Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
313 N Figueroa St #212
Los Angeles
CAUSA
90012
Biographical Sketch: Laurene Mascola, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., is Chief of the Acute Communicable Disease Control Program for the Los Angeles (LA) County Department of Public Health which performs disease surveillance and epidemic control activities for more than 80 diseases and syndromes in an area of 4,000 plus square miles with 10 million people. She received her Bachelor of Arts with distinction in Biology from the University of Rochester and graduated from St. Louis University Medical School. She is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. She completed her internship and residency in Pediatrics from Childrens Hospital of LA. She earned a Masters of Public Health from the University of California, LA. She served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the Division of Venereal Disease Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, was a field officer in LA, and also completed the CDC residency in Preventive Medicine.
Dr. Mascola has extensive experience in epidemiology and infectious disease prevention and control, publishing more than 100 articles and abstracts in numerous medical and public health journals and is the first author on several book chapters. She has presented at the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Pediatric Academic Societies meetings. She is the PI of the Varicella Active Surveillance Project, one of two national projects, in collaboration with the CDC, the results of this study led to national policy decisions with respect to the two dose varicella vaccination schedule. In addition to investigating hospital-associated infectious disease outbreaks, she formed a Hospital Outreach Unit which is an innovative public health practice in which public health nurses play an integral role in communicable disease control and reporting along with hospital based infection control professionals.