EVENTS

Infectious Insights: Navigating the World of Communicable Disease Surveillance

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (IIGH) invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Ms. Phoebe Danza, Chief Epidemiologist at Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Ms. Danza is a skilled public health professional with extensive experience conducting research and evaluation activities in government and academic settings. She has been a detail-oriented supervisor with 6+ years’ experience in leading surveillance and epidemiological projects and teams. In her current role she oversees development and execution of program-specific needs for the disease surveillance data system.

She also develops and direct priority objectives to support program-wide epidemiological and data support needs for routine surveillance and monitoring of emerging infectious disease outbreaks. She supervises and leads team of Supervising Epidemiologists, Epidemiologists, and Epidemiology Analysts responsible for centralized data processing, reporting and analytic activities for over 60 reportable communicable diseases per state and local requirements, including annual morbidity reporting efforts summarizing LAC’s communicable disease trends (counts and rates) by year.

Syphilis in Babies. Highest Rates in 50 Years. What Can Be Done?

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Irene A. Stafford, MS, MD an associate professor and maternal-fetal medicine physician with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.

Dr. Stafford’s clinical interests include syphilis trends and testing. She has interviewed with multiple national and local news outlets to discuss the ongoing rise of syphilis in Houston, Texas and across the United States. In 2022, Dr. Stafford received a $3.3M grant to develop a molecular diagnostic test for congenital syphilis. Dr. Stafford is the PI for the multicenter study, which includes Baylor College of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the University of California, the University of Southern California, and The Ohio State University, will also focus on neurodevelopment testing of babies born with syphilis.

 

Dr. Stafford also leads a perinatal syphilis program at UT Physicians, the clinical practice of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, where she has dedicated a clinic day for patients with syphilis.

What to Know About Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu (Avian Influenza) Viruses (H5N1)

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a Zoom seminar featuring Noah Kojima, MD who currently serves as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Influenza Division. He co-led an investigation of early season influenza activity in Tennessee and conducted respiratory virus surveillance in many networks in the United States.

Prior to joining CDC, he lived in South Africa, from 2013–2014, where he led research projects as a U.S. National Institutes of Health Fogarty Fellow on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among pregnant women and newborns.

Dr. Kojima received his Doctor of Medicine and training in Internal Medicine from University of California Los Angeles.

Highly Effective Infectious Disease Prevention Strategy: Changing the Community Narrative

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Scott C. Weaver, PhD, MS Director of the Institute for Human Infections & Immunity (IHII), Scientific Director of the Galveston National Laboratory, and Chair of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, ranked first nationally among its peers for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding at The University of Texas (UMTB).
Dr. Weaver currently holds the John Sealy Distinguished University Chair in Human Infections and Immunity. He directs three major NIH- and CDC-funded center grants at UTMB: The Western Gulf Center of Excellence for in Vector-borne Diseases, the West African Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, and the World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses.

 

Dr. Weaver is an internationally recognized virologist and mosquito biologist with more than 350 publications in prestigious scientific journals, many invited presentations at international meetings, and international leadership roles. He has received many awards from and holds leadership positions in a number of national and international scientific societies and professional organizations, including the Walter Reed Medal from the American Society of Tropical medicine and Hygiene for career research contributions, and the Robert Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence from the Global Virus Network. Dr. Weaver is also a fellow of the American Academy of Inventors in recognition of his contributions to vaccine development, and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He holds nine patents for vaccine and diagnostics development for viral diseases.

Dr. Weaver’s research focuses on the ecology, evolution, epidemiology and pathogenesis of mosquito-borne viral diseases, arbovirus‐mosquito vector interactions, and vaccine development for arboviral disease prevention. Current projects include emergence mechanisms, pathogenesis and vector transmission of Zika and chikungunya viruses. Recently, his group has also focused on understanding the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and evaluation of COVID vaccines. Dr. Weaver leads two NIH-funded centers: the  World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses and the West African Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Weaver’s stature in the scientific community is also indicated by his service on many national and international committees and study sections, as well as his many editorial appointments including as editor for PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, PLoS Pathogens, the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Archives of Virology.

