MEDIA ADVISORY: Zika Virus Awareness Symposium at USC THURSDAY

Scientists and public health officials provide answers to some of the toughest questions about Zika virus, the chances of an outbreak in California, brain defects in babies and the road to a vaccine.

Contact: Zen Vuong at (213) 300-1381 or zvuong@usc.edu

REGISTER online (http://goo.gl/CfEFoF) with RSVP code ZIKV16.

WHAT: People usually contract Zika through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, which also spreads dengue and yellow fever. The illness is generally mild; some people do not even notice it. With more than 3,000 suspected cases and at least 270 confirmed cases of microcephaly in hard-hit Brazil, the Zika virus has procured the world’s attention.

Although there are no incidences of locally acquired Zika virus disease in the United States, 591 travel-associated cases have been reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eleven of them came from sexual transmission.

VISUALS AND RESOURCES:

• Scientists on the front line of Zika virus research are available for one-on-one interviews during the coffee break.
• Public health officials are available for one-on-one interviews during the coffee break.
• Collection of Zika b-roll and photos can be found at https://goo.gl/C0Njl1.

WHEN: Thursday, June 9 from 1-5 p.m.

WHERE: Aresty Conference Center at the USC Health Sciences Campus. The building is at the corner of Biggy Street and Eastlake Avenue in the Harlyne J. Norris Research Tower (NRT) building: 1450 Biggy St.; Los Angeles, CA 90033.

WHO AND TIMELINE OF EVENTS:

• 1:00 p.m. — Thomas Buchanan, vice dean of research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC
• 1:10 p.m. — Los Angeles City Councilman Curren D. Price Jr., Ninth District; event co-sponsor

Session I — Zika Virus Epidemic
Session chair: Fred Sattler, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Keck Medicine of USC

• 1:30 p.m. — “Zika Virus 101” by Rachel Civen, medical epidemiologist in the Vector-Borne Disease Unit at L.A. County Department of Public Health
• 1:55 p.m. — “Vector Control in the Urban Jungle” by Kelly Middleton, director of community affairs at the Greater Los Angles County Vector Control District
• 2:20 p.m. — “Outbreak in California: What’s Our Risk?” by Charsey Cole Porse, epidemiologist at the L.A. County Department of Public Health

2:45-3:15 p.m. — Coffee break and MEDIA INTERVIEWS

Session II — Zika Virus and Diseases
Session chair: W. Martin Kast, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Keck Medicine of USC

• 3:15 p.m. — “Zika Virus Infection in Pregnant Women: Lessons From Rio” by Karin Nielsen, professor of clinical pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
• 3:40 p.m. — “Mother to Child: Zika and Fetal Development” by Alexandre Bonnin, assistant professor of cell and neurobiology at the USC Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute
• 4:05 p.m. — “Zika Virus Evolution and Drug Development” by Genhong Cheng, professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
• 4:30 p.m. — “Zika Virus and Brain Defects in Babies” by Jae Jung, director of the USC Institute of Emerging Pathogens and chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Keck Medicine of USC.

4:55 p.m. — USC Provost Michael Quick

PARKING: RSVP with Zen Vuong at zvuong@usc.edu or (213) 300-1381 for details.

News vans must RSVP with Meg Aldrich for parking instructions: Meg.Aldrich@med.usc.edu or (626) 825-0309.

The event will be livestreamed. To watch, visit http://goo.gl/yIkUbv.

#KnowZika