Ariel Caballero, the night's keynote speaker, told the donors in attendance how the Good Neighbors Campaign-funded "After 'Cool" program helped transform his life. Caballero credits that program -- organized by the 24th Street Theatre, located several blocks from the USC University Park Campus -- with giving him the confidence he needed for college.

"I remember when I started with the program: I was really shy and I really struggled with making friends," he said. "I started forming special bonds with my mentors, who encouraged me to take risks and advised me that that I could do whatever I set my mind to.

"This helped me out a lot, and I really noticed a change in my self-confidence."

The program had such an impact on Caballero that he became a mentor himself, joining the program's Teen Leadership Academy; it was his way of giving back and also paying it forward.

"My kids deserve support, much like I did when I was in their place," he said.

President Folt praises the Good Neighbors Campaign

USC President Carol L. Folt described how the Good Neighbors Campaign builds a special bond between university employees and the families living in the neighborhoods surrounding the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.

Folt, attending her first Good Neighbors Campaign celebration since becoming USC president earlier this year, was inspired by those in attendance and pledged to be a 1% donor herself. The campaign, which takes place every fall, is now underway, with awards granted in the spring.

Now entering its 25th year, the Good Neighbors Campaign has generated more than $25 million and awarded over 800 grants to local community programs. This year, the campaign is funding more than 50 education, arts, family and safety programs that support the communities surrounding the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.

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California in the 1970s and '80s turned out to be a good place for Carol L. Folt to find herself. Akron, Ohio, would always be her hometown, but the creative energy in California had called the college student west. In her early 20s, she saw California as "the coolest place in the world." Every sunrise offered possibility.

What would she learn from her research in the lakes and streams on the other side of those mountains? What discoveries would she make?

Today, years after she started her academic journey in California, Folt is back in her adopted home state -- now as the experienced, yet still insatiably curious, new president of the University of Southern California.

College Days

Walk into the president's office in the Bovard Administration Building, and Folt will greet you with a welcoming smile. Light streams in through gauzy Roman blinds.

Folt types at a standing desk if she can steal a moment between meetings, or more likely after the business day is over. She loves to get out of the office to talk with students, faculty, staff -- finding out what excites them, what matters to them and what they want to change.

"My first year is going to be all about meeting and listening to people," she says, "and moving things forward at the same time."

That comes as no surprise. Talk about Folt with colleagues, and they mention common elements: She is energetic, listens curiously, gathers facts carefully, brings people together to solve problems and builds community. These traits stretch far back, even before her beginnings as a scientist and faculty leader.

One of five children, Folt grew up in a big family including her mother's parents, hard-working immigrants from Albania. Her mom and dad, chemists who met at the B.F. Goodrich Co. in Ohio, emphasized education. "I was raised in a family where I was told I could do anything if I tried hard enough. They didn't place limits on our dreams, and I think that was enormously important," she says. "My parents nurtured science, experimentation and creativity. We'd march off to the art museum every month; we'd go to the library every week."

After high school, she followed one of her brothers to Ohio State University. But she felt adrift and left after a year. Ready for adventure, she packed up and drove across the country with a friend to Santa Barbara City College, her gateway to the University of California.

Those were busy days. She paid for her tuition and rent by waitressing 20 to 30 hours a week, serving seafood at Moby Dick Restaurant on the wharf.

"The time I spent in a classroom brought me great moments of joy, in part because I had to really work to get there," Folt says. "School felt like a privilege."

After initial forays in studio art, Folt transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara, and explored different disciplines. When she took courses in biology, something clicked. Even though she was one student in a sea of hundreds, the instructors' passion for science was contagious. "The idea that I could design an experiment that would maybe answer a question that no one -- in the history of the world -- had ever answered? It was just so stimulating," she says.

She found her future in biology, and with the nation embracing environmentalism (Earth Day was born in 1970), Folt was drawn into the burgeoning field of ecology and environmental science. Nothing made her happier than carrying buckets and nets through muddy streams to conduct experiments with classmates. She would go on to study plankton and other aquatic life. Later she made her name through research on climate change, salmon conservation and mercury and arsenic in water.

Folt left Santa Barbara to earn a doctorate in ecology at the University of California, Davis. A postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State propelled her to her first job in academia as an instructor and eventually as a full professor holding an endowed professorship at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Her path to university leadership had begun -- though she didn't know it yet.

Folt built a highly successful research lab at Dartmouth. "I loved mentoring students, and I loved the scientific research we were doing," she remembers, smiling at the memories. "Our discoveries were even more exciting because they were made as a team."

To answer the large-scale, complex problems that interested her, "like rehabilitating habitats and conserving species, and changing policies that regulate chemicals in water, takes a team of people with interdisciplinary skills and perspectives," she says. "So teamwork and collaboration, finding ways to magnify individual creativity, discovery and impact by working together, grew as a priority in my research and my teaching."

Then her Dartmouth provost made her an offer. Would she consider becoming the dean for Dartmouth's graduate students? She agreed. It was natural for someone who relished helping fledgling researchers.

"Every job in administration that I took on was because I saw the chance of having an impact by developing the talents of other people," she says. She eventually became provost at Dartmouth, then interim president in 2012.

The Tar Heel State

The next year, the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill approached her. The university was looking for a new chancellor who could lead it forward, and Folt embraced its mission of accessibility and affordability, as well as its reputation for research.

When Folt became chancellor in 2013, she found professors eager to reach higher. By 2017, UNC-Chapel Hill surpassed $1 billion in sponsored research expenditures for the first time.

Federally funded research climbed every year during her tenure, and the university ranks fifth in the U.S. in federal research and development spending.

She also developed the university's first strategic plan, oversaw UNC-Chapel Hill's medical school -- one of the nation's best -- and served on the board of UNC's integrated health care system. In addition, she cultivated entrepreneurship, led a $4.25 billion fundraising campaign and launched an expansive effort to bring the arts to the public.

But like most large universities today, UNC-Chapel Hill also faced challenges. When Folt arrived, the university was dealing with highly publicized athletic and academic irregularities. Ultimately, she oversaw the implementation of more than 70 reforms -- designed together with faculty -- to ensure accountability and integrity across the university.

As the oldest public university in the U.S., UNC-Chapel Hill also was trying to strike a balance familiar to many universities. It had to reconcile the aspirations of its liberal-leaning students and faculty with a conservative legislature. In partnership with the university's board of trustees, faculty, staff and students, Folt engaged in difficult conversations about race and appointed a special assistant to the chancellor to focus on diversity and inclusion.

Amid the dialogue, the university grappled with what to do about a historic symbol on its campus that had become increasingly divisive: Silent Sam, a Confederate statue. Some saw the statue as a reminder of oppression and wanted it removed; others swore to protect it as a memorial to the state's Civil War dead. As Folt listened to constituents, deliberated solutions and navigated legal issues, protestors toppled the statue. Ultimately, she completed the statue's removal -- and resigned as chancellor.

"She knew that [removing the statue's pedestal] would cost her, but she did it anyway," says Leslie Parise, former UNC-Chapel Hill faculty chair. "And that's a really brave, courageous person."

One door closed, and the door to USC soon opened.

