USC is shattering conventions in health care research, treatment and delivery, creating more equitable systems, modeling world-class care for urban populations and finding cures for intractable diseases — all while training tomorrow’s health leaders.
USC is shattering conventions in health care research, treatment and its delivery, as well as training tomorrow's researchers and practitioners. The goal: to create a more equitable system, create models for the best care and delivery in urban populations globally, and achieve breakthoughs in cures for intractable diseases.
Health equity and data-fueled discovery
Precision medicine is core to a healthier future globally. But, historically, the data it relies on has been gathered in non-diverse settings, making precision medicine less precise overall. At USC, a commitment to health equity and to local communities means the data and experience the university gathers in one of the most diverse metropolitan regions advances precision medicine in important ways.
The National Institute on Aging awarded Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers $3.7 million to explore the link between diabetes and brain health in the understudied Latinx population. Hussein Yassine, MD, will oversee cohort design, recruitment, diabetes assessments, Alzheimer’s disease biomarker assessments and cognitive testing in collaboration with the USC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
The Los Angeles Cancer Surveillance Program’s mission is to reduce the burden of cancer through monitoring and identifying cancer disparities through innovation and support to the California Cancer Registry and global cancer community and to deliver high quality complete and robust data to reduce morbidity and mortality while improving cancer care in all populations.
The USC Diabetes & Obesity Research Institute fosters cutting-edge basic, clinical, and public health research to bring advances in novel discoveries in the laboratory to real-world strategies for obesity and diabetes prevention and treatment at individual, community, national, and global levels.
The Herting NeuroImaging Laboratory uses advanced neuroimaging techniques to investigate how the brain develops during childhood and adolescence. Our research focuses on both internal and external risk factors, like hormones, air pollution, and physical activity on brain outcomes like structure, function, cognition, and mental health.
Arthur Toga’s Laboratory of Neuro Imaging has been working on the creation of three dimensional digital neuroanatomic and functional neuroanatomic atlases for stereotactic localization and multisubject comparison. Specific programs include the development of local deformation techniques to equate brain data sets from different modalities and different subjects and the development of electronic data bases for the archival, interaction and distribution of brain data.
Collaborative and interdisciplinary approach
USC’s emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration is at the core of the university’s approach to creating a healthier future for all, including solving puzzles at the root of disease. The university has aligned research, education and clinical treatments to maximize impact, bringing seven schools under USC’s Health Sciences practice so we can address health holistically — from medical, social and research vectors.
Health Sciences Schools
Working Together Nets Greater Results
Cross-discipline efforts bring fresh perspectives to some of our most vexing problems. USC is built around the intersections of knowledge and discovery, creating a culture of collaboration in the lab and the classroom.
Health innovation minor makes an intersectional impact
The multidisciplinary program will position students at the forefront of health and wellness — not only to anticipate, but actively engage with the problems, policies, needs, and technological developments that will define the space’s future.
Proposed building offers a blueprint for improving community health
The Discovery and Translational Hub, a seven-story building proposed for the USC Health Sciences Campus, seeks to unite interdisciplinary research teams to fast-track discoveries and address the health concerns of adjacent communities.
USC awarded grant for transdisciplinary workforce development program
The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and the USC Institute for Addiction Science will provide students from underrepresented communities with stipend and internship opportunities in substance use disorder treatment.
USC to lead interdisciplinary project to predict psychological health risk factors
USC Viterbi’s Shri Narayanan will bring together an interdisciplinary team of USC and UCLA researchers to work on the mental health project.
The surprising impact of a physical therapist on gender-affirming surgery
Pre-and post-operative physical therapy treatment can improve gender-affirming surgical outcomes, giving transgender individuals a chance to get back to the activities they love.
USC Roski Eye Institute faculty members use AI with aim of revolutionizing patient care
Physicians Melinda Chang and Benjamin Xu are exploring the use of AI to automate clinical tasks.
USC Michelson Center celebrates 3 state-of-the-art research facilities
The latest cutting-edge facilities at the center bring together researchers from the university’s engineering and medical schools and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Your brain on air pollution
Researchers across USC have joined forces to uncover the connection between the air we breathe and lifelong brain health.
High-tech map promotes access to medicine and pharmacy services
A USC-developed interactive mapping tool shows the location of every pharmacy in the United States — and which neighborhoods are “pharmacy deserts.”
USC chapter of Dialogue Society focuses on outreach to older adults
Joining forces with existing chapters at UCLA and UCI, the USC chapter focuses on student outreach to older adults, including those living in senior communities.
It takes two: Research synergy links L.A. biomedical pillars
Team science takes on a new dimension with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
New Master of Addiction Science seeks to revolutionize addiction treatment
The USC Institute for Addiction Science (IAS) aims to revolutionize the way substance use is discussed, treated and prevented through a new master's degree, the first degree of its kind to be offered at a major university, melding pharmaceutical, medicine and social work together.
Facilitating global networks for discovery
USC’s collaborative culture fuels knowledge sharing far beyond the university, with the goal of helping researchers worldwide build on one another’s work. The Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network (GAAIN), created by USC’s Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI) and funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, has developed the first integrated research platform that links scientists, shared data and sophisticated analysis tools in an effort to address Alzheimer’s through massive shared data sets.
Revolutionizing health care through technology and innovation
Discover how USC is transforming the fields of health research and services to improve quality of life around the world. Our pioneering work leads the way in patient care, medical research and health care education.
Solving real-world problems with virtual reality
USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies is one real-world example of our commitment to using our multidisciplinary research to develop advanced prototypes and pilot projects that solve real-world problems. For United States Military Academy West Point cadet, Jareth Long-Garrett that means Bravemind, a program that uses virtual reality technology to help treat post-traumatic stress.
A guide for cancer care
Peter Kuhn, director of the Convergent Science Institute in Cancer, has set out to create a roadmap on how to treat cancer. Kuhn’s research team in physics oncology has discovered new ways of how cancer spreads to the human body and they are now using that data to better understand how to create a game plan for patient care.
Nanotechnologies can solve medical needs
The Biomedical Microsystems Laboratory was established by Dr. Ellis Meng and focuses on developing novel micro- and nanotechnologies for biomedical applications. Her tireless work has led to significant advancements in addressing medical needs of the community and the world.
Artificial intelligence and rehabilitation
Francisco Valero-Cuevas holds a robotic hand he and his lab, Valero Lab, helped developed. The Valero Lab works to understand how human mobility works using robotics and artificial intelligence. This research translates into real technology, like the robotic hand, that improves people’s everyday lives.
Connecting medicine and engineering
To develop safe and effective cures for human diseases, we need reliable models of human tissues to establish the underlying biology. Bridging medical research and engineering, The Laboratory for Living Systems Engineering works to engineer micro-scale mimics of native healthy and diseased human tissues that provide meaningful physiological outputs and are scalable for other applications.
Early Detection in Alzheimer’s
The key to treating and managing many brain diseases is to catch them early, before symptoms even appear. For researchers like Paul Thompson at the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, they believed they could discover hidden factors of diseases using machine learning technology. Calling in the help of USC computer science research assistant professor Greg Ver Steeg, researchers studied how using machine learning to identify potential blood-based markers of Alzheimer’s disease.
