Speaker Biographies

Speakers' Biographies Fred Hyde, MBA, JD, MD	Dr. Fred Hyde is a nationally known consultant to hospitals, medical schools, and physicians, as well as to unions, community groups, and others interested in the health of hospitals. He has served twice as chief executive of a non-profit hospital, vice president of a major university teaching hospital, director of a medical school faculty practice plan, and consulting manager of physician practices. He has also been a consultant to major unions and labor-management benefit funds in the health field. His managed care experience includes chief executive of an HMO as well as development of physician and hospital-sponsored managed care entities. He has been a member of the Bar since 1975 and is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Dr. Hyde is also a Clinical Professor in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University where he teaches hospital management in the graduate public health programs. His academic background includes medical and law degrees from Yale and a business degree from Columbia.
Richard S. Baker, MD	Dr. Richard Baker, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology in Jules Stein Eye Institute (UCLA) and Charles Drew University, received his medical degree from the Harvard/M.I.T program. After receiving his MD, he completed postdoctoral studies in ophthalmic epidemiology and epidemiology in Harvard Medical School and University of Minnesota respectively. Dr. Baker is currently serving as the Assistant Dean for Research and Program Director of NIH/NCRR Research Centers in Minority Institutions at Charles Drew University. He is also the director of Division of Urban Epidemiology and Informatics since 1998. In addition to his numerous leadership roles, Dr. Baker has created Urban Telemedicine program in Charles Drew University and his program was commended by Los Angeles County board of supervisors. Furthermore, Dr. Baker has received many awards and fellowships throughout his career.
Maria Carrasco, MD	Maria Carrasco, MD joined the Baldwin Park Medical Center in 1994, as a Family Medicine physician. In addition to caring for Kaiser Permanente members, she has been involved in improving care and service through chairing committees on performance improvement, after hours care, and diversity. Dr. Carrasco has been honored with the Physician's Exceptional Contribution Award and the Everyday Hero Award for her contributions to our communities and diversity. In her current role as the SCPMG Physician Leader for Culturally Responsive Care, Dr. Carrasco has collaborated with Kaiser Permanente regional offices on policy development and regulatory compliance related to diversity. In addition, she has been instrumental in the development of programs to enhance the clinician's understanding of the cultural and linguistic needs of our communities. Furthermore, she has opened dialogue among Kaiser Permanente leaders regarding the advancement of diversity efforts to improve care and service to all patients.
Susan Cochran, PhD, MS	Dr. Susan D. Cochran trained originally as a Clinical Psychologist, is both a Professor of Epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health and a Professor of Statistics at UCLA. In recent years, her research has focused on mental and physical health consequences of social stigmatization and discrimination, particularly as it affects racial/ethnic minorities, women, and sexual minorities. She has received several awards for her research including a National Institute of Mental Health Scientist Development Award, the UCLA Alumni Association Award for Academic Distinction, and most recently the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.
Rabbi Micah Hyman	Rabbi Micah Hyman received degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1993), the University of Judaism, Los Angeles (1995), and the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York (1999). Hyman was a rabbi in Paris before starting at UCLA Medical Center last fall in the Spiritual Care Department as an Interfaith Chaplain. A third generation Los Angeleno, Hyman lives in Santa Monica with is wife Erin and son Nathan.
Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, PhD, RN, MN, MA	Dr. Marjorie Kagawa-Singer is an Associate Professor at the UCLA School of Public Health and Asian American Studies Department. She has a masters degree in Nursing from UCLA School of Nursing and masters and doctorate in Anthropology from UCLA. Her work has focused on the disparities in physical and mental health care outcomes of ethnic minority populations with cancer: primarily with the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. She serves on multiple local, state, and national committees addressing impact of ethnicity on health care and health outcomes, and has published and lectured extensively on cross-cultural issues in health, cancer, pain, grief and bereavement, end of life decision-making, and quality of life. Her current cancer studies include intervention studies to promote mammography in Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander women, quality of life, spirituality, and doctor/patient communication with Hispanic, African American, and Asian American women postbreast and cervical cancer. She also focuses her efforts on defining and developing standards of cultural competence in healthcare. Dr. Kagawa-Singer is also principal investigator of the Los Angeles site for the NCI funded national Asian American Network on Cancer Awareness, Research and Training (http://www.AANCART.org),and a California state grant to conduct a formative study on the promotion of fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. She is co-PI for an NCI funded supplement focusing on Energy Balance for the Hmong population in California, Associate Director the UCLA EXPORT Center of Excellence to Eliminate Health Disparities, and PI of the UCLA NCI funded Minority Training Program for Cancer Control Research.
