In This Issue:
- Border Public Health Symposium
- New Advisory Board Member
- Alumni Highlight
- Student Highlight
- Faculty Highlight
- Founding Director of SDSU School of Public Health Awarded APHA Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health
- Distinguished Career Award from the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section of the APHA
- Public Health Initiatives to Address the Opioid Crisis
- Save the Date
- Make A Gift
Border Public Health Symposium
On Friday, October 25, the SDSU School of Public Health in collaboration with the San Diego Border Health Collaborative put together the first annual Border Public Health Symposium. With the mission of expanding education and collaboration on key aspects of border and binational health, public health professionals were brought together in order to share an overview of research studies, field practices, and initiatives. The day opened with a powerful and inspiring keynote talk about immigration and philanthropic activities and opportunities to support migrants in the US-Mexico border region given by Mr. Andy Carey.
SDSU School of Public Health faculty representing all four divisions with Drs. Jenny Quintana, Karilyn Sant, Noe Crespo, Faramarz Valafar, Hala Madanat, Tracy Finlayson, Elizabeth Reed and Chuck Matthews presented their research. The diverse practices span from financial literacy and empowerment of young girls, global border health collaborations, water quality, and more specific diagnostics and epidemiology of Tuberculosis.
Dr. Wilma Wooten, Public Health Officer, County of San Diego, HHSA and April Fernandez, Chief, Office of Binational Border Health, CDPH closed the presentations with their introduction of the San Diego Border Health Collaborative and Border Health Consortium; innovative organizations working in the efforts of improving health of border regions. Together, all presenters demonstrated that bringing together organizations and projects sharing similar missions, even with different methods, results in positive impact for communities being served.
 Dr. Wilma Wooten, Public Health Officer, County of San Diego HHSA and April Fernandez, Chief, Officer of Binational Border Health, CDPH present the San Diego Border Health Collaborative and Border Health Consortium |
 Dr. Noe Crespo, Associate Professor, SDSU SPH, Division of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science presents his research “Reducing CVD Risk Among Underserved Populations in the US-Mexico Border Region” |
SPH New Advisory Board Member
Sarah Lyman, MBA
Executive Director, Alliance Healthcare Foundation
After nearly a decade experience in health philanthropy, Sarah Lyman has joined the San Diego community as the Executive Director of Alliance Healthcare Foundation. Sarah brings unique leadership to the intersection of population health, systems change and collaboration in order to advance health equity. She has notably served as Executive Vice President for Empire Health Foundation (EHF) in eastern Washington State, was a key leader in the effort to launch Family Impact Network in Washington, and established Washington State’s first Program Administrator for the $100 million Andy Hill Cancer Research Endowment, also serving as its inaugural Executive Director.
Notable honors include the Council on Foundations and HUD Secretary’s Award for Public Philanthropic Partnership, and a first-place award for small businesses in “Best Places to Work” by the Journal of Business. In 2014, Sarah was selected as one of Terrance Keenan Institute’s Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy through Grant Makers in Health. Now, Sarah will bring her incredible experience, drive and leadership as the new Advisory Board Member for the School of Public Health.
Alumni Highlight
Division of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science – Online Program
Elinor Gaida is a recent graduate of the School of Public Health’s online MPH-Health Promotion and Behavioral Science program. Throughout her time in the program, she continued serving as the Vice President of a marketing research company. Elinor entered the MPH program in search of a career shift. She found a connection between research methodology in marketing and the health behavior concentration which allowed her to succeed in her roles as a student and researcher. Elinor completed a capstone project with the Health and Human Services Agency, Border Health Program where she conducted a program evaluation for the Partner Relay, a program providing public health and emergency information to non-English speakers in San Diego and Imperial countries.
Additionally, she continues her collaboration with San Diego State University (SDSU) and University of California San Diego (UCSD) Moores Cancer Center Partnership. With the Partnership, Elinor has completed literature reviews, revised logic models, and supported Grant applications that helped the program’s aims to increase the proportion of underrepresented minorities (URM) participating in cancer research. Her ongoing dedication to the institution and public health led to her being awarded the 2019 Hanlon Award, a high honor bestowed on students by the School of Public Health. Now, Elinor prepares to continue her transition to the public health world, best of luck!
Student Highlight
Division of Health Management and Policy
Jeff Jimenez completed his undergraduate education in CSU Long Beach where he received a B.S. in Business Administration, Management Information Systems. After fifteen years of working in the pharmaceutical industry in New York, Jeff took a year helping his family provide care for his aging grandmother. Through that experience, Jeff recognized the daily challenges faced by skilled nursing facilities and knew that his next career phase, had to be more community-oriented and healthcare-related.
