Mellissa Withers, PhD, MHS
Associate Professor of Clinical Population and Public Health Sciences; Co-Director for the MPH Online Program
Biography
Dr. Mellissa Withers is an Associate Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and is based at the USC Institute for Global Health. She is Director of the Global Health Program of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, a non-profit network of 60 universities in the region.
She earned a PhD in community health sciences from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health with a minor in cultural anthropology. She also holds a Master's in International Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a BA in international development from UC Berkeley.
Her primary research interests lie in community participatory research, mental health, maternal health, gender-based violence, and global sexual and reproductive health.
She teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses in global health, leadership, and ethics.
Publications
Breaking the Cycle of Family Violence: A Critique of Family Violence Interventions.
Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022 May 10;:15248380221098049. doi: 10.1177/15248380221098049. Epub 2022 May 10. PubMed PMID: 35538418;
Engaging youth in global health and social justice: a decade of experience teaching a high school summer course.
Glob Health Action. 2022 Dec 31;15(1):1987045. doi: 10.1080/16549716.2021.1987045. PubMed PMID: 35107409; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8812786.
Perceptions of perinatal depression among low-income mothers and families in Mumbai, India.
Asian J Psychiatr. 2022 May;71:103048. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103048. Epub 2022 Feb 23. PubMed PMID: 35272254;
Mobility restrictions were associated with reductions in COVID-19 incidence early in the pandemic: evidence from a real-time evaluation in 34 countries.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 2;11(1):13717. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-92766-z. Epub 2021 Jul 2. PubMed PMID: 34215764; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8253807.
Needs, gaps and opportunities for standard and e-mental health care among at-risk populations in the Asia Pacific in the context of COVID-19: a rapid scoping review.
Int J Equity Health. 2021 Jul 12;20(1):161. doi: 10.1186/s12939-021-01484-5. Epub 2021 Jul 12. PubMed PMID: 34253198; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8274266.
Courses Taught
- Health and Sustainable Development in Costa Rica
- Overcoming Real World Challenges in Global Health
- Emerging Trends in Global Health: A Public Health Seminar
- Foundations of Public Health
- Global Health Research and Programs
- Organizing and Mobilizing Communities for Public Health
- Directed Research
- Ethical Issues in Public Health
- Culture and Health: Global Perspectives
- Case Studies in Global Health
- Capstone in Public Health