President Folt outlines her plan for a more sustainable USC
In a speech to green business and civic leaders, USC President Carol L. Folt described how USC plans to transform into a haven for sustainable strategies.
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Women win the night at USC Libraries Scripter Awards
Greta Gerwig’s film Little Women and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s television series Fleabag were both recognized at the 32nd annual ceremony, as was author Susan Orlean.
Meet the researcher pioneering medical testing using paper and nail polish
USC Viterbi’s Maral Mousavi wants to make medical diagnostics more accessible and affordable.
KTTV-TV
Blue light technology poised to deliver significant advancement in bladder cancer detection
A new procedure in use by Keck Medicine of USC flows diagnosis of bladder cancer in minutes, right in the exam room and without general anesthesia. Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer among men.
Forbes
Who’s really at risk for poor heart health due to work burnout?
Here’s another reason to use those vacation days: A USC study finds that individuals who regularly suffered from significant stress and exhaustion from their jobs are at greater risk of experiencing irregular heartbeats.
Los Angeles Times
How Telemundo founder Frank Cruz blazed path for himself and others
Frank Cruz always told other people’s stories. Now, the USC trustee tells all in his memoir about his days as a reporter, Telemundo co-founder and everything in between.
Forbes
‘Digital crack cocaine’: The science behind TikTok’s success
USC’s Julie Albright notes TikTok users sometimes see things they like (which provides a dopamine hit in the brain) and sometimes they don’t. Getting this occasional stimulation — similar to the sporadic payoffs on a slot machine — is key to its addictive power and success.
Salon
Lead poisoning hits low-income children harder than their affluent neighbors
A new study led by USC’s Elizabeth Sowell shows that two factors — lead exposure and poverty — may be interacting to further impair cognition and brain development in children.
Marketplace.org
Unaffordable housing and slower job growth go hand in hand
USC’s Gary Painter notes that California cities are experiencing an exodus of workers who can’t afford to live close to available jobs. “Newly-graduated college graduates who are looking to work in growing sectors are actually making decisions, now, to live elsewhere,” he says.
MarketWatch
Burnout could be deadly for your heart
A Keck School of Medicine of USC study of more than 11,000 people suggests an association between feeling burned out, and having an irregular heartbeat — which could lead to blood clots, stroke, heart attack and other potentially fatal cardiac complications.
The New York Times
Air pollution, evolution and the fate of billions of humans
It’s not just a modern problem: Airborne toxins may have shaped our DNA over millions of years. But USC’s Caleb Finch and a colleague speculate that our evolutionary legacy may have increased our vulnerability to diseases linked to air pollution.
Inside Higher Education
Migrants’ value to their businesses
USC Dornsife international relations expert Ben Graham discusses why Immigrants could be the key to staying ahead of China.
The Wall Street Journal
A new approach to cancer treatment draws lessons from Darwin
“Adaptive therapy” uses principles of evolution to try to manage cancer as a chronic condition. “It really is a radically different way of approaching things,” says USC’s David Agus.
KABC-TV
Emotional farewell for USC’s Earl Paysinger, a longtime LAPD assistant chief
After a 41-year career with the Los Angeles Police Department, Paysinger joined the university as its vice president of civic engagement, strengthening community outreach and involvement in USC’s neighborhoods.
PBS NewsHour
Why millennials are leaving organized religion, and where they’re turning
USC’s Diane Winston says it’s no surprise that young people have lost trust in religious institutions: “Their scandals, the sexuality improprieties, these problems of … pedophilia, of sexism, of misogyny. Why would you want to give your time and money to an institution that countenances or protects people who do these kinds of things?”
Wuhan Novel Coronavirus: Jan. 28 update from USC Student Health
Health experts offer information and advice regarding the ongoing situation.
Trojans well-represented among nominees, winners at Grammy Awards
Sunday’s ceremony brought two first-time wins for USC Thornton Composition faculty member Andrew Norman and alumna Nadia Shpachenko.
Obesity, second to smoking as the most preventable cause of U.S. deaths, needs new approaches
A USC health economist notes how smoking among U.S. adults plunged after policy changes led to tactics including education, cigarette taxes and smoke-free public spaces.
