Remedies for diet-related diseases expand when Food is Medicine
USC features the work of Food is Medicine researchers, who are developing a map to better identify areas where people disproportionately experience a lack of access to food.
HPEB conducts innovative research and prepares future leaders to improve public health locally, nationally, and globally. Our faculty and students address how interventions, social context, health care systems, and physical environments influence health behaviors and health status, with an emphasis on disadvantaged populations.
Departmental strengths include:
- community-engaged interventions
- economics of behavior
- global health
- health communication and use of digital technology
- healthy aging
- HIV/AIDS
- nutrition and food security
- physical activity
- prevention of cancer and other non-communicable diseases
- public policy and advocacy
- research methods, program evaluation, and implementation science
- sexual and reproductive health
- social determinants of health and health inequities
- tobacco use and vaping
Degrees Offered
In addition to an undergraduate minor, we offer four advanced degrees related to health promotion, education and behavior as well as three graduate certificate programs. Each graduate degree and certificate has specific application deadlines and requirements.
- Certificate of Graduate Study in Aging
- Certificate of Graduate Study in Global Health
- Certificate of Graduate Study in Health Communication
- Master of Public Health in Health Promotion, Education and Behavior (MPH)
- Online Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior - Professional Program
- Master of Social Work / Master of Public Health in Health Promotion, Education and Behavior (dual degree)
- Ph.D. in Health Promotion, Education and Behavior
Are you an undergraduate student interested in doing research with an HPEB faculty member? Fill out this contact form for more information.
Health Promotion, Education & Behavior News
Marta Bornstein boosts Arnold School's sexual, reproductive health expertise
Since she joined USC last fall, the HPEB assistant professor has continued working to understand the sexual and reproductive health needs of LGBTQ+ people and is looking at abortion in the United States’ changing environment.
Unhealthy food environments may play a role in increasing rates of childhood obesity in low- and middle-income countries
Research led by HPEB associate professor Hala Ghattas and published in Public Health Nutrition has revealed what may be a major factor in the rise of childhood obesity in the Middle East and North Africa.
Global health researcher digs into complex etiology of anemia in mothers and children
A recent study led by HPEB assistant professor Leila Larson and published in Public Health Nutrition has shed more light on the interplay of factors that cause anemia in mothers and children in low- and middle-income countries.
Master of public health alumna receives South Carolina's highest civilian honor for extraordinary service
Molly Talbot-Metz has now spent more than half her life in South Carolina. The Mary Black Foundation President/CEO's journey to improving health in her adopted state began when she was a teen growing up in Syracuse, New York and recently resulted in her receipt of the Order of the Palmetto.
New study examines pediatric-to-adult HIV care transition in the South
Assistant professor Xueying Yang has been awarded another $400K NIH grant to support her HIV research – this time from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.