Past CHS in the Spotlight

Camillia Lui (CHS Doctoral Student)

Camillia Lui's article, "A common denominator: calculating hospitalization rates for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions in California" won the first annual Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) Student Research Contest from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was published in September 2011 in Preventing Chronic Disease http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2011/sep/11_0013.htm.

Hsin Chieh (CHS Doctoral student)

Hsin Chieh’s paper "Neighborhood-level determinants of smoking during pregnancy in Los Angeles: Findings from the Los Angeles Mommy and Baby (LAMB) Survey" was selected as the 1st place winner among the Greg Alexander Outstanding Student Papers in the Maternal and Child Health Section at the 2011 Annual Meetings of the American Public Health Association.

Aresha Martinez (2nd year CHS MPH student)

Aresha Martinez received an Albert J. Schweitzer Fellowship. Her project develops and implements a health education program among girls incarcerated in a youth detention facility.

Dr. Donald Morisky, Professor, Community Health Sciences

Donald E. Morisky, Sc.D., has been given two of the most prestigious awards in health education. The Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award was given to him in 2006 by the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE). The award is for a health educator who has made a substantial contribution to advancing the field of health education or health promotion through research, program development, or program delivery. His research was identified as making outstanding contributions to theoretical modes for changing health behavior, developed and applied in the research setting, which demonstrate the potential to impact health outcomes in large populations. The award was accompanied by a cash prize of $25,000. In 2008 Dr. Morisky was honored with the Health Educator Mentor Award by SOPHE. This award recognizes individuals who have provided excellence in mentorship to health educators in their preparation, performance, and practice; and have served to successfully bridge the rift between practice and research.

(Top picture on right: November, 2006 at the SOPHE/APHA Annual Meeting in Boston in which Dr. Morisky received the Elizabeth Fries Prize for Excellence in Health Education. Pictured with Elaine Auld, M.P.H., CHES, Chief Executive Officer of SOPHE.)

(Bottom picture on right: October, 2008, at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Public Health Education (SOPHE), San Diego, in which Dr. Morisky received the Health Education Mentor Award from the Society of Public Health Education. Pictured with Ms. Lianne Urada, a doctoral student in the Department of Social Welfare and fellow in our Social and Behavioral Determinants of HIV/AIDS Prevention Training Grant from the Graduate Division.)

Dr. Gail Harrison, Professor, Community Health Sciences

Gail Harrison, Ph.D., M.N.S., was presented with The Agnes Higgins Award by the March of Dimes at the 2009 American Public Health Association meetings in Philadelphia (November 9). The award is presented in recognition of distinguished achievement in research, education or clinical services in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition.



Picture above: Presenting the award to Harrison (center) in the picture are Virginia Stallings of Childrens’ Hospital of Philadelphia (L) and Jay Hirschman of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (R).

Dr. Michael Prelip, Professor, Community Health Sciences

Dr. Prelip received the Community-Based Leadership award from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Section at the 2009 APHA Annual Meetings in Philadelphia. The award "Acknowledges leadership in community-based ATOD programs that affect the community environment." Dr. Prelip was recognized with his work in tobacco prevention, community drug treatment programs, fetal alcohol syndrome prevention, the intersection between drug use and HIV, and his work in supporting training of public health students in ATOD work.

Jennifer Lee (Ph.D., 2008)

After graduating in June 2008, I moved to Geneva, Switzerland to work for the World Health Organization. I am currently a technical officer for the Equity Analysis and Research unit in the Department of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights. Our unit works with colleagues and partners from headquarters, regional offices, collaborating centers, and external networks to generate knowledge and create policy guidelines in the area of equity and health. Our specific projects include working to improve data to identify and address health inequities and social determinants of health and building health research capacity in low- and middle- income countries. What I learned from CHS about program development, research methods, and theory as well as a broad substantive background from courses in Sociology and Urban Planning have been essential to my work.

Picture above: Jennifer Lee meeting the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, at the UN Christmas Party.

Camillia Lui

Hsin Chieh

Aresha Martinez

Dr. Morisky and Elaine Auld, M.P.H., CHES, CEO of SOPHE


Dr. Morisky and Ms. Lianne Urada, UCLA Doctoral Student