Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, PhD, MPH

Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, PhD, MPH is a Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC). She is Associate Director for Community Engagement at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Associate Dean for Community Initiatives at the Keck School of Medicine, and Director for the Center for Health Equity in the Americas. She is a founding member of The California Dialogue on Cancer (CDOC) and Chair of the Research Subcommittee plus sits on CDOC. She holds a courtesy faculty appointment at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at USC. She is an expert in community outreach, engagement and education, information dissemination and translational research, working with basic scientist from bench to society, translating research information for public health and societal purposes. Much of her work at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center focuses on clinical trials information and outreach and education to underserved minority communities, including running a financial toxicity program to encourage and facilitate engagement in clinical trials with a focus on Blacks and Latino/x communities. Her work focuses on cancer prevention and control and on messaging and communicating cancer information to the public using community based participatory methods. She works in culturally and language specific ways and ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion in all her endeavors. At USC she CoLeads the Community Scholars Collaborative on Health Equity Solutions (CHES), which brings together over 60 individuals in 10 different schools and departments within USC conducting research at the community level. She works in a multidisciplinary manner with colleagues in Cinema, Social Work, Engineering, Religious Life, Journalism, Communication and Journalism to devise creative solutions to deliver health information, including three films (Tamale Lesson, to encourage cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccinations and Rumors and Granny’s Birthday- last two on Covid misinformation). She Is a recognized scholar nationally and internationally, with over 200 publications in prestigious peer reviewed journals in her field. She Has received funding from several NIH institutes and has been part of seven NIH funded centers and received multiple awards and recognitions for her service, research and teaching.