrants are covered by public or private health plans, coverage does not automatically translate into access. Lack of familiarity with the system may contribute to low health care use among the foreignborn.” Overall, immigrants are less likely to access, use and spend on health care than the U.S. native-born population.

Vargas Bustamante and Van der Wees argued that physicians and other health care professionals should participate actively and regularly in training programs that increase cultural awareness, knowledge and skills, starting in medical school and continuing throughout their careers; that language services should be offered for immigrants with poor English proficiency at all access points of the health care system; and that recruiting, retaining and promoting a culturally diverse workforce can help to ensure the dissemination of multicultural approaches to delivering care.

New Evidence for Association Between Caffeine Consumption and Lower Diabetes Risk

Although the causal relationship between coffee consumption and type 2 diabetes risk must still be confirmed, “a modest amount of coffee can be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and weight reduction for diabetes prevention.”

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

COFFEE MAY DO MORE THAN KEEP US AWAKE; a study led by Dr. Simin Liu, professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, adds to evidence that the caffeine in one of the world’s most popular beverages may also contribute to better health. Specifically, Liu’s group has provided a new explanation for the association of caffeinated coffee consumption with lower type 2 diabetes risk.

Caffeine has been found to have a protective effect on pancreatic beta cells in mice, and a number of studies have demonstrated an inverse association between coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes. Liu’s previous work has identified a new set of biomarkers – including plasma levels of sex hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and their relevant genetic variants – as important predictors for type 2 diabetes risk. The new study by Liu’s group, published in the journal Diabetes, indicates caffeinated coffee may lower risk of type 2 diabetes by mediating the sex-hormone pathway.

Liu and colleagues found that the inverse association of caffeinated coffee and caffeine intake with risk of type 2 diabetes was substantially weakened after adjusting for SHBG levels. The study also examined the interaction between coffee intake and specific SHBG genotypes, such as the rs6259 and rs6257 minor allele, in affecting diabetes risk. Carriers of the rs6259 minor allele and noncarriers of the rs6257 minor allele who consumed two or more cups of caffeinated coffee per day had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, depending on SHBG levels.

Although the causal relationship between caffeinated coffee consumption and type 2 diabetes risk must still be confirmed, “a modest amount of coffee intake can be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and weight reduction for diabetes prevention,” Liu says. However, he adds, it is important to note that caffeinated coffee may have adverse effects. “Ultimately, the balance of risk and benefits associated with caffeine needs to be evaluated in future intervention trials,” Liu says.

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student profiles ‘I Still Can’t Believe I Did All That’

“Empowering women by increasing their knowledge and teaching skills will help them make healthier choices and become better parents, which has the potential of impacting an entire community.”

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

— Nicole Vayssier (right)

NICOLE VAYSSIER’S DECISION TO FOCUS ON GLOBAL HEALTH had much to do with the second-year M.P.H. student’s international background. Born in Peru to a Guatemalan mother and Dutch father, Vayssier grew up as part of a family that lived in many parts of the world – in South America, Asia and Europe – and she continues to make regular visits to Guatemala, where her parents currently live. “It’s a great privilege to live and work in the United States, but when I return home to see my family, the contrast is drastic,” says Vayssier, a student in the Department of Community Health Sciences. “Having lived in many different countries, from a young age I was aware of the social and health inequalities that continue to exist among disadvantaged groups. I feel I should be part of finding the solution.”

Last year, Vayssier seized an opportunity to accept an internship working in rural communities off the southern coast of Guatemala through the U.S. Agency for International Development and Alianzas, a multi-sector program of RTI International. She spent 10 weeks conducting a qualitative research evaluation on Mejores Familias (Better Families), a food security program funded by Fundazucar.

The Fundazucar Foundation employs thousands of families at the sugar plantations in the coastal and highland regions of the country. Vayssier was responsible for designing and conducting an evaluation using methods that included in-depth interviews, observations, and focus groups with participants, program staff and Fundazucar management. She analyzed the findings, wrote up a final report and presented her results and recommendations to Fundazucar.

Mejores Familias started a little more than a decade ago as a nutritional rehabilitation center for malnourished infants. Today its objectives are much broader – to educate women on nutrition and basic disease-prevention practices, and promote community members’ participation in achieving desired changes in their environment. Vayssier’s evaluation showed that participants benefitted in multiple ways, most notably through a substantial increase in their self-esteem. Participants learned to adopt basic hygiene practices to keep their homes clean and disease-free. Drinking purified water decreased diarrheal diseases while healthier and more comprehensive diets helped reduce the problem of malnutrition and underweight among young children. “In this nutrition program it is clear that women are central to the family unit and can impact their spouses and children,” Vayssier says. “Empowering women by increasing their knowledge and teaching skills will help them make healthier choices and become better parents, which has the potential of impacting an entire community participating in Mejores Familias.”

Vayssier drew many lessons from the experience. She would often spend several hours traveling to hard-to-reach rural communities; access was so limited in some cases that she and her colleagues had to leave their car and walk an hour up a rocky mountain to get to the community. “It was a very humbling experience,” Vayssier says, “because you realize that as hard as it was for us, these individuals walk this path a few times a week in order to meet their needs.”

A few years ago, Vayssier says, she couldn’t imagine doing the kind of work she did for her UCLA Fielding School of Public Health internship. Now, she can’t imagine doing anything else after earning her degree. “It went by very fast,” she says of her field experience. “I still can’t believe I did all that.”

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students

On the Front Lines in the Fight for Women’s Reproductive Health in West Africa

“For a student interested in global health, it’s one thing to conceptualize communities we want to work in, but to actually see community leaders and women come together, decide what needs to be done and tell us how we could help was very moving.”

— Dayo Spencer-Walters UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

DAYO SPENCER-WALTERS FOUND HERSELF INSPIRED by her professors in the M.P.H. program at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s Department of Community Health Sciences, which Spencer-Walters just completed. “They were so passionate about what they were doing,” Spencer-Walters says, “and they all had extensive practical experience in the field, which helped to contextualize what they were teaching.” Thanks to financial support from the school’s Bixby Center for Population and Reproductive Health and Neumann/Drabkin International Fieldwork Fellowship Program, Spencer-Walters now has considerable practical experiences of her own – experiences that have shaped her career aspirations.

