|
Dr. Pentz's research focuses primarily on community-level tobacco, alcoholand drug abuse prevention, prevention policy, the built environment, and large-scale dissemination of evidence-based prevention programs in substanceabuse and obesity. Ongoing research includes multi-city/multi-state prevention trials involvingtelevision and community organizations, second generation studies of prevention program effects, competency-based programs for children, and cost effectiveness of prevention programs and policy. Recent research includestranslation of evidence-based drug abuse prevention programs to obesity prevention, and evaluation of the effects of the built environment on family obesity risk and prevention, particularly communities that follow smartgrowth principles. Dr. Pentz is principal investigator of several NIH studies on drug use and obesity prevention.
 |
|
Dr. Baezconde-Garbanati's research focuses on the role of culture and communities in tobacco use and cancer control in ethnic and priority populations. She explores mechanisms to overcome health disparities utilizing a community-based participatory research framework. This work entails collaboration with community agencies and decision makers in translational research, communication of research findings to multiple audiences, including the dissemination of research for policy development purposes and public health practice. Dr.Baezconde-Garbanati is a principal investigator on several projects, among them the Southern CA Cancer Information Services Partnership Program Office and a project on secondhand smoke exposure in Indian owned casinos. She is the co-director and co-principal investigator in the newly established Minorty Center on Childhood obesity and a coinvestigator on the Transdisciplinary Research Center on Energetics and Cancer, working on issues of obesity with African Americans and Hispanic/Latino populations. She is also a co principal investigator on a project on American Indian adolescents and tobacco prevention and another on substance abuse prevention among Hispanic/Latino adolescents. She teaches in the areas of gender, ethnic minority health and international health, cultural competence and on community organizing and mobilization for global health.
|
Chih-Ping Chou, Ph.D.
Professor, Preventive Medicine
cchou@usc.edu
|
Dr. Chou's research falls into three distinct areas: evaluation of prevention interventions on substance use among adolescents, evaluation of substance abuse treatment and the development and application of methodological approaches and statistical techniques in the area of psychometrics, especially structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling and growth curve modeling. Dr. Chou received a Research Scientist Award from NIDA to apply and develop advanced statistical techniques for prevention research. He is a member of the Community Influences on Health Behavior, Health of the Population Integrated Review Group of NIH. Dr. Chou has been serving as the Director and Co-Director of statistics and measurement cores of three NIH funded transdisciplinary research centers. He is the Co-Principal Investigator and Director of Training for the China Seven Cities Study, an international study on health behavior. Dr. Chou is also an honorary professor of the West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University.
Cruz's research focuses on health communication issues in public health, tobacco control, and cultural factors in health behavior. Current projects include a study of determinants of smoking among African Americans, and investigation of marketing methods used by the tobacco industry.
 |
Jaimie Davis, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Preventive Medicine
jaimieda@usc.edu
|
Dr. Jaimie Davis’s research focuses on designing and disseminating nutrition, physical activity, and behavioral interventions to reduce obesity and related metabolic disorders in overweight adolescents. She has a strong background in nutrition, physical activity, and body composition assessment in pediatric populations. She was recently funded to assess whether a combined aerobic and strength training intervention can reduce adiposity, type 2 diabetes and breast cancer risk factors in overweight Latino female adolescents.
|
 |
Kathleen Dwyer, Ph.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor, Preventive Medicine
kdwyer@usc.edu
|
Dr. Dwyer's primary research interests include identifying factors that impact the progression of intimal thickening of the carotid artery and the subsequent development of cardiovascular disease, investigating the biologic and psychological effects of exposure to dioxins, and environmental and public health policy.
|
 |
Michael I. Goran, Ph.D.
Director, Childhood Obesity Research Center
Professor of Preventive Medicine; Physiology & Biophysics, and Pediatrics
The Dr Robert C & Veronica Atkins Chair in Childhood Obesity & Diabetes
goran@usc.edu
|
Dr. Goran’s research focuses on the etiology
and prevention of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in children,
and he is especially interested in examining this across different
high risk sub-groups of the population. Currently, he serves
as the principal investigator of two National Institutes of
Health grants related to obesity and Type 2 diabetes in children.
In addition, he has several grants examining different types
of interventions (including resistance training and dietary
modification of carbohydrate intake) on reducing risk for
obesity and type 2 diabetes in overweight Hispanic adolescents.
 |
Carol Koprowski, Ph.D., R.D.
