Hello everyone!

I have been back in LA for the past month now and still can't really believe that I'm back in school! The UCLA fall quarter started last Thursday, and it was great being back in the classroom. Although it's a far cry from life at the Asian Liver Center this past summer, I'm glad to be finishing up my degree.

This quarter, I'm taking one class on nutrition and physical activity and seeing how that correlates with obesity. Another class will focus on health policy as it pertains to the aging population. I'm actually very interested in how this class progresses because the professor promised some emphasis on the current issue of national health care reform. In addition to these two courses, I'm taking two seminars. One is the epidemiology of aging and the other is the epidemiology of cancer. I've tried to take more classes focused on chronic disease this quarter to expand upon the knowledge that I gained this summer.  Hopefully it all comes in handy!

Other than classes, I'm excited to meet up with Andy, an undergraduate student at UCLA, sometime in the near future to discuss plans for starting a UCLA chapter of TeamHBV. I'm sure we will have lots to learn from one another, and I'm hoping we can spread awareness about hepatitis B and liver cancer. I can't wait to head back up to Stanford for the TeamHBV conference that is happening in November. I think it will be a learning experience for both me and Andy as we share with all of the other chapters what we're hoping to accomplish.

Lastly, I must say that I am loving the Twitter integration on the EastVillagers website...Props to EV!

Much love from LA,

Alison :)