What is BreatheWell?
BreatheWell creates a healthier, more breathable, and environmentally green campus for our entire community. As a leader in health and health care, as well as environmental research, policy, practice and education, UCLA has a responsibility and commitment to lead the way in reducing tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure for our students, faculty, staff, and visitors. There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke, and in forming a tobacco-free environment, BreatheWell saves lives by cutting down on the leading worldwide cause of preventable death.
Have a question, concern, or an idea? We would like to hear about it!
Email us at: tobaccofree@ucla.edu
BreatheWell Leadership
Michael K. Ong, M.D., Ph.D. BreatheWell Pod Leader
Michael K. Ong, M.D., Ph.D. is as a Professor in Residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests focus on improving the delivery of appropriate and efficient health care by general internal medicine physicians. His research has applied this focus in several areas of general medicine, including hospital-based care, mental health, and tobacco control. He is currently Chair of the State of California Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee, which oversees programs funded by Propositions 99 and 56 including the California Tobacco Control Program.
Nikitha Lakshminarayanan, BreatheWell Undergraduate Pod Assistant
Nikitha Lakshminarayanan is a 4th year Human Biology and Society student with a concentration in Medicine and Public Health. She is the founder and executive director of her own registered nonprofit, Periods with Pride. Her involvement with the Semel Healthy Campus Initiative was prompted by her love for health promotion and health equity. After graduation, she aspires to have a career in Healthcare Administration and was recently a Finance and Operations intern at Northwell Health.