Assistant Professor, Preventive Medicine
koprowski@usc.edu
|
Dr. Koprowski’s research focuses on diet and nutrition, particularly the relationship between diet and physical activity among girls during and a few years after first menstruation. Dr. Koprowski specializes in nutrition for dialysis patients and those with diabetes, and she is interested in using computers as tools to teach nutrition to professional health care providers as well as laymen.
|
 |
Adam Leventhal, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Preventive Medicine
adam.leventhal@usc.edu
http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~amlevent
|
Dr. Leventhal’s research focuses on the etiology of drug addiction, with a particular emphasis on tobacco and stimulants (i.e., amphetamine and cocaine). He is broadly interested in why some people are prone to addiction while others are not. His studies utilize experimental and survey-based approaches to examine psychobiological factors that underlie drug use. Research topics include: (1) influence of emotional traits (e.g., depression, personality) on substance use and other health-related behaviors; (2) drug intoxication and withdrawal; (3) smoking cessation; and (4) the interrelation between genetic and psychological risk factors for addiction. The overall goal is to generate research findings that inform the prevention and treatment of substance use and other behavioral risk factors for disease.
|
 |
Dr. Joel Milam
Assistant Professor, Preventive Medicine
milam@usc.edu
|
Dr. Milam's research focuses on the psychological and behavioral adaptation to stress and disease. He is involved with several research projects examining behavioral and quality of life interventions among people living with asthma, cancer, & HIV/AIDS. His interests also include positive psychology and his research emphasizes the role of positive and protective psychosocial and behavioral factors than can influence health and wellbeing.
 |
Elahe
Nezami, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical, Preventive Medicine
Associate Dean for Undergraduate, Masters and Professional Programs
Director for Undergraduate Studies in Health Promotion
Director for Master's in Global Medicine Program
nezami@usc.edu
|
Dr. Nezami’s research focuses on determinants of behavioral
risk factors for chronic diseases -- cancer and cardiovascular
disease in particular. Risk factors of primary interest are
tobacco use, physical activity, and nutritional practices.
Her other research projects include examination of personality
characteristics (hostility, anger, aggression) in relation
to cardiovascular disease; the psychological predictors of
smoking (depression, anxiety, novelty seeking); and the role
of culture and acculturation in predicting behavior.
 |
|
Dr. Richardson’s primary research interests are in HIV
prevention, asthma prevention in children, cancer screening,
and compliance with treatment regimens. Her current projects
include an intervention study to decrease unsafe sexual behavior
and increase adherence to therapy among persons with HIV disease;
an intervention study to reduce household allergen exposure
for children with asthma; and an investigation of the psychological
and behavioral factors in HIV infection among women.
 |
Nathaniel Riggs, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Preventive Medicine
nriggs@usc.edu
|
Dr. Riggs' research focuses on understanding the role of emotion in the development of obesity, substance use, and violence. Among his basic research interests are investigations into the neurocognitive basis for how children understand, talk about, and regulate their emotions, skills that are important in the successful execution of healthy decision making. Dr. Riggs applies this understanding of emotion to public health interventions for young people. Dr. Riggs is a Co-Principal Investigator on a 5-year National Institute for Child Health and Human Development/National Institute for Drug Abuse funded research project entitled PATHWAYS that translates evidence-based prevention programs from the fields of substance abuse and violence to a school-based intervention for obesity prevention with a parent component.
|
 |
|
Dr.Rohrbach's primary research interests focus on development, evaluation, and dissemination of school- and community-based interventions for disease prevention and health promotion. Her studies are conducted in three main areas: etiology of adolescent substance abuse, theory-based evaluation of prevention programs and translation of effective prevention interventions to real-world settings. Currently, she is the principal investigator on a study testing the relative effectiveness of two approaches to dissemination of Project TND, a high school-based substance abuse prevention program, an evaluation of "I Decide," a high school-based teen smoking cessation program, and a study of the impacts of exposure to hurricanes on adolescent substance abuse. She is a co-investigator on a new trial of Project TND that examines the effectiveness of a booster component, comprised of motivational interviewing sessions and targeting emerging adults.
Donna Spruijt-Metz, MFA, PhD is Associate Professor of Research in the Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. Building on deeply transdisciplinary approaches to minority adolescent and child health, her research focuses on physical activity, diet, obesity and their relationships to cancer in minority youth. Research topics include: a) acute effects of specific nutrients on behavior, b) biological (in particular pubertal), cultural, environmental and psychosocial determinants of physical activity and exercise in minority youth, c) neural correlates of appetite using fMRI, d) mind-body intervention modalities to help overweight minority youth overcome stress, control caloric intake and increase physical activity levels and e) testing and development of total body biosensing modalities in minority youth.