Dr. Weaver teaches and mentors young scientists extensively, and was named the Leon Bromberg Professor of Excellence in Teaching. He earned his BS degree from the College of William and Mary in 1979, his MS degree in entomology from Cornell University in 1982, and his PhD degree in virology from the University of California, San Diego in 1993. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University School of Medicine, he joined the UTMB faculty in 1994.

Highly Effective Infectious Disease Prevention Strategy: Changing the Community Narrative

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, PhD, MPH Director of Community Outreach and Education at the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research and Sheila Murphy, PhD Professor of Communication at USC Annenberg.

Dr. Baezconde-Garbanati is a tenured professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. She is also a member of the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center where she is co-Director and Project Leader of the Patient Education and Community Outreach Center. Dr. Baezconde-Garbanati has a solid reputation as a widely recognized national and international community engaged scholar in the areas of culture and community health, with an emphasis on Hispanic/Latino health. Dr. Sheila Murphy is trained in social psychology at the University of Michigan. She specializes in identifying the individual, interpersonal, community, and ethnic and cultural factors that shape people’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Understanding cultural diversity and tailoring messages to diverse audiences has been a major theme of her research both domestically and internationally (including India, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, El Salvador, Panama, Thailand, and Indonesia).

SARS-Cov-2 Infection and Excess Mortality in Canada, China, India and Sierra Leone 2020-2023

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Prabhat Jha, MD, DPhil a Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.  

Dr. Jha is a lead investigator of the Million Death Study in India, which quantifies the causes of premature mortality in over 23 million people from 1997-2023, including the contribution of key risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol. Professor Jha is also widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in global tobacco control. He is the author of several influential publications on tobacco control, including two that helped enable a global treaty on tobacco control, now signed by over 180 countries. 

Dr. Jha is also a former Rhodes Scholar, an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, and the recipient of many awards. Jha founded and directs the Centre for Global Health Research at Unity Health Toronto.  

His IDEAS Seminar will be followed by departmental Grand Rounds where Dr. Jha will present on Death and Taxes: A Global and U.S. Perspective on the Hazards of Smoking, the Benefits of Tobacco Taxation, and the Influence of Education (flyer attached). 

Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine & Public Health in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases & Global Pediatrics. The seminar would be moderated by Dr. Andrea Kim, Director of Vaccine Preventable Disease Control Program at the LA County Department of Public Health.

Refugee Health and Infectious Disease

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Dr. Ghina Mumtaz, Assistant Professor at the American University of Beirut in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health and Dr. Parveen Parmar, Director of Social and Global Emergency Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine.

Pediatric Vaccine Hesitancy in the US & Around the World

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Dr. James Conway, Professor of
Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine & Public Health in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases & Global Pediatrics. The seminar would be moderated by Dr. Andrea Kim, Director of Vaccine Preventable Disease Control Program at the LA County Department of Public Health.

What can Public Health learn from Games and TV shows like "The Last of Us"?

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Dr. Tom Chiller, Chief of Mycotic Diseases Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in conversation with junior scholars of the USC Creative Media and Behavioral Health Center moderated by Professor Marientina Gotsis of USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Cervical Cancer Control and Prevention in India

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Purnima Madhivanan, MBBS, MPH, PhD an Associate Professor in Health Promotion Sciences at the Mel & Enid College of Public Health at University of Arizona.

Groundbreaking Findings from STI and HPV Cancer Screening During Pregnancy in Bangladesh

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Roksana Karim, MBBS, PhD an Associate Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at Keck School of Medicine of USC, and AKM Fazlur Rahman, MBBS, MPhil, PhD, Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, and Executive Director, Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh.  

Public Health Approach to Elimination of Hepatitis C

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Prabhu Gounder, MD, an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Rachael Fleurence, PhD, MSc, Senior Advisor to Dr. Francis Collins (Science Advisor to the President of the United States).

Malaria: Old and New Approaches Toward Control and Elimination

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a virtual seminar featuring Philip J. Rosenthal, MD, a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and Associate Chief for Academic Affairs and Research in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital.

The End of Antibiotics

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Applied Studies (IDEAS) Initiative and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invite you to a hybrid seminar featuring Paul Adamson, MD MPH, an Infectious Diseases physician and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

A Pill to Prevent HIV Around the World

Improving Access to HIV Prevention and TB Treatment Services in South Africa