As an undergraduate biology major at UC Berkeley, SpencerWalters decided to add a major in women’s studies. “I became interested in women’s health, but not necessarily from the biological perspective,” she says. Spencer-Walters was drawn to women’s reproductive health and rights, which is what led her to the M.P.H. program at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. “Issues of power, gender relations and economics have such an effect on women’s health, especially in developing countries,” she explains.

“Exploring those intersections further is important.”

Spencer-Walters was able to do that and more in the course of a joint internship with the Office of the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone and the United States Agency for International Development in Freetown, the West African nation’s capital and largest city. There, she helped to assess and make recommendations on the implementation of the Women’s Initiative for Safer Health (WISH), a program of the Office of the First Lady. Through a wide variety of public health strategies, WISH has been successful in reducing Sierra Leone’s high maternal mortality rates, and is now focusing on barriers that adversely affect maternal health outcomes, such as teen pregnancy, early marriage, poverty and certain socio-cultural beliefs.

“We always talk about the community in the classroom, but being able to see firsthand the goals and realities of working within communities was a powerful experience,” Spencer-Walters says. One of the highlights was helping to plan and attend regional forums held by the WISH project where paramount chiefs and religious and youth leaders discussed issues such as family planning and the prevention of early marriage, teen pregnancy and gender-based violence. “For a student interested in global health, it’s one thing to conceptualize communities we want to work in, but to actually see community leaders and women come together, decide what needs to be done and tell us how we could help was very moving,” Spencer-Walters says. She was also able to accompany the First Lady and director of reproductive health on a visit to a village in the northern part of the country – the area hardest hit by the decade-long civil war in the 1990s – where the first of a system of birth waiting homes was being implemented.

Spencer-Walters is now working as a program associate for the RAND African First Lady’s Initiative, part of the Public Health Institute, through which she did her internship. She has remained in almost daily contact with the Office of the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone. “I hope to go back soon,” Spencer-Walters says. “My experience there helped me realize that I want to be building health systems in developing countries.”

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2011-12 student awards AcademyHealth Aetna Minority Scholars Program Tanya Olmos Health Services

AcademyHealth Public Health Systems Research Student Scholarship

FSPH Student Writing Competition Award

Goleen Samari Community Health Sciences

Shemra Rizzo Biostatistics

Bixby Research Mentorship

Julia Caldwell Community Health Sciences

Anne Fehrenbacher Community Health Sciences Robin Jeffries Biostatistics

Abdelmonem A. Afifi Student Fellowship

Celia and Joseph Blann Fellowship

Harmony Larson Environmental Health Sciences

Melissa Kelley Community Health Sciences

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Fellowship

Burroughs Wellcome Fund Interschool Training Program in Metabolic Diseases

AIDS Training Grant Mekeila Cook Kiyomi Tsuyuki Community Health Sciences

American Association of University Women International Fellowship Aolin Wang Epidemiology

American Statistical Association Student Fellowship Trina Patel Biostatistics

Arco Fellowship

Kei Hang Katie Chan Yan Song Epidemiology

California Wellness Fellowship Irene Campos Community Health Sciences Evelyn Alvarez Environmental Health Sciences

Carpenter Memorial Fund Daniel Keebler Jennifer Pierce Heather Pines Epidemiology

Chancellor’s Prize Siavash Banaee Environmental Health Sciences

Simrin Cheema Diana Dang Stephanie Pettit Randy Reyes Jordan Rosencranz Carmen Seetho Environmental Health Sciences

Aolin Wang Epidemiology

Omar Asensio Sharona Sokolow Environmental Science and Engineering

Child and Family Health Leadership Training Fellowship

Lawrence R. Birkner and Ruth K. McIntyre-Birkner Memorial Scholarship Siavash Banaee Environmental Health Sciences

Rebecca Wolfe Environmental Health Sciences

Judith Blake Award

Maral DerSarkissian Epidemiology

Peter Schweikert Andrew Siroka Health Services

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

Bixby Doctoral Fellowship in Population

Andrew Siroka Health Services Lisa Barnhill Molecular Toxicology

Lauren Alderette Alexandra Fiman Jennifer Frehn Priya Thaker Community Health Sciences Karen Lai Health Services

China Scholarship Council Award Aolin Wang Epidemiology

Caitlin Morrison Epidemiology Sandhya Shimoga Health Services

Gates Millennium Scholarship Tanya Olmos Health Services

JUDITH BLAKE AWARD — Robin Jeffries accepts the award, given for academic excellence combined with a strong commitment to demography, population, and reproductive health, from Dean Emeritus Abdelmonem A. Afifi.

Dean’s Leadership Grant Hilary Aralis David Huang Biostatistics Olga Berdysheva Laura Carter Hannah Coleman Gabriela Garibay Jessica Roeckel Jaire Saunders Elizabeth Wong Shahrzad Yavari Community Health Sciences Liz Devietti Michael Nguyen Environmental Health Sciences Joanna Burtner Gingi Fulcher Andrew Park Luz Pimentel Jenny Wright Epidemiology Sheerin Barfeei Molly Battistelli Tamara Park Mark Ramirez Health Services

Dean’s Outstanding Student Award Yuda Zhu Biostatistics Suzanne Spear Community Health Sciences Sayaka Takaku-Pugh Environmental Health Sciences Atsushi Goto Epidemiology Sarah Starks Health Services

Genomic Analysis Training Program Oluwatoyin Fafowora Epidemiology

Rose and Sam Gilbert Award

Eleanor DeBenedictis Award

Melissa Kelley Community Health Sciences

Maria Pia Chaparro Nelida Duran Dana Hunes Community Health Sciences

Rhonda Watkins Health Services

Dissertation Year Fellowship

Tyler Watson Kristin Yamada Environmental Health Sciences

Ren He Biostatistics Fay Malia Jones Suzanne Spear Community Health Sciences Meng-Horng Hsu Nicholas Nairn-Birch Environmental Science and Engineering

eMPH Best Business Plan Award Scott Eischen Liv Hagstrom Joanne Okuda Harita Reddy Health Services/MPH for Health Professionals

