September 18, 2026 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
With experience as a water and sanitation Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali and a degree in public health from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Valerie Flax already had the perfect background for global health work when she started working for nonprofits. She spent two years running school health education and after-school health clubs for Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea and then three years as the director of a USAID-funded child survival program in Cambodia. During the latter role, she focused on nutrition, immunization and water, sanitation and hygiene.
“This work is what led me to get involved with evaluating large-scale nutrition programs, designing and testing innovative behavior change communication interventions to improve infant and young child feeding practices, and conducting implementation research related to maternal and child health programs globally and in the US.,” the new health promotion, education, and behavior (HPEB) associate professor says of her current research interests.
After completing her time with nonprofits, Flax began consulting with public health groups like WHO, UNICEF and Stop Hunger Now in the U.S. and around the world. In 2004, she joined Finland’s Tampere University as a researcher for a maternal and child health project and enrolled in their Ph.D. in Epidemiology program. A postdoctoral fellowship with UNC’s Carolina Population Center brought her back to the States, where she then continued her global nutrition research as an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and as a faculty fellow with the Center.
Though Flax maintained her connection with UNC as an adjunct faculty member, the last decade (2015-2026) saw her stepping away from academia to join Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International as a Senior Public Health Research Scientist. During her career both at UNC and with RTI, Flax has been motivated to generate evidence that can be used by public health programs to improve intervention design and inform adaptation. At RTI, she also had the opportunity to provide technical assistance in designing, implementing and evaluating global public health and food security programs.
When making her return to academia, Flax chose USC because she could tell that the HPEB department would be a great fit. With several faculty members sharing her alma mater and a growing contingent of researchers focused on global nutrition, she knew she could continue previous collaborations and develop connections with new colleagues. She also looks forward to teaching and mentoring students.
"Dr. Flax brings exceptional expertise in implementation science, environmental health, global nutrition, and maternal and child health to HPEB and the Arnold School," says HPEB chair Brie Turner-McGrievy. "Her work shows how environmental conditions, including food systems, water and sanitation, climate adaptation, and community health infrastructure, shape nutrition and health. She is especially well-positioned to advance the University’s Environmental Health Cluster Initiative by designing and evaluating practical, scalable interventions that address these interconnected environmental stressors."