Ms. Andrea Hricko has directed the Center's Community Outreach and Education program since 1997. Previously, she served for 3 years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), in charge of health programs and directed the National Campaign to Eliminate Silicosis (MSHA/OSHA/NIOSH/American Lung Association). She has written for Environmental Health Perspectives on environmental health topics, has been a television news producer, and has produced documentary films, handbooks, and curricula on both occupational and environmental health and safety issues.

As COEP director, Ms. Hricko has designed large-scale outreach projects to strengthen the connection between the Center's research and its relevance to Southern Californians' public health concerns. She recently organized a Town Meeting, which attracted nearly 400 residents from Southern California, which focused on air quality issues related to goods movement. In 2003, she served as Executive Producer of the Center's documentary video: "A Breath of Air: What Pollution is Doing to Our Children." She directs the Center's collaborative and participatory research work with various community-based organizations and is a frequent speaker at environmental health conferences. Ms. Hricko is responsible for directing the initiation, implementation and evaluation of COEP efforts. She also keeps all Center members informed of new grant opportunities in the environmental health sciences that have community outreach and education components. She also oversees the design and development of the Center's website.

Mr. Ed Avol is Professor of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, USC, and Co-Director of the Center's Exposure Assessment Research Core. He is also coordinator of the Children's Health Study on air pollution. He has given frequent talks to students, teachers and organizations about air pollution and respiratory effects on children and has developed teaching tools for teachers on air pollution. Avol is Principal Investigator for the Center in a joint NIEHS Environmental Justice grant with the San Diego community-based organization Environmental Health Coalition (EHC), and he serves as a regular advisor to the EHC on air pollution issues in Barrio Logan (a neighborhood of San Diego). In addition, Mr. Avol has developed considerable expertise on issues involving the reduction of air pollution from activities related to the Ports in southern California.

Dr. Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati is Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine, USC, and is the project director for Community Outreach of the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Usage and Research Center (TTURC), newly funded by the NCI, and of the newly funded Cancer Information Service. Through her ongoing work as Director of the statewide Hispanic/Latino Tobacco Network (the largest network of tobacco control researchers, advocates and educators focusing on Hispanic population issues in the nation), she has developed mechanisms for reaching underserved communities. Dr. Baezconde-Garbanati recently received the Latino Caucus Award for Career Achievements at the 1999 American Public Health Convention.

Dr. John Froines is Professor, UCLA School of Public Health, and is Associate Director of the SCEHSC. He also directs the UCLA Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and the Southern California Particle Center and Supersite. Dr. Froines serves on numerous policy-related environmental health committees in California, serving as chair of the Scientific Review Panel, a panel that established by AB 1807 to review compounds for possible identification as toxic air contaminants. He has participated in several Center Town Hall Meetings, speaks at conferences on behalf of the Center, and assists the outreach program in its community-based air pollution work.

Dr. W. James Gauderman is Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine, USC, and is director of the Study Design and Statistical Methods Core of the Center. He has participated in numerous community meetings, presenting the Center's scientific research results. On behalf of the Center, Dr. Gauderman has appeared on two hour-long radio programs speaking on air pollution and on children's environmental health issues. Because of his ability to translate scientific language into understandable lay terms, he is featured in the Center video: "A Breath of Air: What Pollution is Doing to Our Children."

Dr. Susan Gilliland is an epidemiologist with expertise in the area of community-based research, particularly as it pertains to the issue of diabetes in the Native American community, a community in which she has coordinated numerous health program and studies. She is affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine's Biostatistics program and recently joined the Center as a member of its outreach program. She assists the COEP on issues involving community-based research as well as evaluation.

Dr. Nino Kuenzli specializes in burden of disease studies. Some of his recent research is done with communities with which the COEP has formal partnerships.

Dr. Rob McConnell is the P.I. on the Children's Center's Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Project.

Dr. John Peters, Hastings Professor of Preventive Medicine at Keck School of Medicine, USC, directs the Center and is an integral person in the Center's outreach and education. He also co-directs the Children's Environmental Health Center, funded by NIEHS and EPA. He is a frequent speaker at air pollution and environmental health policy conferences; has participated in science teacher training institutes; has spoken on air pollution health effects at conferences for environmental journalists, educators, and transportation decision-makers; is featured in an educational video accompanying a high school curriculum on air pollution; and is featured in the Center video "A Breath of Air: What Pollution is Doing to Our Children." Dr. Peters' vision has shaped the Community Outreach and Education Program from its outset.