Faucett Catalyst Fund Nicole Hoff Epidemiology

Raymond Goodman Scholarship

Sona Oksuzyan Epidemiology

Graduate Opportunities Fellowship Mark Ramirez Ramiro Torres Health Services

Graduate Research Mentorship Award Uchechi Acholonu Eliva Clinton Anne Fehrenbacher Kiyomi Tsuyuki Community Health Sciences Maral DerSarkissian Epidemiology Mona AuYoung Portia Jackson Selena Ortiz Jessica Williams Health Services

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Southwest Region Public Health Training Center Award

Catherine Branson DeAnnah Byrd Chia-Hsin Cheng Eva Durazo Anne Fehrenbacher Philip Massey Goleen Samari Jacqueline Torres Community Health Sciences

Samantha Jones

Lauren Alderette Meri Birhane Andrew Chomchuensawat Hannah Coleman Mallory Collins Anna Fellmann Alexandra Fiman Jennifer Frehn Maya Gil-Cantu Karla Llanos Alexander Martos Christine Montes Vincent Ngo Jaire Saunders John Son Priya Thaker Whitney Wadman Jeffrey Williams Community Health Sciences

Eugene Cota Robles Fellowships Asya Jones Biostatistics Evelyn Alvarez Environmental Health Sciences Monica Wiedeman Epidemiology Isomi Miake-Lye Tanya Olmos Health Services

Oluwatoyin Fafowora Shauna Stahlman Epidemiology

Health Resources and Services Administration Traineeship Gina Karimi Biostatistics

Ruth Roemer Award CAROLBETH KORN PRIZE — Jennifer Tsui (with Dean Linda Rosenstock and Carolbeth Korn) received the award given annually to the school’s most outstanding student.

Hector Alcala Meri Birhane Lauren Lessard Community Health Sciences Bryan Moy Environmental Health Sciences Karen Lai Tanya Olmos Health Services

Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation

Heather Pines Epidemiology

RAYMOND GOODMAN SCHOLARSHIP — Tyler Watson (with Drs. Gail Harrison and Raymond Goodman) was a recipient of the award given for general academic excellence.

The Raymond Goodman Scholarship has benefitted more than 100 public health students since its inception in 1976.

Maternal and Child Health Trainee

Laura Anderson Sophia Hocini Luz Pimentel Epidemiology

Dr. Ursula Mandel Fellowship

NIEHS Training Grant in Molecular Toxicology

Lauren Harrell Biostatistics Patience Afulani Community Health Sciences Katherine McNamara Bryan Moy Tamanna Rahman Environmental Health Sciences Lisa Barnhill May Bhetraratana Molecular Toxicology

Michael Davoren Aaron Lulla Priti Prasad Ciara Remillard

NIOSH Pilot Project Grant Katherine McNamara Environmental Health Sciences

NIOSH Southern California Education and Research Center Fellowship Siavash Banaee George Brogmus Eric Brown Kazue Chinen Gabriel Jasso Shayna Kram Airek Mathews Katherine McNamara Michael Nguyen Sayaka-Takaku-Pugh Xiaosen Xie Environmental Health Sciences

Tony Norton Fellowship Simrin Cheema Ashley Kissinger Environmental Health Sciences

Victor Yee Biostatistics

Charles F. Scott Award Elizabeth Evans Charlotte Oduro Community Health Sciences Courtney Borden Health Services

Philip and Aida Siff Fellowship Anne Fehrenbacher Community Health Sciences

Molly Battistelli Vanessa Correa Katie Hickman Christina Hong Alanis Lourdes Health Services

Samuel J. Tibbits Fellowship Heidi Fischer Biostatistics

UCLA Affiliates Award Goleen Samari Community Health Sciences

UCLA Competitive Edge Asya Jones Biostatistics Evelyn Alvarez Environmental Health Sciences

UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship

Juneal Marie Smith Fellowship

Deborah Ling Erin Richardson Jennifer Tsui Health Services

Yan Song Epidemiology

Parrisa Solaimani Molecular Toxicology

Society for Epidemiology Research

UCLA NCI T32 Training Grant

Maral DerSarkissian Epidemiology

Southern California Society for Risk Analysis Madhuri Sudan Epidemiology

Erin Marcotte Erin Peckham Heather Tarleton Caroline Thompson Gina Wallar Epidemiology

UCLA/Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program Aritra Das Epidemiology

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

Jennifer Tsui Health Services

Jenna Jones Health Services Feon Cheng Community Health Sciences

Carolbeth Korn Prize

Karla Llanos Alexander Martos Jessalyn Waring Community Health Sciences

Albert Schweitzer Fellowship

Mike Kolber Award Jennifer Pierce Heather Pines Epidemiology

Malini Madhusudhan Tyler Watson Environmental Health Sciences

Eric Brown Kazue Chinen Gabriel Jasso Environmental Health Sciences

Alyssa Tjajadi Amanda Varanasi

Kirschstein-NRSA Institutional Traineeship

Monica Salinas Internship Fund in Latino and Latin American Health

SCAIHA Student Scholarship

Health Services Alumni Association Award

Christina Lombardi Epidemiology

Judith Baker Robin Flint Sherry Grace Beena Patel Health Services

student awards

Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Fellowship

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bookshelf ...recent books by UCLA School of Public Health authors

Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gaps Institute of Medicine Committee on Preventive Services for Women, chaired by Linda Rosenstock.

National Academies Press.

Reviews the preventive services that are important to women’s health and well-being and recommends – based on a review of existing guidelines and an assessment of the evidence on their effectiveness – that eight such services be added to those that health plans will cover at no cost under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Evidence-Based Public Health Practice

by Arlene Fink. Sage Publications.

For students, public health practitioners, and anyone who wants to learn about evidence-based public health because of its importance to local, national, and world health.

Health Services for Cancer Survivors: Practice, Policy and Research edited by Michael Feuerstein and Patricia A. Ganz. Springer.

All too often, survivors’ lives are complicated by medical, psychosocial, and economic challenges. This book provides an integrative, evidence-based framework for improving the health of cancer survivors over the long term, across clinical settings and specific diagnoses.

