2024-2025 ANNUAL REPORT:✨Our students, faculty, and staff didn’t just study population & public health sciences—they shaped it!
🔍Explore our highlights: research breakthroughs, community partnerships, and incredible achievements.
@KECKSchool_USC@USCstories.keck.usc.edu/pphs242…
Learn what our courses are all about 👀 In Introduction to Data Science with Kelly Street, PhD, students learn how to work with data in R and create data visualization.
Our department ranks #1 in NIH funding in its field (2025 Blue Ridge) and helps drive Keck’s #1 NIH funding per investigator. With 125+ faculty, research spans 12+ countries and partnerships with WHO, UN & LA County.
🔗 Learn more: keck.usc.edu/pphs/
ALT A group of people seated in a circle in a classroom, engaged in conversation. The room has red chairs with attached desks and is well-lit by natural light from a window.
This summer, Michelle Navarette Vega, an MS in Biostatistics student at USC, joined @UTMDAnderson's Cancer Prevention Research Training Program.She applied Bayesian modeling to biomarker data to improve breast cancer risk prediction, now eyeing a PhD in early disease detection.
ALT The image shows an individual standing in front of a poster presentation, which is about "Longitudinal Blood-Based Biomarker Trajectories" concerning breast cancer risk. The poster includes logos for MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas. The individual appears to be at a conference or academic setting.
Our @uscpphs faculty & staff at @keckschool_usc came together for our summer meeting & BBQ! We enjoyed great food and connection, plus a special moment celebrating the retirement of Daniel Stram, PhD. Thank you for your years of dedication to our department, students, and field.
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ALT A group of people seated around a table outdoors, enjoying a picnic. The scene is set in a sunny park with trees and other groups in the background. Some individuals are smiling while holding drinks and plates of food.
ALT A group of people seated around a table outdoors, smiling and enjoying a sunny day under trees. Drinks and snacks are on the table.
ALT A group of people are gathered under a white canopy tent. One person is speaking into a microphone, sitting at a table with food, while others listen attentively. Another individual stands wearing a "USC Equity Research Institute" shirt. The setting appears to be an outdoor event.
Is the soil in your yard safe after the Palisades and Eaton fires? USC researchers have answers.
Our researchers and USC Dornsife’s Public Exchange provide one of the most comprehensive pictures yet of how the fires affected environmental contamination.
today.usc.edu/after-the-pali…
Learn how healthcare systems improve quality, outcomes, and patient care.
In Dr. Sue Kim’s Quality in Health Care course, MPH students explore value-based care, quality outcomes, and how healthcare organizations work together to deliver high-quality care.
Victoria Cortessis, PhD, of @KECKSchool_USC, discusses new research showing people with Type 1 diabetes may face up to a 4x higher risk of bladder cancer. Researchers uncovered a link that could support earlier detection and better outcomes.
Learn more: keck.usc.edu/news/usc-study-…
Global Health Summer @ USC brought together students from around the world for four weeks of hands-on learning, tackling real-world public health challenges through outbreak investigations, research, and global collaboration.
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Population and Public Health Sciences at USC retweeted
Another year of Global Health Governance and Diplomacy in Practice has wrapped! Over the course of two weeks, twelve USC students embarked on a whirlwind tour of the 79th World Health Assembly on the ground in Geneva.
USC cancer researchers Drs. Mariana Stern, Jennifer Tsui, and Kimberly Miller helped lead @AACR's 2026 Cancer Disparities Progress Report, which highlights progress against cancer while underscoring persistent inequities and funding concerns.
keck.usc.edu/news/keck-schoo…
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Dr. Mariana C. Stern of @uscnorris, Steering Committee Chair for the AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report, discusses the research-driven progress in cancer disparities, the obstacles to health equity, and the importance of dedicated federal funding to close the gap in care.
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Population and Public Health Sciences at USC retweeted
Rima Habre, ScD, MS, associate professor of @uscpphs & co-director of the NEXUS Exposomics Center, and her team, recently hosted NIEHS Director Kyle Walsh, PhD, on the NEXUS Exposomics podcast to discuss advancing exposomics at the @NIH.
piped.video/watch?v=lCxI0WYL…
USC student Welela Solomon graduated with degrees in Health Promotion & Global Medicine. Through the Dhablania and Kim Family Global Medicine & Health Fellowship, she’ll travel to Kampala, Uganda, to research barriers to prenatal care and maternal health.
keck.usc.edu/news/usc-studen…
USC student Aaryan Midha graduated w/ degrees in Health Promotion & Global Medicine. Through the Dhablania and Kim Family Global Medicine & Health Fellowship, he’ll travel to Lima to study congenital syphilis & improve outcomes for mothers and infants.
bit.ly/3S4Y5hf
USC student Sophia Dettweiler graduated w/ degrees in Health Promotion & Global Medicine. Through the Dhablania and Kim Family Global Medicine & Health Fellowship, she’ll travel to Kolkata, India, to support menstrual health education & reduce stigma.
bit.ly/3S4Y5hf
How do genetics and diet interact to influence colorectal cancer risk? New research led by PPHS PhD graduate Dr. Joel Sanchez-Mendez sheds light on the genetic factors behind the link between red meat consumption and colorectal cancer.
Full article: aacrjournals.org/cebp/articl…
Your vape flavor changes your genes more than how often you vape. @uscpphs researchers found 66.6% of vaping-related gene changes across 3,124 genes are driven by flavor and device type. Published in Frontiers in Oncology. keck.usc.edu/news/e-cigarett…
Check out our 2025–2026 annual report! Ranked #1 nationally in NIH funding in its field by Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, we continue to advance research & training that address urgent public health challenges locally & globally.
🔗 keck.usc.edu/pphs/annual-rep…
Alumna Nisha Lerdsuwanrut reflects on her environmental health research through EH MATTERS. During the EH MATTERS fellowship, the USC alumna studied how transportation infrastructure and air pollution shape health disparities in Los Angeles communities.
keck.usc.edu/news/alumna-nis…
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