WHO: Faye L. Wong, president of the American Public Health Association and director of the "Youth Media Campaign" at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
WHAT: Will speak to Mercer University medical, public health and family therapy students, and other invited guests
WHEN: Thursday, March 14, 2002, at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Mercer University School of Medicine Auditorium, 1550 College Street, Macon.
WHY: Wong will offer an inside view of the public health field as she discusses the importance of communications in public health and current issues regarding public health in America.
SPEAKER: Wong assumed her responsibilities as president of the American Public Health Association, a professional organization representing 50,000 public health workers, in October 2001. She is the first Asian American and first public health nutritionist to hold this position of national leadership.
Wong has had a 28-year career in public health at the federal, state and local levels. Her professional passion and expertise is in the development and establishment of new public health programs. She has developed programs in maternal and child health, school nutrition, chronic disease nutrition, pediatric and pregnancy nutrition, the early detection of breast and cervical cancer, and comprehensive cancer control as well as national media campaigns. Her interests and public health experiences are broad, covering people at all stages of life and ranging from program conception and development, and policy formulation, to program execution, management and evaluation.
She also currently serves as director of the CDC's "Youth Media Campaign." Congress funded this $125M paid media, partnership, community event and public relations campaign in December 2000. Its goal is to promote healthy lifestyles and displace unhealthy, risky behaviors among youth 9-13 years of age. She previously was director of the National Diabetes Education Program.
NOTE TO MEDIA: If you plan to cover this event, please call Roban Johnson at 301-2716 or 737-6695 by noon on March 14.