Forty CHES Members came together in Marina Del Rey, California on July 1st, 2019 to participate in the first CHES Retreat. During the day, they discussed progress on their projects thus far and gave feedback and suggestions on how to improve the collaborative even further. In the evening, around 20 members joined the networking cruise ride. Overall, it was a great event as established and new members got to interact and network with one another.
Dr. Amezcua, clinical neurologist and CHES member, and Dr. Baezconde-Garbanati, co-PI of CHES, with Victor Rivera (Baylor College of Medicine), Teresa Corona Vazquez (Mexico’s National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery), and Annette Langer-Gould (Kaiser Permanente Southern California) worked together to investigate the impact of social determinants of health on health outcomes for autoimmune diseases among Black and Latino Americans.
They performed a narrative review, which has been published on JAMA Neurology, of health outcomes from neurological autoimmune diseases among populations of color. They discovered that a vast disparity between African American and Latino Americans entering clinical trials. In fact, there was a paucity of studies in regards to multiple sclerosis (MS) among certain racial and ethnic populations.
Read more as Jeremy Deutchman reports here: https://keck.usc.edu/health-disparities-and-inequities-impact-black-and-latino-americans-with-autoimmune-diseases-says-new-usc-study/
Dr. Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, PhD, MPH, is the PI and Director of CHES. She is a professor in Preventive Medicine, Associate Dean for Community Initiatives at the KSOM. She received the “Exceptional Services on Health Equity on Cancer” on September 22, 2021 at the Moving Upstream: Advancing Equity in Cancer Prevention and Control Conference.
This conference is sponsored by the Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL), a community based organization, and the Advocacy and Data Dissemination to Achieve Equity for Priority Populations on Tobacco (ADEPT), a multi cultural Coalition on tobacco prevention and control data.
Nathan Solis reports about the challenging hurdles Los Angeles County faces in vaccinating its residents against COVID-19. Dr. Baezconde-Garbanati also shares her experience with the COVID-19 vaccination amongst East LA communities
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/los-angeles-county-struggles-to-vaccinate-its-residents/
Lena H. Sun and Laurie McGinley from the Washington Post reports that the Trump administration will no longer hold back second shots of coronavirus vaccine.
Read more here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/12/trump-covid-vaccine-second-shot/
USC Wonderkids is an after-school program hosted through USC’s Joint Educational Project. The goal of Wonderkids is to provide a high-quality science curriculum to nearby elementary schools. Join them with Dr. Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, Rosa Barahona, and Bianca Rosales as they talk about cancer prevention through nutrition and exercise!
Click on picture below to watch the video!
By Saul Garcia
He dreamed of finding a home at USC. Now, as a project specialist at Keck Medicine of USC, he’s focused on giving back to the community that helped him get this far.
Eduardo Ibarra walked through the L.A. neighborhood he grew up in, and something didn’t quite feel right. The lack of noise in Ramona Gardens was unusual. There were no kids playing on the playgrounds. No snippets of conversation floated between neighbors sitting on their stoops. Only an eerie silence hung in the air of the neighborhood, a testament to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The community is home to many longtime residents who have weathered many storms in the history of the beloved housing project. The same folks who looked out for Ibarra as he was growing up now look to him for care.
“We have a lot of seniors here that are high risk,” said Ibarra, 26. “The goal is to keep them safe and provide food for them and other essentials.“ They are scared. These are strong people but, right now, they are scared.”
Growing up next to the USC Health Sciences Campus, Ibarra’s dream was to find a way into USC. The opportunities growing up in the neighborhood were few and far between.
“USC meant a lot,” Ibarra said. “Ever since elementary school, it was my dream school.”
Ibarra got his opportunity through the Hire LA’s Youth Summer Employment Program, an initiative between USC and the city of Los Angeles. The program — which provides local youth an opportunity to get real-world, professional experience — opened the door.
“I was at Legacy LA,” a community based non-profit organization focused on youth development, Ibarra said. “I just finished school, so I was interested in getting a summer job.“
The Hire LA’s Youth program connected him with Keck Medicine of USC. “I worked hard, and a full-time opportunity became available,” he said. Ibarra jumped at the opportunity, and in January became a project specialist in the Keck School of Medicine’s Department of Preventive Medicine.
