LESLIE HSU OH is founder of The Hepatitis B Initiative in Boston and DC/MD/VA. When her brother, John, was seventeen years old, he suddenly experienced severe pain in his abdomen. John was diagnosed with liver cancer caused by hepatitis B and passed away one year later. A week after his death, her mother, Auxilia, was also diagnosed with liver cancer caused by hepatitis B. She died the following year when Leslie was a junior at UCLA, receiving a degree in Biology.
Auxilia's photograph of Leslie and John in Channel Islands National Park, one of nearly 50 parks the family visited during the summer.
Auxilia was an artist, journalist, and photographer.
Determined to turn their tragedy into something positive, she leads a life committed to disease prevention and health promotion. She served as Federal Liaison to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; Northeast Regional Director of the National Task Force on Hepatitis B: Focus on Asians and Pacific Islanders; Program Chair for the American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian Caucus of the American Public Health Association; Membership Chair for the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus of the American Public Health Association; and Board of Directors member of the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable. She also designed user-centered web sites specifically for special populations at the Alaska Native Science Commission and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion with the Secretary of Health and Surgeon General's staff of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
She received a master’s degree in Health Communications from Harvard School of Public Health and a MFA in Creative Writing from University of Alaska Anchorage.
She is the recipient of the Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award, 2008-2009; the first Julius B. Richmond Young Leader in Public Health Award for outstanding dedication to the health and well being of the community and demonstration of initiative and advocacy in public health; the first National Award for Excellence in Public Health Leadership; the Sun Memorial Award for exemplifying a commitment to improving the health and well being of people in underserved populations; and the Schweitzer Award for reverence for life.
She is a Fellow for Life with the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. She is co-author of The Strategic Application of Information Technology in Health Care Organizations along with chapters in other books, journals, and reports.
Former Surgeon General Satcher and Richmond awards Leslie "Young Leader in Public Health Award for outstanding dedication to the health and well being of the community and demonstration of initiative and advocacy in public health"
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