UCLA School of Public Health Newsletter - Spring 1998

UCLA

SCHOOL OF

PUBLIC HEALTH

NEWSLETTER

LESTER BRESLO ONE FOR THE AGE

IN THIS ISSUE ...

A

MONG THE MANY ATTRIBUTES ONE COULD LIST WHEN THE SUBJECT IS DR. LESTER BRESLOW, IT' S PROBABLY BEST TO START WITH HIS VISION. BRESLOW HAS DEMONSTRATED REPEATEDLY OVER THE COURSE OF

HIS REMARKABLE 60-YEAR CAREER IN PUBLIC HEALTH THAT HE CAN LOOK BEYOND THE PRESENT, WHETHER IT' S MOVING THE FIELD INTO THE REALM OF CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION, WARNING OF THE DANGERS OF TOBACCO USE, PROVIDING THE FIRST COMPELLING EVIDENCE

2 . NEWS Miller Named Assistant Dean ...

Fielding Outlines Challenges ...

Health Services Minority Training Program .. .Foundation Leaders Speak.... ESE, HPMAA Dinners Held

6 STUDENTS Graduates Reflect, Look Ahead ... Public Health Week... Commencement Preview

OF THE STRONG LINK BETWEEN HEALTHY BEHAVIORS AND QUALITY OF

8

LIFE OR, IN HIS NINTH DECADE , HEADING A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

FACULTY Updates ... Introductions

OF L.A. COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES. BUT WHEN YOU COMBINE VISION WITH INTEGRITY AND A WILLINGNESS TO STAND UP FOR YOUR BELIEFS, YOU' RE BOUND TO CROSS A FEW PEOPLE, AND LOSE A FEW BATTLES.

10 FRIENDS Campaign UCLA. .. $50,000 Dean's Council Pledge .. .Fund for Homeless ...

New Dean's Advisory Board Members

11

FLASH BACK MORE THAN A HALF-CENTURY. co11tinued ori p age 4

ALUMNI Harold Goldstein ... Class Notes

DEAN ' S MESSAGE

MILLER NAMED ASSISTANT DEAN FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

I first met Lester Breslow in 1968. I was a pro-

John D. Miller has been appointed the first assistant dean for external affairs at the UCLA School of Public Health.

In announcing the appointment, Dean Abdelmonem A. Afifi noted that the school John D. Miller has set new records in private support in each of Miller's three years as director of development. The school is also seeking to raise its profile among schools of public health , advance its alumni relationships, and become a stronger voice on behalf of public health issues and concerns.

Miller hopes to expand the school's base of support beyond its traditional constituency of alumni and public health professionals.

"The public is overwhelmingly supportive of the things we do in public health , but many people don't identify these activities as being public health efforts ," he contends. "Consequently, public health has lacked the financial and political support usually given to some disciplines which many find to be more identifiable and easily understood.

"We intend to take the message of public health and our school to people outside of the field , explaining to them the value of health promotion, disease prevention , and other public health strategies and principles."

fessor of biostatistics here at the school, and Dr. Breslow was joining our faculty, having just completed a three-year stint as California's health director. Four years later, he would begin an eight-year term as the school's dean.

In 1968, you could hardly find a more influential public health figure than Lester

2

Breslow. As this issue's cover story recalls,

NEWS

he had already made lasting impacts in several areas of public health , any one of which VOLUME

18,

2 1998

NU MBER

SPRING

\LBERT CARNESALE. Ph.D.

would have been a capstone for most careers.

So it is remarkable , 30 years later, to real-

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Indeed , the second half of Dr. Breslow's 60year career has been as productive as the first.

Lester Bres low embodies much of what

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JUDITll M. SIEGEL. Ph.D .

this school is about: outstanding teaching

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JOHN D. MILLER

and scholarship, with emphasis on the needs of the community ; a vision for the field ,

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grounded in the realities of everyday public

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health practice; and leadership in policy devel-

COHIV\fE PEEK-.\S \.Ph.D. tdjunt 1ssistant Professor. Epidemiology

opment and advocacy.

JOYCE\. PAGE. M.S.P.11.. J.D. tluuwi ·hsociation Presi<LPn/

\N'\f\ DORMAN

\\\HREN ROB\K Public l11formation Represenwti1•e

Since Dr. Breslow's arrival, we have amassed a world-class faculty. These outstanding professors have enabled our school

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to attract the best students, who go on to make

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their own marks in communities near and far.

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It seems fitting that as a new group of graduates prepares to take flight , a person who

School o.f Publir lleolth Home Page:

paved the way is the Commencement speaker,

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£-mail.for lpplicotion Requests: a pp-r<>qu1•,1@admi11. 11h. w·la.ed11

offering wisdom as only Lester Breslow can.

l CL t Public Ilea Ith is p uhli"lwd h)' tlw L CL\ S1· hool o f Puhl it· llt·allh for t lw al umni. faC" ult). !>;f udt•nti-;. s taff a nd fri1·nds of t lw "1· hool. Co p) ril!:hl 1998 h~ Tlw Ht'l!:t'llls of tlw L ni\t•rs il)' of(:alifornia. Pc rmi""ion to 1·•·111·int a ny portion of tCl.. 1 Pul>lic llealth must lw ohtairwd from tlw 1•ditor. Couta(' f Ed itor. l C L.1 Public lleolth , Bo, 95 1772. Los \ng:1·l1•s, C I 900%- 1772. (:llO) H2S-63ttl.

