Socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in health will be in the spotlight as public health professionals gather Thursday, March 13, at the University of California, Davis, for a preview screening of a new documentary and an expert panel discussion.

The event, which is part of the annual meeting of the California Public Health Association-North, will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Medical Science Building 1C, Lecture Hall 180, at UC Davis. It is free and open to the public.

"After three decades of research, the evidence is in and it clearly indicates that the social conditions in which we are born, live and work have a greater impact on health and longevity than health habits, genes, or medical care," said David R. Gibson, professor emeritus of public health sciences and coordinator for the event. "It is time for public-health professionals and the public to confront the extent to which stressful work conditions, sharp disparities in wealth and income, and racial/ethnic discrimination affect the health and well-being of our citizens."

The extent of health inequalities will be revealed during a sneak preview of parts of the documentary "Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?" The four-hour, seven-part series was produced by California Newsreel with Vital Pictures Inc. and presented to the Public Broadcasting Service by the National Minority Consortia of Public Television. It is scheduled to air in late March. More information about the documentary is available online at http://www.unnaturalcauses.org.

Keynote speaker S. Leonard Syme, a professor emeritus of epidemiology and community health at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, will introduce the documentary. Syme was one of the first investigators to study the social determinants of health and is an internationally recognized authority who has trained many of the leading experts in the field.

A panel discussion will follow the documentary preview. In addition to Syme, panel members will be Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, a UC Davis professor of medicine and director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities, and Calvin Freeman, a consultant and former director of the Office of Multicultural Health at the California Department of Health Services.

The event, which will include catering and beverages, is sponsored by UC Davis' Department of Public Health Sciences and Center for Reducing Health Disparities, the California Department of Public Health, and the California Public Health Association-North. More information about the association's annual meeting is available online at http://www.cphan.org/annual.html.

To reach Medical Science Building 1C at UC Davis, take Interstate 80 to Highway 113 and drive north toward Woodland. Exit at Hutchison Drive and turn right onto Hutchison. At the first light, turn right onto Health Sciences Drive. Continue straight ahead past the stop sign into Parking Lot 56. Medical Science 1C is the one-storied building at the south end of the parking lot. Parking permits, costing $6 per vehicle, can be purchased from an attendant in the parking lot.

News media representatives should place a media business card on the driver's side of the dashboard to park free.