Designing Healthy Communities

by Richard J. Jackson with Stacy Sinclair. Jossey-Bass.

The companion book to the acclaimed public television documentary highlights how we design the built environment and its potential for addressing and preventing many of the nation’s devastating childhood and adult health concerns.

Making Healthy Places: Designing and Building for Health, Well-being, and Sustainability edited by Andrew L. Dannenberg, Howard Frumkin, and Richard J. Jackson. Island Press.

A comprehensive look at the human health implications of buildings, neighborhoods, and cities. Based on the latest scientific evidence, this multidisciplinary collaboration offers built environment solutions for health, well being and sustainability.

Practical Multivariate Analysis, Fifth Edition

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

by Abdelmonem Afifi, Susanne May and Virginia Clark.

CRC Press.

The fifth edition of the authors’ bestselling Computer-Aided Multivariate Analysis takes into account novel multivariate analyses as well as new options for many standard methods, showing readers how to perform multivariate statistical analyses and understand the results.

Public Health in East and Southeast Asia edited by Roger Detels, Sheena G. Sulllivan and Chorh Chuan Tan. University of California Press.

Presents an overview of the state of public health across the vast region and considers the challenges and prospects for its future advancement, paying particular attention to how rapid economic progress has brought accelerated change to the area, both demographic and epidemiological.

honors DIANA BONTA received the community service award from Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy.

RON BROOKMEYER delivered the 2012 Donna J. Brogan Lecture at Emory University.

BRUCE DAVIDSON was among the first to receive certification from the International Association for Information and Data Quality.

JANET FRANK assumed the presidency of the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education.

JOHN FROINES received the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award from the California Air Resources Board, recognizing his outstanding contributions toward improving air quality.

RICHARD JACKSON received the 2011 Milton and Ruth Roemer Award for Excellence in Public Health Practice from the Southern California Public Health Association.

MARK LITWIN was appointed chair of the UCLA Department of Urology.

SIMIN LIU was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

BEATE RITZ was appointed as the epidemiology member of the Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

LINDA ROSENSTOCK received the first-ever Fielding Award (see page 3).

SHIRA SHAFIR was appointed to the UCLA Vice Chancellor for Research Cabinet.

TONI YANCEY received the Pioneering Innovation Award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Instant Recess, a program that helps prevent obesity and promote health through 10-minute, easy-to-do exercise breaks.

ELIZABETH YANO received the VA’s 2012 Under Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research.

YIFANG ZHU was awarded the 2011 HaagenSmit Prize, given annually to the authors of two outstanding papers published in the international journal Atmospheric Environment.

DISTINGUISHED TEACHER – Dr. Sander Greenland, professor of epidemiology, was the recipient of this year’s Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award at the school’s annual 2012 Honors and Awards Reception. The award, chosen on the basis of nominations from faculty colleagues, was created to recognize the best of the school’s faculty educators.

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Lester Breslow, 1915-2012 felt public health should broaden its vision as people began living longer and becoming more susceptible to conditions such as cancer, heart disease and stroke.

After completing service as an army captain in World War II, Breslow moved to California, where he became chief of the Bureau of Chronic Diseases of the California Department of Public Health from 1946 to 1960. Breslow launched several of the earliest definitive studies of tobacco’s adverse health effects. He also started the California Tumor Registry, which has been a resource for hundreds of studies.

He was California’s director of public health (1965-68) and dean of the UCLA School of Public Health (1972-80). Following his tenure as dean, he continued to be an active and beloved member of the school’s faculty – speaking, writing and motivating students and faculty well into his 90s.

Dr. Lester Breslow’s family invites those who wish to remember and carry on his legacy to support the Lester Breslow Student Fellowship Fund, which will help today’s students become tomorrow’s public health leaders. For more information, go to ph.ucla.edu/giving or see the remittance envelope included in this issue.

faculty

Dr. Lester Breslow, a former dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, professor emeritus, and one of the leading figures in public health for seven decades, died in April at the age of 97.

Breslow was a visionary public health figure with a track record for being ahead of his time. As early as the 1940s, he linked tobacco use to disease in three studies later cited in the U.S. Surgeon General’s landmark 1964 report. His pioneering studies beginning in the early 1960s were among the first to show that simple health practices – such as getting regular exercise and sleep, not drinking excessively, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight – add both years and quality to life. The studies helped usher in current thinking about health and fitness.

Born in Bismarck, ND, Breslow stammered severely as a youth but went on to deliver the keynote address at his high school graduation and become someone whose thoughtful and articulate speaking style commanded attention. As a local health officer in Minnesota at the start of his career, Breslow harbored big ideas about where the field should be headed. The focus was still on communicable diseases, but Breslow

33

Top to bottom: Breslow with wife Devra; at a luncheon as dean; with Dean Linda Rosenstock and Dean Emeritus Abdelmonem A. Afifi.

E. Richard Brown, 1942-2012 In 2001, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research produced the first CHIS data from interviews with more than 55,000 California households, creating a wealth of health data on the nation’s most populous and diverse state. The biannual survey has become an essential source for policymakers, advocates, researchers, media and others interested in understanding the health of Californians and that of previously under-studied groups.

Brown, who grew up in a working-class family, learned early what it was like to be poor and without basic health coverage. “My mother always remembered the stigma she felt when the eligibility workers at the county hospital grilled her about her income and were very demeaning to her because she couldn’t pay the medical bills,” he would remember.

Donations are now being accepted for the E. Richard (Rick) Brown Social Justice Fund to provide fellowship support for an M.P.H. or Ph.D. within the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health who conducts research and/or demonstrates effective policy advocacy aimed at expanding health care coverage for all. For more information, go to ph.ucla.edu/giving or see the remittance envelope included in this issue.

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

Top to bottom: Brown with Lester Breslow; with UCLA Center for Health Policy Research associates Ninez Ponce and Gerald Kominski; passionately making a point.

E. Richard (Rick) Brown, a professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and nationally recognized public health leader who advocated for health care reform and pioneered the collection and dissemination of health survey data to influence policy, died in April.

Brown was the founder of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the nation’s largest state health survey. He was also the founding director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, which was formed in 1994 to translate academic research into practical evidence that policy audiences and community health organizations could use.