Abdelmonem A. Afifi, Ph.D.

Dr. Steven A. Schroeder, president of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation , gave a major address at the school on April 21. focusing on improving the poor health status of many Americans Dr. Steven A. Schroeder through public health efforts. Schroeder's remarks highlighted the 24th annual Lester Breslow Distinguished Lecture, sponsored by the UCLA School of Public Health Alumni Association. After the lecture, a panel discussion featured Schroeder and the presidents of three California-based foundations that provide funding for many public health and community-based programs: Dr. Mark Smith of The California Endowment, Dr. Steven UrangaMcKane of The California HealthCare Foundation, and Gary Yates of The California Wellness Foundation.

FIELDING OUTLINES PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGES FACING L.A. COUNTY

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given these illnesses as much attention from the prevention side as w~ should.

"Another general threat concerns the physical environment. Food-borne illness, for example, is of growing concern for many reasons, including globalization of the food supply. New techniques are being developed, and we have to be not only vigilant but also creative in terms of helping to protect people.

School of Public Health Newsletter, "The entirely preventable toll of Fielding discussed the challenges of injuries, both intentional and unintenimproving the health of county resitional, is an enormous public health dents . His comments: threat, whether it's the auto accidents "Part of what we need to do is change of teenagers who are out of control, the mindset and return to the basic child abuse and domestic violence, or public health vision, with its three core gang violence.

"One other challenge functions of assessment, that in my view deserves assurance, and policy deequal billing with other velopment. public health concerns is "We need to have much child health and child debetter data on the health velopment. We know from not only of L.A. County many recent studies that broadly, but on each of the what happens to children subpopulations divided by in the first few years of life geography, by ethnicity, by has lifelong effects - not race .. . by groupings that "Part of only on health, but also on make sense in terms of how what we their ability to learn, to be people can work together to need to do productive citizens, to soimprove health. It doesn't cially interact, the likelihelp to simply say, 'On avis change the hood of their having a erage, the health of county mindset problem with the criminal residents is .... ' and return to justice system, of being "We have the most hetthe basic teen-age mothers. We have erogeneous population public health to help make sure that parand for many groups, we vision. " ents can provide a nurturhave the largest populaing environment where tion outside of countries of origin. We have to be sensi-Dr. Jonathan Fielding kids can develop to their maximum potential. tive to the cultural issues, "In general, we haven't done a very linguistic issues, differences in values ... we have to learn how to work good job of informing the public of what we know and what we don't with everybody.

"In terms of challenges affecting know. There are so many sources of all of us, certainly access to care is a information on what's good and bad major issue. We have 2. 7 million un- for us that most people register theminsured residents of Los Angeles selves as confused. We can provide an County. We're talking about close to objective source of accurate informa30 percent of the population, which is tion. We also could do a more extensive job of policy analysis on the broad staggering.

"Chronic diseases - heart disease, range of public health issues that affect cancer, stroke, diabetes, hypertension our citizens. We have to be a strong - are a huge problem if you look at advocate for policies and programs no causes of death and years of life lost. matter under whose auspices they are As a health department, we have not developed, to improve public health."

apping an unprecedented period of strengthening ties between the UCLA School of Public Health and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Dr. Jonathan Fielding, professor at the school, has been appointed director ofpublic health and health officer for L.A. County. In a recent conversation with the UCLA

3 NEWS The Health Policy and Management Alu mni Association held an awards dinner June 4 honoring James Barber, M.P.H. '79, president and CEO of The Healthcare Association of Southern California (above).

The Alumni Society of the UCLA Environmental Science and Engineering program held a fundraising dinner May 9 at the Friars Club in Beverly HJlls. The event was in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the ESE program, and in honor of Dr. Arthur Winer, the program's outgoing director (above center, with Dr. Stephen Kahane , ESE Alumni Society president; and Mary D. Nichols, executive director of The Environment Now Foundation).

HEALTH SERVICES JOINS PROGRAM FOR MINORITY MANAGED CARE TRAINING The school's Department of Health Services has been selected as an academic partner for the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP) Foundation's Minority Management Development Program.

The 10-month fellowship includes both didactic classroom sessions and a fulltime rotation at one of AAHP's member health plans. The program was established in 1994 to meet the growing need for minority managers and administrators in health plan administration.

co11ti11 11ed/i¡o111 page I

BRESLOW Breslow had just returned from the Pacific aft er ser ving in World War II .

W hile h is previou s work had b een in communic able dise as e epidemiology a nd local public h ealth administration for the Minnesota H ealth Department, h e ca m e ba ck c onvinc e d that public h ealth n ee d ed t o move its efforts into the field of chronic disea se control.

His rea soning was simple : H eart disease , ca n cer a nd stroke we r e already the lea ding caus es of d eath , and communic able dis eases 4 -publi c h e alth ' s COVER STORY traditional province - wer e declining.

But r edefining a field is n ever simple.

Whil e s till in uniform , Br e slow app r oach ed the California director of public h ealth about starting a chronic disease p rogram in the state.

B reslow s miles whe n r elating th e man's r esp on se .

"He said ' Dr. Breslow, why don't you go back to Minnesota and try those ideas out there , ' "Breslow recalls.

Fortunately for Californians, a friend steered Breslow toward another man in the health department, who ultimately agreed to appoint him as head of a new chronic disease bureau.