From the beginning of his MPH career, Jeff started growing his public health exposure. Starting Fall 2018, he began working in Dr. Melody K. Schiaffino’s faculty research lab, which focuses on providing evidence-based quality measures to complex adaptive systems. He then became a member of San Diego Organization of Healthcare Leaders (SOHL), a space that offered him an environment for continual growth, professional development, and relationship building among peers and industry leaders at the local level. More recently, Jeff completed his public health services internship with the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency where they faced quite an eventful summer dealing with the influenza outbreak at the border refugee camp, the E. coli case at the San Diego County Fair, and the San Diego County reported measles cases.
Besides him excelling in the academic and professional field, Jeff also serves as a mentor and role model for first year Health Management and Policy Students. His ongoing willingness to help further strengthens the School of Public Health’s community. We are excited to see how his hard work and dedication will impact the public health field!
SPH Welcomes New Faculty Member
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Dr. Valafar received his PhD from Purdue University in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He first joined the San Diego State University community under the Department of Computer Science and in 2019 joined the School of Public Health’s Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department. Dr. Valafar is currently the Primary Investigator for a 10-year NIH-funded research project looking into antibiotic resistance of seven anti-TB drugs; followed by the emergence, and genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of resistance of four new anti-TB drugs. His clinical sites span throughout various regions in South and Southeast Asia, South Africa and across Europe—all regions with high burden of tuberculosis. Besides his incredible work in Tuberculosis diagnosis and epidemiology, Dr. Valafar has also dedicated his time to mentor and train future researchers and leaders in the field. The School of Public Health is lucky to have such a remarkable new member.
APHA Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health
Founding Director of SDSU School of Public Health
Professor Emeritus at the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health
In the 60s and 70s, there had been a stable number of public health schools across the United States and with San Diego as the fifth largest city in the country at the time not having a school of public health, Dr. Scutchfield found the exciting opportunity to improve California’s health. As a physician, Dr. Scutchfield understands and has practiced the importance of clinical care but also sees a shift in focus towards population and community health as the best possible use of our resources to address health status. Dr. Scutchfield began his journey in San Diego State University in the wake of financial difficulties but nonetheless took on the challenge of crafting a public health school that, unlike others in California, connected public health education and research to community practice. “To start a new educational venture from scratch is an unusual thing in higher education and represents an opportunity to put new ideas and directions in public health education into action” shared Dr. Scutchfield.
Throughout the years, Dr. Scutchfield worked in the coal camps of Appalachia, the farms of the Black Belt of Alabama and the barrios of San Diego. He learned from the intricate similarities and differences of all populations, saw each unique community structure, appreciated their humanity and chose to commit his life work on bettering the health of the most underserved. Dr. Scutchfield is an exemplary example of the type of public health leader SDSU School of Public Health strives to create. During the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in Philadelphia November 2-6, 2019, Dr. Scutchfield was awarded with the Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health, APHA’s oldest and most prestigious award, for his outstanding accomplishments in academic medicine and public health.
Distinguished Career Award from the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section of the APHA
Chief, Division of Injury Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Injury Center
During the 2019 annual meeting for the American Public Health Association, Dr. Ann Dellinger was awarded with a Distinguished Career Award from the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section of the APHA. For nearly thirty years, Dr. Ann Dellinger was worked tirelessly to better the safety and overall health of individual across all life spans. Her unique research approach focuses not only on the research outcomes, but also on how that valuable information will be readily available and easy to understand to the individuals whose lives she works to improve.
Dr. Ann Dellinger received her Master’s in Public Health from SDSU School of Public Health in the Health Promotion and Behavioral Science track, then went on to pursue a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her training and education have made her a public health champion leading research programs from a holistic approach on injuries in transportation, older adult falls, traumatic brain injuries, drowning prevention, and sports concussion prevention. Dr. Ann Dellinger is an amazing leader, mentor and innovative researcher. The School of Public Health is honored to have such an incredible alumna continuing to fulfill our mission while making a nationwide impact.
Major New Report on Public Health Initiatives to Address the Opioid Crisis
On Friday, November 1, the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) released the report and recommendations of an expert panel, the ASPPH Task Force on Public Health Initiatives to Address the Opioid Crisis. The report provides evidence-based recommendations in the following areas: evidence and epidemiology; anti-stigma and harm reduction; primary prevention; access to medications for opioid use disorder; research and evaluation; regulatory and legislative reforms; and changes in industry business practices. The report will also be the subject of a viewpoint that will be published on Friday by JAMA. It has been distributed to all state attorneys general and to more than 1,800 lawyers of record in the 2,600+ federal lawsuits against opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers. In addition to the report and related resources, a dedicated web page on the report will soon feature a recorded webinar on the report as well as summary slides. For more information, contact Tony Mazzaschi at advocacy@ASPPH.org.
Save the Date
- Next Alumni Mixer in San Diego is April 7, 2020 at 5:30pm. Location TBD.
- The School of Public Health will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary on April 9-10, 2021. Save the date for a day event on April 9 and an evening Gala on April 10. If you would like to volunteer for the planning committee please email the SPH Director, Dr. Hala Madanat: hmadanat@sdsu.edu
To find updated information on events,
add our events calendar found in our home page to your calendar.
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