What if silent heart attacks could be diagnosed at home?
USC researchers are creating a new approach to detecting heart attacks that will allow patients to get potentially lifesaving treatment earlier.
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Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. during a moment of racial reckoning
USC experts examine the civil rights leader’s life and legacy amid protests for racial justice and riots aimed at disrupting democracy.
The inauguration of Joe Biden: Can he bring together a fractured America?
With COVID-19 spreading, unemployment rising and insurrection in our nation’s capital, the 46th president will have his work cut out for him. USC experts examine the many challenges Biden will face.
Pioneering professors’ innovations make the most of remote learning
President Carol L. Folt sits down with Emily Nix, whose teaching hack generated more than 100,000 social media views, and Jack Feinberg, who revolutionized the way lab experiments are carried out.
COVID-19 reduced U.S. life expectancy, especially among Black and Latino populations
Americans’ life expectancy at birth is projected to shorten by 1.13 years, the largest single-year decline in at least four decades, according to USC researchers.
MarketWatch.com
The U.S. is overlooking a powerful tool to loosen the COVID-19 vaccine logjam
Local pharmacies are ideally suited for the job, notes Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos of the USC School of Pharmacy. For starters, they’re convenient — and neighborhood pharmacists often already have a relationship with their customers.
Business Insider
Months after George Floyd’s death, companies are still ‘diversity washing’ instead of making actual changes
While some companies are making real progress, an op-ed from USC Marshall’s Susan Harmeling and a colleague issues a warning: Some overtures may be nothing more than slogans for an Instagram feed or cynical marketing opportunities.
U.S. News & World Report
Stressed out in lockdown, America’s young adults are overeating
Nearly half of those surveyed said they were using food to cope with the pandemic, said Tyler Mason of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. And women were more likely to be doing so.
KNBC-TV
USC will be able to conduct 100,000 COVID-19 tests per week this spring
It’s a huge jump from fall’s 5,000 tests per week. Most results will be ready on the same day as the test.
Los Angeles Daily News
L.A. County cities face a tough task if serious about own public health departments
Only a handful of L.A. County cities have their own health departments. Those that might want to set one up face an uphill battle for staff, funding, accreditation and more, says USC Price’s Howard Greenwald.
The New York Times
What’s between 30 million Americans and an eviction tsunami?
USC Price’s Gary Painter proposes that the government finance 10-year, low-interest loans so tenants can pay their accrued back rent — a program ideally subsidized and negotiated with landlords.
CNN
As COVID-19 cases surge, health care workers say PPE is still a struggle
California hospitals fared better in the beginning of the pandemic and were able to stockpile PPE early on as they watched what was unfolding in the Northeast, notes Sunny Jha of the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Foster youth face enough hardships — the path to college shouldn’t be one of them
Transition to adulthood is much more complex for foster youth compared to those growing up outside the foster care system, write Rachel Kuebler and Rachelle Rivera, graduate students at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.
Variety
USC screen scoring diversity scholarship expands opportunities for Black composers
Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Bleeding Fingers Music have established a Screen Scoring Diversity Scholarship for Black composition students at the USC Thornton School of Music. The scholarship is funded by a gift from Quincy Jones and will cover the full cost of the school’s Screen Scoring master’s program.
Psychology Today
New AI predicts movie ratings before filming
The machine learning model, which analyzes language data in a movie script, was developed by USC researchers in collaboration with a UCLA colleague.
KCET
Even with museums closed, art finds a way through public spaces
Art can help us make sense of these charged, complex and difficult times, says USC Dornsife’s Enrique Martínez Celaya. And Amelia Jones of the USC Roski School of Art and Design notes that art displayed in public needs to reflect the current conditions — not just be plunked down without context.
NPR
FDA advisory panel rejects controversial Alzheimer’s drug
USC Alzheimer’s expert Lon Schneider says the panel made the right call in rejecting aducanumab. Studies showed the drug’s impact to be insignificant at best.
Metal found in cigarettes linked to higher death rates in people with flu or pneumonia
Cadmium — which can be found in food as well — could also contribute to poorer outcomes for people with COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses, a USC study finds.
No gym? No problem — USC Rec Sports brings stretches and squats to your home
On-demand and live online classes come right to students, faculty and staff, even during winter break. Choose from yoga, cardio and more, all at a deep discount.
