Advocates of valley fever research have complained that the disease does not affect enough people to garner attention and funding; local doctors often misdiagnosed it; most data about the disease dates back decades; and the public has little knowledge of the disease and its impact.
Solana discusses his new job at the Medicare NewsGroup and why journalists shouldn't be afraid to chance something new.
Oakland's superintendent doesn't just want to close schools. He wants to radically alter how the school district and the city educate kids.
On a Saturday morning, four people wait outside the front door of a converted mini-mall in Rosemead, CA. Ten minutes later -- the doors open exactly at 9 a.m. -- the two women and two men file into the lobby to sign in for their appointments at the Asian Pacific Family Center. The front desk is covered with pamphlets in the many languages of the significant Asian immigrant populations of the San Gabriel Valley. The clinic operates in Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese. Cambodian Chiu Chow, Japanese and Korean, serving over 1,700 immigrant Asian Pacific outpatient families per year.
Steve Chambers holds a Bachelor of Science in health services administration and a Master of Science in administration-health care management from California State University, Bakersfield. He was the director of shared services for the Hospital Council of Central California. He has been an administrator at three small and rural acute-care hospitals. He was a management and marketing consultant to 13 hospitals in California for industrial and occupational medicine. He has taught organizational development at the University of LaVerne.
Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, professor of internal medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine, is the acting chair of the National Mental Health Association. In 2003, he was invited by then U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson to serve on the National Advisory Mental Health Council of the National Institute of Mental Health.
Dr. Robert Cooper is executive director of the West Oakland Health Council, a nonprofit organization providing primary care, mental health and substance abuse recovery services at five clinics to residents of Emeryville, southwest Berkeley and north, east and west Oakland.
Kip Wiley is a policy consultant for the California State Senate's Office of Research, a bipartisan government office that develops and evaluates public-policy initiatives for the California State Senate. Wiley is responsible for researching and developing policies and advising Senate members, staff and committees on issues related to food, agriculture, natural resources, wildlife, ocean and coastal resources, air quality, groundwater contamination including contamination by MTBE and chromium VI, parks and recreation, seismic safety, transportation, and sport and commercial fishing.
Jeanne Cain is executive vice president for policy of the California Chamber of Commerce, a position that puts her in charge of the development of public policy and strategy for the business advocacy organization. As the chamber's chief legislative advocate and specialist on health care issues, Cain helps articulate the position of business leaders inside the state legislature. The chamber plays a major role in the formation of health care policy. Cain returned to the organization in 2004 following a stint as vice president of the western region of the American Insurance Association.