T

he state health director's rejection marked the first of many times that Breslow's ideas have m e t with initial resistance.

Early in his tenure with the California h e alth departme nt, he lobbied for a state tumor registry. Relying on death certificates for data on cancer occurr ence was no longer enough, Breslow b elieved, since people were, even then, living for many years with cancer ... even being cured.

Bre slow was told he'd need to get approval for the idea from the State Board of H ealth and the Cancer Commission of the California Medical Association. Neither would be easy.

The California Medical Association was particularly suspicious. "The day I wa s scheduled to meet with the commission members, Gov. Earl Warren introduced his state health insurance plan," Breslow recalls. "The commission members were enraged, and immediately assumed that the cancer regi s try was simply to get the names of patients so that we could turn them over to state doctors.

"A gross misunde rstanding , both of the registry and of the state health insurance p lan!"

Breslow left the meeting frustrated , but the commission chair offered some counsel.

"He told me not to worry, that the governor's plan wasn't going anywhere and in three months I could come back when all was forgotten and again propose the idea." The advice proved sage: Warren's plan did stall, and the commission signed on to what is today the world's largest cancer data set.

T

hen there's the Alameda County study, which gave rise to the seven "healthy habits," perhaps Breslow's best-known work. In the mid-1960s, Breslow was applying for an NIH !,'Tant to assess the physical, mental and social well-being of the county's residents through a questionnaire.

As long as he was at it, Breslow figured, why not include a few inquiries into how people liv e d - to see what might contribute to their well-being , for better or worse?

Breslow chose seven behaviors: getting regular exercise and sleep; not smoking, excessively drinking , or snacking between meals; eating breakfast; and maintaining a normal weight.

Before Alameda and the ensuing revolution in notions about health and fitness, the idea that lifestyle affects health seemed, Breslow admits, "bizarre." He remembers the site visit, at which some of the country's bestknown scientists went over his proposal.

"The verdict was immediate and unanimous: vigorous rejection," he

says. "No good. Off the wall. They said we were good people, but proposing to do the wrong thing." Six months later, though, another review committee saw it differently, and funded the study.

Breslow himself never expected the relationship between health practices and physical health to be so strong.

When the first results came in, he thought someone was playing a joke.

Among other things, the physical health of 60-year-olds who practiced the seven healthy behaviors equaled that of 30-year-olds who followed two or fewer. In the process of nailing down the findings over years of followup, Breslow found that by practicing at least six of the seven behaviors, 45year-old men could expect to Ii ve 11 years longer than their peers who adhered to three or fewer.

"At a time when most of the medical establishment thought it was ridiculous to focus on lifestyle as a contributor to disease, Lester was demonstrating that people have not only longer lives , but higher-quality lives when they practice certain healthy behaviors," says Dr. Antronette Yancey, the health officer for Richmond, Va . , and former UCLA School of Public Health faculty member.

L

ester Breslow is 83 . H e has spent 60 years in public health , the last 30 of them at UCLA. And he shows no signs of slowing.

The schoolwide review he led of L.A. County's public health programs was embraced by county health director Mark Finucane and is now b eing implemented. Breslow recently agreed to serve as chair of the Dean's Advisory Board, placing him at the helm of the school's efforts to raise $15 million as part of Campaign UCLA. He was invited to deliver the k eynote address at the school's 1998 Commencement ceremony.

Not bad for someone who gre w up in Bismarck, N.D., with a severe stammering problem. It wasn ' t until Breslow was in high school that he was able to overcome the speech problem, with the help of therapy and his high school's debate society. "That was a r eal turning point for Lester," his wife Devra says. "It enabled him to combine his need to speak clearly with his political . " views.

In 1932, after high school graduation , Breslow traveled to Europe. H e was in Munich , Germany at the b eginning of the Nazi period , and he returned home deeply troubled by the rise of fascism.

When the United State s joined World War II, Breslow left his post as a local public health officer in Minnesota and volunteered for military ser vice .

By then he was a physician and, with special training in public health and tropical medicine, he served as a preventive medicine office r both on the West Coast and in the Pacific. For his efforts during the Okinawa invasion, Breslow was awarded a bronze star.

As California's chronic disease chief in the mid-1940s, Breslow crossed out a reference to tobacco causing disease in a brochure that had been drafted by the state Department of Education. H e didn't believe the evidence supported such a statement - until a few years later, when investigations by Breslow and others (three of his studies were cited in the U.S. Surgeon General ' s landmark 1964 report) began to make it obvious , at least to an y one who shared Breslow's vision.

He served in the state h ealth department from 1946 to 1967, holding the top post for the last three of thos e

years. "That was an inter esting time," says Dr. Rob e rt Da y, who ser ved a s Breslow' s d eputy director. As a progressiv e leader who had b ee n a p pointed by liberal California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Bro wn , Bresl ow more than once found himself a t odds with the conservative Ronald R eagan administration that took office in 1967.

Day says Breslow's charm and diplomacy came in handy during the conflict s, "but h e also wa s som eon e wh o would make a point and stick with it."

Breslow served as dean of the UCLA School of Public Health for eight 5 years - from 1972 COVER STORY to 1980 . "Und e r Dr. Breslow' s l e ad e r sh ip, we grew from an upsta rt sch ool t o on e of the major schools of public health ," says Dr. Abdelmonem A . Afifi, the sch ool's current dean. " L es Bres low i s on e of th e main r e a sons I came t o UCLA," says D r .