Jacob Vogel ready to become new USC Trojan Marching Band director
The Southern California native will take over direction of the band on Jan. 1, 2021, after four years as its associate director and arranger.
New equity, civil rights and Title IX role is ‘key bridge’ to Keck Medicine of USC
As a health care-focused deputy coordinator with the Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX, Nicoli Richardson will ensure compliance with federal, state and local anti-discrimination laws.
Even before the pandemic, struggling L.A. renters cut back on food, clothes and transportation
Researchers with the USC Sol Price Center for Social Innovation say that rent-burdened households’ spending cutbacks have become semi-permanent changes, impacting their quality of life.
Young adults who identify as Republicans more often ignore COVID-19 safety precautions
From infrequently social distancing to visiting more indoor venues, a new USC study finds that young Republicans are more likely than their peers to disregard public health recommendations.
Keck Hospital of USC receives another ‘A’ safety grade
The rating — which follows previous ”A“ grades in spring 2020 and fall 2019 — places the hospital among the safest in the United States.
Professors go remote to engage students in 2020
USC professors stepped up in some pretty creative ways to serve their students during the pandemic. Meet a few of them and see how they did it.
Using campus downtime to get ahead on water conservation
With most buildings essentially clear of classes and students, the university takes a forward leap in sustainability by installing touch-free, water-saving faucets.
Edward Perkins, 92, first Black U.S. ambassador to South Africa and USC Price alum
Perkins, who received both his master’s and his PhD from USC, also worked as a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
What you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine
Keck Medicine of USC is preparing for distribution of the vaccine, which is expected to begin next week and will be prioritized for people with the greatest need.
How sucrose, the ‘real’ sugar commonly found in sodas, can disrupt your appetite
Sugar-sweetened drinks interfere with the hunger-suppressing hormones that signal a sense of feeling full, a new USC study finds.
To make online learning easier, USC’s college prep program gets tech-savvy
The Neighborhood Academic Initiative realized early in the pandemic that innovative learning tools would be needed to educate its scholars, leading a new team of “tech innovators” to make lightboards a top priority.
Alex Olmedo, 84, former USC tennis NCAA champ and Grand Slam winner
The two-time NCAA champion in singles and doubles led the USC men’s tennis team to the 1958 NCAA title and then won three Grand Slam titles.
Dennis Ralston, 78, former USC tennis NCAA champ and Grand Slam winner
He helped USC win NCAA and conference men’s tennis team titles in 1962, 1963 and 1964, and also captured the NCAA singles and doubles crowns in 1963 and 1964.
The Electoral College is surprisingly vulnerable to popular vote changes
Under certain circumstances the Electoral College system is four times more vulnerable to manipulation than a national popular vote, USC Dornsife’s Steven Heilman observes.
Joe Árvai aims to grow USC’s Wrigley Institute into a true sustainability hub
The new director of USC’s environmental research institute wants to leverage all of USC Dornsife’s unique strengths to help ensure a more livable future.
What history tells us about the long-term effects of a pandemic
USC research showed that people born during or just after the 1918 flu pandemic faced increased heart disease risk more than 60 years later. The legacy of COVID-19 could be worse.
To better understand diabetes, scientists gaze inside insulin-producing pancreatic cells
A USC-led team has developed advanced imaging techniques that allow for a uniquely detailed glimpse inside the body’s insulin factories.
High-stress emergencies have a long-lasting impact on ER doctors — longer than expected
As COVID-19 surges and patients pile into emergency rooms, researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC emphasize that even the quickest medical emergencies can have serious aftereffects.
Prison Education Project brings poetry, philosophy and physics to the incarcerated
USC Dornsife faculty and students teach university-level coursework to California prisoners in an effort to reduce recidivism rates and break down stereotypes.
3 USC Viterbi professors named National Academy of Inventors fellows
Keith Chugg, Jay Kuo and Gerald Loeb join this year’s list of 175 distinguished academic inventors.
Social work research expands on behavioral health effects of COVID-19
Professors at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work are investigating how the pandemic is affecting our mental well-being and working to develop strategies for recovery.
How remote learning is making educational inequities worse
Students of color from low-income households report lower levels of schoolwork completion and class engagement, two important predictors of academic achievement, two USC experts find.