Carol Folt, USC president

USC offers Folt an appealing destination. Leading minds in fields ranging from philosophy to neuroscience have joined the faculty over the last few decades, and many members of the National Academies and Guggenheim and MacArthur fellows now call USC their academic home. Test scores and grade point averages of entering freshmen continue to climb, while USC's deep financial aid pool means that more talented low-income students can attend the university.

With her strong background in private and public higher education, Folt was the unanimous choice of USC's 23-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee. She became USC's first permanent female president July 1, taking the reins from interim president and USC Trustee Wanda M. Austin.

As Folt helps USC strive for academic excellence, she acknowledges that the university must deal with problems, too. A former USC student health gynecologist stands accused of sexual misconduct, and USC aims to settle a class-action lawsuit involving hundreds of patients. The university also is coming to terms with high-profile national admissions fraud issues that surfaced this year.

To protect students, restore trust and improve campus culture, USC began holding listening sessions with faculty, staff, students and alumni. It started scrutinizing human resources, compliance and other areas to make changes.

The university must confront its failures honestly and fix them while building on its strengths, Folt says. "We know that we need to reflect on what has happened, understand how that could happen, and make changes so it doesn't happen again. And every time we change, we'll change for the better," she says. That candor -- and her results at Dartmouth and North Carolina -- won over the search committee.

As colleges nationwide have grappled with sexual violence, for example, Folt strengthened UNC-Chapel Hill's policies on sexual assault and spoke out on the topic on panels at other universities and at the White House.

Her ecology background also spurred her to lead a major sustainability initiative at UNC-Chapel Hill. The efforts significantly cut the university's water usage, greenhouse gas emissions and trash bound for landfills. When she arrived at USC, she quickly met with sustainability staff to begin supporting and expanding the university's green initiatives. And she is already talking with students and faculty who want to see USC's sustainability efforts soar.

Only a few months into her tenure, she has jumped into USC's academic life with a passion, packing her days full of discussions with professors, staff and students, on diverse topics from education to policy, from STEM to the arts. "Our 19 professional schools are so impressive," Folt says. "My goal is to enable them to build on their trajectory of excellence."

Those who have seen her at work often mention her energy and inquisitiveness. "She's going to ask tough questions and expect high performance," says Lowry Caudill, a former member of the UNC Board of Trustees. "That is what you want in a leader of a university."

Students and Discovery First

Ask Folt about her primary focus, and she always returns to two words: students and discovery.

Professors thrive on the thrill of discovering and building upon new knowledge, and seeing their work benefit the world. She aims to enhance the capacity of USC's faculty -- and their students -- to do just that, whether they're established or just getting started. "What I need to do is to eliminate as many impediments as possible to their capacity to create," she says. "My goal is to remove walls and get people to come together. We've got very creative people here, and they want to make an impact on the world."

Her face lights up when she talks with students, and she gravitates to them and their energy. "They're the reason we're here," she says.

She's going to ask tough questions and expect high performance. That is what you want in a leader of a university.

Lowry Caudill

Elizabeth Adkins, 2017-18 student body president at UNC-Chapel Hill, remembers working closely with Folt. "I always felt like she genuinely listened to what I had to say, and she wasn't just sitting down with me because she thought it needed to happen," Adkins says.

As a former transfer student who balanced college and work, Folt can personally relate to "nontraditional" students. During her time at UNC-Chapel Hill, 20% of UNC students were in the first generation of their family to attend college. Folt started a tradition of personally signing the diploma of every first-generation student graduating each year, and she plans to continue the ritual at USC.

USC provides similar territory, as first-gen students comprise about 17% of its undergrads. Improving college access and affordability are major emphases. And as a scientist who believes in mentoring, Folt strongly advocates for diversity and inclusion.

"She was deeply motivated by and wanted to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds have opportunities to thrive at the university," says Lloyd Kramer, UNC-Chapel Hill professor of history and the university's current faculty chair. Folt believes that "higher education is the most effective vehicle to help people move ahead in their lives."

Folt has been meeting students across USC, keeping track of their feedback and ideas. She'll do the same with the many alumni she'll meet as she criss-crosses the country in the coming months and years.

They all have information to share, and she's curious and eager to take it in. "As a leader, she's very inclusive," says Adkins, the former UNC student body president. "She always makes sure everyone around the table has been heard."

Yet, Adkins says, "she will also challenge you. Don't get me wrong: Chancellor Folt and I didn't always agree, but I don't think either of us would have been doing our jobs if we were agreeing all the time."

And that's an important point. Folt says she leads through collaboration, not consensus. There have been times when scientific experts agreed on something, she says, "but it turned out not to be right." She'll listen to everyone, but she'll make her own decisions.

Through all the challenges, the Trojan Family will always see her smile. "What was most impressive about Carol Folt in challenging situations was her ability to keep a very positive attitude and optimistic view at all times," Kramer says.

Oh, and one more thing, he says: "She will be a relentless advocate for the positive and important, constructive aspects of the university."

USC writer Eric Lindberg contributed to this story.

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For 10 years, the USC Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics has brought together a small class of students as part of its Student Scholars program, advancing research and scholarship on special topics in mental health law.

The outcomes include published research, valuable opportunities for collaboration among students of relevant disciplines, and perhaps most importantly, a focus on frequently sidelined subjects in mental health, such as the lingering stigma that follows people impacted by serious mental illness, including many of the students themselves.

Stigma weighed on alum and former Student Scholar Sam Brown (JD 2015) when he entered law school. Would his mental health diagnosis affect how he was seen and accepted in the profession? After joining the Student Scholars program, he plucked up the nerve to confront his fears through research, encouraged and informed by fellow Students Scholars and Prof. Elyn Saks, the instructor of the Student Scholar program.

"More than anything, the program made me feel safe to write about a sensitive topic," says Brown, now an attorney representing victims of employment discrimination with Hennig, Ruiz & Singh in Los Angeles. "Ultimately, I wrote a paper addressing the harmful effects of mental health inquiries on bar applications, and even included a footnote identifying myself as a consumer. I was also invited to speak at the law school about my mental illness and had a great experience sharing a forum with Prof. Saks. Prof. Saks and the program both gave me those opportunities and the courage to make the most of them."

How the Student Scholars program advances an understanding of mental health law

Brown is one of more than 90 students who have gone through the Student Scholars program, enrolling in the two-semester Law 798, Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics class taught by Saks, founder and faculty director of the Saks Institute of Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics and Christopher Schnieders, director. The class discusses a different mental health topic each year, ranging from the use of mechanical restraints, to how students cope with mental illness at school, to this year's topic: Mental health and immigration, including asylum. Students identify research areas within those topics and explore them independently with input from Saks and Schnieders.

"The goal is to train future leaders in the law field or influence upcoming lawyers and other disciplinary students on ways to decrease stigma and learn to succeed in face of any kind of mental health challenge," says Schneiders.

The class typically includes mostly law students, a psychiatry resident, and PhD students in social work, psychology, philosophy or neuroscience. Through the years, Saks notes an increasing willingness among students to openly speak about the personal impacts of mental illness on their lives, starting during orientation - which in the past was too intimidating for students fearful of being labeled.

"It's a really positive experience. The students are fully engaged," she says. "One was public about having OCD, another about their experience with PTSD. In the past, only a few disclosed, but this year, eight of our 10 Student Scholars disclosed. They learn about accommodations they can ask for and the disability services they can get in law school."