Jonathan Fielding, a p rofessor at the school and the r ecently ap pointed p ublic h ealth director for L.A . County (see p. 3). " His wisdom and inspired work underlie many of the m ost important advances in public h ealth epidemiology and practice over the past 50 years."

Fie ldin g ad ds a personal aside : " The mystery is how he can be so decorated and feted and rem ain so personally unassuming." co11ti1111ed on page 12

Lester Breslow over the years: (opposite page, top right) with wife Devra and grandchildren Sara, Paul and Lauren circa 1979; (opposite page, below right) with Devra in their home today; (across the center spread) with Roger Egeberg, then-president of the California Board of Health, and Gerald Heidbreder, then-director of public health for L.A. County, during the mid-'60s; {this page, above center) reading to great-grandson Benjamin Basson and his classmates; (this page, below center) with grandson-in-law Ezra Basson , Benjamin, granddaughter Lauren Basson, greatgranddaughter Ayelet Basson, and Devra; and (below right) swimming with Devra and Benjamin.

GRADUATING STUDENTS REFLECT ON THEIR SPH EXPERIENCES, LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE vidual could have created by his/herself.

This project enabled me to witness firsthand the power of multicultural and community collaboration in building r ela tionships, projects and programs for our common future .

SHARON KLIER, M.P.H. HEALTll SERVICES

I came here to acquire the skills and knowledge that would enable me to work in the U.S. health care system.

After two intensive years of studying and field work , I have achieved much more than I ever thought possible.

The first year was overwhelming. I graduated with a baccalaureate degree in physiological science from UCLA, 6 and I thought I was STUDENTS prepared for hard work. But it wasn't just the work load: I realized that I knew very little about the American health care system, and there was much to learn.

Today I am employed by a managed c are organization in the Quality Research and Management Department.

I am responsible for consultative development and implementation of evaluation projects and work plans to support corporate quality improvement objectives , accreditation and regulatory requirements. I develop, implement , monitor and evaluate qualitative and quantitative aspects of core quality performance initiatives and measurements.

Best of all, I am able to apply the various princ iples I learned at the school , along with those acquired in the summe r -long internship I completed in I srael.

Sharon Klier

BRIAN RAJ.'\10S, M.S. BIOST\TISTICS

Felicia Sze

FELICIA SZE, M.P.H. C OMMCMTY HEALTH SCIEl'ICES

Two years a go , I selected the U CLA School of P ublic Health fo r two p r imary reasons : it s geographical placement within a diver se population , and th e close collaborative relationship b etween t h e sch ool a nd the community.

My most m emor able classes, r esearch project s and experien ces a t the school were groun ded in these two a r eas.

In particular, I h ave h a d the enrich ing opportunity throu gh my internship at the Office of Public H ealth P ractice to organize the newly for med Community Partnership T ask For ce, which purports to create equal , collaborative partnerships between research institu tions and the commu nity working in substance abu se p r evention.

Alth ough the cr eation of these relationships was a t times difficult t o initiate due to differen ces in cultures, expectation s and back grounds, thro ugh open communication we were a ble t o organize collaboratively the Buildin g Bridges: R esearch and Community Partner sh ips worksh op in Ap r il. At this meeting, we discu ssed c ultural sensitivity issues acr oss ethnic/racia l and gender l ines, a n d effectivel y brought people from different communities together with resea r chers and graduate students. By acknowled ging our diverse experiences and strengths, we built a pa rtne r sh ip th a t u tiliz e d these strength s so th a t t h e final produ ct was superior to anyth ing a n y indi-

I had high expectations entering the s chool's biostatistics program. I wanted to utilize my mathematical and biologi c al ba ckgrounds to h elp biomedical r esearchers solve problems in today's societ y. I also wa nted to meet others who shared my ideas and goals .

I hoped to gain the skills that would enable me to find a challenging and r ewarding job.

The two years have passed quickly, and I now stand in the doorway to my future . Thinking back, I r e alize that what I had expected of my educ ation from the school ha s b een e asily surpassed. The education and experience e quip m e with the skills n ecessary to p rovide statistical supp ort to doct ors and oth er public h ealth r esearchers. I will gradua t e with m any wonde rful m emories and friends , an abundance of knowle dge, and my ma st er of sci¡en ce d egr ee in biostatistics.

Brian Ramos

KIRSTEN KNt:TSON, M.P.H. EPIDEl!H)U)G\

My years here have challenged me to grow professionally, personally and intellectually. Taking classes in both epidemiology and the Department of Community Health Sciences, where I began before transferring, has fostered my immediate career goals. It will be exciting to find a job blending both disciplines beyond the realm of academia.

One of the school's great strengths is the Office of Public Health Practice's internship program, which was instrumental in my placement at two sites, Women Against Gun Violence and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services' STD Program. Because of these jobs, I have developed valuable skills, passions, and networks in the public health arena. After graduation I hope to direct a project at the L.A. County DHS or participate in the California EIS program.

A1'A CORADO, D.ENV. E\\ nw~\\rn:\T\L HEALTH Scm:\o:s Graduation is the culmination of six years full of challenges and satisfactions in the academic, financial and personal areas.