Aliza A. Lifshitz, MD	Dr. Aliza A. Lifshitz was born in Mexico City and graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Medical School. She then moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, to specialize in internal medicine and clinical pharmacology at Tulane University and the Ochsner Medical Foundation. She did further post-graduate work in endocrinology at the University of California, San Diego. She is currently in private practice at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. Dr. Lifshitz is a four-time President of the California Hispanic-American Medical Association, and has served in various capacities for the Los Angeles County Medical Association, the California Medical Association, and the American Medical Association. She is a Charter Board Member of the National Association of Physician Broadcasters. Dr. Lifshitz is the author of "Mamá Sana, Bebé Sano", the first bilingual book on pregnancy and childbirth. Since 1988, she has been the health reporter for the Univision TV Network. She is currently the medical editor of "Primer Impacto," Spanish-language television's highest-rated news magazine. Dr. Lifshitz also hosts a weekly national radio program, "El Consultorio de la Doctora Aliza" for Radio Univisión and authors a syndicated newspaper column. Dr. Lifshitz is also the face of the recent Spanish-language “Got Milk?” campaign.
Elisa Muñoz, RN, NP	Ms. Elisa Muñoz directs Spa-Med Publications & Translation, a company dedicated to teaching medical Spanish to health professionals and to providing translation services of medical information to managed care organizations. Ms. Muñoz also offers technical assistance to agencies interested in improving access to services to Spanish-speaking patients. Ms. Muñoz has over 35 years of experience in health care as a nurse, consultant, speaker and director. She was director of the Community outreach and education programs for L.A. Care Health Plan, Manager for the Cross-Cultural Care at White Memorial Family Practice Residency Program, consultant for different national and international programs and worked as a nurse practitioner for numerous years. She teaches Medical Spanish and cultural awareness at Harbor/UCLA Nurse Practitioner Program and at USC Department of Languages for Health Professionals.
Charlotte Neumann, MD, MPH	Dr. Charlotte G. Neumann is Professor of Community Health Sciences, UCLA School of Public Health and Professor of Pediatrics in the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. She has extensive experience related to childhood obesity, interventions, and other nutrition problems in children, starting with an early study of infant feeding and early birth weight doubling. From 1981-1987, she established and directed the UCLA Pediatric Obesity Clinic. She has been working as a health advisor to the Santa Monica Unified School District. Dr. Neumann was the Primary Investigator on a landmark study of low socioeconomic Latino and African-American children in the LAUSD documenting a prevalence of evaluation of the LAUSD California Nutrition Network (CNN), an extensive nutrition program funded by the USDA to increase healthy eating and activity in school children. As Co-PI in 1999, Dr. Neumann helped implement a pilot intervention to implement salad bars at elementary schools and evaluate their impact in consumption of fruits and vegetables. Dr. Neumann is involved with the Nutrition Friendly Schools and Communities Development, a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP)(2002-present) funded project that was developed to promote environmental changes within schools to prevent obesity. Dr. Neumann is a member of the CDCP Task Force in Community Prevention for Nutrition and Health of the U.S. population, which will make recommendations and is writing a community guide to promote health and prevent obesity and related disorders. Dr. Neumann has published extensively in childhood obesity and in obesity prevention in school children.
Timothy Pan, MD	Dr. Timothy Pan received his BS in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry from Yale University and his MD from New York University School of Medicine. He underwent residency training and board certification in Internal Medicine at UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Pan completed a fellowship in Integrative Medicine under the guidance of Dr. Ka-Kit Hui at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine. He now serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the UCLA Department of Medicine and attends at the Center as a Staff Physician. He is also a certified massage therapist, an amateur go player, a happy husband and father, and a thankful Christian.
Nitin Shah, MD	Dr. Nitin Shah is a Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology and an Intensivist at the University of California at Irvine, and has been in Southern California for last fourteen years. He has organized free health fairs for many different communities in Southern California for the last thirteen years. Every year he is involved in any where from three to eight health fairs. He is also a board member of South Asian Network, an immediate past president and board member of Jain Center of Southern California, President of Anekanta Community Center and Founding Sponsor of Ahimsa Center at Cal Poly Pomona. He has been administering 400 to 500 flu vaccines every year to people of Orange County free of charge.