As a past president of the American Public Health Association and a member of dozens of health advisory committees and boards, and through his work for two U.S. presidents and three U.S. senators, Brown forged a reputation for his intense determination to make health care services more accessible and more affordable to all Americans.

He was a tireless advocate for the uninsured, and he promoted the development of health data surveys to both dispel persistent myths about the uninsured and document the devastating consequences of the chronic lack of health insurance.

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news briefs brilliant honored Dr. Larry Brilliant was honored by the school as a Global Health Champion at a June 4 event. Brilliant, a philanthropist, professor, inventor and computernetworking pioneer who serves as president and CEO of the Skoll Global Threats Fund, has been a leader in the drive to eradicate smallpox, polio and needless blindness.

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

DR. WILLIAM H. FOEGE, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and author of Global Health Leadership and Management and the newly released House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox, was the featured speaker at “Global Health: Are We Overpromising?,” a seminar hosted by the school in March.

BRESLOW LECTURE – Dr. Thomas Rice, professor of health services and the Dean’s Distinguished Scholar for 2012, delivered the 38th Annual Lester Breslow Distinguished Lecture in April on “Risk and Responsibility: Challenges Facing Consumers and Government in the Health Information Age.” Rice has testified before the U.S. Congress numerous times on various health policy issues. The third edition of his book, The Economics of Health Reconsidered, was published in 2009.

Clemens

Eisenman

Ritz

new leadership for centers, department Dr. John Clemens has joined the faculty as professor in the Department of Epidemiology and founding director of the Center for Global Infectious Diseases. Clemens’ scientific career in global health has spanned academia, the U.S. government and international organizations. A world-renowned expert in vaccine development and evaluation in developing countries, he most recently served as founding director-general of the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul, South Korea. His research has focused on innovative methodological approaches to evaluating vaccines in developing-country populations, and generating evidence needed for policy decisions about vaccine introduction in developing countries. His work in the developing world has included studies in Bangladesh, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mozambique, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Clemens led the team that developed the first low-cost oral vaccine against cholera, which was recently deployed in Haiti.

In recognition of his work, he was awarded the Sabin Gold Medal in 2010. Previous positions include chief of the Epidemiology Section of the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland and chief of the Epidemiology Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Dr. David Eisenman is the new director of the school’s Center for Public Health and Disasters, as well as a member of the faculty of the Department of Community Health Sciences.

A board-certified internist trained in psychiatry as well as internal medicine, Eisenman is an associate natural scientist at RAND and associate professor in residence in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His disaster research has focused on preparedness among health systems, communities, individuals, vulnerable populations and behavioral health and trauma. Eisenman replaces interim director Dr. Kim Shoaf.

Dr. Beate Ritz has been named chair of the school’s Department of Epidemiology, where she has served on the faculty since 1995. Ritz also holds appointments as professor in the departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Neurology. An internationally recognized and highly productive and well-funded research scholar, Ritz focuses on the health effects of occupational and environmental toxins such as pesticides, ionizing radiation, and air pollution on chronic diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson’s disease), cancers, and adverse birth outcomes and asthma.

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honor roll 2011

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friends

THE UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH IS PLEASED TO HONOR our alumni, friends, students, staff and foundation and corporate partners whose generosity strengthens our school and keeps us at the forefront of public health education. This Honor Roll gratefully acknowledges gifts and private grants made to the school from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011. Although space limitations allow only the listing of donations of $100 or more, contributions of every amount are of great importance to the school and are deeply appreciated.

CORPORATE AND FOUNDATION GIFTS AND GRANTS $1,000,000 A N D A B O V E KAISER FOUNDATION HEALTH PLAN INC. THE CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT $200,000 - $999,999 BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA RESEARCH & EDUCATION FOUNDATION BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION THE SUSAN G. KOMEN BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION $50,000 - $199,999 AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR AIDS RESEARCH AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION ARCHSTONE FOUNDATION ASCO CANCER FOUNDATION CALIFORNIA HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION CLARENCE E. HELLER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION COMMONWEALTH FUND DANA FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER JOHN RANDOLPH HAYNES AND DORA HAYNES FOUNDATION MAGEE-WOMENS HOSPITAL, RESEARCH INSTITUTE & FOUNDATION NSABP FOUNDATION, INC. RAND CORPORATION ROBERT BOSCH TOOL CORPORATION THE CALIFORNIA WELLNESS FOUNDATION UCLA HEALTH SYSTEMS

$25,000 - $49,999 KITTRICH CORPORATION WARNER BROS. INC. $10,000 - $24,999 AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NATIONAL CENTER CALIFORNIA PAN-ETHNIC HEALTH NETWORK CEDARS-SINAI HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IOWA FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION, ENVIRONMENT AND THE ARTS LEGENDARY PICTURES NORTHARVEST BEAN GROWERS ASSOCIATION RESOURCES LEGACY FUND FOUNDATION THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY U.S. BORAX INC. VILLAGE ROADSHOW PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT, INC. ZIFFREN BRITTENHAM LLP. $5,000 - $9,999 ANTHEM BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FDN. PARTICIPANT PRODUCTIONS FOUNDATION L.A. CARE HEALTH PLAN LAKESIDE HEALTHCARE ORANGE COUNTY ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMUNITY ALLIANCE (GIFT FROM VARIOUS DONORS) PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP SALINAS VALLEY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL THE FOX GROUP

$1,000 - $4,999 COLE-BELIN EDUCATION FOUNDATION FRIENDS OF CABRILLO MARINE AQUARIUM INGFERTILITY MH3 CORPORATION TURNER FOUNDATION, INC. UCLA CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY RESEARCH $100 - $999 AMGEN INC. ASTRAZENECA PHARMACEUTICALS LP CHEVRON CORPORATION GENENTECH, INC. KINDRED HEALTHCARE, INC. LEO BAECK TEMPLE PETER D. VASH, M.D., INC. PFIZER, INC. QUEST DIAGNOSTICS INCORPORATED ROLL GIVING & PARAMOUNT COMMUNITY GIVING WEST ANAHEIM MEDICAL CENTER WISERCARE, LLC