The academic challenges included the analysis of the different environmental areas (water, air, soil), their integration, and the impacts of pollutants on humans and biota. The challenge also included the integration of different opportunities within the UCLA campus to make a comprehensive course of studies, and to integrate the opportunities available in the rich, diverse community of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

All students at UCLA are facing more and more challenges to secure funding for their education. Fortunately for me, I obtained a grant, a research assistantship, and a paid internship to finance my education. I am grateful to all my professors and to my employers for their financial support.

For the future, I see a great responsibility. A doctoral degree in environ mental science and engineering gives me the academic training to provide an expert opinion on controversial issues of the day. My hope is that I can contribute to improving the environment we all share.

7 STUDENTS

SPREADING THE PUBLIC HEALTH MESSAGE UCLA's Public Health Students Association (PHSA) was a major presence on Bruin Walk for three days in April, bringing to UCLA undergraduates the message of public health and the opportunities it offers, as well as information about the school. The students' efforts were in conjunction with National Public Health Week. In addition to providing general information packets to interested passers-by, students addressed themes such as sexual health, nutrition and cancer, and

tobacco. Students also participated in a community service project with Project Angel and attended a luncheon at which a member of the school's faculty, Dr. Neal Halton, spoke on children 's health insurance. "We were able to increase awareness of the school and the field of public health around campus," says Lara Shing, an M.P.H. student who co-chaired the week with student Cammy Chen. "And it was a good opportunity for students of our school to get together and exchange ideas."

BIOSTATISTICS M.P.H. M.S. Ph.D.

6 13 3

COMMUNITY HEALTH SCIENCES M.P.H. 58 M.S. 3 3 Ph.D. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES M.P.H. M.S. Ph.D. D.Env.

Anna Dorman (above), 1997-98 president of the Public Health Students Association and the student speaker at 1998 Commencement ceremonies in newly renovated Royce Hall, will discuss the future of university-community partnerships in pub1ic health. Dr. Lester Breslow, professor and dean emeritus, is the keynote speaker.

EPIDEMIOLOGY M.P.H. M.S. Ph.D. HEALTH SERVICES M.P.H. M.S. Ph.D. SCHOOL TOTAL *includes 21 graduates of M.P.H. for Health Professionals Program.

3 15 5 3

43 3 7

60* 5 5

235

FACULTY UPDATES DR. ABDELMONEM AFIFI recently pu blished a new CD-ROM, "Electronic Companion to Biostatistics" (with Ors. Martin L. Lee and George W. Cobb) , the first of its kind in biostatist ics. In March, he participated in the university's Caree r Based Outreach Program, presenting to hundreds of middle-school students on public health as a future opportunity for education and as a fu ture profession. He is now on the Venice Fam ily Clinic Board of Directors.

INTRODUCTIONS Three fiJl-time faculty memhers have joined the school tlUs academic year.

While working as an ob/gyn nurse practitioner in public health and nonprofit clinics from 1980 to 1986, DR. WENDIE ROB BINS (Enviromnental Health Sciences) became interested in the effects of environmental, workplace and lifestyle exposures on producing healthy offspring. She comes to the school (jointly with the School of Nursing) from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill after earning her Ph.D. in epidemiology at UC Berkeley.

Robbins has a laboratory in which she uses molecular genetic techniques to evaluate human sperm cells for chromosomal abnormalities. She is also preparing a course on reproductive and developmental toxicology.

DR. RONALD ANDERSEN is principal investigator (with Dr. Thomas Rice and RAN D's Dana Gold man) of a five-year pre- and postdoctoral trai ning grant renewal, funded by the Ag ency for Health Care Policy and Research, tha t prov ide s 8 stipend and tuition for up FACULTY to eight trainees per year.

DR. MARTIN ANDERSON co-authored several papers on adolescent risk-taking behaviors resulting from the seconda ry analysis of data from large surveys.

DR. ROSHAN BASTANI recently received a $2 million grant from the NIH to develop and test an intervention to increase colorectal cancer screening among first-degree re latives of colo re ctal cancer cases. She has also received funding for a three-year study in which she will interview 250 African American and 250 white first-degree relatives of men with prostate cancer rega rdi ng knowledge , attitudes and decision-making related to screening and participation in clinical trials .

DR. LI NDA BOURQUE, along with Dr. Kimberley Shoaf, Harvinder Sareen and Loe Nguye n, has written "Injuries as a result of California earthquakes in the past decade," in press for the September issue of Disasters.

Dr. Gang Li

DR. GANG l1 (Biostatistics) arrives from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he taught in the mathematics department. Li's focus is in developing statistical methodologies for analysis of biomedical data, particularly where key data are missing. He grew up in China, then came to the United States in 1986, earning an M.S. and Ph.D. at Florida State University.

"It's great to be working in an environment where everyone is doing biomedical research," Li says. "There are several people here whose areas of interest are very close to mine, and who have been very supportive."

He was also attracted by the weather- Li likes to participate in outdoor sports, when he'snotplayingwithhis2-year-oldson.

DR. WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM continues to be involved in the national HIV Costs and Service Utilization Study. He recently published two articles relevant to the study, and is presenting the first round of results at national meetings this spring.

DR. CLIMIS DAVOS was invited to be keynote speake r at the Third European Marine Science and Technology Conference in May. The European Union is funding an international project th at will app ly his environmental evaluation and choice program , AGO RA , to the development of the Galapagos Islands.

