Rita Velikina Burke MPH, PhD

Dr. Rita V. Burke, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Research Surgery and Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and the Division of Pediatric Surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Burke leads all research efforts and provides training in both quantitative and qualitative analysis and evaluation. Previously, she worked at the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, Acute Communicable Control Program and was part of the newly created Bioterrorism Unit. While there, she was integral in creating pandemic influenza plans for Los Angeles County and led the development of their bioterrorism detection systems.

Dr. Burke has over 40 peer-reviewed publications, over 50 abstracts at local, state and national conferences and book chapters. She is the former co-chair of the Research Committee for the Pediatric Trauma Society, the current co-chair for the Los Angeles Children in Disaster Working Group and co-chair of the Disaster and Emergency Response sub-committee of the American Public Health Association. She is a member of the American Public health Association, Society for Epidemiologic Research, the American College of Epidemiology, and the Resuscitation sub-council for the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council. She is the Associate Editor for the peer-reviewed journal Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. She is the Principal Investigator to examine the gaps in preparedness for families with children with access and functional needs as well as another grant that examines the role of faith-based organizations in disaster preparedness.