The prospect of working closely with Saks is an undeniable attraction. Jennifer Wilson (JD 2020) realized she'd found the right alignment with her interests when she heard Saks give a presentation shortly after she began her first year.

"Mental health has interested me since high school," she says. "I absolutely admire Prof. Saks. She's incredible. The Student Scholar program was a great environment to be in and the feedback from Chris, Elyn and the students was very supportive. It was great to hear someone as accomplished as Elyn Saks tell you what she thinks of your work."

For Monique Holguin, a licensed clinical social worker and third-year PhD student studying in the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, the Student Scholars program provided an opportunity to leverage a pilot grant she won from the USC Research Council to study provider burnout into an ongoing research project.

"Interviewing providers on interdisciplinary teams, learning from legal and medical scholars among the Student Scholars, and bringing in my own experience, it became a simultaneously rich opportunity to use what I had learned through the mental health law platform and expand on it in the research study," she said. This spring, she gave an oral presentation on the manuscript she completed for the Law 798 class at a conference at the University of York, where she was pleased to find a great deal of interest in her research.

Some have gotten creative with their explorations. In 2015, when the topic was media, mental illness and cinema, one Student Scholar, also a graduate student at USC Cinematic Arts, curated an event with the Media Institute for Social Change that featured a documentary and three short films, as well as discussions about responsible storytelling.

Students have published 25 to 30 articles, including in USC Gould's Review of Law and Social Justice, the Quinnipac Health Law Journal and Memphis Health Law Journal, Schnieders said. Schneiders says there's interest in developing a law journal for mental health law, policy and ethics edited by the Student Scholars.

Learn more about the Saks Institute's Student Scholars program.

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The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) recently awarded $3.73 million to Mark Humayun, MD, PhD, who serves as director of the USC Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics and co-director of the USC Roski Eye Institute. The grant is part of CIRM's translational research program to propel California forward as a hub of regenerative medicine breakthroughs. The grant will support researchers at the USC Ginsburg Institute as they develop a new treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) -- a disease that has historically been considered difficult to treat.

This injection is not a man-made drug, but is instead composed of molecules produced by healthy retinal cells cultured in the laboratory. The researchers have demonstrated that an intraocular injection of these molecules stimulates healing and slows down retinal degeneration in animals that would otherwise go blind. The team's prestigious CIRM grant is intended to accelerate the project's transition to the clinical trial stage, thanks to its potential to benefit society by filling an unmet medical need.

One innovation inspires another

Approximately two million Americans currently live with advanced forms of AMD, and more than seven million deal with early-stage symptoms of the disease. Of those cases, 85-90% are the dry form of AMD. The condition is characterized by the progressive deterioration of the macula, or the region of the retina responsible for the clearest, most focused vision in the center of one's field of view. A single layer of cells under the macula called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is responsible for nurturing the eye's photoreceptor cells, which lie directly on top of the RPE and perceive light.

As the macula deteriorates and RPE cells die off, the photoreceptor cells necessary for vision gradually follow suit. Soon, patients begin to perceive a dark spot in the center of their visual field that can interfere with anything from reading to recognizing the faces of loved ones. The disease robs patients of both their eyesight and a great deal of their autonomy.

With the help of a CIRM Disease Team Therapy Development III Award, a team of USC Ginsburg Institute researchers recently used stem cells to develop a retinal implant composed of a single layer of RPE cells to replace the degenerating part of the macula. Drs. Amir Kashani and Mark Humayun surgically placed implants in 15 patients' retinas, and although the trial was only intended to assess the implant's safety, the team observed early signs of therapeutic benefit and a few patients even regained some of their eyesight. That project is currently poised to enter a larger clinical trial phase with the goal of becoming the first ever FDA-approved treatment for late-stage dry AMD.

While testing the implants in animal models, the team made an intriguing observation: the implanted cells had a restorative effect not only in the exact location they were placed, but also on the surrounding retinal tissue.

The researchers attributed this phenomenon to something they call the paracrine effect: cells from the implant produce chemical messages that communicate with surrounding cells -- a process known to biologists as "paracrine signaling" -- which causes the degenerating native cells to behave more like the healthy, newly implanted ones.

The researchers asked themselves a key question: if these biological factors alone could have a restorative effect on a degenerating retina, could the team create an injectable solution containing the factors to complement the implant as an early-stage intervention for dry AMD?

So far, the answer appears to be yes. Cells used in the implants are grown in the lab in a nutritious broth called the media, and as they grow, the molecular factors they produce are released into the media. By harvesting that factor-filled fluid and delivering it as an intraocular injection, the team has already seen success in dramatically slowing down the progression of retinal cell loss in animal models of retinal degeneration. The team's long-term goal is to develop a therapeutic injection for early-stage patients to slow disease progression, while patients whose diseases have progressed to the point of blindness can receive implants.

Sights set on a future cure for dry AMD

Now that the researchers know this media holds promise as a therapeutic injection, the next step is to fully characterize its components. While the team has narrowed down the number of potentially therapeutic molecules in the media, no single constituent seems to have a strong effect on its own, meaning the factors may work together in a synergistic way to restore retinal function. Funding from the CIRM grant is meant to expedite the process of characterizing the media and creating a stable, reproducible therapeutic injection for eventual use in humans.

Kabir Ahluwalia, a graduate student in the USC School of Pharmacy working on the project, explains that this research holds particular promise for those estimated seven million early-stage patients making up the majority of dry AMD cases. Early-stage AMD patients can currently benefit from specific nutritional supplements that slow down disease progression by about 25%, but many patients still need additional therapy. This novel injection of soluble growth factors could potentially serve as an ideal future treatment to prevent vision loss and provide renewed hope for these patients.

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The authors noted that, although the use of psychoactive drugs has occurred in almost every society in human history, fatalities from the more recent wave of opioid use are unprecedented. More Americans are dying from overdoses than from car accidents.

Their study, published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, makes the case that understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying drug-seeking behaviors is critical, as is finding evidence-based prevention strategies for opioid abuse in particular and substance abuse in general.

Addiction is a disease of decision-making.

Antoine Bechara

"Addiction is a disease of decision-making," said lead author Antoine Bechara, a professor of psychology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and an expert in the neuroscience of decision-making, addiction and substance abuse. "The majority of people have intact brain mechanisms of decision-making that keep them resilient to succumbing to an addiction. The question is, who is more vulnerable and how do we best determine that?"

Bechara and his colleagues believe advancements in brain science can help identify those vulnerable individuals before they're exposed to addictive substances, as well as determine how to treat anyone who has become addicted.

The role of the prefrontal cortex in addiction

The authors observed that, during more than three decades of research on drug use, little attention was paid to the importance of the prefrontal cortex -- which is key for self-regulation, long-term goal-setting, impulse control and the ability to predict consequences of behavior -- in deciding to take drugs in the first place. As such, they've brought together evidence showing the most vulnerable have abnormal functioning in neurocognitive systems.

In particular, a weak prefrontal cortex -- resulting either from genetic factors such as different levels of neurotransmitters in the brain or from developmental factors like early head injury -- may influence addiction. The prefrontal cortex is very susceptible to even mild traumatic head injuries; early child abuse can also impact the development of the prefrontal cortex.