DR. ROGER DETELS helped to organize an HIV/AIDS workshop for the Ministry of Health in China last December, and organized and taught a wor kshop with an alumnus , Zunyou Wu , in Fuyang, Anhui , China. He is concluding studies on HIV in drug users and their wives in Manipur, India.

DR. DONALD DUKE has completed a two-and-ahalf-year research project for the Cal ifornia State

Dr. Wendie Robbins

Water Resources Control Board , with fund ing from the U.S.E.P.A. The study characterized compliance with storm water pollution prevention requirements by the regulated community in California , and evaluated the implications of widespread failure to comply on water quality.

DR. JONATHAN FIELDING made four presentations at the national Prevention 98 meeting in San Francisco last April. Current research interests include community report cards, defining better ways to allocate prevention dollars, and developing methods to determine the effectiveness of community preventive services.

DR. JOHN FROINES has been appointed by the state Assembly to serve as acting chair of the Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants.

DR. OSMAN GALAL has received fund ing from the USAID Cairo office for "Impact of an Agricu ltural Program on the Food Consumption Pattern Among Egyptians," which wi ll exam ine linkages

younger than 50 at diagnosis. Ganz participated in the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (for which she served on the steering committee and headed the UCLA site), which showed that Tamoxifen can prevent new breast cancers in high-risk women.

DR. SANDER GREENLAND publ ished Modern Epidemiology, 2nd Edition , and was honored at a book signing sponsored by faculty, students and staff of the school. Greenland has so far authored more than 170 publications.

DR. GAIL HARRISON took a sabbatical leave this spring to work with UNICEF in Iran , providing technical assistance to the National Food and Nutrition Security Project.

Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang

Lke Li, DR. ZUO-FENG ZHANG (Epidem._ ology) was born and raised in China. In 1969, in the midst of the cultural revolution, the 16year-old Zhang was sent to the countryside to work with farmers and train as a "barefoot doctor." His current interest is in the molecular epidemiology of cancer.

"Traditional epidemiological studies have looked at the correlation between risk factors and disease - to sh ow, for example, that smoking is linked to cancer," he explains. "But that leaves unanswered questions about how the process occurs."

Zhang is particularly interested in learning more about the genetic changes tha t foreshadow cancer development - so-called tumor markers. He and other researchers have found that p53, a gene that normally acts as a tumor suppressor, becomes altered in smokers, increasing their susceptibility to bladder cancer. Zhang is currently looking at how risk factors such as smoking affect the relationship between thep53 gene and other cancers.

DR. ERIC HURWITZ published "Utilization of chiropractic services from 1985-1991 : Five sites in the United States and Canada, " concluding that the vast majority of chiropractic patients seek care for musculoskeletal problems - primarily back and neck pain - and that the U.S. chiropractic utilization rate is twice as high as the rate 15-20 years ago.

DR. DEAN JAMISON was the lead author of a recent Lancet paper assessing the role of international efforts in health - what should and should not be emphasized by agencies such as WHO and the World Bank.

DR. JESS KRAUS heads the Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center, which is currently conducting injury control research in the fields of pedestrian safety, elderly falls prevention , workplace violence intervention , partner abuse prevention , school-based injury and disabilities, back injury prevention, skiing and snowboarding injuries, and motorcycle safety.

DR. JOANNE LESLIE presented preliminary results from collaborative studies at a conference on Girls, Generations and Globalization at the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

DR. VIRGINIA LI has received support from the Ford Foundation since 1991 for the Women 's Re-

STD/HIV prevention in the Philippines to target a client-centered population of high-risk males, including factory workers, mi litary, police, high-risk communities and taxi and tricycle drivers.

DR. SHANE QUE HEE has bee n appointed to the Chancellor's Safety Committee. He and five of his students presented at the American Industrial Hygiene and Exposition Meeting in Atlanta.

DR. THOMAS RICE's new book, The Economics of Health Reconsidered, was published by Health Administration Press in Ap ril. With Dr. E. Richard Brown, he organized an international conference entitled "Reconsidering the Role of Competition in Health Care Markets," held in Be rlin , Germany.

DR. BEATE RITZ received a pilot grant to evaluate 9 whether birth defects diFACULTY agnosed in children born to women who live in the L.A. Metropolitan Area an d the South Coast Air Basin are associated with elevated levels of four air pollutants and/or polycycl ic hydrocarbons during the first 8-10 weeks of gestation.

DR. MILTON ROEMER received the Distinguished Career Award from the As sociation for Health Services Research last Ju ne, then was honored with the Lifetime Achieve ment Award from the APHA International Health Section last November.

DR. RUTH ROEMER presented at the Symposium on National Strategies fo r Health for All in Washington, D.C. DR. STUART SCHWEITZER'S book Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy was recently published

by Oxford University Press. He is completing a sabbatical as professor of economics at the University of Bologna and the Unive rsity of Ferrara, Italy, during which he is studying the pharmaceutical market in Italy and the Euro pean Community.

DR. DAWN UPCHURCH was recently awarded a large grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study adolescent sexual behavior. The fo ur-year proj ect will examine the impact of neighborhoods, schools and families on teen s' sexual activity and other related behaviors specific to STD and HIV risk.

DR. ROBERT VALDEZ is cu rrently working on the Kaiser Family Foundation-sponso red study "Why Medicaid Eligible Fam ili es Do Not Enroll in the Program and Ways to Improve Outreach." He was appointed senior adv is or for the White House Initiative on Hispan ic Ed ucational Excellence. He is also part of the Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010 "Objectives for Eliminating Health Disparities Across Income Groups."

between agricultural production and nutrition while setting up a Food Consumption Monitoring System in Egypt to help policy-makers.

productive Health and Development Program in Yunnan , China . This two-county program on community development emphasizes intersectoral coordination and community participation.