New virtual consults make it easier to diagnose and treat student skin issues
USC Student Health now offers virtual consults, which means physicians can send photos of students’ skin issues to a dermatologist and speed up care considerably.
Neighborhood Academic Initiative students prepare for the next phase of their journey: college
Parents and graduating students from South and East L.A. shared breakfast and reminisced about their seven-year path through USC’s premier college prep program.
‘Dabbing’ teens more likely to keep using cannabis and increase its use
USC-led study finds that, although the total number of high schoolers who were dabbing was low, those adolescents had nearly six times the likelihood of continuing to use concentrates.
Mental health-related ER visits are increasing among teens and young adults
According to research from the USC Schaeffer Center, emergency department visits for mental health reasons have grown substantially since 2009, primarily in patients between 10 and 25 years old.
Rising sea levels could force millions of Americans to cities
A new USC Viterbi study projecting climate change-driven migration has found that 13 million people could be forced to relocate inland by 2100.
Earth scientists and AI researchers join forces to better predict our climate future
Paleoclimatology data — which contains the details of our climate history — can be messy. That’s why USC’s scientists and AI experts have teamed up on a new platform to standardize it for research, analysis and prognostication.
Polluted river sparks first-gen student’s dreams of environmental change
Juan Pablo de los Rios grew up on both the Mexican and American sides of the Rio Grande, which became a dumping ground for toxic waste. As a chemistry grad student at USC Dornsife, he hopes to one day clean that river and others like it.
A Trojan’s 12-year odyssey from fine arts to electrical engineering
Randi Burley went from struggling student to community artist to aspiring engineer at USC Viterbi. The L.A. native shares her story, in her own words.
For brain tumor patients who have to be readmitted, hospital choice is key
Research from the Keck School of Medicine of USC has found that readmission to a hospital where surgeons perform a high volume of brain surgeries can increase a patient’s odds of staying alive and avoiding complications.
USC’s dental hygiene program transforms to serve a new generation of students
The Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC has reshaped its dental hygiene program to focus more on collaboration, adapt to new technology and better prepare graduates for an ever-evolving world.
Stand-up comedian bounces back from six bedbound years, thanks to USC team
Eddie Barojas was confined to a bed for years after developing a severe lymphedema. Today — thanks to a team of physical therapists, occupational therapists, urologists and wound-care specialists — he’s back on his feet and ready to return to comedy.
Trojans discuss impact of Martin Luther King Jr. at celebratory event
Students, faculty and staff gather to remember the civil rights leader and consider the impact his work has had on the nation.
How language evolves — and ‘they’ became the word of the decade
Language changes as culture changes, and in the 2010s pronouns were the words on center stage. A doctoral student in linguistics at USC Dornsife examines how that came to be.
Why aren’t we tackling climate change like we did Y2K?
Two decades after billions were spent to fix the Y2K bug, that same fervor has not been directed toward solving climate change. That said, USC Dornsife professors believe lessons can still be learned from the panic of 1999.
US and Iran have a long, troubled history
A USC expert in international relations notes that the two nations have had a difficult relationship going back to 1953, when the U.S. helped overthrow Iran’s democracy-minded prime minister.
USC’s 2020 football schedule announced
Lineup features six home games in the Coliseum, with visits from Notre Dame, Washington, Arizona State, California, Colorado and New Mexico.
USC Annenberg’s Manuel Castells appointed Spain’s minister of universities
The University Professor and Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society will oversee policymaking and funding for Spain’s 50 public universities.
How do sea stars move without a brain? The answer could impact robotics and more
What USC researchers have uncovered about sea star locomotion could help scientists design simpler decentralized systems for all sorts of devices.
As an Alzheimer’s crisis looms, the director of USC’s aging institute focuses on prevention
María Aranda will bring her expertise as a researcher and a social worker to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Task Force on Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness.
Physical therapy restores some control lost to prostate cancer treatment
Patient Richard Johannesen shares how USC physical therapist Daniel Kirages helped him deal with the effects of cancer therapy.