Community Outreach and Seminar

Our Center’s theme concerns the contributions of risk factors to the pathogenesis of Alcoholic Liver and Pancreatic Diseases and Cirrhosis. In order to foster bridging of basic research to research on actual patients, the Center has initiated programmatic developments in epidemiology and educational prevention of ALD and Cirrhosis. Dr.Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanti, USC Professor of Preventive Medicine, serves as Chair of the Outreach Committee to oversee the Center´s community and global outreach activities. Fortunately, USC has always been ranked as one of the top three universities in the nation for preventive medicine and the Center has established collaborative arrangements with highly qualified experts in epidemiology and prevention research.

Dr. Thomas Valente, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine, Director of Master of Public Health Program, plays a leading role in design and evaluation of Center’s outreach effort through Community Seminars. The Center has successfully developed collaboration with Los Angeles County’s Alcohol and Drug Administration Program and the Promotoras & Community Health Workers Network (a state-wide network organization of health workers in promotion of community health) to organize Community Seminar. This collaboration has facilitated participation of effective audience of health care workers who would benefit most from the seminar because they daily interact with patients with alcoholism and alcohol abuse including male Hispanics who are at high risk for alcoholic liver disease (ALD) in the County.

Community Outreach is an important component of National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) funded Research Center. The Center has been implementing outreach activities since 2004 to disseminate new research findings to health care professionals and lay public in order to promote the awareness and prevention of ALPD in a community where high prevalence of the diseases is documented.

In the future the Center would like to target its outreach effort to African Americans who are also at high risk for alcoholic pancreatitis. The Center also aims at designing a program to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders via collaboration with NAPAFASA (National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse).

Outreach Committee Members:

Baezconde-Garbanti, Lourdes
Cohen, Alyssa
Lu, Shelly C.
Saab, Sammy
Tsukamoto, Hide

Maleah O’Connor
Program Administrator
Tel: (323) 442-3109
Fax: (323) 442-3126
Email: Maleah.Oconnor@med.usc.edu

Community Seminar

The Administrative Core supports the Outreach Committee to plan and implement the center’s outreach program that disseminates new research findings to the lay public or globally in order to promote the awareness and prevention of ALPD in the communities where high prevalence of the diseases is documented. The Outreach Committee is chaired by Dr. Thomas Valente, Professor of Preventive Medicine, and Director of Master of Public Health Program and oversees both local and global outreach programs. The Committee members include all community seminar panelists described below plus Wayne Sugita of the LA County Department of Public Health, Substance Abuse Prevention and Control and Hide Tsukamoto. The center continues to collaborate with the LA County’s Alcohol and Drug Administration Program to facilitate effective audience recruitment of direct health care providers who would benefit most from the seminar. These health care providers are targeted because they interact daily with patients with alcoholism and alcohol abuse, including male Hispanics whom we have identified to be at high risk for ALD. The seminar is held in the County’s ADA Program auditorium that seats 150 participants. Dr. Hal Yee Jr., who was a center member until 2006, has assumed a position of Director for the LAC Department of Health after serving Chief of GI/Hepatology at San Francisco General Hospital. He is enthusiastically endorsing and supporting our joint efforts. The seminar is designed and evaluated by Dr. Thomas Valente an expert in evaluation of health promotion programs at the Institute for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Research Public Health at USC (his letter is attached in Introductory Overview). Dr. Keane Lai, Assistant Professor of Clinical-Medicine in the Department of Pathology, prepares pre- and post-tests/surveys to enable assessment of knowledge improvement on subject matters covered by the seminar. These tests are administered to all participants and later analyzed by Dr. Valente.

Community Seminar
Dangerous Health Effects of Alcohol: What Your Patients & Clients Need to Know
May 13, 2019

Community Seminar
18th Annual Symposium
December 2, 2016

Community Seminar
VR Technology Demonstration Session
September 24, 2014

Community Seminar
Dangerous Health Effects of Alcohol: What Your Patients & Clients Need to Know
March 21, 2014

Community Seminar
Dangerous Health Effects of Alcohol: What Your Patients & Clients Need to Know
October 22, 2010

Community Seminar
Health Effects of Alcohol: What Your Patients & Clients Need to Know
April 3, 2009

Community Seminar
Health Effects of Alcohol: What Your Patients Need to Know
April 18, 2008

Community Seminar
Alcohol & Your Health: Are you at risk for alcoholic liver or pancreatic disease?
April 20, 2007

Community Seminar
Alcohol & Your Health: Are you at risk for alcoholic liver or pancreatic disease?
March 3, 2006

Community Seminar
Protect your Liver and Pancreas
December 4, 2004

Community Seminar
December 5, 2003