DR. PATRICIA GANZ has received funding from the National Cancer Institute and the Komen Foundation to study the long-term effects of breast cancer treatment in women who were

DR. DONALD MORISKY has received funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to expand current efforts of

DR. STEVEN WALLACE presented testimony before the California Assem bly's Health Committee on "Healthy Families Cove rage for Recent Immigrants." As part of the Center for Health Policy Research , he has been actively involved in the design and implementation of California's Healthy Families program , which expands coverage for children in low-income fam ilies.

Two Jo1N DEAN'S The Sch Goa1¡ 0ol's

ADVISORY BOARD

$15~000,000 $14,ooo.ooo

$i2,ooo,ooo Ira Alpert

10 FRIENDS

$10,000.000

$8,000,000

DEAN 'S COUNCIL CHAIR MAKES $50,000 PLEDGE Ira and Marsha Alpert have made a $50,000 pledge to the Dean's Council of the UCLA School of Public Health , the school's fund-raising body of which Ira Alpert (M.S. '66) is the long-time chair.

"This commitment, placing the Alperts at the highest support level for the Dean's Council, is characteristic of their generosity and of Ira's leadership on behalf of the school," says Dean Abdelmonem A. Afifi.

"As chair of the Dean's Council, Ira is setting the pace for all those who contribute."

Ira Alpert is president and CEO of the Wilshire Foundation, Inc. Among their other contributions to UCLA, the Al perts have provided the Wilshire Foundation's Endowment in Geriatric Medicine and Long-Term Careat the school.

GERALD FACTOR was born and raised in Los A n ge l es, r eceived his bache lor 's d eg r ee in ph ys i cs at UC Berkeley, and later joined IBM on the day that disk storGerald Factor age was introduced to the commercial computer market.

He spent 10 years at IBM, and for the past three decades he has managed apartment buildings. He is a trustee of the Max Factor Family Foundation and a member of the executive committee of the Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles . He enjoys tennis and mountain-climbing with his wife, Lorraine.

WALTER OPPENHEIMER and his wife , Helga , are retired from their careers in the fashion industry, where they owned and operated Helga, Inc. , a women's clothing company. Natives of Germany, the Oppenheimers came to the United States early in th eir careers, while maintaining an additional residence in Switzerland. The Oppenheimers are avid a r t collector s and travelers , frequenting Europe and Israel on a r egular basis.

WOMAN TURNS LIFELONG COMPASSION INTO FUND TO HELP THE HOMELESS

CAMPAIGN UCLA UPDATE

A

imingto raise $1.2 billion by Jm1e 30, 2002, Campaign UCLA was launched in May 1997 as the most ambitious private fund-raising effort in the history of public higher education. As part of the campaign, t h e School of Public Health has set a goal of raising $15 million. More than h alf of that amount has now been raised.

Anne Reher-Livia's dedication to helping individuals who are less fortunate than herself was developed at Loretto Heights College, a Catholic school in Reher-Livia's native Denver at which the doctorally trained nuns taught her to "take the message of social justice to the world."

That dedication has never wavered, and recently Reher-Livia made provisions in her estate for assets currently estimated at $600,000 to be used to create a fund at the UCLA School of Public Health to benefit the well-being of the homeless.

"There but for the grace of God go I," she says in explaining her Anne Reher-Livio devotion to helping the homeless population. "And if I were in those shoes, I would want people to be compassionate, regardless of the circumstances that led me to be homeless."

Reher-Livia has a long record of community activism and service in Los Angeles. In addition, she has frequently volunteered at sites where food is offered to homeless individuals.

"With wisdom and foresight, Mrs. Reher-Livia has used estate planning to ensure that the poor and the homeless will receive the care and attention they need," says John D. Miller, assistant dean for external affairs. "The school is grateful for the opportunity, through the future work of its faculty and students, to embody her vision for generations to come."

GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY: HAROLD GOLDSTEIN

W

Harold Goldstein, M.P.H. '89, Dr.P.H. '97

CLASS NOTES STANLEY AZEN, PH.D. '69, has released the first CD of his piano performances, "Regressive Moments," a mix of jau, classical and pop music, including two original compositions. Azen is director of the Biometry and Statistical Consultation and Research Center at USC. MARC MOSER, M.P.H. '72, was appointed first C.E.O. of the City of Hope Medical Group, a 125physician group affiliated with the City of Hope National Medical Center.

SUSAN D. HOLLANDER, M.P.H. '80, is regional vice president, government affairs, for Catholic Healthcare West - Southern California.

JOAN OTOMO-CORGEL, D.D.S., M.P.H. '80, was recently chosen Alumnus of the Year by the UCLA School of Dentistry. She is currently serving a sevenyear term as finance chair and vice chair of educational policy for the California State University Board of Trustees. Otomo-Corgel lectures extensively on a wide range of periodontal topics. She has private periodontics practices in Montebello and Los Angeles.

JANET O'KEEFFE, M.P.H. '81, DR.P.H. '88, left her position as assistant director for public interest policy at the American Psychological Association's Public Policy Office to become a senior policy advisor in the Public Policy Institute of the American Association of Retired Persons. Her research and analyses focus on health and long-term care policy, disability policy, and the Medicaid program.

