The Department of Geography's Spring Colloquium Series: Andrew Curtis's "Geography, GIS and Health Vulnerability in Los Angeles–Case Studies of Sexually Transmitted Infections and Diabetes"

Andrew Curtis is an Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

ABSTRACT: Socially vulnerable populations in the United States also tend to suffer from a disproportionate chronic and infectious disease burden. As has been seen during and after Hurricane Katrina, this is all a problem that can quickly spiral out of control with calamitous consequences. Geographers are well suited to contribute to the discourse on health vulnerabilities, especially at the neighborhood-scale, while also potentially providing “real world” insight that can support intervention. This talk will illustrate this point by drawing from ongoing collaborations with clinicians and epidemiologists in Los Angeles. Discussions will include the importance of an intervention-friendly geographic scale for identifying patterns in sexual infections, the role of hotspot analysis to guide diabetes clinicians, how new geospatial technologies can inform context, and the importance of spatial confidentiality.