"There are several factors that create the situation where the prefrontal cortex is suboptimal or weak, and the decision-making capacity doesn't develop normally," said Bechara. "These are people who become more susceptible to becoming addicted not just to opioids but other drugs they have access to."

Two extreme positions contribute to opioid addiction and overdose deaths

Bechara argues that, in response to the opioid crisis, two extreme positions have been taken.

"First, the pharmaceutical companies sold the idea that opioid medications will only be used by people in pain and people won't become addicted," he explained. "That's not true, because you have no way of telling who is susceptible to becoming addicted and who is not."

"The overreaction by doctors is another extreme; because of the fear that everyone is going to be addicted to opioids, they are not prescribing them to people in chronic pain who may need them," he continued. "There are a lot of people who could benefit from controlled administration of those medications, which work very well to treat pain."

Preventing and treating opioid addiction

The authors expressed the need for a clinical test to screen and sort out those who are more likely to misuse and abuse opioid drugs, such as those with prefrontal cortex dysfunction. For those who are already addicted, they presented research into behavioral approaches -- including training designed to increase working memory capacity -- that can boost the functions of the prefrontal cortex.

The researchers also proposed the use of procedures like transcranial magnetic stimulation, a noninvasive brain-stimulation technique allowing selective neural stimulation or inhibition. The technique, when used to stimulate the executive decision system of the prefrontal cortex, has been shown to reduce craving or consumption of cocaine, cigarettes and alcohol in prior studies.

The authors acknowledged that more research is needed to better understand those therapies and which will be the most effective.

Additional study authors include Kent C. Berridge, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan; Warren K. Bickel, a behavioral health research professor, and assistant professor Jeffrey S. Stein, both at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion; and Jose A. Mor?n, a professor of anesthesiology, neuroscience and psychiatry, and postdoctoral fellow Sidney B. Williams, both at Washington University in St. Louis.

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But eight years later, Estrada has defied predictions. Her cancer is in remission, and she can walk again -- with the help of a cane -- around her Boyle Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles. Estrada credits her recovery to her medical team and her "angel": Ghecemy Lopez, a cancer navigation specialist at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Lopez helps cancer patients juggle their treatments in an often complicated health care system and bolsters their spirits. "This is not a job," Lopez explains. "This is my mission."

Every day, Lopez changes lives, and she is in good company. USC has its share of uplifting Trojans. There are scientists tirelessly trying to find cures for devastating diseases, and students who have returned to college after hardship to better their lives. They're inspiring others in quiet ways, far from the limelight. Read on to meet a few of them.

Ghecemy Lopez (Photo/Damon Casarez)

THE CANCER CRUSADER: GHECEMY LOPEZ

Story by Rachel B. Levin

Ghecemy Lopez had just earned her master's degree in education and was working two jobs. She and her husband were talking about trying for their first baby. Then, while she was watching TV one night, she felt something in her breast that wasn't supposed to be there.

It couldn't be happening -- not to a young adult who had only just turned 30 -- but it was. Doctors diagnosed Lopez with what's called triple-negative breast cancer, a form of the disease that defies many common cancer-fighting drugs. She also carried the inherited BRCA1 gene mutation, which raises the risk not only of breast cancer, but also several other tumors.

Time flew by in a blur. Because the cancer was growing rapidly, "I had to make the quick decision of starting chemotherapy with the warning that I could potentially become infertile for the rest of my life," she remembers.

Fortunately, chemotherapy and surgeries beat back Lopez's cancer. Then she battled through thyroid cancer two years later. As she climbed out of the experience, a new life's purpose came into focus: advocacy for cancer patients facing similar challenges. "I felt an urgency to be able to pay back for my opportunity to live again," she says.

Lopez began volunteering on patient boards at hospitals and in cancer education outreach programs in low-income areas of Los Angeles. In 2014, the National Breast Cancer Coalition recognized her work with its Grassroots Advocacy Award.

When the Ronnie Lippin Cancer Support and Navigation Program began in 2015 at USC Norris cancer center with help from the Tower Cancer Research Foundation, "I felt like all the stars aligned and made this program happen," Lopez says.

Today, Lopez manages the program and compassionately walks patients through the cancer journey and makes it a little less frightening. Since launching the program, she counts more than 400 patients and their family members who have participated in the program. For patients, she says, "the most difficult thing is not having enough time to gather information, to process information, to make the appropriate decisions. If we don't have guidance, we feel overwhelmed."

Many patients in the program live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to speak English -- much less understand the complexities of cancer. On any given day, Lopez may give rides to patients who don't have transportation, accompany them to important doctor's appointments, or connect them with community agencies to help them find daycare for their kids.

For Rodrigo Torres, one barrier was money: A medication for his lymphoma would cost the El Sereno retiree about $1,067 per day. Lopez swiftly stepped in, helping him apply for Medi-Cal assistance and private funding that offset the cost.

Lopez established a bond with Torres and his wife, Yolanda -- and when Torres died in 2017 at age 79 of a stroke, Lopez supported his wife through the loss. Even today, Lopez keeps a photo of Torres above her desk. "She has a big heart," Yolanda Torres says.

Lopez understands how cancer can transform and upend priorities. She has lived through it herself and aims to help patients focus on what's important. A dedicated patient advocate, she's also on track to receive her doctoral degree in social work from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work in May.

"I don't sweat the little things that I used to sweat prior to cancer," Lopez says. "Just being alive and doing this, it's a blessing already."

HIS RACE AGAINST ALS: JUSTIN ICHIDA

Story by Constance Sommer

Justin Ichida regularly gets emails from strangers asking the same urgent question: "Will your research on ALS be done in time to save my life?"

The emails are a constant reminder that he's in a race against time. "I don't really know them, but they tell me their whole story," says Ichida, a scientist with the USC Stem Cell program. He hopes one day to have the answers they want to hear.

Ichida studies the genetic components of ALS, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease, to seek a cure for the progressive neurodegenerative condition. In 2018, his lab had a breakthrough, pinpointing a drug that seems to halt the progression of the disease in a certain type of ALS. About 10% of ALS patients have this type. The advance offered a sign of hope.

ALS attacks nerve cells in a steady march that weakens muscles, leaving the sufferer physically paralyzed but mentally intact. Those with ALS generally live only two to five years after diagnosis. "It's our responsibility to put in 110% to make sure that we're doing the best possible job in finding a cure for these people," Ichida says.

Sometimes he wishes he could just lock the door of his lab and keep working until he finds an answer. He thinks about the women and men who are struggling -- patients like Nanci Ryder.

Ichida first met the Hollywood publicist when Ryder visited his lab in 2015. A prolific ALS fundraiser with a ready sense of humor, she could still move and talk then. Her quick-fire jokes and sarcastic comments made Ichida laugh. But when Ichida went to see Ryder at her home the next year, he found ALS had completely paralyzed her. Health aides had put signs up on the wall reading "yes" and "no." She responded to questions with her eyes, looking to one sign or the other. Yet her mind is likely as engaged as ever, Ichida says.

Relationships with people like Ryder motivate his nonstop search for a cure. Ichida's love of science started as a child when he read Jurassic Park, the novel about the chaos that ensues after creating genetically engineered dinosaurs.

"The idea that all you needed was DNA to recreate life -- I thought that was fascinating," Ichida says. "I wanted to do that in real life."