MOSER

MANTELL

hile serving a term as president of the Southern California Public Health Association (SCPHA) a few years ago, Harold Goldstein (M.P.H. '89, Dr. P.H. '97) concluded that the APHA affiliate could do much more in the area of advocacy. At the time , Goldstein was with the L.A. County Department of Health Services as director of health promotion initiatives. "People in the public sector aren't allowed to do much advocacy," he notes.

To Goldstein, a professional organization seemed like the ideal place to fill the void. So, after leaving his job with the county in 1995, he went to work as executive director of the SCPHA, where he developed a pilot grassroots advocacy campaign in which commu-

nity leaders organize by district and educate their legislators about public health issues. That project led to a two-year grant recently awarded by The California Endowment to continue and expand on the program.

"It's our job as public health professionals to educate legislators," says Goldstein, a member of the board of directors of the school's alumni association. "With term limits there 's a high turnover, and increasingly they don't have the infor11 m a ti on they ne e d to dev elop sound ALUMNI health policies. After all, public health principles such as h ealth promotion and disease prevention make sense for both health and financial reasons."

JOANNE E. MANTELL, PH.D. '82, is the author of a new book, Evaluating HIV Prevention Interventions (New York City: Plenum Press, 1997).

ATOZ (ETSUJI) OKAMOTO, M.D., M.P.H. '88, has returned from Japan to serve as a visiting professor at the USC School of Pharmacy's Department of Pharmaceutical Economics & Policy. Okamoto is conducting a project on pharmaceutical benefit management with Kathleen A. Johnson (Ph.D. '91 ).

NASREEN BABU-KHAN, M.P.H. '82, M.D., received her M.D. in 1990 and is now a board-certified dermatologist with a part-time practice in Glendale, Calif.

Her husband, Howard Lehrhoff, is a UCLA internist.

They have three young sons: Alexander, Nicholas, and Gregory.

SUSAN KARLINS, M.P.H. '84, is director of health education for Valley Health Plan, serving Medi-Cal managed care members who use Santa Clara County health centers and nonprofit community clinics. She is also director of health education for Santa Clara Family Health Plan, a local initiative for Medical managed care.

DANIEL KERR , M.P.H. '86 , M.B.A., recently founded Kerr & Associates, Inc. ahealth-care finance and managed care consulting firm based in Los Angeles.

ELISA NICHOLAS, M.D., M.S.P.H. '86, was named one of five "Women of the Year" by the Los Angeles County Commission for Women. She is currently medical and executive director of The Children's Clinic, a nonprofit community clinic in Long Beach.

She has written and lectured on health care for culturally diverse and underserved populations.

PETER K. WAKAMATSU, M.P.H. '86, began a new job as a biostatistician at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, in the Department of Hematology-Oncology.

BABU-KHAN

KAR LINS

NICHOLAS

CLYDITTE POWELL, M.D., M.P.H. '88, has recently made two consulting trips to the former Soviet Union - Kazakstan, Kyrgya Republic, and Ukraine-to assist with health care reform initiatives that are parallel to Powell's own managed care work in the United States. Powell still practices pediatrics and neurology part-time in Memphis.

LORI CARTER EDWARDS, M.P.H. '90, PH.D., was aJl epidemiology postdoctoral fellow at the Duke Hypertension Center at Duke University Medical Center from 1994 to 1997. She is now a research assistant professor at the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill School of Public Health, with a joint appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and Health Behavior/Health Education.

ADRIENNE MIMS, M.D., M.P.H. '90, is chief of prevention, health promotion and research for Kaiser Permanente in Atlanta. She has presented at local and national forums on geriatrics, managed care and prevention, and been appointed to national committees of the American Geriatric Society and the Geriatricological Society of America. She was recently honored as one of 12 physicians featured in the 1998 Doctor's Calendar, which highlights the accomplishments of African American physicians.

WAKAMATSU

MIMS

r----------------------------------------------,

BRESLOW

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UCLA I PLYBLIC HEALTH

continued from page 5

Devra Breslow points to her husband's roots: "He's an authentic Midwesterner, someone who is incredibly honest."

Others bring up Breslow's strength as a listener, his ability to approach issues with an open mind, his wry sense of humor and penchant for telling stories.

What aspect of his work offers him the most fulfillment?

Devra Breslow doesn't hesitate.

"His garden," she says. "When he comes down from the garden, he lays out his crops and counts them. It's a source of enormous pride and pleasure."

She teasingly suggests the reason: "The plants don't argue with you."

Not that Breslow, at a time when he might sit back and reflect on one of the century's most distinguished public health careers, is ready to remove himself from the fray.

Last year, in what many saw as a blatantly political move, Breslow and two other smoking foes (including the school's Dr. Paul Torrens) were dismissed from a state Tobacco Education Oversight Committee after gaining a reputation for their aggressive stance at meetings.

"Lester's an agent of change , and that puts him in conflict with people who favor the status quo," says Day. There are bound to be setbacks. But based on Breslow' s track record, you have to figure that his side - the side that's seeking to promote a healthier society - ultimately will prevail.

NEWSLETTER

SPRING 1998

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage Paid UCLA

UCLA School of Public Health Box 951772 Los Angeles , California 90095-1772 www.ph.ucla.edu Address Correction Requested