Gail Wyatt, PhD	Dr. Gail E. Wyatt is the first African American woman to be a licensed psychologist in the state of California. She is a sex therapist, Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Director of the Sexual Health Program and Associate Director of both the AIDS Institute at UCLA and Drew Medical University. She is a fellow of 5 divisions of the American Psychological Association, a Diplomat of the American Board of Sexology and a Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Sexologists. Her research examines the consensual and abusive sexual relationships of men and women and the effects of these experiences of their psychological well-being. For over 30 years, Dr. Wyatt has examined through NIH funding, how socio-cultural, gender and relationship factors affect human sexuality and risks for sexually transmitted disease and HIV/AIDS transmission. From 2000 to 2005 she was the editor-in-chief of Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. She has been principal investigator of numerous grants and has conducted research in Jamaica, India, Angola and South Africa and consults with other researchers around the world on their work. Her 110+ publications and 6 books describing the sexuality of African American women and adolescents are frequently cited in academic and popular media. Dr. Wyatt is currently conducting a 11-week intervention for HIV positive women with histories of early sexual abuse, work with African American and Latino men who have had sex with men and histories of early sexual abuse, and a one-on-one intervention with HIV positive men and women to increase their readiness to adhere to complicated HIV related medical regimens. Among her countless honors include honors by APA, California State Psychological Association, and the Los Angeles City Council. Her goal is to take what she has learned about conducting research within a cultural context and train the next generation of researchers and clinicians so that research and clinical care will reflect the reality and the strengths of diverse populations.
Antronette Yancey MD, MPH	Dr. Antronette Yancey is currently an associate professor of Health Services and DrPH Program Director. She also heads the newly-created Physical Activity Promotion and Obesity Prevention & Control (PAP-OPC) Collaborative. Dr. Yancey's primary research interests are in chronic disease prevention intervention and adolescent health promotion, with a focus on communities of color. Current or recently completed research projects in which she is involved include: African-American Women Fight Cancer with Fitness (1996-2000), Fuel Up/Lift Off! LA/Sabor y Energia (1999-present), Community Steps to Minority Youth Fitness (2000-present), and Evaluation of the California Pupil Health and Nutrition Act (SB 19) (2002-present). Dr. Yancey serves on scientific advisory committees for the CDC and the American Heart Association, peer review committees for the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute, and is currently an Associate Editor for the APA journal, Health Psychology. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Health Institute, and, formerly, of the National Marrow Donor Program and the Pacific Institute for Women's Health. Dr. Yancey returned to academia full-time after five years (1996-2001) in public health practice, as Director of Public Health for the city of Richmond, VA, and as Director of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. She completed her undergraduate studies in biochemistry and molecular biology at Northwestern University, her medical degree at Duke University School of Medicine, and her preventive medicine residency/MPH at UCLA. She is a basketball enthusiast (former collegiate varsity center) and poet/spoken word artist. Her book of poetry and art, a collaboration with artist Todd Berrien, An Old Soul with a Young Spirit: Poetry in the era of desegregation recovery, was released in 1997, and her spoken word music CD, a collaboration with musicians Ciro Hurtado and Kim Jordan, was released in 2001.
Michael Rodriguez, MD, MPH	Dr. Michael A. Rodríguez is Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. His research activities focus on the role of the healthcare system in addressing family violence and the healthcare needs of ethnically diverse populations across the age spectrum, with a special emphasis on healthcare disparities and improved care of chronic conditions Noted for his collaborative work on a national and bi-national level, Dr. Rodriguez serves as the principal investigator on a number of federally and privately funded research projects. He has published and lectured widely, is an active reviewer for the National Institute of Health, and has consulted for the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the Pan American Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He recently served on the Institute of Medicine's Committee on the Training Needs of Health Professionals to Respond to Family Violence and is currently Chairperson of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. Dr. Rodríguez completed his undergraduate training at the University of California, Berkeley, received his medical degree from UCLA School of Medicine, and is a graduate of UC San Francisco's Family Medicine Residency Program, John Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health and a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar from Stanford University. Dr. Rodriguez also teaches UCLA residents, graduate and undergraduate students, while continuing to practice family medicine through Los Angeles County's primary care clinics for medically indigent populations.
Jimmy Hara, MD, FAAFP	Dr. Jimmy Hara is Lead Physician for Community Health Initiatives for Kaiser Permanente (KP) Southern California and Residency Program Director for the Family Medicine Residency at KP Los Angeles. He is Chair of the Advisory Board of the KP Los Angeles Center for Medical Education. He is also an Associate Clinical Professor of Family Medicine for the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and has served as President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP). He is Co-President of the Los Angeles Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR-LA) and also serves on the National Board of Directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR-National), the US affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the 1986 winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace. He has been a volunteer physician at the Venice Family Clinic for over thirty years, has served on its board for the past twenty years, and in 1987 was awarded the Morton Rubinstein Award for volunteer medical service. Dr. Hara has volunteered in countless health centers and events including Venice Family Clinic, Los Angeles Free Clinic the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic, the UCLA Salvation Army Homeless Clinics in Santa Monica and Westwood, the Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, the UCLA Lennox Health Fairs and the UCLA Synergy Fair. In his current role as Lead Physician for Community Health Initiatives for KP Southern California he is involved with the Los Angeles Skid Row Collaborative project, the Dulce Project in San Diego, the Disparities in Healthcare Collaborative, the Southside Coalition of Community Clinics and Orthopedic Hospital, the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County and the Health Department of Los Angeles County and the City of Pasadena. He also represents the five Kaiser Permanente Southern California Family Medicine Residency Programs to the National Conference on the Community Benefit of Family Medicine Residency Programs.