In a way, that's exactly what his lab does. For years, scientists have been stymied by their inability to study living nerve cells. They're inaccessible in patients who are alive. But researchers in Ichida's USC lab managed to take skin cells from people who have ALS and, using DNA, converted those cells into motor neuron cells. Then they could watch those nerve cells act out ALS in a petri dish.

Ichida joined with other scientists and investors to launch a start-up business, AcuraStem, to focus on ALS drug therapy development. Otherwise, he fears, his discovery for the relatively small ALS market could get nowhere at a big pharmaceutical company with more lucrative targets.

Since forming in 2016, AcuraStem researchers have discovered many drug candidates that they've geared for human clinical trials. One day, they hope these drugs can be used by ALS patients to preserve or rescue their neurons before they lose the ability to walk, talk, swallow or breathe. With his inbox full of pleas from patients and their desperate loved ones, Ichida knows there's no time to waste.

IT'S HER TIME: MARGARITA LOPEZ

Story by Joanna Clay

Every morning, Margarita Lopez is in her son Emilio's room, getting him ready for the day. S

he turns on KTLA 5 news, his favorite, and gets him dressed before using a lift to hoist him from the bed into his wheelchair. The young man -- now 25 years old -- has cerebral palsy. "It's like one of those pit stops at a race," Lopez says. "You just do it fast."

Lopez moves quickly because she might be late for class. At age 59, she's a senior studying psychology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "I can't believe I've done what I've done," says Lopez, a Hawthorne resident. "It's surreal."

Education was always a priority in the Lopez household. Even though she never finished high school, she home-schooled her eight children for the bulk of their childhoods, later doing whatever she could to get them into elite private and public high schools -- including volunteering at their schools -- between a job at the craft store Michael's and gigs cleaning homes. Many went on to four-year universities, including the University of California, San Diego, and the University of California, Berkeley.

But now, she's the college student, thanks to the encouragement of her daughters--and a life-changing tragedy.

Her daughter Milanca had a son at age 16 yet went on to graduate from UC Berkeley. She was about to start graduate school at UCLA when she and her 6-year old boy were killed in a car accident. Milanca had encouraged her mom to chase her dream of higher education. "I found a message on Facebook. She said, 'It's your turn,'" Lopez says. "I never responded to her. It made me so sad. Here she was, encouraging me."

Then when her daughter Emma told her she was enrolling in community college, Lopez realized it was time to see her own education through. "I felt it was my daughter [Milanca] urging me on," she says. "That it was my turn. That I could do this."

Lopez enrolled at Santa Monica College, where she experimented with everything from poetry readings to creative writing. The experience served as a springboard: She not only was accepted as a transfer to USC, which gave her a partial scholarship, but also to Columbia University, UCLA and UC Berkeley. She wants to be a counselor for young people from marginalized communities and is considering a master's degree.

"This is a dream," she says of going to USC. Her first year was tough, but her grades put her on the dean's list and she joined the honors psychology program.

When her first kids graduated from college, she made T-shirts and flower leis for them. Then when she graduated in 2018 from Santa Monica College, she looked out into the crowd for her family -- and they had made their own T-shirts to recognize her. She laughed. And they stacked her neck with leis -- made from candy, money and flowers -- so high that she could barely see.

She knows that this spring, her family will be there to root for her again. It's her time.

Stories about Justin Ichida and Margarita Lopez originally appeared on USC News.

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"With a lean business model," Saint-Louis said, "we can have a return on investment."

Despite the animated pitch, Saint-Louis is not a contestant on Shark Tank. He is one of 16 participants in the Warrior-Scholar Project (WSP), an academic boot camp designed to help service members and veterans transition from active duty to college.

"USC was the first West Coast partner to team up with the WSP, sharing a singular goal: helping vets consider top-ranked schools," said Ryan Pavel, CEO of the Warrior-Scholar Project. "We designed the program to ensure that every hour of programming advances this mission. This isn't a part-time program where participants work a few hours a day; it's an intensive boot camp that drills down on the skills that veterans will need to succeed in the classroom."

While this is USC's fifth year participating in the program, this year's commitment is unprecedented.

"For the 2019 Warrior-Scholar Project, USC takes the lead to become the first university to launch an extended week of the program," said Mark Todd, vice provost for academic operations at USC. "In addition to the current humanities courses, USC is adding an extra week devoted solely to a business curriculum."

Infantryman J.D. Ortman, a current guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, found out about the program from a fellow veteran.

"I was privileged to attend the pilot program for students interested in studying business," he said. "I needed to be tested in an environment that would replicate actual campus life. WSP's capacity to do that was beyond anything I've ever experienced."

Warrior-Scholar Project: Honing veterans' business skills

Farzin Samadani, who teaches at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the USC Marshall School of Business, helped design the Business and Entrepreneurship Week in conjunction with USC Military & Veterans Initiatives.

"The business curriculum is a fusion of core business skills, theory seminars and workshops, including accounting, finance, business operations, business communications, leadership, organization and management," he said. "In addition, there were experiential learning experiences and an entrepreneurship curriculum that culminated in a showcase of mock startup business pitches."

Saint-Louis, a Marine Corpsman, said he serendipitously stumbled upon the program while searching for veteran resources.

"The name really intrigued me; I liked the idea of being a Warrior-Scholar," he said. "After doing my research on what they offer veterans, I was sold."

But persuading USC professors to be sold on his business pitch proved no easy task.

"I was terrified," Saint-Louis said. "When my turn to speak came, I spoke what I rehearsed and tried to show confidence."

Despite a few pregnant pauses and some nervous pacing, Saint-Louis wrapped up his business presentation with flying colors. Afterward, he said he felt empowered.

Boosting academic confidence in our military veterans

Also feeling empowered was Marine Sgt. Alana Karp, who said the program taught her something unexpected: academic confidence.

"This program got me thinking, 'Wow, I can apply to an Ivy League college,'" Karp said. "This course is designed to let military active duty and veterans know that we have what it takes, so now I am considering attending a more elite university."

And it is precisely that perspective that is considered "mission accomplished," according to USC interim Provost Elizabeth A. Graddy.

"Confidence is key for our veterans to make a successful transition from the military to a top-tier university," she said. "USC has supported our veterans, service members and their families for more than a century, and we are excited to continue to do so through partnerships with programs like the Warrior-Scholar Project."

Saint-Louis said he's not only gained confidence but also a support system, developing a comradery with his fellow WSP service members and forming a kind of academic platoon.

"I found a group of staff members at WSP who genuinely care about my success in education and who are committed to accomplishing great things," he said. "I found a group of professors who have fundamentally changed the way I see life."

When asked if he would encourage other veterans to attend the program, Ortman was quick to answer.

"Bottom line: if you're getting out and enrolling in college, attending this course should be just as important as your honorable discharge," he said. "It's a breeding ground for success."

Applications are now open for the 2020 Warrior-Scholar Project.

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Taking on the task of defining and illustrating what success looks like can seem incredibly daunting. However, Min-Kyoung Rhee and her cohort of freshmen have dared to explore such a profound and existential topic. In her freshman seminar, "Prosperity Across the Lifespan," Rhee explores the diverse aspects of lifespan and human development at each stage from infancy to death and dying.

