Conference Dates March 8th 2009 March 9th 2009 March 10th 2009 March 11th 2009 March 12th 2009 Mauricio Hernandez-Avila   List of Abstracts Dealing with the tobacco industry in going smoke-free.   About the Author Name Mauricio Hernandez-Avila Country Mexico   C.V. Mauricio Hernandez-Avila, MD, MPH, PhD Dr. Hernandez-Ávila earned his medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1980 and completed his residency in pathology at the Salvador Zubiran National Institute of Health Sciences and Nutrition (INNSZ) in 1982. Additionally, he studied applied statistics at the Applied Mathematics and Systems Research Institute (UNAM, 1984). He earned a Master’s degree (1984) and a Doctoral degree (1988) both of Science in Epidemiology, from the Harvard School of Public Health. He became Director of the Center for Epidemiological Surveillance of Chronic Illnesses and Accidents at the Mexican Ministry of Health (1988-1991). In 1991, he was appointed Director of the Center for Public Health Research of the National Institute of Public Health (INSP). In 2004, he was appointed Executive Director of the INSP, a position he held until December 2006 when President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa appointed him as Mexico’s Undersecretary of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Dr. Hernandez is a researcher of national and international prestige; he has authored at least 215 published scientific articles, six books, and 45 book chapters. He has been invited to over 186 national and international scientific events and he is a member of some very prestigious National and International Associations. As Director of the INSP he achieved important results. During his administration he undertook a broad initiative to improve training in public health and other academic programs. The outcome of this process was the accreditation of the Institution by the Council on Education for Public Health, becoming the first member of the Association of Schools of Public Health from outside the U.S. In 1996, he received the Miguel Aleman Award for young scientists in the area of health and he has been distinguished as a Level III National Researcher of the National Researchers System (the highest level). In 2005, he received the Alumni Merit Award from the Harvard School of Public.