Israel De Alba

HS Clinical Professor, Step IV, Division of Hospital Medicine & Palliative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine

Biography

Israel De Alba, M.D., M.P.H., is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine & Palliative Medicine, Department of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. He received his M.D. from the University of Guadalajara in Mexico and completed his M.P.H. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health.

De Alba's research has focused on cancer screening disparities among Latino populations, particularly cervical cancer screening barriers and the feasibility of HPV self-sampling methods. He received a Career Development Award from the American Cancer Society and has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on multiple federally funded studies examining cultural barriers to cancer screening and health disparities. His work on citizenship status and cancer screening among immigrant women was recognized as a Best of the Journal of General Internal Medicine article in 2005.

De Alba has held multiple administrative roles at UC Irvine Medical Center, including Utilization Management Physician Advisor and Quality and Safety Officer, and has been an attending physician in the Hospitalist Program since 2002. He served as President of the California Division of the American Cancer Society from 2010 to 2011 and has been a member of the organization's Board of Directors. De Alba has contributed to quality improvement initiatives at UC Irvine Medical Center through Lean Sigma methodology, leading teams focused on pneumonia readmission reduction and pain management improvement.

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Education

M.D., University of Guadalajara, 1989
M.P.H. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Boston University, 2001

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Distinctions

University of California Chancellor's Award for Community Based Participatory Research, 2008
Best Research Abstract in Women's Health, Society of General Internal Medicine 29th Annual Meeting, 2006
The Best of the Journal of General Internal Medicine Article, 2005
Career Development Award, American Cancer Society, 2003
Dare to Do Award, American Cancer Society California Division, 2005

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Areas of Expertise

Hospital Medicine and Quality Improvement
Cervical Cancer Screening Disparities
HPV Self-Sampling Feasibility
Immigrant Health Access Barriers
Physician Burnout Prevention
Hospital Readmission Reduction
Palliative Care Quality Metrics

Recent Publications

De Alba, I, Amin N.A, “Chapter 17. Transitions of Care”, OB/GYN Hospital Medicine: Principles and Practice, McGraw-Hill, 2019.
Ton, E., Butteri, M., De Alba, I., “Closing the Clinical Knowledge Gap: Achieving Collaborative Nursing Education Between Hospitalist and Nurses” (opens in new tab), Curr Emerg Hosp Med Rep, vol. 5, pp. 114, 2017.
De Alba, I., Amin, A., “Evidence-Based Medicine and the Art of Medicine” (opens in new tab), Curr Emerg Hosp Med Rep, vol. 5, pp. 157, 2017.
De Alba I, Amin A, “Hospital Readmissions in Pneumonia Patients: Quality of Care and Cost Containment” (opens in new tab), Current Emergency and Hospital Medicine Reports, vol. 4, pp. 172, 2016.
De Alba I, Amin A, “Pneumonia readmissions: risk factors and implications”, Ochsner J, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 649-54, 2014.
Sorkin D, Ngo-Metzger Q, De Alba I, “Racial/ethnic discrimination in health care: impact on perceived quality of care”, J Gen Intern Med, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 390-6, 2010.
Wenzel L, Reina-Patton A, De Alba I, “Behavioral Interventions in Gynecologic Cancer Prevention”, Handbook of Behavioral Science and Cancer, American Psychological Association, 2008.
De Alba I, Anton-Culver H, Hubbell FA, Ziogas A, Hess JR, Bracho A, Arias C, Manetta A, “Self-sampling for human papillomavirus in a community setting: feasibility in Hispanic women”, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, vol. 17, no. 8, pp. 2163-8, 2008.
De Alba I, Sweningson JM, “English language proficiency and physicians' recommendation of Pap smears among Hispanics”, Cancer Detection and Prevention, vol. 30, pp. 292-296, 2006.
McMullin JM, De Alba I, Chavez LR, Hubbell FA, “Influence of Beliefs about Cervical Cancer Etiology on Pap Smear Use among Latina Immigrants”, Ethnicity and Health, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 13-18, 2005.
De Alba I, Hubbell FA, McMullin JM, Sweningson JM, Saitz R, “Impact of U.S. Citizenship Status on Cancer Screening among Immigrant Women”, J Gen Intern Med, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 290-6, 2005.
De Alba I, Ngo-Metzger Q, Sweningson J, Hubbell FA, “Cervical Cancer Screening in California: Are We Closing the Racial/Ethnic Gap?”, Preventive Medicine, vol. 40, pp. 747-755, 2005.
Wenzel L, De Alba I, Habbal R, Coffey Kluhsman B, Fairclough D, Krebs LU, Anton-Culver H, Berkowitz R, Aziz N, “Quality of Life in Long Term Cervical Cancer Survivors”, Gynecology Oncology, vol. 97, no. 2, pp. 310-7, 2005.
De Alba I, Samet JH, Saitz R, “Burden of Medical Illness in Drug Dependent Persons without Primary Care”, American Journal on Addictions, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 33-45, 2004.
De Alba I, Sweningson JM, Chandy C, Hubbell FA, “Impact of English Language Proficiency on Receipt of Pap Smears among Hispanics”, Journal of General Internal Medicine, vol. 19, pp. 967-70, 2004.
Paredes-Espinoza M, Litman SM, Kavanagh JJ, Delgadillo-Madrueño F, Paredes-Casillas P, Banuelos-Acosta O, Alvarez-Marquez V, Buenrostro-Ahued MA, DeAlba-Ayala I, Arias-Castro, “The treatment of 32 patients with cervical carcinoma with 13-cis retinoic acid and alpha interferon”, Revista de Investigacion Clinica, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 105-11, 1994.
Soler-Rodriguez M, Soneira-Perez J, Fragozo-Lopez R, Riviero-Lopez JC, Perez-Delgado S, Trujillo-Salgado J, Coronado-Magana H, DeAlba-Ayala I, “Nosocomial Pneumonia in the Intensive Care Unit”, Revista de la Asociacion Medica de Jalisco, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 3-7, 1994.

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Contact Information

Email: idealba@uci.edu

Phone: (714) 456-5473

Address: City Tower, Suite 500, Irvine, CA 92697-4076

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Last updated on 5/22/2026.