Rhee, an instructional assistant professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, researches the complexities of mental health disparities among ethnic minority immigrants, including older adults. A Trojan alumna, she completed her PhD at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work in 2013. Before returning to USC, Rhee served as an adjunct lecturer at Chung-Ang University's School of Social Work in Seoul, Korea. She hopes that her freshmen can apply knowledge of development and prosperity to better understand their own prosperity throughout life.

"I wanted my students to understand that prosperity can mean different things to different people and to help them find their own unique definition of prosperity rather than a universal definition," Rhee said. "While they included happiness, love, and financial stability as one of the pillars of prosperity, they also expanded the pillars to include access to equal opportunities, freedom, and spirituality."

The Freshman Seminar Program, introduced in the fall of 2011, grants incoming freshmen the opportunity to tackle an engaging topic with a member of the USC faculty and a small discussion group comprised of their peers. Some seminars such as Rhee's have tackled issues concerning the mind and body; other topics have ranged from musical subcultures to the post-Communist landscape and natural disasters. In 2013, University Professor Caleb Finch and Assistant Professor Jennifer Ailshire of the USC Leonard Davis School taught a similar gerontology-focused seminar investigating human longevity with the improvements made by modern medicine, hygiene and food preservation.

"Although the course title itself was predetermined, I had plenty of room to redesign the course," Rhee said. "Throughout the course development, I tried to focus on connecting the two key words: freshmen and prosperity. Freshman year in college is certainly an exciting time full of new experience-an opportunity to meet new people, learn, and grow. However, it can also be overwhelming and confusing at times."

The class tackles the concept of prosperity from a multidisciplinary aspect, observing the ramifications of socioeconomic status and culture on a person's perception of happiness.

Two weeks into the class, the students challenged themselves to establish a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely (SMART) goal as part of their "Prosperity Project."

What does success mean through the stages of human development?

Nicole Levi, a freshman in the class majoring in English at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, said, "I feel that this class allows me to think about multiple aspects of prosperity and aging, rather than a limited view that I may have had before. Prosperity is typically thought of as wealth, at least in my experience, and this class does a good job of exploring other definitions and facets of prosperity."

Through a combination of various group discussions and lectures, students learn about concepts such as theoretical perspectives on human development and the basic principles of lifespan human development.

"In the second half of the semester, students will focus on learning human development in middle and late adulthood as well as death, which are directly related to the field of gerontology," Rhee said. "I hope students have opportunities to learn new perspectives about aging and gain valuable insights into how aging issues can be better addressed in real life for themselves and their family members."

As humans develop, what does prosperity mean to them?

Students in the class come from all walks of life, bringing different experiences into the limelight as a means of understanding their personal definition of prosperity.

"The idea of getting old definitely seems farther away, but as I see my younger sister and friends grow up, I begin to realize the truth about getting older," said Samarth Kamle, a freshman majoring in biomedical engineering at the Viterbi School of Engineering. "I took this class because it seemed like an interesting seminar on a topic that is pertinent to everyone: life."

The class intends on reinforcing that prosperity can be achieved by people of all age-groups in various ways. Recently, the class discussed the multidimensionality of the human lifespan and created concept maps to demonstrate how prosperity seeps into every aspect of life.

"I'm very excited to hear their stories, which I believe will make all of us grow and be inspired from each other," Rhee said. "I am very lucky to work with them through the process, and I really hope that they not only learn about prosperity but also feel prosperous."

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Folt was one of four leading alumni honored at the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences' annual College Celebration. The Award of Distinction is "the highest recognition presented by the college to individuals whose contributions and achievements enrich the image and reputation of the college and enhance its ability to provide public service," according to the university's website.

After earning her bachelor's degree in aquatic biology and a master's in biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Folt enrolled at UC Davis. She studied the ecology of freshwater ecosystems, and her thesis examined predator-prey dynamics in Lake Tahoe. Her adviser at UC Davis, Charles Goldman, praised her as one of the top graduate students he mentored during his career. She went on to study plankton and other aquatic life, and later made her name through research on climate change, salmon conservation and mercury and arsenic in water.

UC Davis' College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is considered one of the nation's top programs in ecology and environmental sciences.

The post USC President Folt honored with UC Davis alumni Award of Distinction appeared first on USC News.

In Monday's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists describe how they transformed stem cells into functioning Leydig cells -- the cells in the testes that produce the male sex hormone.

"Our study provides a way to generate possible transplantation materials for clinical therapies, as well as a path toward testing and developing new drugs," said Vassilios Papadopoulos, dean of the USC School of Pharmacy, who led the research.

Millions of men have low testosterone, or hypogonadism, which impacts mood, fertility, sexual function, obesity and bone density -- and testosterone replacement therapy is a multibillion-dollar industry. Testosterone tapers off naturally with age but can also decrease suddenly due to infections like mumps or cancer treatment during childhood.

You feel better, you lose weight, erectile function returns. Men love testosterone.

Vassilios Papadopoulos

Testosterone replacement therapy -- injected, taken orally or applied as a gel -- reverses many of these symptoms.

"You feel better, you lose weight, erectile function returns," Papadopoulos said. "Men love testosterone."

However, treatment for low testosterone is linked to side effects such as infertility, increased risk of prostate cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, topical treatments can rub off on close contacts, inadvertently exposing others to the drug. A transplant of lab-grown testosterone-producing cells, perhaps injected into fatty tissue, could potentially bypass those side effects, researchers say.

Human collagen helps cells produce testosterone

Previous attempts to cultivate human Leydig cells have come up short. In one study, the lab-grown cells produced cortisol, not testosterone, Papadopoulos said. Other experiments have involved stem cells from bone marrow or the umbilical cord; harvesting these cells is more labor-intensive and they do not multiply as well in the lab.

In Papadopoulos's experiment reported today, researchers started with stem cells called human-induced pluripotent stem cells, which come from human skin or blood and can be developed into any type of cell needed for treatment purposes.

On a hunch, Papadopoulos added human collagen to his soup of nutrients, genes and other ingredients needed to transform stem cells into Leydig cells. Collagen is a common growth matrix ingredient; previously, Papadopoulos used bovine or rat collagen, which are cheaper and mostly interchangeable with other forms of collagen, at least in early-stage experiments.

This time, the lab-grown Leydig cells produced testosterone - and the cells even looked the same as their naturally occurring counterparts under the microscope.

"It was none of the things we thought. We had tried different genes, chemicals, everything -- nothing!" he said. "The human collagen was the secret sauce."

What's next for low testosterone treatment

Next, Papadopoulos wants to test how well lab-grown Leydig cells function, and for how long, when they are transplanted into animal models of hypogonadism. He's also eager to compare Leydig cells cultivated from skin cells from men with and without hypogonadism, to better understand the condition.

Human transplantation of Leydig cells is at least "a few years away," he said.

In addition to Papadopoulos, the paper's other authors are Lu Li, Yuchang Li, Chantal Sottas, Martine Culty, Yiman Hu and Garett Cheung of USC; Jinjiang Fan of McGill University in Montreal; and Hector Chemes of Hospital de Ninos in Buenos Aires.

The work was supported by funds from the USC School of Pharmacy and the John Stauffer Dean's Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences at USC.

