Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at USC

10/28/2026

Faculty in Focus: Our weekly series celebrating the people driving discovery in our department. This week, we’re spotlighting Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón, PhD, MPH, Visiting Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. She is also a Department Associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

💬 "Lowering your exposure to chemicals can help improving your health,” says Dr. Minguez.

💡 Dr. Mínguez-Alarcón’s research has helped identify chemical and non-chemical stressors that affect human fertility, reproductive and cardiometabolic health. Her findings have been used by national and international agencies, including the European Food Safety Authority.

🧪 Right now, she’s primarily working on three different NIH population health studies as PI to evaluate:
-chemical exposures during reproductive years and their relationships with long-term cardiovascular and metabolic health
-paternal pesticide exposure and the s***m and leukocyte epigenome in relation to couple’s pregnancy outcomes
​-the interplay between phthalates and diet and associations with reproductive health

🎓 Education: PhD and MPH, University of Murcia

10/23/2026

Faculty in Focus: Introducing a new series celebrating the people driving discovery in our department. First up, we’re spotlighting Julia Vassey, PhD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

💬 “I come from a journalism background. I was a broadcast news reporter, and when I moved into public health, I wanted to go deeper than short news stories and follow a topic over multiple years. Public health research offers that. I also wanted to contribute to research that helps make social media a healthier place, since it’s so integrated into young people’s lives, and to point out the harmful content that doesn’t belong there.”

💡 Dr. Vassey’s research bridges digital surveillance with behavioral science, revealing how tobacco-related marketing on social media reaches young people and shaping our understanding of how youth perceive and engage with it.

🧪 Right now, she’s working on:

- using AI-driven and human-coded content analysis and social network analysis to examine tobacco-related marketing on social media platforms popular among youth

- analyzing youth perceptions of this marketing through observational and experimental surveys

🎓 Education: Master’s in Public Health, UC Berkeley

10/22/2026

We’re proud to highlight Dr. Andrea Banuelos Mota, an alumna of our department. She recently joined the Family Docs Podcast to talk about the work happening through the California Academy of Family Physicians’ (CAFP) JEDI Committee and its Latine Focus Groups.

Here’s why this conversation matters: CAFP’s own leadership survey found that Latine physicians are underrepresented in CAFP leadership compared to California’s population, and the committee has set a goal to change that by 2030.

🎧 Listen now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jedi-committee-focus-groups/id1674959025?i=1000791647413

📝 Get involved with CAFP: https://www.tfaforms.com/4999682

Podcast Episode · Family Docs · September 25 · 38m

10/16/2026

Volunteers needed! Help us run a booth at the 17th Annual El Sereno Día de los Mu***os Festival this Saturday, October 17, at El Sereno Park (4721 Klamath St).

El Sereno Community Arts brings 3,000+ neighbors, families, and artists together every October. This year, we're joining their Community Resources lineup for the first time with a booth featuring a giant árbol de la vida, a neighborhood map, brains made from modeling clay, a brain wave demo, and free drawings for handmade crochet catrinas!

We need help with:
✨ Welcoming visitors
✨ Activity stations
✨ Catrina drawings
✨ Restocking and break coverage
✨ Setup (from noon) or takedown (after 9 pm)

Spanish speakers especially welcome! No science background needed. Students, staff, faculty, and friends are all invited, and food and drinks are provided.

🕑 Festival: 2-9 pm. Sign up for one or more 2-hour blocks between noon and 10 pm.

📍 Zoom briefing: Friday, Oct. 16 at 1:30 pm (written summary available if you can't make it)

Questions? Email Jacob Sepulveda ([email protected]) or Carlos ([email protected]).

10/15/2026

“The APRU Climate Change Leadership Program gave me a deeper understanding of how closely climate change is connected to our communities, our health, and our shared future.”

That’s how Junaira Faruk, a Master of Public Health student at Keck School of Medicine of USC, describes the experience of taking part in the APRU Certificate in Global Climate Change Leadership this August and September.

Junaira continued: “It reinforced the importance of caring for the planet and recognizing that meaningful change requires greater awareness, responsibility, and collective action from all of us. I especially valued learning from different perspectives and seeing how countries and communities can work together to address such a complex global challenge. I came away from the program feeling more informed, more thoughtful, and more motivated to contribute to a healthier and more sustainable world.”

Junaira was one of 14 USC students, including 4 from Keck School of Medicine, who joined about 220 students from 25 universities in this four-week experiential program. Students played the role of delegates to the UN climate change negotiations, working in multidisciplinary, international teams representing one of six economies or regions. Using the World Climate Interactive and C-ROADS simulation model, they negotiated in breakout rooms facilitated by international climate science experts and heard from experts on topics from clean energy to diplomacy.

10/09/2026

AI is reshaping public health research, and yesterday we saw it up close. 🔬

The 2026 PPHS Research Symposium brought faculty, researchers, students, and staff to the Soto Street building for a day themed “Translational AI in Public Health Research.” Highlights included faculty presentations, AI-powered research, rapid-fire postdoc talks, and an open poster session.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped spark new collaborations. 💡

10/07/2026

Learn what our courses are all about 👀 Ming Li, PhD, teaches Principles of Biostatistics.

09/22/2026

Learn what our courses are all about 👀 In Introduction to Data Science with Kelly Street, PhD, students learn how to work with data in R and create data visualization.

09/18/2026

USC's MPH program is coming to Boston! Are you interested in learning more about public health graduate degrees? Join us at This Is Public Health® (TIPH)'s In-Person Grad School Fair on Tuesday, September 22, 2026 in Boston, MA.

TIPH was created by the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health, which represents 155+ CEPH accredited schools/programs of public health.

This in-person fair gives you the chance to chat directly with admission staff, students, and faculty from graduate schools and programs of public health.

The Keck School of Medicine of USC's Department of Population and Public Health Sciences will be attending and encourages students to stop by to learn about our phenomenal graduate degrees!

Take one step further toward shaping the future of public health. Register today to secure your spot:

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09/18/2026

The Department of Population and Public Health Sciences ranks #1 in NIH funding in its field (2025 Blue Ridge) and is the leading force of the Keck School’s standing as #1 in NIH funding per investigator.

Our research operates in more than a dozen countries, with partners including the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention.

Founded in 1977, the department is home to more than 125 faculty. We offer 12 degree programs at the undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, and certificate levels, including the Master of Public Health.