Social Impact Posts
World Drowning Prevention Day: USC Faculty hosts Splash Camp
Lake Victoria is the world’s second largest freshwater lake. While it greatly contributes to the blue economy of the East African region, it is also the site of thousands of drownings each year. July 25 is World Drowning Prevention Day. This year, for the second time,...
Youth Ambassador Program: Community-led Research in Uganda
The pandemic provided an opportunity for many people to develop new skills, change careers, or even go back to school. This was true for Heather Wipfli, PhD, and her USC GRIT Lab which carries out public health research and service activities in low- and middle-income...
Why are the law and human rights important to population and public health?
According to Sofia Gruskin, JD, MIA, professor of population and public health sciences, the pandemic raised awareness of inequalities around human rights and social justice issues—especially their intersection with public health. The director of the USC Institute on...
USC PhD Candidate Teams Up with the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer to Catalogue Cancer Survivorships Services
For cancer survivors, the quality and availability of survivorship services is crucial to addressing their health needs following treatment. Researchers from the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences of Keck School of Medicine, Kimberly A. Miller, PhD,...
Staff Spotlight: Meet Yara Tapia, an Advocate for Efficient HIV Prevention Care Systems
Speaking to Yara Tapia, it is easy to hear her passion and extensive experience around sexual health advocacy. Tapia is a former HIV testing counsellor who advocates for equity in mental and sexual health. “I want to provide folks with the tools to understand HIV...
Maternal Health in Southern Africa
For many women around the world, pregnancy is a time of discovery. Routine screenings aim to protect mothers and their fetuses from infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis. Jeffrey Klausner, MD, MPH, clinical...
Expanding the Evidence Base on Reproductive Health
In the last 10 years, there are only 3 countries in the world that have gone backwards on abortion: El Salvador, Poland, and the United States. Every other country has been static, or has taken steps to decriminalize or legalize abortion because of the realization of...
Stand Up To Cancer has awarded USC Norris a $550,000 Grant to Help Diverse Populations Access Cancer Clinical Trials
USC faculty member wins Award of Excellence for emergency preparedness
Associate Professor Rita Burke, PhD, MPH, has been selected as a 2022 recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Business and Industry Council for Emergency Planning and Preparedness (BICEPP). The organization is a non-profit association in emergency management...
USC student wins American Association of Public Health student award
Isabella Hernandez is a 2022 recipient of the Public Health Education and Health Promotion (PHEHP) Student Award from the American Public Health Association (APHA).
A mental health superhero takes the White House
Carla Ibarra’s heart still skips a beat when she recalls her trip to Washington D.C. this past May. The MPH candidate visited the White House as part of MTV’s first Mental Health Youth Action Forum. There, she met with Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, First Lady Dr. Jill...