Our Impact
There is no more powerful mission than truly effecting change. The USC community — faculty, students and staff — work side by side with partners in Los Angeles to solve immediate problems, creating a constellation of people and networks collaborating toward the public good. Worldwide, our efforts address global health inequities, develop leadership and research in key cultural areas, train diplomats from myriad countries and more.
Inventing Solutions
Exploring Medical Frontiers
Creating New Knowledge
Discovery, Creativity, Impact
USC is a premier research institution that provides a steady stream of new knowledge, art and technology. It has more than $1 billion in annual research expenditures, with the largest graduate program in science, engineering and health of all private research universities.
Research Highlights
From unexpected climate solutions to unearthing truths about today’s information ecosystem and more, USC researchers roll up their sleeves for the problems of today.
Keck Medicine of USC earns ‘LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader’ designation
The university’s hospitals and USC Student Health earn the top score in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2024 Healthcare Equality Index.
USC Dornsife sociologist Hajar Yazdiha awarded prestigious Carnegie Fellowship
The assistant professor of sociology plans to focus her fellowship on tackling societal challenges through a study of truth and reconciliation practices.
USC commencement 2024: What you need to know if you’ll be attending
Thousands are expected on the University Park Campus for USC’s 141st commencement celebrations this week. You’ll want to plan accordingly.
‘Defining Courage’ event spotlights the uplifting yet tragic story of WWII Nisei soldiers
The audience of more than 500 includes surviving 98-year-old soldier Yoshio Nakamura, a proud double Trojan.
Trojans help usher in a new era for women’s professional volleyball
Former USC student-athletes Kalyah Williams and Skylar Fields reunite with coach Amy Pauly in Orlando as part of the new Pro Volleyball Federation.
Turning a tumor’s ‘shield’ into a weapon against itself
USC Viterbi biomedical engineers have designed a protein that targets and disables tumor cells’ defenses while marking cancer cells for death.
Professor Bob Baker Memorial Award Established by Dexter Holland will honor a pioneer in molecular biology
Holland, lead singer of The Offspring, is an alumnus of USC Dornsife’s Molecular and Computational Biology program.
USC-led study introduces improved way to grow cells that give rise to kidney’s filtration system
Scientists report significant progress in cultivating nephron progenitor cells.
Can carbon capture solve climate change?
EARTH MONTH: Removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could go a long way towards slowing global warming, experts tell USC Dornsife event.
Direct-to-patient educational material helps older adults reduce use of drugs like Valium, Xanax
Study finds that patients who received brochures about risks, alternatives and tapering recommendations were more likely to successfully quit taking benzodiazepine medications.
Creative Expression
Los Angeles is considered the “Creative Capital of the World.” With six major arts schools, USC is one of the city’s driving forces for new ideas and emerging talent, playing a prominent role in the film, television, music, architecture and arts industries.
Faculty Spotlight
USC’s award-winning scholars and researchers look beyond the ordinary to bring new, much-needed insights and developments to a rapidly changing world with complex needs. Within the health and medical fields, this has translated to a wide range of breakthroughs and discoveries that affect every aspect of our daily lives.
An influential force at USC, Ellis Meng explores the intersection between technology and medicine. Meng directs the Biomedical Microsystems Laboratory, which specializes in advancing medicine using microsystems technologies. She is associate professor of biomedical and electrical engineering and chair of USC’s Women in Science and Engineering program.
Working in genetics since 1995, Marlena Fejzo’s research focuses on conditions and diseases that primarily affect women, including ovarian cancer, breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. Fejzo discovered the first genes associated with uterine fibroids, nausea and vomiting during pregnancy known as hyperemesis gravidarum. She is a science advisor and board member for the global nonprofit Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation.
Paul Aisen is founding director of the Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute and professor of neurology. A distinguished Alzheimer’s researcher for over two decades, Aisen pioneers novel methodologies and extensive therapeutic trials to advance understanding of the continuum of Alzheimer’s disease, from the long pre-symptomatic phase through cognitive and functional decline.