Ibarra understands that he is an example for many that live in Ramona Gardens, a place he still calls home. The COVID-19 pandemic has given Ibarra the opportunity to give back to the community. He is volunteering his time to deliver meals to those that are at high risk and the most vulnerable in his neighborhood.
“It feels great working here [at USC]. I feel like I’m an example of what opportunities are available,” he said. “This is my way of giving back.
“Being from the community, a lot of people know me and I’m grateful to be in a position to help through this tough time.”
• Read more stories about Trojan heroes in action during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally published here: https://news.usc.edu/167996/eduardo-ibarra-usc-giving-back-community-covid-19/
In midst of the uncertainty during this time of radical change and social distancing, one small effort to help another, can lift our spirits and remind us of our interconnectedness as global citizens. We have seen how families and communities have rallied together during this challenging time to care for the vulnerable populations.
We want to highlight one organization within our community that is making an effort to support others: Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA. Dean Mosqueda visited the food distribution efforts at Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA on April 9, 2020. Thank you to all those who contributed and helped out! Fight on!
August 22,2014
A new mini-documentary series highlighting immigrant families’ experiences and health challenges puts faces and stories to under-studied health issues.
Produced by the USC Immigrant Health Initiative (iHi) and the USC School of Cinematic Arts, the three short films illustrate the interplay between immigration, culture and health, exposing health challenges among racially and ethnically diverse immigrants in America. The films aim to raise awareness and discuss health issues, needs and intervention strategies among communities.
“We hope these films serve to start the conversation about immigrant health and take advantage of the population resources in Southern California to build unique academic programs at USC,” said Lihua Liu, assistant professor of clinical preventive medicine, who initiated and led the iHi for the past three years.
In Home Away From Home, USC alum Mimi Bitew’s mother, Yitaish Ayalneh, recalls growing up on a farm in Ethiopia eating natural foods and getting regular physical exercise.
Now living in Los Angeles with her husband and children, Ayalneh notes marked lifestyle differences, including eating fast food and having to make time to stay active. Living with high blood pressure, she strives to be a good role model for her children, teaching them family values, maintaining tradition and cooking healthful meals in her household.
A Son’s Survival explores the ripple effect that illness had for one Korean-American family. Dae Jae Kim, the father of USC student Joan Kim, is living with liver cirrhosis, diabetes, high blood pressure and stomach ulcers. In the film, the father shares the challenges he faces with doctor-patient communication, health insurance and working to establish a new life in America, while taking care of his parents and his own family.
The third film, A Family’s Spirit, follows Carmen Lopez, a Mexican-American salon owner and mother concerned about the health of herself and children. After her father’s death due to diabetes, her own experience with the disease during pregnancy and her son’s obesity diagnosis, she said she had an “awakening.”
Despite the challenges of making time to cook and finding healthful food in her neighborhood markets, she’s confident about the lifestyle changes her family is making.
“It’s going to take a while,” she says. “But together as a family — slowly, but surely — we’ll get there.”
Immigrant health has been an overlooked and understudied area of public health, according to Liu.
“Understanding the impact of immigration and acculturation on the health of immigrants can provide important information on environmental and behavioral factors on disease development and prevention,” she said. “Immigrants’ health affects not only themselves and their immediate families, but also their communities and the society as a whole.”
The films, publicly available at the iHi website, were directed by recent USC School of Cinematic Arts graduates Lori Webster, Jin Yoo-Kim and Melanie D’Andrea, and they were produced by SCA faculty member Lisa Leeman. SCA Professor Doe Mayer, holder of the Mary Pickford Chair of Film & Television Production and iHi member, served as executive producer. SCA alumni Daniel Bydlowski, Ruben Contreras, Charles Leisenring and Reese Robinson; SCA students Osahon Tongo and Chiung-wen Chang also contributed to the production.
Besides Liu, critical guidance on the development of the project and its themes was provided by iHi members Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, associate professor in preventive medicine and sociology; and Lawrence Palinkas, professor of social work, anthropology and preventive medicine and the current iHi principal investigator.
The iHi is spearheaded by experts in eight USC schools and has been supported by the USC Collaboration Fund since 2011. In addition to leading health programs and research, the group hosts an annual public seminar series to explore all facets of immigrant health.
By Larissa Puro