GIFTS FROM INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILY FOUNDATIONS $10,000 or More ANONYMOUS SUZY AND ROBERT K. BARTH ROBERT J. DRABKIN CORNELIA B. DALY AND ARTHUR M. SOUTHAM LORRAINE H. AND GERALD J. FACTOR CAROL AND RUSSELL B. FAUCETT DAVID GEFFEN CYNTHIA HARRELL HORN AND ALAN F. HORN MARILYN AND JEFFREY KATZENBERG CAROLBETH B. AND LESTER B. KORN LYN AND NORMAN M. LEAR VICTOR K. LUI ADELINE Y. AND ROBERT A. MAH LINDA ROSENSTOCK AND LEE E. BAILEY CHERYL AND HAIM SABAN SHIRLEY L., PETER W. AND RALPH J. SHAPIRO EILEEN H. AND IRWIN SUFFET JANET M. AND THOMAS E. UNTERMAN PAMELA K. AND FRED W. WASSERMAN

$2,500 - $4,999 LINDA BURNES BOLTON DEVRA M. AND LESTER BRESLOW SUZANNE L. AND RICHARD A. KAYNE DEBORAH A. CINCOTTA AND JAMES C. MC DERMOTT JOANNE C., ALLISON, LAUREN AND EDWARD A. DAUER LATIFEH E. AND FRED HAGIGI SUSAN M. AND DAVID M. HORN COLLEEN AND NEIL A. MARTIN $1,000 - $2,499 MARIANNE AND ABDELMONEM AFIFI PETER G. ALLEN MARSHA L. AND IRA R. ALPERT SONA AND HAROUTUNE K. ARMENIAN CHARLES ARONBERG CAROL O. AND FRANK J. BIONDI, JR. DAYNA F. AND STEVEN R. BOCHCO DIANA M. BONTA AND FRANK P. MATRICARDI DEVON C. BREAM MARIANNE P. AND E. RICHARD BROWN

UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

$5,000 - $9,999 JILL AND HUNG CHENG PAULA G. AND SAM W. DOWNING SAMUEL J. ELIAS AND DAVID D. CLARK KARIN B. AND JONATHAN E. FIELDING NANCY GOLDEN DEAN HANSELL KATHLEEN KENNEDY AND FRANK W. MARSHALL CORNELIA D. AND KENNETH E. LEE DEBORAH A. LEVY VIRGINIA C. LI AND LEONARDO O. CHAIT KELLY AND RONALD M. MEYER KIYOTO AND ALLEN MILLER THERESE A. AND J. MARIO MOLINA

LOUISE AND HOWARD G. PHANSTIEL BARBARA AND FRED ROSENBERG CAROLE B. SAGER AND ROBERT A. DALY MONICA SALINAS ATSUKO SHIBATA PATRICIA J. AND RICHARD E. SINAIKO LESLIE F. VERMUT AND THOMAS R. WEINBERGER THOMAS WANDER WEISMAN DISCRETIONARY TRUST JANET A. WELLS-KAHANE AND STEPHEN W. KAHANE

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UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH

PATRICIA AND TOMAS GANZ ALISA M. GOLDSTEIN KIMBERLY D. GREGORY NANCY S. AND MICHAEL J. HALPERN KRISTEN I. HEMENEZ AND JAMES J. CLARK DIANA W. AND JOE W. HILBERMAN SUSAN D. HOLLANDER MARJORIE L. KAGAWA SINGER AND PETER SINGER PETER KATONA CAROLYN F. KATZIN MARK A. KLEIMAN THE KOLBER-COLLIER FAMILY FUND LAURIE K. AND GERALD KOMINSKI EVE M. KURTIN AND MICHAEL L. STEINBERG SALLY AND JOON LEE DIANA M. MEEHAN AND GARY D. GOLDBERG MIKA AND WILLIAM D. MEIERDING SANDRA V. NAFTZGER AND JEFFREY A. DRITLEY LYRA NG AND PAUL WONG EDWARD J. O’NEILL LINDA W. AND EDWARD M. ORNITZ ELEANOR R. AND GLENN A. PADNICK JODY Z. AND THOMAS M. PRISELAC MICHELE S. AND ROBERT REINER KENNETH J. RESSER PEDRAM SALIMPOUR HARRIET J. SCHARF AND BART B. SOKOLOW ANDREW SCHEINMAN MARIAN AND ANTHONY H. SCHIFF MARTIN B. SHAFER KEVIN SMITH BEATRIZ M. SOLIS DONNA J. TESI AYAKO UTSUMI JANE L. VALENTINE AND THEODORE H. SWEETSER III HAZEL G. WALLACE ZUNYOU WU $500 - $999 SARAH ANDERSON AND MATTHEW KAGAN SHARON A. ASHLEY ROSHAN AND SHAROK BASTANI JOAN G. AND LEONARD I. BEERMAN BARBARA L. BERNEY AND JACK NEEDLEMAN MATTHEW S. BERRY KAREN S. AND GREGORY S. BRODY GRETCHEN A. BROWN YVETTE Y. CHEN DAVID H. CONNEY PEGGY M. DA SILVA AND DAN HODAPP