Dr. Sussman' research focuses on addictions, broadly defined. Much of his work is on the prediction, prevention and cessation of tobacco and other drug abuse. He has written over 320 publications and has three model programs (e.g., through Health Canada, CDC, CSAP/SAMHSA, NIDA, NCI, OJJDP, USDOE) to his credit: Projects TNT (tobacco use prevention for young teens), TND (drug abuse prevention for older teens), and EX (tobacco use cessation for older teens). Currently he is the principal investigator of a five-year drug abuse prevention project among high risk youth and emerging adults (Project TND-6). Also, he is the Co-PI of numerous other related projects. Further, he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior (AAHB) and Division 50 (Addictions) of the American Psychological Association. He was a recent Research Laureate of AAHB.
Dr. Ping Sun's research focuses on developing and evaluating interventions to prevent behavioral risk factors (e.g. substance abuse, internet addiction, and obesity). Specifically, he is studying the environmental and dispositional pathways leading to these risk factors and how the pathways can be harnessed with school-based interventions, or subject-level interventions facilitated with mobile technology.
 |
Thomas W. Valente, Ph.D.
Professor, Preventive Medicine
Director, Master of Public Health Program
tvalente@usc.edu
http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~tvalente/
|
Thomas W. Valente is a Professor and Director of the Master of Public Health Program in the Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. He is author of Evaluating Health Promotion Programs (2002, Oxford University Press); Network Models of the Diffusion of Innovations (1995, Hampton Press); and over 85 articles and chapters on social networks, behavior change, and program evaluation. Valente uses network analysis, health communication, and mathematical models to implement and evaluate health promotion programs designed to prevent tobacco and substance abuse, unintended fertility, and STD/HIV infections. He is also engaged in mapping community coalitions and collaborations to improve health care delivery and reduce healthcare disparities. Valente received his BS in Mathematics from Mary Washington College, his MS in Mass Communication from San Diego State University, and his PhD from the Annenberg School for Communication at USC. In 2008, he was a visiting senior scientist at NIH (NHGRI) for 6 months.
|
Affiliated Faculty
|
 |
Alex Y. Chen, MD, MSHS
Assistant Professor in Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
Saban Research Institute
achen@chla.usc.edu
|
Dr. Chen’s primary research interests are in the area of health care access and health care disparity. He received a five-year research career development award from the National Institutes of Health to examine issues related to health care access among children with chronic illness, particularly minority and immigrant children. He also continues to be involved in general pediatrics clinical practice and teaching. Dr. Chen was recently selected by USC provost office representing USC at the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) international meeting on “Globalization and Sustainability of Global Resources” and was awarded the winning multidisciplinary collaborative paper with engineers and chemists from Japan and Chile. Dr. Chen graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1997, completed his residency in Pediatrics, and was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar in 2000.
|
 |
Peter Clarke, Ph.D.
Professor, Communication and Preventive Medicine
chmc@usc.edu
|
Dr. Clarke has directed many projects that apply advanced telecommunications to healthcare, including: the design and evaluation of multimedia kiosks to aid cancer patients and their families, as they cope with illness and treatment side effects and experiments with videoconferencing support groups among illness survivors. Dr. Clarke's current interests center on improving human nutrition. He co-directs (with Susan H. Evans) From the Wholesaler to the Hungry, which has received awards for public service from the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and the UPS Foundation. The project has helped launch nearly 150 new programs that recover vast quantities of surplus fresh produce and direct these nutritious foods to low-income Americans. Clarke and Evans' project also administers two grant programs (more than 550 awards thus far; $2.1 million granted in 2004) that build the capacity of food rescue efforts at the local level. From the Wholesaler to the Hungry is also developing and field testing web-based tools that enable charitable pantries to tailor recipes and food preparation tips to the varying needs of individual recipients who are offered fresh food but have limited experience preparing meals from scratch. Dr. Clarke's most recent book (with Susan H. Evans) is Surviving Modern Medicine (Rutgers University Press, 1998). Through it, readers discover how to establish better communication with their doctors, make more thoughtful choices among options for care, and get support from friends and family that promotes healing and wellness. Though intended for the general reader, Surviving Modern Medicine is based on more than 500 studies in the medical and behavioral literature.
|
 |
Michael R. Cousineau, DrPH
Associate Professor of Research, Department of Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine
Director, Center for Community Health Studies
cousinea@usc.edu
http://www.communityhealth.usc.edu/
|
Michael R. Cousineau is currently Associate Professor of Research in the Department of Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine. He directs the USC Center for Community Health Studies and teaches in both the Masters in Public Health program and in the Professionalism and the Practice of Medicine. Dr. Cousineau has a masters and a doctorate from the UCLA School of Public Health. His work focuses on health policy and health services and evaluation research, access to care for the low income uninsured, governance and operation of safety-net providers including public hospitals, community-based clinics and health centers; and health needs of vulnerable populations including homeless people. His work also includes studying the impact of initiatives designed to expand health insurance to adults and children, the dynamics of insurance coverage decisions by small businesses, alternative governance of safety net hospitals, and the health and mental health needs of the homeless. Dr. Cousineau's publications appear in American Journal of Public Health, Medical Care, Public Health Reports, Evaluation Review and the Journal of Community Health.
|
 |
Lawrence A. Palinkas, Ph.D.
