Meet Meredith Franklin, PhD, Director of master’s programs in public health data science and biostatistics. Meet our other directors on YouTube.
What is your history with USC, and what is your expertise?
“I started at USC in [the year] 2010. I came in as an assistant professor right after a post-doc in Chicago, and I have been working here in the Division of Biostatistics. My expertise is in spatial statistics, and so I do a lot of work in environmental research – specifically linking spatial statistics and environmental health applications.”
What do you enjoy most about being a program director?
“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the students. I think that’s really been a pleasure, to meet the students. I usually meet with them one-on-one at least once during the program, and I often have several interactions with them. So it’s really been nice to get to know the students in our program, and to see them, you know, get through the program and grow and go onto jobs or further grad school. So that’s probably my favorite part.”
What do you like to do outside of work?
“I’ve historically been a runner, so I really like to exercise to relax in my own downtime. I do quite a bit of yoga. And now I have a young child, so a lot of my spare time has sort of been, you know, playing, and doing more kid stuff. So I’ve been doing a lot of that recently too. And I like to travel. Traveling is always a pleasure for me, so I do quite a bit of travel when I get the chance.”