Alice Kuo, MD, PhD, MEd

Associate Professor Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and Health Services Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Health Services UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities 10990 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 900 Los Angeles, CA  90024 Tel:  310-794-2583 Fax:  310-312-9210 http://www.healthychild.ucla.edu

Biographical Information

Dr. Alice Kuo is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and of Health Services in the UCLA School of Public Health.  Her research interests are mainly in early childhood, and she has published in the areas of developmental screening and services, early literacy practices, cognitive and language development in young minority children, hearing screening in early childhood, services for children with autism, and mental health services for children. 

In addition to her research, Dr. Kuo is heavily involved in educational programs at many levels, from high school to post-graduate fellows.  As the co-director of the Training Core for the NIH/NHLBI-funded Center for Population Health and Health Disparities, she works with disadvantaged high school students in East Los Angeles, focusing on reduction of cardiovascular risk factors, community capacity-building and career mentoring.  She is the Director of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)-funded Pathways for Students into Health Professions for disadvantaged undergraduate students interested in public health and health professional careers.  She also teaches the Foundations of Maternal and Child Health course at the UCLA School of Public Health each year.  At the David Geffen School of Medicine, she is the Associate Chair for the Primary Care College, a Well-Being Advisor for medical students, and a Doctoring preceptor for third-year medical students. 
At the post-graduate level, Dr. Kuo is the Program Director of the UCLA Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency Program and the Community Health and Advocacy Training (CHAT) Program in pediatrics, both of which she founded.  She is also providing leadership for the Primary Care Medicine residency program.

At the national level, Dr. Kuo is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Council of Community Pediatrics in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).  She was the co-chair of the Community Pediatrics Training Initiative Program Advisory Committee at the AAP from 2005-20008.  She was the co-chair of the Advocacy Training Special Interest Group in the Academic Pediatrics Association (APA) from 2004-2007, and Region Co-Chair of the APA from 2007-2010.

Clinically, Dr. Kuo sees primary care patients at the 16th Street Medicine-Pediatrics Practice in Santa Monica.  She also sees patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings for the Transition Care Program at Ronald Reagan-UCLA Medical Center and precepts residents and students at the Simms-Mann Health Center in Santa Monica.  She also directs the School Function Program at the Venice Family Clinic, a primary care-based model for addressing learning issues and mental health problems in children. 

Dr. Kuo received a B.A. in biology from Harvard University, her M.D. from UCLA, and her Ph.D. in educational psychology with a focus on early childhood and special education from the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. 

Selected Publications

1. Kuo AA and Slavin SJ.  (1999).  Clerkship curricular reform based on the APA-COMSEP guidelines:  does it make a difference? Pediatrics  103: 898-901.


2. Russ SA, Kuo AA, Poulakis Z, Barker M, Rickards F, Saunders K, Jarman FC, Wake M and Oberklaid F.  (2004).  Qualitative analysis of parents’ experience with early detection of hearing loss.  Arch Dis Child 89:353-8.


3. Kuo AA, Franke TM, Regalado M, and Halfon N.  (2004).  Parent report of reading to young children.  Pediatrics 113: 1944-51.


4. Inkelas M, Smith KA, Kuo AA, Rudolph L and Igdaloff S.  (2005).  Health care access for children with special health care needs in California.  Matern Child Health J  9: S109-16.


5. Kuo AA, Inkelas M, Lotstein DS, Samson KM, Schor EL, and Halfon N.  (2006).  Rethinking well-child care in the U.S.:  an international comparison.  Pediatrics  118: 1692-1702.


6. Inkelas M, Raghavan R, Larson K, Kuo AA, and Ortega AN.  (2007).  Unmet Mental Health Need and Access to Services for Children with Special Health Care Needs and Their Families, Amb Pediatr, 7:431-8.


7. Perez VH, Fang H, Inkelas M, Kuo AA and Ortega AN.  (2009).  Access to and utilization of health care by subgroups of Latino children, Medical Care 47:695-699.
   


8. Ortega AN, Horwitz SM, Fang H, Kuo AA, Wallace SP and Inkelas M.  (2009).  Documentation status and parental concerns about development in young U.S. children of Mexican origin,  Academic Pediatrics 9: 278-82.


9. Kuo AA, Inkelas M, Maidenberg M, Lotstein DS, Samson KM and Halfon N.  (2009).  Pediatricians’ roles in the provision of developmental services:  an international study.  J Dev Beh Peds  30: 331-9.


10. Fuller B, Bein E, Bridges M, Jang H, Rabe-Hesketh S, Halfon N and Kuo AA.  (2009).  The development of Latino toddlers:  At risk or immigrant paradox?  Mat Child Hlth J 13:755-768.


11. Fuller B, Bein E, Bridges M, Jang H, Rabe-Hesketh S, Halfon N and Kuo AA.  (2010).  Maternal practices which influence the health and cognitive development of Latino infants.  Pediatrics 125:e324-e332.


12. Feldman J, Ortega AN, Mitchell DK, Kuo AA and Canino G.  (2010).  Child and family psychiatric and psychological factors associated with child physical health problems:  results from the Boricua study.  J Nervous Mental Dis 198:272-9.


13. Yeganeh N, Curtis D and Kuo AA.  (2010).  Factors influencing HPV vaccination status and parental attitudes towards vaccine mandates.  Vaccine  28: 4186-91.