Professor of Social Work, Anthropology, and Preventive Medicine
palinkas@usc.edu
|
A medical anthropologist, Dr. Palinkas’ primary areas of expertise lie within preventive medicine, cross-cultural medicine and health services research. Dr. Palinkas is particularly interested in health disparities, implementation science, community-based participatory research, and the sociocultural and environmental determinants of health and health-related behavior with a focus on disease prevention and health promotion. Current research encompasses mental health services, immigrant health and global health. Specific projects explore the mental health needs of older adults; cultural explanatory models of mental illness and service utilization; evaluation of academic-community research practice partnerships; and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices for delivery of mental health services to children, adolescents and underserved populations. He also provides expertise to students and colleagues in the use of qualitative and mixed research methods. Among his scholarly achievements are the Antarctic Service Medal by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Navy in 1989; deputy chief officer of the Life Sciences Standing Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research in 2002; chair of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute's External Advisory Council in 2003; and membership on committees of the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Palinkas is an elected fellow of the American Anthropological Association and Society for Applied Anthropology and the author of more than 200 publications.
|
 |
Jennifer B. Zogg, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Pediatrics & Preventive Medicine
zogg@usc.edu
|
Dr. Zogg's primary research interests include the correlates of HIV primary prevention outcomes among at-risk youth and the role of implicit cognitive processes in predicting HIV medication adherence behaviors. She has developed several evidence-based HIV prevention programs and directs MCA's Portals into Care health education and HIV risk reduction intervention for youth detained in the Los Angeles County Juvenile Halls.
|
In Memoriam
(From the HSC Weekly 11/04/2005
-- By Jon Nalick)
 James
Dwyer, professor of preventive medicine, died Oct. 26 following
a prolonged fight with a rare cancer. He was 59.
Dwyer, who joined the Keck School of Medicine in 1986 as an associate professor of research in preventive medicine and became a full professor in 1998, was best known for his transdisciplinary approach to research and his investigation into cardiovascular epidemiology, specifically into the causes and contributors of atherosclerosis, including diet, exercise, stress, genetics and the interaction of these factors.
Ronald Ross, the former Flora L. Thornton Chair in Preventive Medicine at the Keck School, praised Dwyer as an outstanding scientist and researcher.
“More importantly, he was a wonderful person. He was understandably proud of his scientific accomplishments but much more so of his children and his family. His courage and grace during his prolonged illness were truly inspirational. He always was upbeat and optimistic even during the worst of times. Jim was a dear colleague and friend and we will all miss him immensely.”
C. Anderson Johnson, the Sidney Garfield Professor of Preventive Medicine and director of the USC Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, echoed those thoughts, adding that Dwyer was also a pioneer in research that transcended the traditional boundaries of various disciplines.
“One remarkable thing that Jim did and taught others to do was not to be afraid to cross lines,” he said, noting that Dwyer's training in social psychology and mathematics made him especially well suited to perform groundbreaking community-based research in the etiology of cardiovascular disease.
“His contributions to our knowledge of cardiovascular epidemiology are remarkable and paved the way for future research leading to improved health outcomes,” Johnson said.
Born in Pasadena in 1946, Dwyer attended Temple City High School and studied undergraduate mathematics at Heidelberg University in the Federal Republic of Germany. He received a bachelor's degree from Pepperdine University in 1968 and later studied mathematics at UC Irvine's graduate school.
He served research fellowships at Caltech, the Ames Research Center in Palo Alto and UC Santa Cruz in the early 1970s and received his doctorate in social psychology from UC Santa Cruz in 1975.
Dwyer was a lecturer at James Cook University in North Queensland, Australia, from 1975 to 1978 and an assistant professor at SUNY Stonybrook from 1979 to 1983. He served as a biostatistician at the Institute for Epidemiology in Berlin from 1984 to 1986 before moving to USC.
Dr. Dwyer's primary research interests include identifying factors that
impact the progression of intimal thickening of the carotid artery and the
subsequent development of cardiovascular disease, investigating the biologic
and psychological effects of exposure to dioxins, and environmental and
public health policy.
He is survived by his wife, Kathleen Dwyer, an assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine, and three children.
(For additional information call 626-457-6600)
|
«
Back to Departments