MARY AND ROGER DETELS PHYLLIS C. AND THOMAS B. FARVER ARLENE G. FINK AND JOHN C. BECK FRANK C. GOMEZ PEGGY HARRIS RACHEL L. HOLLANDER ALICE F. HOLZMAN RURI T. AND GORDON D. HONDA RACHELLE AND NORMAN J. HOUCK MARJORIE I. AND JACK H. HUDES JENNIE S. AND RAYMOND JING IMAN K. KHOLDEBARIN NANCY J. KINGSTON MARY E. KULLMAN EDEN L. KUSMIERSKY AND CHRISTOPHER J. MARDESICH LOURDES A. LEONGUERRERO AND JEFFREY A. COOK EIFAANG AND YING-PING A. LI JENNY X. AND KEVIN D. LIU JOANNE E. AND LESTER J. MANTELL NICHOLAS A. MARDESICH LIZBETH MCDANNEL BELL AND MR. DALE BELL ZAHRA MOVAGHAR ELIZABETH F. AND BENJAMIN S. NEUFELD CHARLOTTE AND ALFRED K. NEUMANN OTIENO J. OKATCH LORI R. AND DANIEL M. PELLICCIONI NINEZ A. PONCE AND ROBERT NORDYKE ELENA V. RIOS LORRAINE AND MARTIN B. ROSS RICHARD SCHEITLER CARISSA AND JACK R. SCHLOSSER IRWIN J. SHORR JUNE SIMMONS KAREN J. SIMONSON AND BARTON PHELPS ELIZABETH M. SLOSS AND JAMES J. KORELITZ GERRIE L. SMITH AND NEAL BAER SARAH STEIN AND FREDERICK J. ZIMMERMAN CONSTANCE B. SULLIVAN MARGERY TABANKIN MARY E. TAYLOR PATTY TOWNSEND CATHERINE AND JUSTIN T. WELCH CAROL A. AND DANNY Y. WONG $250 - $499 KATHLEEN ABBOTT JAMES P. AGRONICK ELLEN AND PAUL K. ALKON DIANE B. AND RONALD M. ANDERSEN

ONYEBUCHI A. ARAH RUTH M. AREVALO TALIA BARUTH PERLMAN SUMMER BOND KATHRYN J. BRAUDE BARBARA L. BROIDE AND PETER C. UTAS CAROL W. AND RAFAEL H. BUITRAGO KATHLEEN C. CAPAROSO JOSIE CASTRO LINDA S. AND KENNETH H. Y. CHAN JUNA AND GLENN CHIANG ADA Y. C. CLARK FRANCINE M. COEYTAUX AND DAVID L. GLANZMAN JOAN D. COHEN JO ANN COHN AND MARC HANKIN CLINTON COIL LOUJENE CREARY JULIE E. CRONER HEIDI M. CROOKS HOLLY H. AND WILLIAM G. CUMBERLAND LAUREL K. AND DAVID A. DOLAN CATHERINE I. DUDA VERNA C. AND JOEL M. ELLENZWEIG VILMA L. ENRIQUEZ-HAASS AND WERNER HAASS RYAN M. FADEN FRANCES E. AND JOHN N. FARHOOD MARAL FARSI DEBORAH C. GLIK KAT GORMAN AND DANIEL AGUILAR ANNE B. AND KENNETH D. GRAHAM VESNA GRUBI ERIN M. HART HARLAN H. HASHIMOTO NATE HUGHES CYNTHIA A. IFTNER-TRAUM AND JEFFREY D. TRAUM MARTIN IGUCHI HAE P. JEA AND JUINE-KAI TSANG BETH F. AND AVRAM W. KAPLAN SHAHEEN KASSIM-LAKHA FRANCINE R. AND NEAL KAUFMAN JOHN B. KESSLER PAUL A. KING JENNIFER L. AND FRANK P. KOZAKOWSKI DAVID KRASNOW PAULINE T. LE AND KIET A. LAM MARGARET H. LEE AND DONALD S. CHANG WENDY C. AND BARRY LEVIN ROD LEW PETER V. LONG LYNN MCCLELLAND MARYSIA MEYLAN DIONNE C. MILLER EVA P. AND ROSS M. MILLER

ELISA A. NICHOLAS AND THOMAS D. SEDGWICK JOYCE NILAND AND STANLEY AZEN NNEKA D. AND NDUKWE N. ODELUGA JOYCE A. PAGE CORINNE L. PEEK-ASA JULIA PISTOR AND DAVID P. EISENMAN ROBERT S. PLOURDE SHANE S. QUE HEE ROSALYN R. RIGUIS-TRAPP AND TERRENCE K. TRAPP PACITA L. ROBERTS BARBARA AND JOHN L. ROSOVE LISA V. AND LAURENCE Z. RUBENSTEIN HOWARD L. SAFT LESLIE AND KENNETH P. SATIN ALYSSA K. SCHABLOSKI DEBORAH M. SCHWARTZ KENIGSBERG AND EUGENE M. KENIGSBERG SUZANNE U. AND STUART O. SCHWEITZER DIPA SHAH-PATEL JESSIE L. SHERROD GALE F. SHORNICK SUSAN AND STEPHEN M. SHORTELL LUCINA SIGUENZA WENDY SOMMER DENISE M. SPAULDING LESLIE J. STEPHENS MILDRED G. AND RICHARD L. STERZ ANNE THOMOPOULOS PAUL R. TORRENS GENEVIEVE AND CITRON TOY HARLANN AND

JOSEPH D. VANDER PLUYM ANZA M. VAN RAKHI VARM CAROLE L. AND PAUL S. VIVIANO STEVEN P. WALLACE YIE-CHIA AND BAO T. WANG KIMBERLY G. WARD KARA WATNE-SERGILE DAVID S. WEINBERG DAYLE AND STEVEN J. WRIGHT MAE-FAY AND FEI-FAN YEH PINKIE YOUNG ELEANOR D. YOUNG $100 - $249 FREDERICK J. ANGULO JEAN A. BALGROSKY AND PARKER HINSHAW WADE T. BARRANCO GIGI BARSOUM CAITLIN A. BECK PATRICIA K. BECKWITH M. CRISTINA BENSON AND KENNETH B. WELLS JEFFREY S. BIRKNER JUDITH A. BJORKE SUSAN AND CRAIG L. BLACKWELL

