Research Interests:
* Asthma
Epidemiology: The prevalence and severity of asthma world-wide.
Implementation Science: Using clinical tools that measure asthma control to improve outcomes
* Tobacco Control
Implementation Science: Targeting physicians to reduce the use of Tobacco in Developing Countries
* Patient Reported Outcomes (e.g., Asthma Control, Health Related Quality of Life)
* Training in Clinical Translational Research Worldwide and its impact on the quality of research

Cecilia M. Patino-Sutton is a Medical Doctor trained in Allergy and Clinical Immunology and in Medical Education at the School of Medicine, National University of Cordoba, Argentina. During 17 years she worked as a clinical practitioner and had was appointed in the Department of Histology, Cellular Biology and Embryology where she taught 2nd year medical students. She then continued her training in clinical research and epidemiology at the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Johns Hopkins University (Fellowship), and University of Southern California (PhD), respectively.

As a researcher she has been involved in describing the burden of Allergic Rhinitis, Eczema, and Asthma in children and adults in Argentina as well as asthma specific mortality rates. These studies lead to actively promoting Asthma guidelines during the 1990's for the treatment and management of this chronic respiratory disease nation-wide. She was also involved in describing the high prevalence of tobacco use among Argentine generalist and specialists, and its association with knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards tobacco use. These studies lead to a country wide campaign against tobacco use among medical doctors and to the first restrictive policies of tobacco use within medical professional venues.

In the United States, she has focused on Provider-Patient communication about asthma control during the clinical encounter in diverse populations (Caucasian, African-American and Hispanic) and its’ effect on poor asthma control; as well as accurately measuring patient reported outcomes such as asthma control and general and health specific quality of life. She has maintained her interest in education and is currently an Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and the Director of Education of the Southern California Clinical Translational Science Institute at USC where she has been involved in developing curriculum for graduate students and clinically oriented professionals focused on a research career in promoting and accelerating research across the translational spectrum.

She takes great pride in being part of a global educational program MECOR (Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operational Research) for developing countries sponsored by the American Thoracic Society; and has been teaching clinical research methodology in English, Spanish and Portuguese to health care providers interested in respiratory diseases across Latin America, Africa, and Turkey for the past 15 years.