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In special education, the battleground between parents and their child's school district can be the table between their advocates. Demand for due process hearings is escalating rapidly, and the meetings themselves can be time-consuming and emotionally draining as both sides volley their demands and defenses. But according to USC Gould School of Law lecturer Richard Erhard, there is a better way to handle these disputes -- and he's teaching his students how.

In his course, Special Education Dispute Resolution, he reflects on the need for neutrality. As parents and school districts alike seek alternative ways to resolve increasing complaints, trained professionals are essential in moving the conversation and programming forward.

"One of the things I speak to in my class is the continuum of dispute resolution - from ignoring the issue to...negotiation to mediation to arbitration to litigation," Erhard said. "This is the only program that I'm aware of at a law school that is focusing on dispute resolution in special education issues. We are training neutrals here at USC Gould, not just advocates, which is a huge difference."

Recognizing the need for neutrality in special education law

In special education, legal conversations between parents and school districts are a constant. Parents must engage with their districts in order to establish necessary programming for their children with special needs. Often faced with insufficient resources and oversight, special education programs may be assigned to the most junior school staff members, and the meetings can be tense.

Nearly 16 years ago, Erhard was representing the Santa Ana school district when he found himself across the table from parents of 3-year-old autistic triplets and their legal counsel. Erhard was surprised when this lawyer took a measured approach to the discussion. He still looks back on that meeting's success as a game-changer in his conflict resolution experience.

Erhard spent his career leading special education efforts and establishing essential programs for students of all ages. "My focus as an educator is always on the individual child," he said.

From teaching primary school special education in New Mexico to working as Assistant Superintendent of Student Services for San Diego's Coronado Unified School District, Erhard saw his own dispute resolution - and legal - education grow in tandem with the services he implemented in schools.

"As I moved through administration and developed special education programs, I realized that if you didn't have programs that were legally defensible, they weren't worth the paper they were written on," Erhard said.

Realizing this need, he started taking dispute resolution courses wherever he could find them, trying to enact progressive programming at the administrative level for his schools and their districts with the law in mind.

Introducing mediation in special education

In his 30 years of experience, he witnessed litigation ratchet up, contributing to more frustration and expense, and traditional resolution methods become inadequate. "There's a better way to deal with dispute," he said. He found that the earlier mediation was introduced, the better the outcome for the child and parents.

"There are people who are professional advocates, who may be attorneys or not, working with parents to help them get through the process of negotiating with their school district," Erhard said. In contrast, "I am not an advocate, I am a neutral." And as a neutral, he helps to build relationships and resolutions between both parties.

When parents bring a lawyer and a list of expectations to the table, mediators as neutrals must find a way to convey realistic outcomes centered on the child as the beneficiary. And training is key to navigating these conversations successfully.

In his course, Erhard explores the legal underpinnings necessary to be impactful across education programming and mediation. He requires his students to gain an understanding of the major legal concepts involved in special education law. With the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as the backdrop, he also teaches precedent-setting caselaw, some of which reverberates all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Within this environment, Erhard helps his students develop the "mediator mindset" through simulations, role play and writing exercises. This mindset can then be employed across the field, from facilitating an Individualized Education Program, conducting a resolution meeting or mediation, convening neutral fact finding, or developing a dispute resolution program for a district or corporate client. These skills, coupled with legal knowledge in the field, allow his students to become "complete mediators" who can quickly interpret positions and interests and move with ease among facilitative, transformative and evaluative modalities based on the disputants' needs.

Engaging with special education administration

Despite the need for neutrals within special education, there is still a lack of awareness of the mediation-focused approach to resolution. To empower his students--enrolled in USC Gould's degree and certificate programs in Alternative Dispute Resolution--and benefit the field, Erhard works within his vast network and with his students after they complete his course to help them engage further with special education administration, advocacy and more to drive attention and resources within this underserved field. The students also work one-on-one with a career services adviser at USC Gould to identify career opportunities.

According to Erhard, everyone involved in special education can benefit from mediation training, including "special education teachers, general education teachers, advocates, school administrators at any level and parents. Most people involved do not have a special education background and need professional development and knowledge in the field to be effective."

It was this training that steered his meeting with the triplets' parents and legal representative to a successful conclusion -- and he hopes more families similarly benefit from special education mediation. "We found there were two voices of reason at the table, able to align both sides with the needs of the child," he said. "We were both neutral, and it made all the difference."

Professor Richard Erhard teaches Special Education Dispute Resolution (LAW 832, 2 units) in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program at the USC Gould School of Law. The neutral he met 16 years ago across the table is Professor Richard Peterson, who also teaches ADR at USC Gould and serves currently as the Director of the ADR Program.

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Back then, the "city" still lacked paved streets, electric lights, telephones and a reliable fire alarm system.

Today, USC is home to more than 47,000 students and some 4,000 full-time faculty, and is located in the heart of one of the biggest metropolises in the world. The school's first building lives on as Widney Alumni House.

Learn more about the history of what is now one of America's leading research universities.

VIDEO | USC history -- Honoring the past:

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Demand for a USC education appears to be stronger than ever. Over 66,000 applied, bringing this year's acceptance rate to 11.4%.

The number of applications to USC was among the highest of any private university.

USC Class of 2023: A cohort of exceptional and curious scholars

A quarter of USC's freshman class earned perfect grades in high school. Their average SAT and ACT test scores are in the 96th percentile.

Other statistics show academic ambition. This year's typical USC freshman pursued a rigorous high school curriculum, with many completing eight advanced placement courses during high school.

As part of the application process, students are asked to select a few words to describe themselves. "Curious" was used most frequently. Other words repeatedly chosen included "loyal," "empathetic," "caring" and "tenacious."

Students of all backgrounds well-represented -- again

USC's inclusion of students from traditionally underrepresented groups remains strong at 27%, matching last year's impressive rate. The percentage of African American students increased 13% compared to last year.

First-generation students make up 15.4% of the class.

USC Class of 2023: All roads lead to Troy

The world continues to look to USC as a destination for higher education. International students increased by about 5% this year and make up about 15% of the freshman class. The highest number of international students come from China, followed by India, the United Kingdom, Canada and South Korea.

About 39% of U.S. freshmen come from California, followed by New York, Texas, Illinois, Washington and Florida.

The five high schools that send the most students to USC are all in Southern California, including Foshay Learning Center. Foshay is less than a mile from campus and has led or placed in the top five USC feeder high schools for four consecutive years. Foshay's college preparation program, the USC Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative, is a partnership between USC and the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Other top feeder high schools this year include Canyon Crest Academy, Loyola High School, Arcadia High School and La Canada High School.

National recognition

As fall freshmen were settling into their first semester, USC once again landed in the top 20 in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education rankings. The studies that determine those rankings gave USC top marks for student engagement, resources, outcomes and environment. Within the West region, the university placed third out of 122 institutions, behind Caltech and Stanford University.

USC also ranks in the top 25 on U.S. News & World Report's list of Best Colleges, which lists the university at No. 5 on its list of the best colleges for veterans.

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"I like to tell young people that you can always change paths," he says. "My story is a great example. I was squarely going down one path and then everything shifted, and it all worked out."

That valuable lesson helps him guide major clients through challenges in his role as managing director at Accenture Strategy in Boston. Smythe oversees the consulting firm's travel industry practice in North America. He also has worked with major retailers like Target, CVS, Neiman Marcus, Walmart, Best Buy and Staples.