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37 ROBERT A. MURRAY ELIZABETH T. AND WILLIAM W. NASH IRINA N. NEMIROVSKY TUE T. NGUYEN NELLY A. NIGRO RACHEL OAKES ROBERT ORTEGA WALTER J. ORZECHOWSKI LYNN R. AND NEVILLE OSTRICK GENELLE DWYER PALMER AND FRANCIS H. PALMER GARY A. PALMER PATRICIA H. PARKERTON DOROTHY M. PAYNES MARQUETTE L. PENNIMAN LAN N. PHAN ASHLEY L. PHELPS CATHERINE E. POWERS LAUREL L. AND ERIC P. RABJOHNS KRISTIANA RAUBE JEAN L. RICHARDSON JANET AND FRED L. RIEDMAN LESLIE L. ROBISON JANE E. AND SHOLOM S. ROSEN NAOMI S. ROSEN AND BRYAN C. WEARE MAYRA SABORIO AND AMIR F. AMIRIAN LARA M. SALLEE KARINN AND TODD SAMMANN JANET AND DONN K. SARBAUM EMMA W. SCHWARTZ NEIL J. SEHGAL BARBARA S. AND ROBERT H. SHAW BHARTI AND HARSHAD V. SHETH KATHRYN A. SMITH STEPHANIE SMITH JOHN P. SOHL JUDITH C. AND GIL SOLOMON STELLA AND GUY W. SOOHO ANGELINA AND MARK A. SPEARE IRMA H. STRANTZ IRA S. STUDIN ANNETTE M. AND ROBERT L. SWEZEY SUSAN P. TAYLOR OMID B. TOLOUI SUEBELLE S. AND DAVID S. VERITY ERICA AND TONY C. VICKERS LEAH J. VRIESMAN AND JONATHAN WEE ELOISE WATKINS CORDELL R. WELCOME SYLVIA WHITAKER MICHELLE WILHELM TURNER AND CARL S. TURNER DOROTHEA AND THOMAS W. WILSON MEIKO I. WINTON CHRISTINA J. WITSBERGER

JUDITH S. AND BARRY J. WOLSTAN PAMELA WU CHIERI YAMADA CHRISTINE Z. YANG FRANCIS N. YEMOFIO BERTINA M. YEN YIFANG ZHU

S AV E T H E D AT E UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH ALUMNI AND FRIENDS RECEPTION MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Moscone Convention Center West, Room 3006

During the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, October 27-31 in San Francisco.

It is important to us that we acknowledge your gift properly.

Every effort has been made to ensure the completeness and accuracy of this Honor Roll.

Please let us know of any omissions or errors in listing your name or gift by calling (310) 825-6464.

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JOAN M. GUILFORD AND RICHARD J. JACKSON SUSAN E. AND JAMES E. HADEN ANN HAMILTON SARAH AND MIKE HARLAN ANNE B. HARRIS NANCY J. HASELOW YVONNE G. AND ALVIA A. HEARNE, JR. JUAN G. HERRERA, JR. NANCY A. HESSOL JANICE A. HILTON-LEBLANC MARY HOFMANN HENRIQUES MARYANN AND JAMES D. HOOK KAREN Y. HSU RUTH O. IDAH CHRISTINA AND JOHN D. IVIE MARLENE P. KAMIENNY DANIEL E. KASS WILLIAM KAUFOLD HARVEY D. KERN MANSURUR KHAN BARBARA C. KIM AND CALVIN H. TU EDWARD KIM STERLING & ROSALYN KING FAMILY TRUST BARBARA J. KOMAS AND GARY J. SLOAN BEATRIZ LARES GAIL C. LARSON W. HELEN AND PAUL E. LAUGHLIN VEI-VEI AND J. JACK LEE REBECKA K. LEVAN WENZHI LI MARILYN E. LITTLE HEATHER L. LONG JEN-MEI AND KUNG-JONG LUI TAMARA AND HERBERT LUNDBLAD NGINA R. LYTHCOTT AND BYLLYE AVERY ANN G. MAHONY CAROL M. MANGIONE AND PHILIP J. ETHINGTON MARIAN J. MANOCCHIO JOAN E. AND SIDNEY G. MARANTZ MICHELLE M. MARCINIAK JEANNETTE E. MAY JUDITH A. MC GINLEY WENDY AND MARK A. MC GRAIL CAROLYN A. MENDEZ-LUCK AND JEFFREY LUCK MARCELO E. MENDOZA XIANGYI MENG MYRNA R. MESROBIAN HILDY B. MEYERS RUTH M. MICKEY ROBERT C. MILLIKAN DAVID S. MOEHRING RUTH A. MOHR AND DAVID H. OWENS EMILY AND JUAN Z. MONTES CANDACE N. MULREADY KYLE A. MURPHY

friends

PATRICIA BOLLAERT PASCAL BOVET V. JOYCE BOYKIN SAMUEL BOZZETTE CATHY A. BRADISH ALLISON A. BRISTOW GINA E. BROWN JENNIFER R. AND JOSHUA L. BURNAM SUSAN M. CAMPBELL MARY E. AND MARTIN F. CARR, JR. SUSAN J. CARR HWAI-YIN CHANG AND CHENG-TAI CHEN RAYMOND P. CHAVIRA ANN AND VISOTH CHEA DENNIS H. CHEN SHAN-SHAN AND RACE CHEN JOAN M. CHOW ALICE AND HUNG B. CHU ALEIN T. CHUN AUBREY A. CIATTO RACHEL H. CIVEN VIRGINIA A. AND WELDEN E. CLARK RAPHAEL COHEN SUSAN P. COLE AND PYSER EDELSACK CATHERINE CRESPI-CHUN OLIVIA A. CROOKES DEBORAH KAZENELSON DEANE AND JEFFREY W. DEANE AMANDA H. AND ALEXANDER DEHAVEN ANN M. DELLINGER KATHRYN P. AND STEPHEN DEROSE PAULA K. DIEHR KATHLEEN E. DINSMORE MOIRA C. DOWLING NANCY M. DOWNEY-JANKA BONNIE L. DRURY VICKI J. EBIN ELIZABETH A. EDGERTONGABRIELE ELLEN R. EISEMAN CHRISTIAN M. EISERT ERNEST P. ESPINOZA, JR. HSIN Y. FAN BING Z. FANG LORENA AND THOMAS R. FARNHAM CARLOS R. FELIX ROLLINGTON FERGUSON JEANNE R. FLORES ANA ISABEL AND EDWIN S. FRIENDLY III PAUL FU, JR. ANABEL E. GARCIA LYNN L. AND JOSEPH S. GOETZ ROBERTA RIVA H. GOLDMAN BERNARD H. GOLDNER NANCY O. GONZALEZ LAURIE R. GOODMAN AND DONALD E. SPETNER ANNETTE J. AND MEL I. GOTTLIEB

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UCLA

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Commencement

2012

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary

Kathleen Sebelius is the featured speaker at the school’s 2012 Commencement.