Altaf Kazi, MD	Dr. Altaf Kazi is currently a partner pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles. Working to improve the condition of those less fortunate has always been and remains an active part of his professional life. While a medical student at UCLA, Dr. Kazi helped to co-found the University Muslim Medical Association (UMMA) Community Clinic, a grassroots project created and developed by students from UCLA and Charles R. Drew University. Operational since 1996, it has now become the source of ongoing medical care to over 13,000 underserved residents in South Central Los Angeles. Dr. Kazi currently serves as the Chair of UMMA's Board of Directors and as a volunteer pediatric attending in teaching clinics. Beyond UMMA, he also helps coordinate an annual health fair for the homeless in the downtown "Skid Row" district of Los Angeles and free sports physical exams for underserved children in an annual football camp. Having served as a Chief Resident at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) during his training, Dr. Kazi also continues to participate in teaching of future physicians. He currently volunteers monthly as a pediatric attending in the resident clinic at CHLA and he serves as a "community based" preceptor for USC medical students during their pediatric clerkship. This year, Dr. Kazi was also named as the 2005 recipient of the David M. Lawrence Community Service Sabbatical from Kaiser Permanente, an award that results in a grant for UMMA and allows him time to work on a community service project at UMMA. Finally, Dr. Kazi is grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in a medical relief mission in Sri Lanka in January 2005 to provide medical aid to those displaced by the tsunami.
Venela Ricketts, MD	Dr. Venela Ricketts is Assistant Chief of Emergency Medicine at Olive View/UCLA Medical Center and she is the Coordinator of Risk Management for Quality Control. As a professor of Medicine, she trains third and fourth year medical students and residents in Emergency Medicine. Since 1993, Dr. Ricketts has served as Directory of Community Service in the Department of Emergency Medicine where she developed an elective program for residents in training that provides local, national and international community health services. In 1995, Dr. Ricketts began serving as Chair of the annual Health Careers Day at Olive View/UCLA Medical Center in response to the need for more minorities in medicine and has since attracted more than 1000 minority students to participate in this event. In 1996, Dr. Ricketts began directing large teams of volunteer medical personnel in the delivery of health care to third world countries, including Ghana, Nepal, Uganda, Haiti, Palestine, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Gambia, Nigeria, Armenia, and Sri Lanka. Throughout her career, Dr. Ricketts' stalwart commitment to community service has earned her over 50 honors and awards including the prestigious Nelle Reagan Award for Distinguished Community Service in 2001 and commendations by President George Bush, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, Governor Gray Davis and other esteemed community leaders. Dr. Ricketts is a graduate of the UCLA School of Medicine, Class of 1976 and remains actively involved with the UCLA Medical Alumni Association.
Gerald S. Levey, MD	Dr. Gerald Levey, a nationally recognized leader in both academic medicine and private sector medical affairs, is Vice Chancellor of medical sciences and Dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine and holds the academic rank of Professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine. As Vice Chancellor of medical sciences at UCLA he oversees a diverse medical enterprise including the School of Medicine, UCLA Medical Center, and the UCLA Neuropspsychiatric Institute and Hospital. Dr. Levey joined UCLA in September 1994, having previously served as senior vice president for medical and scientific affairs at Merck & Co., one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. He has held major leadership positions throughout his career, including serving as Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine from 1979-1991. He is past President of the Association of Professors of Medicine, was a member of the Board of Governors of the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a member of the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Levey is a member of the medical honorary society Alpha Omega Alpha, and is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and received his Mastership from the American College of Physicians in 1997. Dr. Levey is an internist and endocrinologist widely known for his research on the thyroid gland and the heart. He was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator while at the University of Miami from 1971-1978. Dr. Levey has developed a particular interest in issues of the nation’s physician supply and the role of generalist physicians, and served as co-chair of the National Study of Internal Medicine Manpower from 1981-1991.
JoAnn Dawson, MD, MPH	Dr. JoAnn Dawson is Director of Primary Care at the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center at UCLA. She also serves as Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and as a board member on the Center of Excellence Board of Advisors. Dr. Dawson is a member of the Association of Black Women Physicians, American Public Health Association, Southern California Public Health Association, American College Health Association, and the Los Angeles Pediatric Society. She received her undergraduate degree from Western College for Women, a medical degree from at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and a masters in public health from UCLA.