But growing up in Carlisle, Massachusetts, he was all about the guitar. He was into heavy metal before switching to classical guitar after watching a video of USC Thornton professor William Kanengiser '81, MM '83. Later, as a music major at UCLA, Smythe saw the renowned guitarist play live for the first time. He was blown away.

"I met him backstage and said, 'I want to study with you,'" Smythe recalls. Kanengiser replied: "Come to USC."

Smythe graduated summa cum laude from USC Thornton and then earned his master's. He envisioned a career in performance and teaching, until a fellow Trojan persuaded him to take an arts management role at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. "I discovered a whole world of other things I could do," he says. Eager to rise in the ranks, he enrolled in the University of Chicago's MBA program.

He initially planned to put his newly honed business skills to use in the arts world. Then an internship in management consulting captured his imagination, and he joined Accenture in 2002.

Smythe found that consulting work has many parallels with music, including performance preparation, conveying confidence and making an audience feel comfortable. Those skills come in handy when helping a client negotiate a multimillion-dollar deal.

Music is still a big part of Smythe's life. He has long-term plans to get back into the arts in a leadership role, using his business expertise to help arts organizations thrive amid today's many entertainment choices. In the meantime, he plays guitar for friends and family, attends Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts and cultivates a large vinyl collection, which he admits is lacking "anything that came out after 1988."

He has also been building stronger ties with the Trojan Family through alumni events. It helps that his wife, Shana (Nadel) Smythe '97, holds a degree in vocal arts. He is encouraged to see their older daughter, 15-year-old Betty, has taken to wearing her parents' old Trojan sweatshirts. He has high hopes that Betty and her siblings, Sonny, 12, and Lilly, 9, will consider USC among their college options.

And if they ever worry about life taking a surprising turn, he'll be ready with a little advice.

"As a wise friend once said, you need to find the intersection between your skills and the world's needs," Smythe says. "It just took me a little longer to find that intersection."

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Men who want to improve their libido or build body mass may want to think twice before using testosterone-boosting supplements -- also known as "T boosters" -- as research shows these alternatives to traditional testosterone replacement therapy may not have ingredients to support their claims, according to Mary K. Samplaski, MD, assistant professor of clinical urology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

"Many supplements on the market merely contain vitamins and minerals, but don't do anything to improve testosterone," says Samplaski. "Often, people can be vulnerable to the marketing component of these products, making it difficult to tease out what is myth and what is reality."

Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and the reason why men produce sperm and have Adam's apples. It's also why men develop more "masculine" features like bulging muscles, a deep voice, broad shoulders and a hairy chest. After age 30, most men experience a gradual decline in testosterone, sometimes causing these features to diminish or new symptoms to occur, like erectile dysfunction. In an attempt to turn back the hands of time, some men will turn to T boosters.

Using a structured review approach, Samplaski and a team of researchers explored the active ingredients and advertised claims of 50 testosterone-boosting supplements. Their findings were published as an original article in The World Journal of Men's Health.

Researchers performed a Google search with the term "testosterone booster," thus mimicking a typical internet search for someone looking to increase testosterone levels, and then selected the first 50 products that came up in their search. Then, the team reviewed published scientific literature on testosterone and the 109 components found in the supplements. Zinc, fenugreek extract and vitamin B6 were three of the most common components in the supplements.

The team also compared the content for each supplement with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) recommended daily allowance (RDA) and the upper tolerable intake level (UL) as set by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science.

Of the 150 supplements, researchers came across 16 general claims to benefit patients, including claims to "boost T or free T", "build body lean mass or muscle mass", or "increase sex drive or libido."

While 90% of the T booster supplements claimed to boost testosterone, researchers found that less than 25% of the supplements had data to support their claims. Many also contained high doses of vitamins and minerals, occasionally more than the tolerable limit.

Unlike medications, supplements are not intended to treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure diseases, according to the FDA. As such, Samplaski would like to see more regulation around testosterone-boosting supplements to protect consumers. She also would like to explore disseminating handouts to her patients with more accurate information in the hopes that it encourages patients to seek a medical professional for low testosterone issues.

While no one can escape the effects of aging, Samplaski says there is something men can do to address their concerns. "The safest and most effective way for men to boost low testosterone levels is to talk with a medical professional or a nutritionist."

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In a world where mass shootings are, sadly, all too common, Neilda Pacquing wants to empower people in such a terrifying scenario. Her solution? A virtual reality tool that trains people on how to respond in an active shooter situation. It's a product from her newly founded company MindGlow, and she hopes it will be a key to saving lives in the future.

In 2019 alone, there have been over 200 mass shootings in the U.S. according to the Gun Violence Archive. Although there might not be a way to stop these mass shootings, Pacquing believes there is a way to help prevent future loss of life.

The USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy graduate student created the Virtual Reality Active Shooter Response Training App. It's a resource targeted at businesses and employees that simulates the environment of an active shooter at an office building, work station, cafeteria and other places you might imagine. All you need is an Oculus Go device to download the app and get started.

It includes activities and simulations such as real firearm sounds, listening drills, and the Run-Hide-Fight method taught by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"At MindGlow, we asked ourselves, how might we prepare people for crisis and emergencies in an engaging way that promotes behavior change?" Pacquing said. "We concluded that using virtual reality (VR) needs to be part of the solution to train employees in a safe and controlled space."

For many businesses, active shooter workshops and online-training courses might be costly, time-consuming and not impactful. Pacquing hopes her VR tool will change that.

According to a recent study, VR-based training is more effective at increasing retention than traditional desktop-based training. In fact, companies like Walmart have already incorporated VR into its employee training programs.

"We designed the VR experience to create a behavior change and instinct to react quickly when it happens in real life," Pacquing said. "The goal is to help people avoid the freeze response that happens when they find themselves in a dangerous situation."

From VR enthusiast to creator of active shooter training course

Before Pacquing was the CEO and founder of MindGlow, she was just an undergrad with a dream to help people. As a UX designer, she landed jobs as the Senior Designer at Sephora and as the Vice President, Mobile Interaction Designer at Bank of America. During this time, her fascination for the world of VR began to grow.

"I must have gone to hundreds of VR events, meetups, and classes throughout the years," Pacquing said. "I saw the opportunity to integrate my passion for VR/AR/XR, safety, and training together and started MindGlow."

To help execute her new entrepreneurial vision, Pacquing turned to the Academy.

"I've always wanted to go to grad school, but it was challenging finding a program that would integrate my passion for technology, experience as a designer, and need for business knowledge to prepare me to be a startup founder….The Academy was just the perfect fit," Pacquing said.

Thanks to the Academy, Pacquing formed many meaningful connections with other creators and founders in the world of VR.

Recently, the 31-year-old and her company received some much needed financial support. At the beginning of this year, MindGlow became a Boost VC-backed company. In addition, Pacquing will begin a 12-week program from Nasdaq Milestone Makers that's designed to help founders reach the next phase of their business.

For MindGlow, that means launching its Active Shooter Response online course. But no VR device will be needed for that course. Topics will include: understanding workplace violence and active shooter red flags, and understanding situational awareness, the freeze response, and survival mindset.

"Knowledge is power," Pacquing said. "Our goal with MindGlow is to help people feel empowered to know what to do when emergencies strike. With that, we aim to save many lives as possible in the process."

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